An Adelaide man has drowned at a Bali beach while on his honeymoon. Jacob Vennix was swept out to sea while swimming at an estuary at Pasut Beach off Bali’s western coast. His new wife Kimberley Fuller made desperate attempts to save him before asking locals for help. Choppy conditions are said to have hampered rescue efforts.

New Year’s Eve celebrations in multiple UK cities have been cancelled due to bad weather. Heavy rain and strong winds have seen multiple weather warnings come into effect. “The weather is likely to cause some disruption, certainly over the next few days,” UK Met Office meteorologist Alex Deakin said.

The world chess number one has returned to a major competition after sensationally quitting when he was asked to change his pants. Magnus Carlsen withdrew from the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships when the governing body barred him from wearing jeans. The International Chess Federation has now relaxed its dress code.

President-elect Donald Trump has spoken out amid a row over the H-1B visas for foreign tech industry workers which has angered the MAGA base. “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favour of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Mr Trump told the New York Post. “I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program.”

The US Treasury claims it’s been hacked by Chinese state-sponsored hackers. It’s alleged the hackers managed to gain access with a key used by a third party, which enabled them to remotely use staff computers and access unclassified documents. The department has declared the breach a “major incident” and is working with other agencies to investigate if anything else was impacted.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has released his New Year's Eve message to all Australians, using the opportunity to wish people well for 2025 while also making his pitch to voters to get the country back on track ahead of the federal election. Mr Dutton spoke of the year ahead saying "2025 is, of course, a federal election year, and Australia will exercise the greatest gift democracy affords." "The privilege of determining the future of our great country."

US President-elect Donald Trump has endorsed Mike Johnson to continue his job as Speaker of the House. Lawmakers will vote on who they want to hold the powerful position on Friday. When Congress returns to Washington, it must select the pivotal role of the new House speaker before conducting any other business, including certifying the Electoral College votes.

A Wisconsin man is planning to run seven marathons in seven days as part of a world challenge. In January, Dennis Beggs will be competing in the World Marathon Challenge in honour of his late mother. Mr Beggs started his running journey at age 55 and completed six major marathons in under a year.

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has hit out at the Labor Party following a now-deleted social post by the Victorian branch targeting Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and his wife Kirilly. “The Australian Labor Party is just still in full desperation mode – I mean, this cowardly attack on a politician’s wife reveals a lot more about the Labor Party than it does about Peter Dutton, his family, or the Opposition,” Mr Canavan told Sky News Australia. “The Labor Party clearly have nothing to tell the Australian people in 2025, just as they had no solutions in 2024, so all they have to resort to is this type of gutter political attacks which should be beyond any kind of respectable prime minister in this country.” This comes after Mr Dutton hit back following the social media post, asking the Prime Minister to respect his wife and promising to not target Anthony Albanese’s fiance. Mr Albanese has ordered the Victorian Labor Party’s social media post to be removed.

Commander of the NSW Police Force Major Events Group Superintendent Anthony Bell claims New Year’s Eve is the “largest” single-day operation for the state’s police with over 2500 officers expected to be deployed. NSW Police are warning would-be troublemakers of a massive police presence at Sydney’s New Year’s Eve celebrations. It’s the force’s biggest operation of the year across the state as officers prepare to crack down on bad behaviour. “The police presence will be significant – this is our largest single-day operation for New South Wales Police,” Mr Bell told Sky News Australia. “Over two and a half thousand police in addition to first response will be deployed.”

A state funeral will be held for former United States president Jimmy Carter in Washington DC on January 9. The southern governor turned president died Sunday local time aged 100 after spending the last year and a half in hospice being treated for cancer. President Joe Biden has declared it a national day of mourning. The president has also issued an executive order directing government agencies to close on the day to pay their respects.

A police operation is underway in Sydney’s southwest.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ordered a social media post uploaded by the Victorian Labor Party to be removed. The post referred to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and his wife Kirilly Dutton. The opposition leader released a statement last night claiming the Liberal Party will not target family members of the Labor Party. The post was deleted as soon as the prime minister became aware.

Broadcaster and wordsmith Kel Richards discusses the “worrying problem” in the Northern Territory as hand sanitizer is being drunk as an alternative to alcohol. “To a really serious and very worrying problem, hand sanitizer could soon be placed under lock and key in the Northern Territory,” Mr Richards said. “People are drinking hand sanitizer … what does the need for a ban tell us about the social problems in the Northern Territory?”

US President Joe Biden could have lost the 2024 presidential race “even worse than Kamala did”, claims Sky News contributor Beau Davidson. “I think that every sign pointed to him losing,” Mr Davidson told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. “Perhaps even worse than Kamala.”

Shadow Environment Minister Jonathon Duniam says everyday Australians are paying the price for Labor’s “green ideology”. “You have got to have cheap energy and we will not have that,” Mr Duniam said. “So it is going to mean disastrous outcomes for jobs in this country.”

Sky News contributor Beau Davidson reveals what legacy former US president Jimmy Carter will leave behind following his death. “His faith, his fortitude, his character and his dignity will be remembered,” he told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. “That’s what Jimmy Carter will be known for and it’s a great legacy.”

Broadcaster and wordsmith Kel Richards discusses how over 8,000 Queenslanders had their cold function on air conditioning turned off remotely. “More than 8,000 Queensland households had the cooling function on their air conditioner turned off,” Mr Richards said. “Not by them but remotely by their electricity supplier.”

Sky News contributor Kel Richards breaks down the latest polling which shows a decline in support for the Albanese Labor government. “The polls are coming out and they’re saying things are bad for the Labor Party,” he said. “Both in New South Wales and Victoria Labor has dropped in the latest opinion polls.”

The Victorian Liberal Party has “done themselves no favours”, claims Sky News contributor Evelyn Rae. “Especially with what they’ve done with Moira (Deeming),” Ms Rae said. “I wonder whether perhaps that’s why Victoria is different to the other states.”