TRANSCRIPT:
- Bushfires continue to burn through New South Wales
- Former Australian Eurovision star joins calls for SBS to boycott Eurovision
- Lando Norris crowned Formula One's world champion ahead of Oscar Piastri
The fires along New South Wales' Central Coast have eased, but emergency authorities are warning of more intense bushfires in the upcoming summer season.
Around 76 bush and grass fires were burning in New South Wales over the weekend, following an extreme heatwave.
In Koolewong in the Central Coast, out of control fires destroyed 16 homes, while another four were destroyed at Bulahdelah on the Mid North coast.
Over 250 firefighters, 50 trucks and nine aircraft were deployed to battle the Koolewong blaze at its peak.
Richard Brown Barrison, a Point Clare resident in the Central Coast, told SBS News he feels helpless watching neighbours being affected by the fires.
"You feel helpless. I mean the first responders, firies, police, ambulance, marine rescue, everyone involved, they are doing a great job. You want to come down and sort of help but you are not a professional, but you would offer up your house for anyone because we all go to the local cafes, we all hang out in the local places, everyone know somebody who's been affected by this."
**
The Coalition is calling for an independent review into communication minister Anika Wells' spending after details emerged of her $100,000 trip to New York.
The minister first came under fire when details emerged of the trip promoting the upcoming social media age ban, with details now being revealed about trips she took to Paris, Thredbo and Adelaide.
Ms Wells, who is also the sports minister, reportedly took three trips to Paris in 12 months at a cost of $116,000 for events like the Paris Olympics.
Ms Wells maintains the expenses were all within the guidelines.
Liberal Senator James Paterson says such expenses during a cost of living crisis are not a good look for the government.
"Every single one of those expenses came at taxpayers expense, and Annika Wells is a minister who's failed the kitchen table test. She's a minister who's not just out of touch with Australians, but she's out of touch with reality. We heard from the minister on Sky this morning that all of her expenditure is within the rules and within the guidelines, but actually we don't know that that's the case, because none of this has been referred to any independent body for assessment."
**
A fire at a popular nightclub in in the Indian tourist hotspot of Goa has killed 25 people.
Police believe the fire at Birch's Nightclub was started by indoor fireworks.
Twenty-one members of staff died, and four members of the public, all from the same Delhi family.
Another six people are in hospital, described as stable.
Goa State Chief Pramod Sawant says police have arrested four people, including the nightclub's manager, and have issued an arrest warrant for the venue's owner.
"We will look into whether or not the fire safety norms and building construction norms were followed. Arrest warrants have been issued against the club owners. Managers and others have already been arrested. After the magisterial inquiry whoever is found guilty will be put behind bars."
In a post on social media, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the fire "deeply saddening".
**
Former Australian Eurovision contestant Montaigne has joined calls for SBS to boycott the European song contest after Israel was permitted to compete.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the SBS office in Melbourne on Sunday to call on SBS to follow countries like Ireland, Slovenia, Spain and the Netherlands by boycotting the contest.
With the United Nations commission inquiry finding in September that Israel has committed a genocide in Gaza, Israel's continued participation in international events has drawn condemnation.
Israel has repeatedly denied it is committing genocide in Gaza.
Protesters say the same standards should be applied to Israel as were to Russia, which has been banned from entering the contest since its invasion of Ukraine.
"We are here to demand that the SBS not broadcast the Eurovision and not continue to normalise a genocidal state that has been violating international law for over 77 years."
In a statement, SBS says the broadcaster "respects the right for people to express their views peacefully and respectfully" but says "participation in and coverage of Eurovision will continue in 2026."
**
In sports, McLaren's Lando Norris has celebrated his first Formula One championship and ended Max Verstappen's four-year reign with a third place finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Verstappen, winner of more races ((eight)) than any driver this year, triumphed in the season-ender with McLaren's Oscar Piastri coming second.
Norris, who became Britain's 11th Formula One world champion, ended the season with 423 points to Verstappen's 421 and Piastri's 410.
Lando Norris's race engineer, Will Joseph, says it is a result the whole team is proud of.
"We wrote a document, which was how we were going to approach things, what we were going to do, what we wanted to see in Lando. And over the years, you start ticking them off. Right, we've done that one. Still a bit to work on here. There are opportunities here. And each year, you kind of go through that and get better and better - up to the point now where Lando is leading us. And he is more demanding of us. And the tables turn. It's really strong. At the beginning, we pushed him and now he pushes us. We go away and work hard and come back and we counter. So it just develops. And we just get stronger and stronger."
