Man charged in Bondi after bomb disposal team called in | Midday News Bulletin 12 January 2026

SBS NEWS OK AUDIO 16X9 DAY.png

Source: SBS News

Man charged in Bondi after bomb disposal team called in; Damage assessments underway after a week of bushfires in Victoria; Donald Trump threatens to cut off Venezuelan oil to Cuba; And in cycling, Patrick Eddy celebrates winning the men's elite Australian road race title.


Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts.

In this bulletin;
  • Man charged in Bondi after bomb disposal team called in;
  • Damage assessments underway after a week of bushfires in Victoria;
  • Donald Trump threatens to cut off Venezuelan oil to Cuba; And in cycling, Patrick Eddy celebrates winning the men's elite Australian road race title.

Police have charged a 33-year-old man with offensive conduct, after he allegedly wore a vest covered with duct-taped objects in Bondi.

The man was arrested overnight, after police were called to an apparent bomb threat in the suburb.

Officers from the bomb disposal unit searched the area and vests and deemed them safe, with the incident coming just hours after thousands of people attended a vigil for victims of a mass shooting in Bondi in December.

The Victorian man is accused of behaving offensively and police allege he had a second taped vest in a nearby vehicle.



Two major Victorian bushfires are expected to burn for weeks, including the Longwood blaze in the state's north.

Cooler conditions could offer some relief to firefighting efforts, but for many small communities, the damage has already been done.

At least 390,000 hectares of Victoria have been burnt and 300 structures damaged.

The damage to property and livestock is expected to increase as further assessments are carried out.

Local resident Wendy says it has been devastating to see the damage.

"To just see people's houses demolished from fire - brick houses are no longer standing. Bricked up, you know. Yeah, the force behind the fire to do that damage."

Police have confirmed the first death in the fire zone, in an area affected by the Longwood blaze, with the body found 100 metres from a car.

The remains are yet to be formally identified.

The Liberal Member for Northern Victoria Region, Wendy Lovell, says the man was a member of the Harcourt community and his family are alive and safe.



Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has rejected Donald Trump's threat to make a deal or suffer the consequences.

In a statement on social media, the US President announced there would be no more Venezuelan oil or money going to Cuba unless a deal is struck, although he did not further specify what form the deal should take.

Cuba relies on imported crude and fuel mainly provided by Venezuela, and Mexico in smaller volumes, purchased on the open market to keep its power generators and vehicles running.

In Cuba's capital, Havana, resident Paola Perez says blocking Venezuelan oil would have a very negative impact.

"He knows perfectly well that he has to find a solution, because he can't just take over Cuba like that. And if he went down that route with Venezuela, it's because there were shady things going on, but we're not to blame for any of that. Cuba is Cuba, and Venezuela... they're totally different, and yes, we will be quite affected, quite a lot."



Human rights groups have expressed concerns over the large number of protesters killed in Iran.

The US-based rights group Human Rights Activists News Agency says it has verified the deaths of 490 protesters and 48 security personnel over the last fortnight since protests erupted.

Authorities cut off internet access and telephone lines on Thursday, but the protests have continued.

The deputy director at Human Rights Activists News Agency, Skylar Thompson, says the escalation in tactics used to repress protesters is something that they're monitoring closely.

"It's always a concern when we see that initial full internet shutdown, because what happens is we start to see increased violence. We start to see things happening behind this veil of sort of secrecy and it's usually an indicator for us that analyse from the outside that this is when the regime intends to really start their crackdown. And that is evident in the last couple of days when the internet was shut down and connectivity was restricted with the outside world. We began to see increased violence, and I think there's always a connection there."

Iranian authorities say they are acting to deal with economic pressures that first sparked the protests, but condemned those they labelled rioters, saying they have been fomenting trouble after incitement from the US and Israel.



To sport now and in cycling,

Patrick Eddy has taken the Australian men's road race title, at the Australian National Road Cycling Championships.

The 23 year-old overtook race favourite Luke Plapp in a dramatic race to the finish line, marking a return to form after a few rough years that saw him dropped from his previous team.

It is his first win in six years.

Eddy expressed his own shock over the result in Western Australia.

"Pretty much have won nothing since I won the junior nationals and sort of lost myself as a rider the last few years and (I) just saw this as an opportunity for racing aggressively, having fun and full credit to Tim Decker and Bill Moffatt and everyone from Brennan."

Mackenzie Coupland took out the women's road race title, with the 20 year-old blitzing her first season as a WorldTour cyclist.

Share

Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world