A baby has been found dead at home in Ballarat, regional Victoria, a director of the Mulch company has been previously cautioned, a pro-Palestine blockade at Port Melbourne has entered its third day, a melanoma treatment is set to be listed on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme, protests has erupted against far right across Germany, a dog has undergone surgery to remove extra legs, and Shangri-Las Mary Weiss has died at age 75. See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.

Thousands of people have gathered in protests across Germany against the radical right AFD party. The demonstrations were sparked by reports of a meeting between right-wing extremist leaders to discuss plans for a mass deportation scheme of immigrants. Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the demonstrations. Mr Scholz compared the plans of the extremist leaders to the ideology of the Nazis. AFD says it does not support the ‘re-migration plan’ proposed at the meeting.

Pro-Palestinian protestors are gathering at Victoria’s State Library rallying against the sacking of a presenter by the ABC. Antoinette Lattouf was let go from her role hosting ABC Radio Sydney’s morning show, hours after sharing a social media post on the war in Gaza. She’s filed an unlawful dismissal case against the ABC and is accusing it of discrimination. It’s estimated thousands have turned out in support of the journalist. Feminist author Clementine Ford is scheduled to speak at the event.

The ASX 200 had a strong finish to the year, despite very low volumes of trading activity. It was a year characterised by a lot of large mergers and acquisitions, some a little bit controversial. The Australian market will be looking to consolidate in the coming year. With rising interest rates and increased geopolitical volatility, it’s no surprise that the Australian share market received a mixed report card in 2023. The late Santa rally and the slew of last-minute deals catapulted the ASX 200 back into bullish territory, but trading activity overall saw a very weak year.

Mary Weiss, the former lead singer of the 1960s girl group the Shangri-Las, has died at age 75. The band was best known for hits such as ‘Leader of the Pack’ and ‘Give Him a Great Big Kiss’. The Shangri-Las helped to pioneer the girl-group era, alongside the Ronettes. Her death was confirmed by her former record label Norton Records, who released Weiss' only solo album. No cause of death has been revealed.

More than a million motorists in New South Wales have had a demerit point removed from their driver's license this week. In a bid to encourage drivers to follow road rules, Premier Chris Minns announced 1.24 million drivers had a demerit point erased for remaining offence-free for a year. The state government will keep the trial active through 2024, meaning drivers could have another point removed. 351 people lost their lives in traffic accidents last year, a 25% rise from 2022. The Premier warns the scheme isn't an excuse to drive dangerously.

Political commentator Shemeka Michelle says Donald Trump has a “very good chance” of taking the White House despite the list of indictments stacked against him. “People see that it’s not real, they understand that this is election interference,” Ms Michelle said. “This is just the other side coming after their opponent and trying to do whatever they can to stop the person that really needs to be in the White House. Last week, Donald Trump took first place in Iowa’s caucuses, beating his opponents Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. Ms Michelle says she is “so excited” about Donald Trump’s recent win in Iowa and his momentum going forward in the presidential race.

Political commentator Shemeka Michelle says more and more people are “waking up” to the devices of the Democrat Party to hurt Donald Trump’s popularity. Democrats have led a campaign to vote for Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire primary in order to damage Donald Trump’s election chances. “The Democrats can’t be trusted ... I don’t think it’ll work,” Ms Michelle said. “I do think that people are tired of Joe Biden, even the people that voted for him. “Whatever the Democrats try, I don’t think is going to work.”

Former Victorian Liberal Party president Michael Kroger has called the people encouraging the attacks carried out by Hamas on innocent Israeli Jewish people as “Palestinian savages”. Mr Kroger joined Sky News hosts Rowan Dean, James Morrow, and Liz Storer to detail his visit to Israel and experience being at the site of the October 7 massacres after the atrocities happened. “Visiting those sites, I went down to the Nova Festival site in Re’im … I went to kibbutz Oz which is sort of facing Khan Yunis, and Kfar Aza which is another kibbutz in the north of the Gaza area – those three sites were shockingly hit,” he said. “I also saw the 47-minute IDF video that the Israeli army have put together and I know many people in the media have seen it, it’s an extraordinary piece of work. “There are some shocking scenes I’ll actually never get out of my head – the joy in the faces of these Palestinian savages as they were killing these innocent Jews, it is just frightening.” Warning: This video contains distressing content.

Political commentator Shemeka Michelle says it is embarrassing to know other countries are “laughing” at US President Joe Biden. “I just feel a little peace when I know that Australians know I wasn’t one of the idiots that actually voted for him in office,” Ms Michelle said. Last week, Donald Trump took first place in Iowa’s caucuses, beating his opponents Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. Ms Michelle says she is “so excited” about Donald Trump’s recent win in Iowa and his momentum going forward in the presidential race. “He stands a very good chance – although he has all of these cases against him right now.”

Indigenous Forum CIS Director Warren Mundine has criticised those who call the Jewish people “colonisers”. Mr Mundine sat down with Sky News hosts Rowan Dean, James Morrow and Liz Storer to discuss the debate over Israel-Palestine. “This insanity about saying that Jews are these colonisers of this area,” Mr Mundine said. “Jews have been in the Middle East since a record of time. “The idea that the Jews are just some interlopers late in history is nonsense.”

Sky News host Rowan Dean says Melbourne has “lost” Australia Day which has sparked outrage from many people. Many of the left have been campaigning for years to change the date of Australia Day, calling the national holiday ‘Invasion Day’, with Victoria quietly axing its parade on the national holiday. “Jacinta Allan’s looking around going ‘oh what are we – I don’t know, we forgot to mention it to anybody’,” Mr Dean said. “This is a deliberate strategy by the hard left in this country. “The game was given away when Stephen Smith … before Christmas said ‘oh we won’t be celebrating Australia Day’, this isn’t accidental, this is deliberate.”

Sky News host James Morrow has slammed US President Joe Biden saying he has “bitten the climate bug”. Mr Morrow says the US President is more of an electric vehicle man now. “At least when he’s not riding around in the presidential limo,” Mr Morrow said. “Even if not for an everyday driver – surely Biden’s beloved electric vehicles are goof or the rental holiday market, right? Wrong! “EV sales are failing to meet expectations and not even generous subsidies and tax breaks are able to keep demand going. “Like everything else Biden and the progressive environmental left, it turns out that interfering with the market and trying to overthrow proven technology like the internal combustion engine just doesn’t pay.”

Sky News host Liz Storer says Australians are “not allowed” to feel a sense of national pride anymore with the push to change Australia Day’s date. “Which is what they want to happen to every single Aussie icon,” Ms Storer said. Many of the left have been campaigning for years to change the date of Australia Day, calling the national holiday ‘Invasion Day’. “You’re not allowed to feel a sense of national pride about anything and what you did once have national pride in. “They’re just determined to make it embarrassing now.”

Ukraine's military supplies are dwindling, prompting calls for further aid from western allies. Resupply trucks in Ukraine only bring a few more rounds to soldiers as they struggle to recapture cities taken over by Russia. With US military aid ground to halt, things could get tougher for the Ukrainians soon. Moscow’s forces face no ammo shortages, Ukrainians say, after getting around a million rounds from North Korea in the past year. Ukrainians are already innovating on the battlefield despite the shortages, with a few soldiers mounting a Soviet-era launcher on a US-made pickup truck.

It's been five months since devastating wildfires decimated parts of Maui. Army personnel are still removing large amounts of debris, but there are some small signs of new life. Watching the changes over five months, scientists are doing regular water tests of the ocean, saying last week’s storm dumped more than four inches of rain. Environmentalists say there are encouraging signs of the amount of toxins being washed into the ocean being greatly reduced. The historic Lahaina Banyan tree shows green is sprouting, with experts even spotting a monk seal resting on the shore.

Japan says it has made contact with its moon lander, SLIM, but it still appears to be having technical issues. The 'Moon Sniper' landed on the lunar surface yesterday, making Japan the fifth country to achieve a lunar landing. The solar cell on the craft appeared to not be generating electricity possibly due to it not landing the correct way up, with the panels pointed at the lunar surface. Despite the technical issue, contact has been made, and the craft successfully deployed two miniature rovers which may reveal what has happened. Unless the craft is able to restore power, it is unlikely to fulfill its mission of landing precisely on certain parts of the moon.

The cost of living crisis has been building for months on end and the Prime Minister is feeling the pressure, calling his party back from holidays to ‘find a fix’. However, the task won’t be easy as the government tries to boost household budgets and ease inflation at the same time. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called his entire party back to Canberra two weeks early for an urgent caucus meeting. The Opposition has accused Mr Albanese of being ‘asleep at the wheel’, while members of his party state the meeting was not a crisis meeting. The Prime Minister has again committed to the stage three income tax cuts to boost the bottom line for people earing between $45,001 and $200,000 from July, but experts are divided on their inflationary impact.

At least six people have been killed in two major military strikes allegedly carried out by Israel across the Middle East. Iran is blaming Israel for a drone strike on Syria's capital city. The drone strikes on Damascus killed five members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards. A senior Hezbollah fighter was also killed after an airstrike on a car in Lebanon. It comes as the Israeli military warns the possibility of war with Lebanon has become more likely as Israel and Hezbollah continue to exchange rocket fire over their shared border.

Victorian Shadow Police Minister Brad Battin has criticised Daniel Andrews for “using taxpayers’ money” on a trip to China where he “hasn’t disclosed” what he did on the trip. Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has established two companies in the past week, signalling his post-political ambitions. One of the businesses – Glencairn Street Proprietary Company – is part-owned by Chinese businessman Zheng Mei. “I think it raises questions though around the fact he spent $88,000 to travel to China and didn’t take any media and hasn’t disclosed what he’s done over there,” Mr Battin told Sky News Australia. “Was any of that involved in setting up his post-politics career? Because that was in a very short period of time after. “These are questions the feds get asked all the time … I think it should happen the same in the state. “Daniel Andrews needs to come out and just explain what he did over there originally using taxpayers’ money.”