Category: Australasia

Rescuers in New Zealand were searching for several people, including at least one child, after a landslide tore through a popular holiday campsite as days of record-breaking rain and flooding continued to batter the country.
The landslide struck a campground at the base of Mount Maunganui on Thursday morning, overturning campervans, crushing tents, and hitting a toilet and shower block, according to emergency officials.
Rescue teams said they initially heard voices calling for help from beneath the rubble but had detected no further signs of life by late afternoon, as concerns grew about the stability of the hillside.
The landslide came after days of torrential rain linked to a tropical weather system, which has dumped extraordinary volumes of rain across large parts of the North Island.
New Zealand’s emergency management minister, Mark Mitchell, said parts of the east coast resembled “a war zone”, with helicopters deployed to rescue families trapped on rooftops and local states of em..

A 12-year-old mauled by a shark in Australia’s Sydney Harbour has been identified as Nico Antic, with a family friend saying the boy had suffered “devastating injuries”.
Antic was attacked on Sunday afternoon while swimming with friends near Shark Beach in Vaucluse, an affluent harbourside suburb in Sydney’s east.
The incident happened shortly after 4.20pm as the boys were jumping from rocks along the Hermitage Foreshore Walk, a popular coastal path.
Police believe a bull shark – a species known to inhabit murky, brackish waters – was responsible. The boy was bitten on both legs.
Antic was taken to Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick, where he remains in a critical condition.
On Wednesday morning, the hospital said it could not provide an update on his condition, the Guardian reported.
A GoFundMe appeal launched by Victor Piñeiro, who described himself as a close friend of the family, said the boy had suffered “devastating injuries”.
“Despite all efforts, this heartbreaking event ..

Donald Trump's flight to Switzerland was abruptly cut short on Tuesday evening, with Air Force One returning to Joint Base Andrews an hour after departure. The presidential aircraft turned back after its crew identified a “minor electrical issue” shortly after takeoff.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the decision was made “out of an abundance of caution.” A reporter on board noted that lights in the press cabin briefly failed, with passengers informed of the turnaround roughly half an hour into the flight.
Trump was on his way to Davos, Switzerland, and is likely to use the World Economic Forum to escalate his push for acquiring Greenland despite European protests in the biggest fraying of transatlantic ties in decades.
Trump boarded another aircraft, an Air Force C-32, a modified Boeing 757 normally used by the president for domestic trips to smaller airports, and continued on with his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos shortly after midnight.
The tw..

Australia has closed dozens of beaches and urged people to stay out of the ocean after a fourth shark attack was reported within 48 hours.
The latest incident took place on Tuesday morning near Point Plomer, in New South Wales’s (NSW) mid-north coast, where a 39-year-old surfer was bitten by a shark while surfing near a national park campground.
The man was taken to the hospital in a stable condition with minor injuries, according to the local health district.
The latest attack followed a series of shark incidents across Sydney and its surrounding coastline since Sunday, prompting police, lifeguards, and marine authorities to warn that ocean conditions remain dangerous after days of heavy rain.
Steven Pearce, the chief executive of Surf Life Saving NSW, an organisation that promotes safe coastal enjoyment in NSW and the Australian Capital Territory, said the water quality along much of the coast was currently unsafe and urged people to avoid swimming altogether.
“If anyone’s thinking o..