Warning: Disturbing content A police officer accused of family violence and child cruelty allegedly called a young boy “sick” and a “pervert” for watching his mother, the officer’s wife at the time, breastfeed. The officer also…

Some airlines flying into Australia say many services will be forced to travel without passengers due to the cut in numbers of people allowed in.

Two major airlines have confirmed to nine.com.au they will be converting some passenger services to freight only, with others flying into the nation also set to face the same issue.

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Australia will slash the number of passengers allowed to fly in per week from just over 6000 to around 3000 from tomorrow – the lowest since the coronavirus pandemic began.

READ MORE: Australians overseas devastated by cuts to flights

That's despite 34,000 Aussies registering with authorities as wanting to come home from overseas and only 1 per cent of people in hotel quarantine, where everybody must spend 14 days at the cost of around $3000, actually testing positive for the virus.

American Airlines said eight flights this month and 12 next have so far are being converted to cargo only, a spokesperson said.

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"On the following days in July and August, the Australian government has advised that we're not able to transport customers on the route due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: July 12, 16, 17, 19, 22, 26, 28 and 31, August 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 22, 24, 26 and 27.

"We're reaching out to customers scheduled to travel on the affected flights to offer alternate arrangements."

Singapore Airlines, said it is also going to convert some passenger services to cargo only because of the new limits.

It is understood while it usually bumps off passengers who booked the most recently, it also looks at people who are defined as vulnerable by the Australian government, as well as people who have had tickets cancelled before, as it makes the decision on who can fly.

READ MORE: Aussies stuck overseas say flight cuts 'a major kick in the guts'

"Singapore Airlines continues to work closely with the Australian authorities to determine what impact the reduction in caps has on our operations to Australia," a spokesman, said.

Emirates, which has previously temporarily cut flights into Australia, told 9News it "would will follow the Australian Government's directive to restrict capacity on all inbound international flights".

Planes were already flying with just a handful of passengers and people with bookings desperate to get home now face being 'bumped' off planes – and prices are also rising due to demand.

Many have been battling to get seats for months.

Everybody must test negative for the virus before boarding a plane.

The rule will be reviewed at the end of August but could last all year, Morrison said.

Extra government repatriation flights – which are not free and people are invited to book – will go into Darwin, but won't fully compensate for the cut in commercial numbers.

When he announced the cuts, Mr Morrison said it was because of the more infectious Delta variant.

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"It's simple. The Delta strain is more contagious, and so we're just seeking to take precautionary steps to overall reduce the risk. I mean infection rates in quarantine are one per cent," he said.

"So 99 per cent of cases of people coming in don't present with COVID or have infections. And we've had around 26 breaches some of which don't include hotel quarantine, a bit more than that, of which about half a dozen have resulted in community outbreaks.

"And that's out of 380,000 passengers coming through. So no it doesn't have anything to do with that, it just is a practical decision about precaution, having a precaution to reduce the overall load."

A travel ban remains in place, with only Australian citizens and permanent residents and their dependants and spouses allowed in, and people banned from leaving.

However, exemptions do apply, with thousands of others also permitted to travel each week.

Dozens of wildfires burned across the torrid US West yesterday but fire agencies reported some progress in corralling the flames and forecasters predicted a gradual decrease in extreme temperatures.

The fires have forced evacuations in numerous areas with dispersed properties and tiny communities where some burned homes and other structures have been observed but total losses were still being tallied.

The fires erupted as the west coast was in the grip of the second bout of dangerously high temperatures in just a few weeks, and the entire region is suffering from intense drought.

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The National Weather Service said, however, that the heatwave appeared to have peaked in many areas and excessive-heat warnings were largely expected to expire by tomorrow.

The two largest fires were burning forests in north-eastern California and southern Oregon, sending smoke across other states.

The Beckwourth Complex, two lightning-ignited blazes, covered about 362 square kilometres on Northern California's border with Nevada.

Plumas National Forest officials said firefighters successfully contained almost a quarter of the blaze but still expected some extreme fire activity.

Evacuation orders and warnings were in effect for remote areas of California's Lassen and Plumas counties and Nevada's Washoe County. Some structures were destroyed over the weekend in Doyle, California, a town of about 600 residents.

READ MORE: 'Firenado' in California as wildfires rage in several US states

"A damage assessment team has arrived to validate and assess reports of structures damaged or destroyed," a forest statement said.

In Oregon, the Bootleg Fire covered 621 square kilometres in the Fremont-Winema National Forest, near the Klamath County town of Sprague River.

After doubling in size at least twice over the weekend, it grew only incrementally on Sunday, a sign of some progress, said Rich Saalsaa, spokesman for the Oregon State Fire Marshall.

"It's allowed firefighters to build more lines and go on the offensive," Mr Saalsaa said.

Seven homes and 43 outbuildings have been destroyed in an area on the south end of the blaze, Mr Saalsaa said.

"Most of these places are not within a community per se. Maybe they're the same postal zone. But it's kind of scattered out there, very remote," Mr Saalsaa said.

Some 1926 homes were within the current evacuation zone, he said, but he didn't know how many people that includes.

Firefighters were contending with erratic winds, but temperatures were slightly lower.

The Bootleg Fire disrupted service on three transmission lines providing up to 5500 megawatts of electricity to California, where the state's grid operator asked for voluntary power conservation from 4pm to 9pm to ease the strain.

The timing coincides with decreasing generation from solar facilities as night falls.

READ MORE: Hurricane Elsa strengthens

Elsewhere, a forest fire started during lightning storms in south-east Washington grew to more than 223 square kilometres. It was 20 per cent contained yesterday.

In Idaho, Governor Brad Little mobilised the National Guard to help fight twin lightning-sparked fires that have together charred nearly 62 square kilometres of dry timber in the remote, drought-stricken region.

A new fire broke out Sunday afternoon in the Sierra Nevada south of Yosemite National Park and by evening had exploded over more than 15.5 square kilometres, triggering evacuations in areas of two counties.

The fire's size, however, remained unchanged early yesterday and was five per cent contained. A highway that leads to Yosemite's southern entrance remained open.

The July heatwave followed an unusual June siege of broiling temperatures in the West.

A growing number of scientific studies are concluding that heatwaves in some cases can be directly attributed to climate change.

A massive bonfire collapsed in Northern Ireland, causing people to flee as the flames almost fell on them.

The bonfire at Portadown, in County Armagh, was part of numerous ones lit by Unionists as part of July 12 celebrations held yearly to mark the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

Footage showed the collapse of the bonfire and people fleeing on Sunday night.

READ MORE: Northern Ireland police appeal for calm after violent unrest

Scores of people including young children screamed as they ran from the area.

People can he heard saying how "scary" it was and how they feared it would land on them.

Emergency services were called to the event but there were no reports of any injuries.

Local councillor Paul Duffy said it was a miracle no one was injured, the Belfast Telegraph reports.

"Nearby residents, drivers and homes were placed in serious danger as this bonfire came crashing down on to a main road. It's a miracle that no one was killed."

Bonfires held by Unionist and other pro-British Loyalist parties can be controversial, particularly when they involve the burning of flags, effigies and election posters.

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