TRANSCRIPT
- Further homes lost in a Victorian bushfire near Ballarat
- Donald Trump ordered to pay more money in a New York civil fraud case
- Doctors to monitor champion rider Peter Sagan as he chases Olympic selection in cross country.
The number of homes lost to a large bushfire in western Victoria has risen to three.
But that figure could rise even higher as assessment teams survey damage, which they can only do once areas become safe to enter.
The Country Fire Authority says the fire is moving in a northerly direction towards Elmhurst and Amphitheatre, located about 70 kilometres northwest of Ballarat.
But Chief Fire Officer Chris Hardman, from Forest Management Victoria, has told Channel 7 he hopes conditions will allow crews to check on the extent of damage.
"We are seeing an easing of the weather conditions. So that is good news for firefighters, and we hope to make really good progress today... And the fire ground, it's safer now for the impact assessment teams to go in. There are many other structures that have been destroyed, and we will be assessing those today."
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Four people have died in a horror road smash in northern New South Wales.
Police say the three men and one woman were killed when the car they were travelling in left the roadway and rolled at Wardell, a village in the northern rivers region near Ballina.
Specialist officers from the Crash Investigation Unit are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
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Former US President Donald Trump has been ordered by a New York judge to pay more than US$454 million after being found liable for manipulating his net worth, in a civil fraud case brought by New York state's attorney-general.
The payment includes the US$354.9 million penalty that Justice Arthur Engoron of the state court in Manhattan ordered on February 16, plus interest, following a non-jury trial that stretched over three months.
Attorney-General Letitia James accused the defendants of illegally overstating the value of Trump's properties in order to inflate his net worth and obtain better loan and insurance terms.
The Republican former president also faces four unrelated criminal prosecutions, in which he has pleaded not guilty, as he seeks to regain the White House from Democrat Joe Biden in November.
These supporters at a South Carolina election rally remain undeterred by the prosecutions, saying they still believe in the former president.
Woman 1: "I think he always comes out smelling like rose and he'll win all these judgements and stuff against him. I think he's just playing along with it to get through it, you know and he'll prevail."
Woman 2: ""Well, I think that you can still be president in jail, actually."
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The Spanish city of Valencia has decreed three days of mourning following a deadly fire that has killed ten people.
Local football matches have also been cancelled, along with the start of the city's month-long, annual "Fallas" festival which features the torching of large cardboard statues and a firework display.
Mayor Maria Jose Catala says 131 temporary homes are being prepared for the surviving residents of the destroyed apartment complex.
Residents have also been supporting the survivors in other ways.
This taxi driver says many people are keen to contribute to a clothing and food drive for those who have lost all their belongings in the fire.
“We are taxi drivers. We organised us to collect money and we went to the supermarket to buy everything they asked for. Hygiene products, underwear for all."
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A rally is being held outside the Russian embassy in Australia today to mark the second anniversary of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Supporters of Ukraine are being joined at the embassy in Canberra by independent senator David Pocock and ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury.
Senator Pocock says the international community needs to exert maximum pressure on Russia to end the conflict, while providing all possible support to Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has released a statement saying Australia is doing just that.
She says new financial sanctions and travel bans have been imposed today on 55 people.
The Minister says the new sanctions target those involved in Russia’s deportation of Ukrainian children from regions under temporary Russian control.
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To sport, and in cycling news, three-time world road champion Peter Sagan has undergone a procedure in hospital to check his heart after falling ill during a recent mountain bike race in Spain.
A medical report from the Marche University Hospital says an internal electrophysiological study has been carried out, and an event recorder implanted under his skin to allow doctors to monitor the athlete in the future.
The procedure follows Sagan's experience of a tachycardic episode during a recent mountain bike race in Spain.
The 34 year old Slovakian rider retired from road cycling last year but is still focused on qualifying for the Paris Olympics in the cross country event.
