Several states across Australia's south-east will be on alert tomorrow as hot and windy conditions trigger increased fire danger after the driest January in 19 years.

Firefighters in South Australia will be on alert in parts of the west coast, Yorke Peninsula and the Mount Lofty Ranges where there is extreme fire danger tomorrow.

"The Mount Lofty Ranges takes in the Fleurieu Peninsula, where we saw a signficant fire start last night," Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Christie Johnson said.

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"We also have some of these high fire danger areas that are very close to the threshold for extreme fire danger and that includes regions such as the Murraylands and the upper south-east."

Parts of Victoria will also be under an extreme fire danger rating tomorrow.

"Over in Victoria, extreme fire danger mostly through central parts, particularly the Central District and this includes area, and also the North Central District.

"We also have some other districts that are very close to the threshold for extreme, including the Wimmera and the West and South Gippsland District."

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There will be high fire danger across Tasmania tomorrow, except for in the north-west.

"However our latest modelling suggests it could actually be even worse than this tomorrow and we're now expecting high fire danger right across the state, reaching extreme fire danger through the east coast and the Midlands district."

The fire danger comes as south-eastern Australia recorded its driest January since 2009.

Weatherzone reports it was also the region's second driest start to the year since 1965, with January rainfall down by 23.14mm, when averaged across all official weather stations in the region.

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The final shift for sex worker Revelle Balmain was meant to have settled her debts and given her extra cash to splurge while following her dreams overseas.

Instead, she disappeared from the face of the earth.

The 22-year-old had grand plans on becoming a dancer in Japan when she vanished on November 5, 1994.

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An inquest into one of Sydney's most notorious cold cases resumed today where Balmain's former boss Jane King has given evidence.

King and her now ex-husband Zoran Stanojevic ran the escort agency, Select Companions, at the time of the model's disappearance.

Balmain was last seen by a client when he dropped her off at a hotel in Kingsford, in Sydney's east, about 7pm.

She missed her next booking and has not been heard from since.

King said she called the escort's flatmate the day after she missed the appointment.

"I was worried about her," she told Lidcombe Coroners Court.

The former madam rejected suggestions by counsel assisting Matthew Johnston SC her primary reason for chasing up the escort was because she owed the business money.

The outstanding funds would have been taken out of what Balmain earned that night, King said.

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"It wasn't a huge amount of money and I didn't have any reason not to believe her," she told the inquest.

A missed pager message sent to Balmain the morning after she disappeared read "pls call Zoran to arrange settlement of your account".

King told the inquest she didn't remember if she sent the text.

She couldn't remember what was discussed during a one-minute phone call to Stanojevic about 8pm on the Saturday night that Balmain disappeared.

"I could have been asking him to get me some takeaway or something," King said.

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She denied making any calls from the landline in her two-bedroom apartment to her husband, despite records showing five calls made that night and during the early hours of the following morning.

The former madam said the landline calls would have been diverted to the escort agency's receptionist, known for legal reasons as Danielle.

King said she had been pregnant at the time and would have been in bed watching TV.

Her husband had returned home the following day with complaints about drama at work after Balmain missed her booking and his vehicle had a flat tyre, King told the inquest.

He told her not to call police as that would alert the model's family, who did not know she was working as an escort.

"She'll turn up, don't worry, she always does," he allegedly said.

When there had still be no word from the model on Monday, King contacted police.

A previous inquest in 1999 found Balmain had died at the hands of a person or persons unknown and the matter was referred to the Unsolved Homicide Unit.

A fresh investigation between 2007 and 2009 followed by a formal review in 2020 failed to produce any compelling evidence in the case.

Authorities offered a $1 million reward for information in 2021.

The inquest continues.

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New Zealand’s largest bank has also hiked interest rates on Pie funds and term deposits.

Two boys have been stood down after today’s incident.

Experts warn stranded fuel could harm endangered Hector’s dolphins nearby.

Ridler has encountered plenty of marine life early in his 1350km swimming effort.

A brave 13-year-old boy has spoken of his exhaustive efforts to alert authorities when his family was swept out to sea on WA's south-west coast.

Austin Appelbee and his family were paddleboarding and kayaking at Geographe Bay, near Quindalup, on Friday when rough conditions pushed them out to sea about 6pm AWST.

The teen began to head to shore to raise the alarm after his mum and two younger siblings became stranded.

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But he was forced to abandon his kayak when it began to take on water and instead swam more than four kilometres to shore.

"Two hours without a life jacket on and yeah, he made it. Superhuman effort," Marine Rescue commander Paul Bresland said.

Austin said he was thinking of his family to push him through the swim.

"I just said 'alright. Not today, not today, not today'," Austin said.

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"I did breaststroke, I did freestyle, I did survival backstroke.

"I hit the bottom of the beach and I just collapsed and then after that I had to sprint two kilometres to go get to the phone."

Austin's mum Joanne Appelbee and siblings, aged 12 and eight, were found by emergency services clinging to a paddleboard after spending nearly 10 hours in the water.

The trio were taken to Busselton Health Campus and have since recovered.

Joanne said all her children learned to swim at a young age and encouraged other families to do the same.

"There's no bigger word to describe him other than proud," she said.

"I'm speechless at his efforts, but at the same time, I knew he could do it. "

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NSW police say the visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog is a factor behind the decision to extend the protest bans in some parts of Sydney by an additional two weeks.

Following laws passed by the NSW government in the wake of the Bondi terror attack the NSW Police Force Commissioner was granted power to temporarily declare public areas "restricted" from assemblies following a declared terrorist incident.

NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon announced that for the next 14 days, public assemblies will be restricted in Sydney's eastern suburbs and parts of Sydney's CBD, excluding Hyde Park.

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"The declaration is a balance between ensuring community safety and recognising the importance of free speech," Lanyon said.

"Overwhelmingly, we are pleased with the actions and behaviours of protesters, however, few continue to incite violence and cause fear and harm."

Lanyon said that the Israeli president's visit to Australia from February 9 to 12 was "a factor" in his decision to extend the restrictions. Protests have been planned against the visit.

The commissioner said that the Palestinian Action Group's proposed route planned for next Monday would not have been authorised under the previous declaration.

"I know that there is significant animosity about President Herzog's visit.

"Both on social media and in recent public assemblies, there has been significant animosity.

"To not do anything about that and to potentially put community safety at risk would be intolerable for me as the Commissioner."

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"I can say that over the period of the visit, we'll have over 3,000 police shifts operating to ensure [community] safety," Lanyon said.

Today's extension of the Public Assembly Restriction Declaration (PARD) is an extension of the declaration made on January 20.

During this time, Form 1 applications for the authorisation of public assemblies will not be granted in certain locations.

Individuals who attend in public assemblies at the specific locations during this time will not have the protection of the Summary Offences Act, with respect to obstructing traffic and pedestrians.

Police will also have authority to require removal, for identification purposes, of any face coverings worn by people suspected of committing offences.

The extension will remain in place for the next 14 days, unless changed or revoked. 

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The Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to hike the cash rate will have millions of mortgage holders frantically doing the math to see how their home loan repayments will change.

The official cash rate has been increased by 0.25 basis points to 3.85 per cent, meaning if your lender responds by raising its rate – which the big four Australian banks typically do – your mortgage repayments will rise too.

Homeowners on a variable interest rate for their home loan could see repayments surge by over $100 per month.

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For example, borrowers with a loan of $700,000 will see a monthly increase of $105, raising the monthly repayment to $4412.

Those with a $1 million mortgage would be paying an extra $150 per month, bringing the monthly repayment to $6303.

"This news will feel like a cold shower for homeowners after a brief reprieve," said Finder's head of consumer research Graham Cooke.

"Many who refinanced or entered the market during the 2025 easing cycle may feel blindsided, as the pivot from falling to rising rates in just 6 months has created significant whiplash."

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Today's decision comes just under six months since the RBA last cut the rate.

Cooke said last year's brief mortgage stress relief may have been "wiped away" following today's rate hike.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers acknowledged the decision is "difficult news" for millions of Australians with a mortgage.

"We understand the pressure that this puts on Australian families and businesses," Chalmers said.

"While today's decision was widely expected, obviously that doesn't make it any easier."

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Not everyone with a mortgage will be worse off, though.

Not all borrowers decreased their repayments when rates fell last year.

According to Canstar, about 80 per cent of NAB variable rate customers and the "vast majority" of CBA's didn't reduce their repayments, giving them some welcome wiggle room now.

If you are on a fixed rate, your repayments will stay the same until the fixed term ends.

There's a silver lining: the rate hike means those with a savings account or term deposit will enjoy a greater return on their money.

When rates are higher, savings products will generally pay more interest.

When the cash rate is lowered, interest returns will generally fall.

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A US man having an affair with the family's Brazilian au pair has been found guilty of murdering his wife and another man that prosecutors say was lured to the house as a fall guy.

Virginian man Brendan Banfield, a former IRS law enforcement officer, told police he came across Joseph Ryan attacking his wife, Christine Banfield, with a knife on the morning of February 24, 2023.

He shot Ryan and then Juliana Magalhães, the au pair, shot him, too.

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But officials argued in court that the story was too good to be true, telling jurors that Banfield set Ryan up in a scheme to get rid of his wife.

It later came out that Brendan Banfield and Magalhães had been having an affair.

The verdict comes after the gruesome and complicated double homicide was catapulted into mainstream media in Brazil, the US and elsewhere in the world.

"The details of this case attracted national attention – because it involved an affair, a fetish website and a premeditated plot," Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano said following the verdict.

"But beyond the spectacle, we are here today because of the tragic deaths of two of our community members, Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan."

Prosecutors argued that Banfield and Magalhães impersonated Christine Banfield, a pediatric intensive care nurse, on a website for sexual fetishes.

Officials said they used the site to lure Ryan to the house for a sexual encounter involving a knife, left the front door open and staged the scene to look as though they had shot an intruder who was attacking the wife.

Magalhães pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2024 and testified against her former lover at trial, corroborating prosecutors' theory.

Defence attorney John Carroll argued that Magalhães' testimony could not be trusted because she was cooperating with prosecutors to try to avoid a long prison sentence.

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In his own testimony, Banfield said that the testimony was " absolutely crazy".

Carroll also introduced evidence showing that there was dissent within the police department over the theory that Magalhães and Brendan Banfield impersonated Christine Banfield on social media in a "catfishing" scheme.

An officer who concluded from digital evidence that Christine Banfield was behind the social media account was later transferred in what Carroll said was punishment for disagreeing with a theory favored by the department's higher-ups.

But prosecutor Jenna Sands pushed back on the notion that Banfield was unfamiliar with social media platforms for people interested in fetishes and couldn't be capable of such catfishing.

"You had multiple affairs, correct?" Sands asked the defendant, followed by, "And one of those affairs was with a woman named Danielle, who you met on a fetish site searching for 'sugar babies.' Is that correct?"

Banfield replied: "I would not call it a fetish site."

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When pressed as to how he would describe the website, Banfield testified that he had an arranged relationship with someone who knew he was married.

In closing arguments, Sands told the jury they did not have to rely solely on Magalhães' testimony, pointing to what she called a "plethora of evidence".

That included expert testimony that blood stains on Ryan's hands suggested Christine Banfield's blood had been dripped onto him from above.

Banfield was also convicted of child endangerment.

Banfield's daughter, four years old at the time, was in the home's basement on the day of the killings, though physically unharmed.

The jury deliberated for nearly nine hours across two days before reaching a verdict.

Banfield faces the possibility of life in prison at his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for May 8.

Magalhães was scheduled to be sentenced after Banfield's trial.

Attorneys have said she could be allowed to walk free if she is sentenced to time served and return to her home in Brazil.