October was the busiest month on record for Victoria's State Emergency Service, with almost 13,700 calls for help amidst the worsening flood crisis.
This exceeds the organisation's previous record of over 10 thousand calls in the month of June.
S-E-S Chief Operations Officer Tim Wiebusch warned that the state's flood emergency was far from over, with more rainfall expected in the coming six to eight weeks.
"This flood emergency is far from over. The flood risk still remains for many parts of our state with flood watches out for most parts of Victoria at this time. We still have water storages that are at capacity."
The New South Wales Government says it won't be giving special treatment to the rail, tram and bus union.
Minister for Employee Relations Damien Tudehope made the comments after the latest breakdown in negotiations over pay and modfications to the intercity fleet.
"We are the employer not only of people who run our trains but of nurses, we are the employer of police officers, we are the employer of teachers and we have a consistent wage policy which applies across the board. We cannot engage in a process where we give preferential treament to this union."
Alex Claassens from the rain union says this latest development means more industrial action is likely in a fortnight.
"We are where we are, as always, we are very disappointed to have to potentially disrupt our commuters yet again but unfortunately you've got an arrogant government that refuses to come to the table and negotiate in good faith."
A man has poured 1,000 litres of sludge across Flemington Racecourse.
The individual who claims to have carried out the attack identifies as a problem gambler who was protesting against the "toxic" racing industry.
The climate activist group Extinction Rebellion has shared video footage of the incident.
Racing Victoria made quick repairs to the track and it was considered safe for racing.
The United Nations, Turkey and Ukraine will work to implement a Black Sea grain deal with a transit plan in place for 16 ships despite Russia's decision to end its participation.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin alleges Ukraine used a safety corridor in the Black Sea to conduct a drone attack on its fleet.
"Those drones, both undersea and air drones, happened to be partly in the corridor to which the grain from Ukraine is exported. They created risks both for our ships which should provide security for the grain export and for civilian ships which they're escorting. We committed to provide security and if Ukraine hits those ships, we will be the ones who will be blamed."
The UN says there were no ships inside the corridor that night.
Visitors to Shanghai Disneyland have been told they are not able to leave the theme park until they return a negative COVID result.
The park has been closed because of concerns about COVID.
Shanghai Disneyland will re-open on Saturday at reduced capacity to comply with COVID-19 measures.
Italy's new right wing government is confronting controversy with the lifting of coronavirus vaccination requirements for health workers, and the appointment of a junior minister who is known for wearing a Nazi armband.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says those suspended from work in hospitals and nursing homes until December 31 because they had refused the shot would be immediately reinstated.
Meloni has accused her predecessors, Draghi and Giuseppe Conte, of taking an "ideological" approach to COVID, saying she would do things differently.
But it is the naming of Galeazzo Bignami, the leader of the rightist Brothers of Italy party, as junior infrastructure minister that is causing outrage.
A newspaper published a picture of him in 2016 wearing a Nazi swastika on his left arm, but the 47 year old says he was wearing the red armband as a joke and the pictures had been taken 10 years earlier during his bachelor party.
