Hundreds more pilot whales are reported to have beached themselves in the Chatham Islands – making for one of the species’ worst recorded stranding events. After more than 215 whales died after stranding at the northwest corner…

A little girl has seriously injured one of her hands after getting it stuck in playground equipment.

The five-year-old was at a playground in Strathfield, in Sydney's Inner West, when her hand was trapped in a carousel.

A crew from Burwood Fire Station rushed to the playground just before 1.30pm, Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) said.

READ MORE: SES receives 1000 calls for help as rivers rise in NSW

"NSW Police, NSW Ambulance and Council staff tended to the child whilst firefighters located her two severed fingertips," a statement said.

The girl was taken to The Children's Hospital at Westmead for emergency treatment.

Council-controlled organisations (CCOs) respond after the election of Wayne Brown as Auckland’s new mayor – some diplomatically, others declining to comment.Brown began his first day as mayor firing warning shorts at CCO boards…

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air Wāhine Māori are choosing a te ao Māori approach to change the shape of existing self-defence modules in Aotearoa. For the first time, a series self defence wānanga…

Another rainband is bearing down on the nation's south east, increasingly the likelihood of flooding across multiple states.

It comes after a monster storm smashed New South Wales and southern Queensland over the weekend. Residents are today urged to be vigilant for flooding as rivers continue rising.

A new cold front and associated low pressure trough will start passing over from Wednesday, Weatherzone said, adding it will bring three days of heavy rain to South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, NSW, the Australian Capital Territory and southern Queensland.

READ MORE: Putin blames Ukrainian 'terrorist act' for attack on Crimea bridge

"The heaviest falls are likely to occur on Thursday into early Friday morning over parts of central and eastern Vic and northern Tasmania, where some places could see 100 to 200 mm within 24 hours," Weatherzone said.

"Severe thunderstorms are also possible in western NSW and southwest Queensland on Thursday.

"With river catchments already saturated from recent rainfall, this week's rain is likely to cause flooding in several states, particularly Victoria and Tasmania."

Residents are urged to check latest forecasts and warnings as Wednesday approaches. 

READ MORE: Rain, rain go away: What experts think is coming for 2023

Dean Narramore, senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), said the new system will hit flood-affected areas in NSW on Friday.

"Thankfully it will move through very quickly with only light to moderate falls expected," he said.

READ MORE: 'Thought they would scream': School shooter's prison interviews

SES receives 1000 calls for help as rivers rise in NSW

So far, 11 NSW suburbs have been issued evacuation orders and dozens of others are on high alert.

People are urged to visit the SES website for updates, with the warnings for towns and regions across the state changing rapidly.

The SES has responded to more than 1000 requests for assistance since Friday evening across NSW.

In Western Sydney, the Richmond and Windsor bridges remain open this morning with rivers up to moderate flooding levels.

Although flood levels are not expected to equal those seen earlier in the year, there are fears both bridges could close when the new front hits on Wednesday.

Inland, there are concerns for Dubbo, Bathurst, Mudgee and Warren, where waters continue to rise.

About 70mm of rain fell on the coast yesterday, with Ulladulla recording a whopping 110mm.

Meanwhile, the Warragamba Dam is spilling out 90 gigalitres a day, adding further pressure to the catchment in the Hawkesbury.

The relationship between government and councils is set to get more testy, with Wayne Brown in Auckland’s top job along with several right-leaning mayors around the country. New Zealand Herald senior writer Simon Wilson, the Herald’s…

A man who allegedly grew cannabis in a purpose-built bunker at his Dunedin home has had two houses seized while his case goes through the courts.One of Bruce Scott Farquhar’s properties is in Mulford St, Concord, Dunedin, and the…

King’s College has invited former students back to the Auckland school to talk about their bullying experiences after the Sam Uffindell scandal earlier this year.Uffindell, who won Tauranga’s byelection earlier this year, was stood…

An Australian husband and father is among the 10 people killed in a blast at a petrol station in Ireland.

James O'Flaherty, 48, who was originally from Sydney, was among those who died in last week's blast at the service station in Creeslough, a small village in north-west Ireland.

Police have released the names and photos of all 10 people who died, including a father and his five-year-old daughter.

READ MORE: South Australian man dies in climbing accident in Canada

O'Flaherty, who lived with his family in Rinclevan, Dunfanaghy, will be laid to rest on Wednesday, according to a death notice.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told 9news.com.au it was working with authorities to provide assistance and support.

"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware of reports an Australian has been killed in an explosion at a petrol station in the Irish county of Donegal," the spokesperson said.

"We are working with local authorities and stand ready to provide assistance. Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further details."

Irish police said no one remained missing after Friday's explosion in Creeslough, County Donegal.

READ MORE: Man hit by car in front of his young daughter after confronting alleged burglar

Police are investigating the cause of the blast, and Superintendent David Kelly said evidence "is pointing toward a tragic accident".

Ireland's police force, An Garda Siochana, said the midafternoon explosion killed four men, three women, two teenagers and a girl of primary school age. Eight people were hospitalised — one in critical condition — after the blast destroyed the Applegreen service station in the community of about 400 people near Ireland's rugged Atlantic coast.

On Sunday (early Monday AEDT), the gardaí released names and photos of all 10 dead: James O Flaherty, 48; Jessica Gallagher, 24; Martin McGill, 49; Catherine O Donnell, 39; and her son, James Monaghan, 13; Hugh Kelly, 59; Martina Martin, 49; Robert Garwe, 50; and his daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe, 5; and Leona Harper, 14. 

BBC reported the victims had been carrying out activities as mundane as buying a newspaper or some chips after school. 

Emergency responders from Ireland and neighbouring Northern Ireland joined in what police said on Saturday was "search and recovery" operation. 

Sniffer dogs combed the debris, and a mechanical digger lifted piles of rubble from the site on Saturday.

READ MORE: Flood warnings issued in Sydney and across state as rivers keep rising

The explosion levelled the service station building, which holds the main shop and post office for the village, damaged an adjacent apartment building and shattered the windows in nearby cottages.

"There were blocks thrown a hundred yards away from the scene," local medic Dr Paul Stewart told Irish broadcaster RTE. 

"The whole front of the building collapsed … and the roof of the first floor collapsed down into the shop. It's a miracle they got anyone out."

Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin said it was one of the "darkest of days for Donegal and the entire country."

"People across this island will be numbed by the same sense of shock and utter devastation as the people of Creeslough at this tragic loss of life," the prime minister said.

READ MORE: Extinction Rebellion activists arrested after gluing themselves to Picasso painting

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue, who represents Donegal in Ireland's parliament, said the service station was well known across the country because of its prominent position on the area's main N56 road, and was "the heart" of the local community.

"People are shocked and numbed," he told Irish broadcaster RTE. 

"People have been rallying together and everyone's concern is with the families of those who have lost their loved ones and how they can support them."

Another local lawmaker, Pearse Doherty, said people in the community were in shock.

"(It's) something nobody ever thought could happen in a little village like this where everyone knows each other," he said. 

"A quarter past three yesterday, kids were coming out of school, people were going to collect their welfare payments. For such a nightmare to occur, that will take some time to sink in."

A Queensland snake catcher was shocked to find not one, but ten snakes, lurking in the ceiling of a Gold Coast home with scaled bodies caught hiding in insulation and high in the rafters.

Mitch Thorburn, from South East Reptile Relocations, was called out to the two bedroom home in Willow Vale a week ago Sunday and found a variety of species located in the crawl space.

He told 9news.com.au the callout smashed his previous record of eight snakes in one roof cavity, an accolade he had held since 2018.

READ MORE: Putin blames Ukrainian 'terrorist act' for attack on Crimea bridge

Thorburn said he received the call after the home owner spotted four snakes dangling from the ceiling. 

"When I got up there you could tell the roof had been inhabited by many snakes in the past, there were skins and snake poos scattered about," he said.

"But there was no real indication as to how many were up there.

"We originally thought it was just the four."

The four snakes were bagged without incident, then Thorburn glimpsed more scaled bodies.

READ MORE: SES receives 1000 calls for help as rivers rise in NSW

"We then found the additional six, which was pretty surprising to say the least," he said.

"I thought four was a pretty decent number so 10 was well beyond what I expected."

In total, Thorburn removed five common tree snakes, two brown tree snakes and three coastal carpet pythons over the course of 35 minutes.

READ MORE: 'Thought they would scream': School shooter's prison interviews

He said the reptiles were all released back into a suitable habitat – far from the home.

The callout comes as snake season gets off to a cracking start.

https://www.facebook.com/GoldCoastSnakeCatcher.SERR/posts/pfbid02mkJBmgrTm6ZQgzV1F18mcarq38MYw9DBTTPRKiubEEzSCSGAv5gVvNKTnpeNxxqql

Last week Steven Brown, from Brisbane North Snake Catchers, encountered a "weapon" seven foot brown snake in the backyard of a home in Brisbane.

Australia's snake season starts around September and runs to about April as the animals begin breeding.