TRANSCRIPT
- Firefighters face challenging conditions as they battle two blazes in Perth.
- The US says the seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker targeted leader Nicolas Maduro
- Fans outraged by the cost of tickets to next year's FIFA World Cup final
Gusty winds are challenging firefighters as they battle two bushfires threatening residents and homes in Perth.
Warnings for fires at Bullsbrook and Upper Swan in Perth's north-west and and Kenwick in the city's south have been downgraded to watch and act, but the fire service warns the threat remains and conditions are changing.
WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services Regional Superintendent Peter Norman gave an update on Kenwick fire in the southeast last night.
“The cause is unknown at this stage, but being investigated. We have air support was mobilised, and fire crews all on scene within 10 minutes. With the increased wind activity today, that has moved very quickly in a northeast direction. It's now some 93 hectares in size, bounded pretty much by Welshpool Road, Roe Highway and Tonkin Highway. Extremely good effort from the firefighters, air support during the day, has kept the fire within that area and our objectives.”
Dozens of smaller fires, the majority around Perth, are burning across WA, with total fire bans in place across the state.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is holding urgent talks with leaders and officials from about 30 countries that are supporting Kyiv's effort to obtain fair terms for an end to the war with Russia.
Zelenskyy indicated the talks on Thursday, were hastily arranged as Kyiv scrambles to avoid getting boxed in by US President Donald Trump's demands for a swift settlement.
Mr Zelenskyy proposes Ukrainians vote on whether to concede disputed territory, as Ukraine presented the US revised proposals to end the war with Russia.
European governments are trying to help steer the peace negotiations because they say their own security is at stake.
The United States says the seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker targeted leader Nicolas Maduro.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says it was an operation pushing back on a regime that she says was systematically covering and flooding the US with deadly drugs.
The dramatic raid saw US forces fast-rope out of a helicopter onto the massive vessel, which the United States says was part of an illegal network that smuggled sanctioned crude oil.
But some US politicians are concerned that open conflict may be the next stage.
Virginian Democrat senator Tim Kaine says the US shouldn't go to war without a vote in Congress,
"It is an escalation and it you know, continues to demonstrate Congress needs to take this up. We haven't had a single public hearing either in foreign relations or armed services."
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has appeared in Oslo just hours after the ceremony where she was due to receive her Nobel Peace Prize.
After travelling in defiance of a decade-long ban, she embraced well-wishers outside her hotel, and vowed to try and return to Venezuela to continue her work.
Ms Machado has been in hiding for over a year.
After arriving in Oslo, she shared her joy at being reunited with her family - who live in exile - during an interview with the BBC.
“Very profound sentiment, suddenly, in a matter of few hours, to be able to see the people I love most, and their eyes and touch them and cry together and pray together, and then I had a chance to meet also with hundreds of Venezuelan people that are outside hotel, and to feel that, you know, warmth again after such a long time. You know it's the reason why I do what I do, it's because I trust the people.”
More than 700,000 hectares of land on the Tiwi Islands has been added to Australia’s national parks and reserves system in a major milestone for Traditional Owners.
The government says the new Indigenous Protected Area is expected to benefit the environment and local communities through education and employment pathways.
It’s the 93rd national Indigenous Protected Area, and supports a Commonwealth goal to conserve 30 per cent of Australia’s landmass by 2030.
The price of the cheapest tickets to see next year's FIFA World Cup final has increased almost sevenfold compared to the last competition, held in Qatar.
The cheapest tickets for the 'supporter value tier' at the MetLife stadium in New Jersey in the United States will cost more than $6000.
The lowest priced tickets in Qatar were just over $900.
Supporters premium tier tickets will cost just short of $10,000.
The European fans' organisation Football Supporters Europe has told the BBC the pricing for the North American tournament is extortionate, and ignores the contribution that fans make to the spectacle of the World Cup.
They are demanding that ticket sales be halted immediately.
