Tag Archives: oceania

Child fights for life after car crashes into traffic lights

A 12-year-old boy is in a critical condition after a car ploughed into a set of traffic lights in Brisbane.

Bystanders, including an off duty police officer, ran to help those inside the red Holden Commodore after it left the road and hit the lights in Wakerley this morning.

The boy suffered serious injuries and was rushed to hospital.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash and have asked for witnesses to come forward.

The driver and a male passenger suffered minor injuries.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash and have asked for witnesses to come forward.

Dire warning for future NSW flooding events as state smashed by rain

A dire warning has been issued to New South Wales communities, with the current floods inundating the north and west of the state dubbed just the beginning of a "very long" season.

Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke said the current deluge is the start of a flooding season expected to stretch through spring and summer as flood-exhausted communities in the north and west of the state face renewed warnings.

"We're facing challenges on multiple fronts with prolonged flooding through the west and north-west of NSW, renewed river rises in the Central West and southern parts of NSW," she said.

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Car submerged by floodwaters on NSW Mid North Coast.

As warnings are constantly changing, you can keep up to date with warnings on the Bureau of Meteorology Website and NSW State Emergency Service Website

"Now communities in the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast and North Coast who have been made flood weary over the past several months are facing an uncertain couple of days with weather conditions worsening.

"We are at the start of a very long season we expect, this is the third consecutive La Nina, and as we have seen all year our catchments and landscapes are highly saturated.

"This increases the risk of flash flooding and water coming up very very quickly and catching people unawares."

A number of flood warnings have already been issued for the state as a low-pressure trough bears down on NSW and southern Queensland.

Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience and Minister for Flood Recovery Steph Cooke gives an update on the severe weather warning on for the North Coast on 22 September, 2022. Photo: Brook Mitchell

Flash flooding forecast from Queensland to NSW Central Coast

Meteorologist Jane Golding said more than 100 millimetres have fallen on the NSW North Coast with more on the way. Inland NSW is expected to be inundated by floodwaters for days.

In the state's west, major flooding is expected at Wee Waa, Warren, and Euabalong which will continue for several days.

Some towns are already facing being cut off by rising floodwaters, like Calala, near Tamworth, where just one road in and out of the suburb remains.

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Further north, flash flooding is expected between the Queensland border to the Central Coast over the coming days.

The Northern Rivers may see flash flooding for the fourth time this year.

"We're expecting areas to see 24-hour totals of above 100mm but we're going to see some bullseyes in there that are higher than that, and those bullseyes are where we will see flash flooding," Golding said.

"That's enough rain to cause the rivers to start rising, roads ponding, and dangerous driving conditions. The ground is so saturated across all of NSW with the gusty winds around at the moment we can expect trees down as well."

The Mid North Coast is one of the key areas of concern. More than 100mm has fallen between Grafton to Coffs Harbour in the past 24 hours.

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Some parts of the Mid North Coast have even seen 180mm in the past 24 hours.

"Flooding is a key concern and is expected to be a key concern for several months," she said.

Golding said the rain is expected to stop late on Friday or Saturday, however the flood risk will remain.

Forecast accumulated rain during the 48 hours ending at 10am AEST on Friday, September 23, according to the ECMWF-HRES model.

Cars submerged and almost 50 flood rescues in NSW

Images have emerged of cars completely submerged in water in NSW's Mid North Coast and north-west as authorities plead with residents not to drive across flooded roads.

One of the images taken in Warren, north-west of Dubbo, showed the top of the car barely visible above water level.

"No this is not a submarine, it's a car floating away in flood water on the outskirts of Warren," the NSW State Emergency Service (SES) said.

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A car was swept away by floodwaters in Warren, north west of Dubbo.

"The driver started to drive through the flood water when their car got pushed off the road and almost completely submerged.

"No matter how shallow the flood water looks, you never know how fast flowing it is or how quickly it can rise. It's not worth the risk, turn around and find another route."

NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York said there have been 49 rescues during the flood event and more than 500 calls for help.

"It is important if people see water across the road they do not drive into the floodwaters and find an alternate route," she said.

As part of one of these flood rescues, emergency services had to use a boat to rescue a man trapped by floodwater in Boggabri, also in NSW's north-west.

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Police said the man's vehicle became submerged approximately 5km east of the Kamilaroi Highway around noon yesterday.

Authorities tried to reach the 22-year-old man but said they were "unable to get to the location due to the flood levels", forcing SES crews to take to the roads in a boat. 

"A short time later, the man was rescued from the roof of his vehicle," police said in a statement.

"The man was uninjured and did not require medical treatment."

The man was issued with an infringement notice for the offence of disobey road access sign, which carries a $283 fine and two demerit points.

Chilling weapon falls from sky onto Ukrainian village

A Ukrainian politician has shared video on social media showing apparent incendiary weapons falling from the sky over a village in the Donetsk region.

The images resemble fireworks falling down slowly on homes in the village of Ozerne but were met by outrage.

Commentators believe the explosions over the night sky were from burning thermite, white phosphorous released by an incendiary weapon, US news site Newsweek reports.

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Thermite munitions can inflict painful burns on both troops and civilians and also cause respiratory injuries.

The footage was met with outrage after it was released by Ukrainian MP Roman Hryshchuk on Twitter.

"Ozerne village, Donetsk region. Ukraine. This is horrible," wrote Hryshchuk in the post accompanying the clip.

He did not state the date of the attack, but the location of the video has been confirmed to be Ozerne, after comparison with images of the village by Google Maps.

Defence expert Marina Miron, from King's College London, said the rockets in the video contained thermite, a combination of metal powder and metal oxide which can be deployed as an incendiary weapon, similar to the napalm chemical.

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"Both Ukraine and Russia have incendiary rockets," Miron said.

"The video most certainly shows thermite, not phosphorus munitions. Similar attacks have been witnessed since 2014."

Thermite was developed in World War II to disable artillery pieces without the use of explosive. The white heat it generates can burn through concrete and steel.

Human Rights Watch says the weapons inflict excruciating burns, sometimes to the bone, and can cause respiratory damage, infection, shock, and organ failure.

Under international law, the use of thermite munitions, as well as napalm bombs, is limited to clearly defined military targets.

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Western defence experts say Russia has also deployed so-called "vacuum bombs" which suck in the oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a powerful explosion and a large pressure wave that can have enormous destructive effects.

But Miron urged cautioned against attributing who was responsible for the attack on Ozerne.

She said both Russia and Ukraine have incendiary rockets.



Optus data breach compromises millions of Australians

Telecommunications company Optus has suffered a massive cyberhack, potentially compromising the personal information of millions of Australians.

Reports suggest up to 2.8 million Australians have been implicated in the cybersecurity breach, which could have leaked information such as passport and licence numbers, email and home addresses, dates of birth and telephone numbers.

Payment details and Optus account passwords were not compromised.

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The breach implicates both past and present customers of Optus.

In a statement Optus said it "immediately shut down" the attack once it was aware of the breach and the Australian Federal Police have been notified.

"We are devastated to discover that we have been subject to a cyberattack that has resulted in the disclosure of our customers' personal information to someone who shouldn't see it," said Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, Optus CEO.

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"As soon as we knew, we took action to block the attack and began an immediate investigation.

"While not everyone maybe affected and our investigation is not yet complete, we want all of our customers to be aware of what has happened as soon as possible so that they can increase their vigilance.

"We are very sorry and understand customers will be concerned. Please be assured that we are working hard, and engaging with all the relevant authorities and organisations, to help safeguard our customers as much as possible."

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Rosmarin said the telco is not yet aware of any customers having suffered harm as a result of the breach.

"Optus has also notified key financial institutions about this matter," she said.

"While we are not aware of customers having suffered any harm, we encourage customers to have heightened awareness across their accounts, including looking out for unusual or fraudulent activity and any notifications which seem odd or suspicious."

Current services such as mobile and home internet are not affected, and the messages and voice calls of customers have not been compromised.

Optus says services remain safe to use and are operating as normal.

For customers who have specific concerns, they can contact Optus via the My Optus App (which remains the safest way to interact with Optus) or by calling 133 937. Optus will not be sending links in any emails or SMS messages.