TRANSCRIPT
- Russia launches its biggest aerial assaults since the start of the war on Ukraine
- Thousands of homes without power across southeast Queensland following storms
- A damaged Sydney to Hobart yacht towed by police to safety
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Kyiv residents fled to an underground station as Russia launched what has been described as the biggest aerial barrage of the war.
At least 31 civilians have been killed across the country, after Russia launched 122 missiles and dozens of drones against Ukrainian targets.
At least 144 people were injured and an unknown number were buried under rubble during the roughly 18-hour onslaught.
Thirty-eight year-old Olha had just returned to Ukraine from abroad.
"Never before in my life have I felt the explosions. I came back to Ukraine from abroad. I’d never been in Ukraine during the war and it’s a first massive attack for me."
**
More than 30,000 homes across southeast Queensland continued to be without power on Friday afternoon as the region is hit with a heatwave.
The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting more severe storms in southeast Queensland from Saturday, warning residents of destructive winds, giant hail and intense rainfall.
This raises concern for an already challenging recovery in the area.
State Emergency Services operator Glenn Alderton told Channel Nine it will be a few weeks of work for the emergency crews but the rebuilding of the power network is expected to take longer.
He says New South Wales and Victoria SES will be arriving to assist with the cleanup.
"You know with the storm today, we'll just play that by ear. We'll send teams out into the field once again this morning to those higher up priority jobs. We've got to remember the SES are volunteers, as well as the rural fire service volunteers around. So it's very heartening that we have such good quality people in our organisation that will give up their Christmas with their families to help others in need."
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Additional surf lifesavers have been brought in from Sydney to Newcastle, following three drownings in just four weeks.
This comes as seven people were rescued from a rip at Birubi beach north of Newcastle, following an emergency call around 7pm on Friday night.
CEO of Surf Lifesaving New South Wales Steven Pearce told Channel Nine these incidents reiterate the importance of following safety measures at the beach.
"The safety message is really you have to find a place where you see lifesavers and lifeguards on duty. Along the New South Wales coastline in particular we've had six drownings just since Christmas Day. Now every one of those drownings have been at an unpatrolled location where there's been no red and yellow flags or no lifesavers or lifeguards. So the key message is particularly coming into New Years, you need to find a beach where there is adequate supervision."
Two people have drowned in 11 days along the Stockton sand dunes coastline, which includes Birubi Beach.
Police said a 33-year-old man drowned at an unpatrolled section of beach at nearby Anna Bay when four people got into trouble in the water.
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More than $36 million in Covid-19 infringements were withdrawn this year by the New South Wales fines commissioner following a landmark Supreme Court ruling.
In a landmark ruling in November 2022, Justice Dina Yehia said the fines were not valid because they did not include a sufficiently detailed description of the offences.
Following this ruling, the NSW Commissioner of Fines Administration withdrew four types of public health order fines.
These included unlawfully participating in an outdoor public gathering and failing to comply with the requirement of public health order.
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Australians lost hundreds of millions of dollars to scammers this year, as experts warn of further safety threats with the rise of artificial intelligence.
Technology expert Trevor Long told Channel Nine that the various leaks and hacks in 2022 gave scammers more data to exploit in 2023, with more contacts and information about people available, alongside the use of artificial intelligence.
He says website scam watch found phishing was the most popular type of scam, where you receive a text or email falsely claiming to be a business, but the greatest losses occurred with investment scams.
"Unfortunately it's going to get harder to detect them in 2024 because of AI. So if you can imagine that my advice a year ago was just to read the email closely and you'll notice it's not perfect English. Well now a scammer can out their message through AI and it will come out perfect English. Plus AI in the year ahead is going to absolutely exploit voice and vision."
**
And in sport,
A retired and damaged Sydney to Hobart yacht has been towed by police to safety as a host of competitors cross the finish line after days at sea.
More than a dozen boats arrived at Hobart's Constitution Dock on Friday night, with more than 50 boats still sailing this morning.
Tasmanian yacht Alive, which finished on Thursday, was crowned overall winner on handicap for the second time.
Gunshot, a 52-footer skippered by NSW's David Walsh, was towed by police on Friday night after earlier retiring due to mainsail damage.
Supermaxi LawConnect claimed first-past-the-post line honours on Thursday morning in the second closest finish in Sydney to Hobart history.
