The cash was linked to a drug ring run from Rimutaka Prison using illicit phones.

New South Wales has recorded its lowest average rainfall for October since 2019, in the lead-up to the Black Summer bushfires, as much of Australia gears up for warmer-than-usual summer months.

The state experienced rainfall 59 per cent below the average for October, which takes into account records beginning in 1900, according to the Bureau of Meteorology's (BoM) drought statement.

Parts of Victoria and south-east Queensland also received rainfall 30 per cent lower than the average for October, with the Bureau warning that rainfall deficiencies have increased in southern areas of New South Wales.

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This wasn't the case for all of Australia, with much of Tasmania and Western Australia receiving higher-than-average rainfall.

It comes as much of the country is being told to brace for warmer temperatures in the summer months.

The BoM's long-range forecast through to February next year predicts that daytime temperatures will be above-average for much of Australia, except eastern New South Wales, with Sydney looking like being spared from hotter weather than normal.

However, the harbour city will not be spared from above-average overnight temperatures, which are expected to hit most of the country.

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Speaking at a press conference today, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Australians they needed to prepare for both bushfires and floods, depending on where they lived.

On the risk of floods in some areas due to increased rainfall, he said: "There has been substantial amounts of rain in parts of Australia.

"That means that there is a slightly increased risk of flooding."

Rainfall is likely to be above average in north-east and central Queensland, as well as coastal and inland New South Wales.

The BoM also warned the tropical rainfall season is starting, which peaks between January and March.

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The thunderstorms are forecast to lash Auckland down to the Hawke’s Bay.

Australia is now just one month away from banning people aged under 16 from social media.

In a world-first move, Australia will be the first country to take such a stance in banning children from some of the world's most popular social media platforms.

It has not been without controversy, with arguments it is too restrictive and concerns that children will be able to circumvent any bans. Here is how it works, and how it will impact young Australians.

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What is the social media ban?

Put simply, platforms that are deemed "age-restricted" will not be allowed to let children under 16 create an account.

The measures will be legally binding after the government passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 in November last year.

Parents also will not be able to give consent for their children under 16 to be able to create an account on impacted platforms.

However, the government insists it is not a ban, rather a "delay" to having an account.

"There is no perfect solution when it comes to keeping young Australians safe online," Minister for Communications Anika Wells said in July.

"But the social media minimum age laws will make a meaningful difference."

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What sites are being banned for under 16s?

You may be wondering what an age-restricted platform looks like. These are currently the platforms that will be hit by the ban:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Snapchat
• TikTok
• X (formerly Twitter)
• YouTube
• Threads
• Reddit
• Kick

Reddit and Kick were both added to the ban last week, causing some controversy due to similar platforms being excluded from the list.

According to the eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, these platforms have been included in the ban because their "sole or significant purpose is to enable online social interaction between two or more users".

These platforms also allow users to post their own content and material, as well as allowing users to interact with all other users on the platform.

For some platforms such as YouTube and Reddit, children under 16 will still be able to watch videos or view threads, as an account is not required to access them; however, they will not be allowed to create accounts, or to post comments or content on them.

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What platforms can under-16s use?

The government has clarified which platforms will still be fully accessible to children under 16-years-old.

Popular streaming platforms Discord and Twitch have not been included in the social media ban despite both allowing users to connect with each other and content to be posted.

Messaging platforms like Messenger and WhatsApp have also been excluded from the ban.

Other well-known platforms to be excluded are:

• GitHub
• Google Classroom
• LEGO Play
• Roblox
• Steam and Steam Chat
• YouTube Kids

The eSafety Commissioner has clarified the list is not final, and more alterations could be made before the ban begins.

READ MORE: Mystery 'fedora man" at Louvre robbery scene unmasked

When does the social media ban start?

The social media ban begins in exactly one month on December 10.

What will happen to me if I have a current account on an age-restricted platform?

As it stands, accounts of children on impacted platforms will have to be removed or deactivated.

Under the legislation, platforms must take "reasonable steps" to enforce this.

This will vary between platforms given each have different circumstances, so there is no concrete method platforms must follow to ensure accounts are deactivated.

However, they must prove to the eSafety Commissioner the steps they have taken are reasonable.

Speaking to media on Monday, Wells said platforms have been provided with guidance on how to deal with children's existing accounts, and make it clear there is a right of appeal if an account is banned.

"They must communicate with users ahead of 10 December, they must use kind, empathetic language with the people who will be affected by the laws, and they must advise what the appeals process is," she said.

"If you are unintentionally caught up with this, despite you are someone who uses Facebook because you like to sell caravans on Marketplace, the social media companies must advise what the process is."

The eSafety Commissioner recommended against adding self-declaration of age for existing account holders, due to the ability of people to lie or circumvent this restriction.

Wells also refused to give a specific date on when im[pacted platforms would need to inform users their accounts are being deactivated.

"We aren't prescribing that specifically because this will look different for every social media platform," she claimed. "We said as part of the regulatory guidance they must do it ahead of 10 December."

"I won't name them, but I and the eSafety Commissioner are meeting with these platforms as frequently as we need."

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How will the social media ban be enforced?

It will be up to the platforms themselves to enforce the new measures, with legislation putting them under heavy pressure to do so.

If they don't, serious financial penalties could hit platforms who fail to adequately enforce the new laws.

This can include fines of up to $49.5 million.

Platforms have been recommended to assess "age-related signals" to identify accounts which could fall foul of the ban; this includes how long an account has been active, whether an account interacts with content targeted at children, and visual checks such as age analysis of a profile photo of an account holder.

Interestingly, children who are found to be accessing an age-restricted platform after the ban comes into effect will not be met with any punishment, nor will their parents or carers.

This is because the government insists the law is about protecting children from harmful content on the platforms, and they believe punishment would have a detrimental impact.

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The Reserve Bank has warned the Australian economy is at risk of becoming trapped in a cycle of low growth, severely limiting – or perhaps even removing – the chance of further interest rate cuts.

In a speech to investors this morning, deputy governor Andrew Hauser said that, in part because the central bank started cutting rates when there was little spare capacity in the economy, and therefore little capacity for rate cuts without spurring on inflation, Australia may "find itself trapped on the economic rail".

That, in turn, could spell the end of any more interest rate cuts this cycle.

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"The economy may find itself boxed in by its own capacity constraints, like a racehorse trapped against the course fence, unable to surge forward," he said. 

"On that view, there may be little scope for demand growth to rise further without adding to inflationary pressures, and hence there may be little room for further policy easing."

The RBA, as expected, kept rates on hold at 3.60 per cent last week.

And while some economists are still banking that more relief will be handed down in time – Westpac, for example, is currently forecasting cuts in May and August to bring the official cash rate down to 3.10 per cent – others, such as those at Commonwealth Bank, believe the RBA is done cutting.

That's due to an unexpected jump in inflation, with the headline figure reaching 3.2 per cent and underlying inflation up to 3.0 per cent for the September quarter.

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However, Hauser admitted there is a chance those price rises are temporary and may quickly ease off.

That would bring another rate cut back into play.

"Maybe there's more capacity today than the estimates suggest; maybe the outlook for demand is weaker (opening up a larger future margin of spare capacity); or maybe capacity pressures have only a weak effect on inflation," he said.

"On this view, the Australian economy still has ground to make up – and further policy easing may be necessary at some horizon."

If the economy is boxed in, Hauser warned, the only escape route would be through an increase in productivity, which has been slowing in Australia and almost all other developed economies in recent years.

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He said a pick-up will take not just time, but also an uptick in private investment.

"Here there is work to do," Hauser said. 

"Real business investment has been flat over the past 18 months, and capital expenditure intentions suggest little or no growth over the 2025/26 financial year. 

"And private investment, which also includes housing investment, remains well below its peak of the mining boom as a share of GDP."

The RBA's last interest rate decision of the year will be handed down on December 9.

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An NZTA audit in July uncovered false paperwork used in licence conversions.

Crews will use drones tonight to pinpoint lingering hotspots on the ground.

Incredible images have emerged from Hawaii this morning as the volcano Kilauea erupted yet again.

The footage showed huge plumes of lava pouring from its craters on Hawaii's Big Island.

Kilauea is one of the world's most active volcanoes, having erupted 36 times since December last year.

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Scientists have previously said they believe they are all part of the same eruption because magma has been following the same pathway to the surface.

Last month, a major eruption saw lava shoot 400 metres into the air, according to the US Geological Survey – higher than the Empire State Building.

Some people may see lava flows as destructive. But Huihui Kanahele-Mossman, the executive director of the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation, said lava is a natural resource that hardens into land and forms the foundation for everything on Hawaii Island.

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Kanahele-Mossman's nonprofit is named after her grandmother – the esteemed practitioner of Hawaiian language and culture.

The foundation's hula halau, or school, is celebrated for its mastery of a style of hula rooted in the stories of Pele and her sister, Hiʻiaka.

Kanahele-Mossman has visited the crater a few times since the eruption began. She initially watches in awe and reverence.

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But then she observes more details so she can go home and compare it to the lava in the centuries-old tales that her school performs.

While at the crater, she also delivers a chant prepared in advance and places offerings. Recently she presented awa, a drink made with kava, and a fern lei.

"You as the dancer, you are the storyteller and you carry that history that was written in those mele forward," she said, using the Hawaiian word for song.

"To be able to actually see that eruption that's described in the mele, that's always exciting to us and drives us and motivates us to stay in this tradition."

Reported with Associated Press.

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A pro-Palestine demonstrator has suspended himself from a giant tripod in Brisbane this morning.

The stunt is part of a small protest outside defence manufacturer Ferra Engineering in Tingalpa.

The warehouse has been the site of repeat protest action.

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"We are doing this to help save lives, we are doing this to reduce suffering," the man said in a video uploaded to Facebook.

"We are doing this because genocide is unconscionable.

"We are doing this because we can't stand idle while people are being killed."

Two others, who identified themselves as being from the Northern Rivers Friends of Palestine, appear to have locked themselves to a van.

Israel has vehemently denied accusations by leading scholars and international human rights groups that it is committing genocide in Gaza.

In the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war, Hamas-led militants killed some 1200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251.

In Israel's ensuing offensive, large swathes of Gaza have been levelled and most of the territory's more than two million people have been displaced.

More than 63,000 Palestinians have died, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, around half of whom were women and children.

A case against Israel is before the UN's highest court.

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When 15-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux realised an Associated Press photo of him at the Louvre on the day of the crown jewels heist had drawn millions of views, his first instinct was not to rush online and unmask himself.

Quite the opposite. A fan of fictional detectives Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot who lives with his parents and grandfather in Rambouillet, 30 kilometres from Paris, Pedro decided to play along with the world's suspense.

As theories swirled about the sharply dressed stranger in the "Fedora Man" shot – detective, insider, AI fake – he decided to stay silent and watch.

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"I didn't want to say immediately it was me," he said. "With this photo there is a mystery, so you have to make it last."

For his only in-person interview since that snap turned him into an international curiosity, he appeared for the AP cameras at his home much as he did that Sunday: in a fedora hat, Yves Saint Laurent waistcoat borrowed from his father, jacket chosen by his mother, neat tie, Tommy Hilfiger trousers and a restored, war-battered Russian watch.

The fedora, angled just so, is his homage to French Resistance hero Jean Moulin.

In person, he is a bright, amused teenager who wandered, by accident, into a global story.

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From photo to fame

The image that made him famous was meant to document a crime scene. Three police officers lean on a silver car blocking a Louvre entrance, hours after thieves carried out a daylight raid on French crown jewels.

To the right, a lone figure in a three-piece ensemble strides past – a flash of film noir in a modern-day manhunt.

The internet did the rest. "Fedora Man," as users dubbed him, was cast as an old-school detective, an inside man, a Netflix pitch – or not human at all. Many were convinced he was AI generated.

Pedro understood why. "In the photo, I'm dressed more in the 1940s, and we are in 2025," he said. "There is a contrast."

Even some relatives and friends hesitated until they spotted his mother in the background. Only then were they sure: The internet's favourite fake detective was a real boy.

The real story was simple. Pedro, his mother and grandfather had come to visit the Louvre.

"We wanted to go to the Louvre, but it was closed," he said. "We didn't know there was a heist."

They asked officers why the gates were shut. Seconds later, AP photographer Thibault Camus, documenting the security cordon, caught Pedro midstride.

"When the picture was taken, I didn't know," Pedro said. "I was just passing through."

Four days later, an acquaintance messaged: Is that you?

"She told me there were 5 million views," he said. "I was a bit surprised." Then his mother called to say he was in The New York Times. "It's not every day," he said. Cousins in Colombia, friends in Austria, family friends and classmates followed with screenshots and calls.

"People said, 'You've become a star,'" he said. "I was astonished that just with one photo you can become viral in a few days."

An inspired style

The look that jolted tens of millions is not a costume whipped up for a museum trip. Pedro began dressing this way less than a year ago, inspired by 20th-century history and black-and-white images of suited statesmen and fictional detectives.

"I like to be chic," he said. "I go to school like this."

In a sea of hoodies and sneakers, he shows up in a riff on a three-piece suit. And the hat? No, that's its own ritual. The fedora is reserved for weekends, holidays and museum visits.

He stayed silent for several days, then switched his Instagram from private to public.

"People had to try to find who I am," he said. "Then journalists came, and I told them my age. They were extremely surprised."

He is relaxed about whatever comes next. "I'm waiting for people to contact me for films," he said, grinning. "That would be very funny."

In a story of theft and security lapses, "Fedora Man" is a gentler counterpoint – a teenager who believes art, style and a good mystery belong to ordinary life. One photo turned him into a symbol. Meeting him confirms he is, reassuringly, real.

"I'm a star," he says — less brag than experiment, as if he's trying on the words the way he tries on a hat. "I'll keep dressing like this. It's my style."

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