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Two teenagers have died after an accident at a waterfall on the Sunshine Coast.
Queensland Police say a 17-year-old girl fell off the waterfall at Wappa Falls on Sunday.
A 17-year-old boy then jumped into the water to help her when she did not resurface.
Wappa Falls remains closed while police conduct their investigation.
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Police in New South Wales are investigating the appearance of racist and anti-Arab graffiti.
They say vandals sprayed anti-Arab slogans and referenced Israel and Palestine onto the wall of the Al Eman Supermarket in Wiley Park, which stocks many traditional Lebanese items.
Australian Palestine Advocacy Network President Nasser Mashni has called the graffiti "disgusting".
In response, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has declared that hate speech laws will be examined once state parliament returns.
"The initial spark is hate speech in our community. And our government is going to make a decision - a difficult decision but the right one, I believe - to strengthen hate speech laws in New South Wales. So that if someone is preaching hatred in the community. It doesn't manifest itself two or three months later in a firebombing or an attack or something worse."
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The first aid trucks from the World Food Program have crossed into Gaza from Egypt as the ceasefire takes effect.
The ceasefire deal requires 600 truckloads of humanitarian assistance to be allowed into Gaza every day.
50 of them must carry fuel, and 300 of them are allocated to the north, where conditions for civilians are particularly difficult.
World Food Program Country Director Antoine Renard says he hopes that they will be able to continue deliveries.
“You can see it behind me. We have now goods coming. We can make sure that 1.1 million people that are on food crisis can get the right assistance with the fact that now, no looting when we were coming from the crossing. We hope that in the next coming days, weeks, we will have the same security. Our staff will be safe. The population will be safe. They are able to go back to where they belong and we will be able to serve them and follow them with what needs to be a long lasting ceasefire.”
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Incoming U-S President Donald Trump has arrived in Washington ahead of his second inauguration.
His swearing in comes four years after famously giving a speech over the results of the 2020 election that precipitated the Capitol riots.
Some of his supporters are again angry - because they had paid thousands for flights and accommodations to witness the inauguration, only to be told the ceremony has been moved indoors and giant screens to show the service taken down.
There are also thousands of angry protesters in Washington planning demonstrations against Trump's return.
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A tropical cyclone has formed off the coast of Western Australia.
It's brought iron ore exports to a halt across much of the Pilbara, home to about 43 per cent of the global trade.
Dean Narramore from the Bureau of Meteorology says the storm - dubbed Tropical Cyclone Sean - is expected to remain offshore.
"Then it'll continue to move further away, thankfully, but continue to intensify as we move into the Monday time frame, and by Monday afternoon, we could have a category three system sitting well offshore, the WA coast, but still could see some heavy rain and strong and gusty winds through parts of the Pilbara coast."
The west coast warnings come as eastern states deal with the fallout from their own damaging storms and continuing rain.
In Queensland, heavy rain in the state's southeast has caused swollen damns to spill, while in New South Wales, emergency services have conducted several flood rescues around the north of the state.
The search also continues for a 53-year-old man whose car was swept off a causeway at Limpinwood near the NSW border with Queensland on Saturday.
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Pregnant women in Australia will soon have access to free vaccination against R-S-V.
Immunisations against the respiratory syncytal virus will be available to women who are between 28- to 36-weeks pregnant from February 3rd.
Health Minister Mark Butler has told Channel 9 the virus is the leading cause of hospitalisation for babies.
He says the government expects the vaccination program will cut admissions by around 10,000.
"We want them to consider doing that at the same time they will usually get the whooping cough vaccine. Those antibodies then pass through to the through the placenta to the fetus and the babies are born with antibodies that protect them for the first precious few months of their life."
