Total fire ban declared for parts of Vic

A total fire ban has been declared for parts of Victoria as temperatures soar to the mid-40s. Source: AAP

A TOTAL fire ban has been declared for parts of Victoria as temperatures soar to the mid-40s.

The Country Fire Authority (CFA) has declared the ban on Sunday for the central, north central and south west districts.

The CFA is also advising people living in areas at risk of fire to activate their bushfire plans.

A number of advice warnings are in place for fires across the state, with the most concerning being a large bushfire in the Gippsland region of Goongerah.

A watch and act message has been issued for the fast-travelling blaze, which is not yet under control.

The CFA warns it could hit the area between Bonang and Goongerah on Sunday.

Temperatures are forecast to reach 45C in the Mallee region in the state's northwest on Sunday, while temperatures will hit 44C in the Wimmera and 43C in the northern country and north central regions.

Melbourne is forecast to reach 39C.

Temperatures in parts of the state are expected to remain into the 40s on Monday before cooling into the 30s on Tuesday.

23.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Knox's judge explains guilty verdict

THE judge who presided over Amanda Knox's second murder conviction says he suffered over the verdict but that he and the jury agreed about her guilt in the death of British student Meredith Kercher.

Judge Alessandro Nencini said he agreed to be interviewed by Corriere della Sera for Saturday's editions because he knew the sentence would create a media storm.

Nencini said the jury had come up with a motive that would be explained in the written explanation of the verdict, expected within three months.

But he hinted at the conclusion, saying that up until 8.15pm on the night of the murder, Knox and her now ex-boyfriend had other plans but that something changed.

He told Corriere: "If Amanda had gone to work, probably we wouldn't be here."

23.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man's body found in burnt shed in NSW

A MAN'S body has been found after a shed fire on NSW's Central Coast.

The 63-year-old's body was discovered inside the shed after Fire & Rescue NSW officers extinguished the blaze behind a home on Panorama Avenue at Charmhaven after 5pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

A crime scene has been established and is being examined by forensic officers.

23.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Conditions ease as SA sees property loss

TWELVE homes have been lost in South Australia as thousands of hectares lay scorched across the state.

But easing weather conditions have enabled firefighters to gain the upper hand on a large blaze in the Eden Valley on Saturday night.

Residents of the small town of Truro were issued an emergency warning on Saturday afternoon, as the large fire made a run towards the Sturt Highway.

The SA Country Fire Service (CFS) warned that the blaze, which has burnt through more than 22,500 hectares since Friday, was putting lives and homes at risk.

But by about 8pm (CST) the CFS had downgraded the alert to a watch and act.

However, the CFS said weather conditions were erratic, so people should remain vigilant.

The downgrade came after about 160 firefighters were supported by nine aircraft at the fire throughout Saturday, a CFS spokesman told AAP.

The fire was one of five out-of-control blazes in the state.

Also of concern was a fire at Bangor in the southern Flinders Ranges, where the CFS said conditions were continually changing.

A watch and act alert was issued in the afternoon, with residents urged not to return to the area until advised.

But the CFS spokesman said crews had experienced a "pretty reasonable day", with milder conditions allowing firefighters to get the better of some blazes.

"We have had a day where we have been able to consolidate a lot of fires and nothing new has kicked off."

Five homes have been lost in the Bangor blaze, with two destroyed in the Billiat park region and five lost in Eden Valley.

However, the CFS said the number could increase as damage assessment crews were deployed.

There has been substantial stock losses.

Premier Jay Weatherill said it would be an achievement if the state came through the fires without loss of life or substantial property loss.

For those who have been affected, disaster relief assistance would be made available.

"For those people who have lost their homes and other property including livestock, this will be devastating," Mr Weatherill said in a statement on Saturday.

"We will respond to each and every one of those families to make sure that they have the support they need to be able to cope with the losses that they've suffered."

CFS assistant chief officer Rob Sandford said while firefighters had gained the upper hand, he called on people to remain on alert.

"Anywhere where we have had a fire in the last seven days, people need to be vigilant because whilst the threat may have reduced with the cooler temperatures, the wind is still reasonably strong and gusty," he told the ABC.

23.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

UK pollie blames gay marriage for floods

A UK Independence Party (Ukip) councillor has blamed recent storms and floods on the British government's decision to legalise gay marriage.

David Silvester, who defected from the Tories in protest at David Cameron's support for same-sex unions, claimed he had warned the Prime Minister that the legislation would result in "disasters".

The Henley-on-Thames councillor said that the country had been "beset by storms" since the passage of the new law on gay marriage because Mr Cameron had acted "arrogantly against the Gospel".

In a letter to the Henley Standard he wrote: "The scriptures make it abundantly clear that a Christian nation that abandons its faith and acts contrary to the Gospel (and in naked breach of a coronation oath) will be beset by natural disasters such as storms, disease, pestilence and war.

"I wrote to David Cameron in April 2012 to warn him that disasters would accompany the passage of his same-sex marriage bill.

"But he went ahead despite a 600,000-signature petition by concerned Christians and more than half of his own parliamentary party saying that he should not do so."

Blaming the prime minister for the bad weather, he added: "It is his fault that large swathes of the nation have been afflicted by storms and floods.

"He has arrogantly acted against the Gospel that once made Britain 'great' and the lesson surely to be learned is that no man or men, however powerful, can mess with Almighty God with impunity and get away with it for everything a nation does is weighed on the scaled of divine approval or disapproval."

Ukip said the views expressed by Mr Silvester were "not the party's belief" but defended his right to state his opinions.

23.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Vic fares 'well' in bushfire emergency

VICTORIA has done "reasonably well" during the major bushfire emergency that gripped the state during the past few days, authorities say.

More than 100,000 hectares have burnt across the state in conditions described as the worst since Black Saturday.

Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley says the impact of the fires was "not a bad result", given the conditions.

"You can see that in some respects we've had big fires - 100,000 hectares burnt in a matter of basically two days - but you would think that we've done reasonably well," he told reporters.

The main fires are raging in the Grampians in the east, the Mallee in the northwest and Gippsland but all emergency warnings have been downgraded.

Four homes have been recorded lost to fire that burnt through more than 51,000 hectares in the northern end of the Grampians National Park and claimed one life.

Numerous sheds and many kilometres of fencing were destroyed, and up to 7500 sheep were affected, most of which will have to be put down.

Authorities say a woman whose body was found at her Roses Gap property on Friday morning died as a result of a medical issue.

The tourist village of Halls Gap was saved from the fire's path on Friday by an earlier-than-expected wind change.

Some homes were lost in the small town of Brimpaen, while two properties near Dadswells Bridge have also been affected.

The Grampians fire caused building damage at the Troopers Creek Tavern and the Happy Wanderers Holiday Resort at Wartook.

While conditions cool after a four-day heatwave, authorities say the firefighting effort will continue for days.

Crews are still battling fires in the Mallee region and in Gippsland, but authorities no longer believe the more than 30 fires raging out of control there will merge to form a 500,000-hectare inferno.

23.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Turkmenistan to make people pay for gas

THE president of Turkmenistan says his government will begin installing gas meters in households, ending the unlimited supply of free gas to citizens in the energy-rich Central Asian nation.

President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov said during a televised address on Saturday that the government hoped the meters would encourage people to consume energy in a more "economical" way.

The nation is estimated to have the world's fourth-largest natural gas reserves, and gas, electricity and water have been supplied free to households since 1993.

When Berdymukhamedov became president in 2006, he pledged to extend that policy until 2030.

He has ruled with an iron fist, allowing no dissent or independent media in the predominantly Muslim nation of five million.

23.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

US peace envoy back in Belfast for talks

AMERICAN envoy Richard Haass has returned to Belfast for a second attempt at quelling simmering disputes in Northern Ireland.

Haass, a former U.S. diplomat, was called in by the province's power sharing government to help resolve lingering disputes over flags, parades, and how to deal with the legacy of Northern Ireland's conflict.

All three issues have repeatedly tested the province's two-decade peace process, a series of agreements aimed at reconciling Northern Ireland's pro-British Protestants and pro-Irish Catholics after decades of bloodshed.

Haass failed to bring the parties to an agreement before Christmas, but saw enough potential to return for a second try.

In a Twitter message on Saturday, he said a "real opportunity for progress exists".

23.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Zimbabwe ambassador goes into hiding

Zimbabwe's ambassador to Australia has gone into hiding after applying for a protection visa.

Jacqueline Zwambila was due to return home on Tuesday but instead appealed to the Australian government claiming her life would be in danger if she returned home.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says he will judge her request for asylum on its merits.

Ms Zwambila is aligned to Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.

She said she knew it meant the end of her term when Robert Mugabe won elections earlier this year.

89-year-old Mr Mugabe has called on his opponents to accept defeat or commit suicide, telling the New York Times that "even dogs will not sniff at their flesh if they choose to die that way".

23.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Astronauts begin urgent space repairs

ASTRONAUTS have stepped out on the first of a series of urgent repair spacewalks at the International Space Station.

The two Americans on the crew floated outside on Saturday morning.

They will disconnect an ammonia pump that contains a bad valve.

The breakdown has crippled the space station's critical cooling system.

The pump replacement is a huge undertaking, attempted only once before, in 2010.

NASA has ordered up three spacewalks to complete the job, with the next to begin on Monday.

Astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins will go back out again Christmas Day, if any work remains.

The six-man crew had to turn off all non-essential equipment inside the orbiting lab following the malfunction on December 11, when scientific research came to a near-halt.

23.15 | 0 komentar | Read More