Sky News contributor Nicolle Flint reacts to the “terrifying” moment masked gunmen stormed a television station's live broadcast in Ecuador. A 60-day state of emergency has been declared in Ecuador as the country plunges into violent chaos. “It’s terrifying,” Ms Flint told Sky News host Caleb Bond. “Doesn’t it make you feel so grateful to be an Australian. “Where we have the rule of law, where we have a wonderful police force and a great defense force as well to keep us all safe.”

The Labor government is in “total shambles” over immigration detainees because it is “unwilling and unprepared” to deal with these issues, Shadow Home Affairs and Cyber Security Minister James Paterson says. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has denied claims of a cover-up after refusing to reveal if more convicted criminals have been released from immigration detention over the summer. “That was an embarrassing performance this morning by the Prime Minister – either he doesn’t know, or he thinks the Australian people are so stupid that he will get away with answers like that,” Mr Paterson told Sky News Australia host Caleb Bond. “The Prime Minister wasn’t able to answer basic, straightforward questions about this. “He’s got his Home Affairs Minister on extended leave; he’s got his Immigration Minister who is acting as the Home Affairs Minister, but apparently, in witness protection because he hasn’t been doing any media … about this. “This is a total shambles and a cover-up, and it’s obvious why – the government is embarrassed by its own failures, it’s been unwilling and unprepared to deal with these issues, it hasn’t even used … the Preventative Detention Scheme that the parliament rushed through by Christmas to protect the community.”

Sky News host Andrew Bolt has slammed a Melbourne council’s “ludicrous” move in ditching Australia Day celebrations for a “day of healing”. The City of Stonnington is opting to host a Healing Ceremony on January 26. “Can we just get over this ludicrous division by race,” Mr Bolt said. He pointed out 81 councils are declaring they won’t hold Australia Day citizenship ceremonies. “Probably most Australians have an expectation exactly like my own – it's for this government to actually put a higher price on Australian unity, on its pride and citizenship. To promote what unites us and not divide.”

Anthony Albanese needs to “be honest” and get rid of the republican referendum, Former Labor MP Michael Danby says. Mr Danby made the comments while discussing the Labor government’s decision to put the republican referendum on ice ahead of King Charles’ visit to Australia in 2024. “Albo should be honest and just get rid of this, we are not going to pursue a republic – and we’re not,” he told Sky News Australia host Caleb Bond. “The younger generation seem to be both more woke and more pro-monarchist. “It’s silly having a minister if you are not going to pursue an issue.”

Drone footage has captured a man wakeboarding through floodwaters in Berkshire, England after parts of the United Kingdom were inundated following storm Henk. The footage shows the man gliding through the flooded suburbs as spectators watched. This comes after heavy rainfall caused river levels to rise across England. Large areas of the country have been submerged with homes damaged and roads unusable. According to the Environment Agency, 110 flood warnings and 119 flood alerts were in place across England as of Tuesday.

A 10-year-old fisherman could not hide his excitement after a close encounter with a mako shark in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. The boy was on a family boating trip when he spotted the shark circling them. The young fisherman’s line began to drag out rapidly from the boat, and the family prepared themselves for a marlin. They got more than they bargained for, however. Video captured shows the young fisherman's response while the shark swam around the boat.

A man has been shot by police and killed in a standoff on the New South Wales South Coast. Police were responding to an incident at a medical clinic on Junction Street in Nowra just before 1pm on Wednesday. Police say a man came out of the clinic with a firearm and confronted officers just before 3pm. He was shot and immediately treated by officers and paramedics but died at the scene. A critical incident team is investigating the circumstances of the death.

David Warner has said farewell to the world of Test cricket with fans now having a chance to own a piece of history. The cricket legend has donated his 2024 Pink Test shirt and signed Pink Baggy Cap to the McGrath Foundation auction. McGrath Foundation CEO Holly Masters joined Sky News Australia to discuss the auction of Mr Warner’s items. “This is the twelfth pink test that David has been part of,” Ms Masters said. “This year is super special because it was the last test match that David Warner will play and he’s donated his pink baggy.”

Resources Minister Madeleine King says the shutdown of the Western Australian Kwinana aluminium refinery by Alcoa will have “no threat” to the supply chain of alumina in Australia. Ms King’s comments come as there are concerns hundreds of workers could lose their jobs following the announcement from aluminium refiner, Alcoa, plans to shut down operations in Kwinana in Western Australia. The resources minister says there will be a “minor decrease in the supply of alumina” following the shutdown. She says Australia will remain the “second largest producer” of alumina in the entire world. “There is no threat whatsoever to the supply chain of alumina in this country and there is no threat to the sovereign capability of Australians being able to refine bauxite to make alumina in this country.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says government policies are helping to put downward pressure on inflation. “But we know that there’s more work to do because people are still under pressure,” he said during a media conference on Wednesday. Mr Chalmers’ remarks come after it was revealed that inflation fell to 4.3 per cent in the 12 months to November 2023, beating expectations. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed a fall of 0.6 per cent from October last year and the slowest annual rate of growth since January 2022. Mr Chalmers said the Albanese government is prepared to consider “any additional help” it can provide in the May budget that’s “responsible and affordable”.

The number of people passing the Australian citizenship tests has dropped significantly under the Albanese government. The pass rate has fallen to 65 per cent compared to about 80 per cent under the Coalition. New data shows more than 100,000 people failed the test over a 14-month period between 2022 and 2023. Citizenship Law Expert and Test Reviewer Professor Kim Rubenstein told Sky News Australia that “there’s a difference” between the level of English required to undertake the test and the level required to become a citizen. The amount of English knowledge needed to undertake the test is of a higher standard than the basic understanding needed to become an Australian citizen, according to Professor Rubenstein.

In the final set of redacted Jeffrey Epstein documents, prominent figures such as Bill Richardson, Marvin Minsky and Les Wexner have been accused of sex trafficking. As part of the deposition into the 2015 lawsuit between Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell, Giuffre alleged that all three of the men were involved in Epstein’s sex trafficking ring. Giuffre alleged that she had sex with Wexner on multiple occasions, including another incident that involved Epstein accuser, Sarah Kellin, having sex with Wexner at the same time. Wexner cut ties with Epstein in 2007 and has previously denied any knowledge he had of other Epstein-related allegations. French model scout, Jean-Luc Brunel, was also accused by Giuffre of sex trafficking her. Brunel died in a French prison while awaiting trial for separate sex trafficking charges in 2022. There is no suggestion that any of the associated individuals who are named in the documents have committed crimes or wrongdoing.

Hollywood actress and singer Selena Gomez has responded to the controversy surrounding a video of her whispering to Taylor Swift at the Golden Globe Awards. There was mounting speculation that the musician was gossiping about actor Timothée Chalamet and his girlfriend Kylie Jenner. Ms Gomez shutdown those reports by commenting on an E! Instagram post saying: “Noooooo I told Taylor about two of my friends who hooked up. Not that that’s anyone business.” Mr Chalamet also responded to the video and insisted he is on good terms with the 'Only Murders in the Building' actress. A reporter asked Chalamet if he and Gomez were "cool", to which he replied, “yeah, of course”.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud says Labor “could have changed the course of Christmas” for many families had they “appreciated the gravity” of this cost-of-living crisis sooner. “They had the tools sitting in front of them but out of bloody-mindedness they just ignored it,” he told Sky News Australia. “If they had taken our advice back in October and November and had an ACCC investigation, they could have actually compelled the CEOs to appear before Christmas and given advice and even given penalties to the supermarkets. “We said we didn’t need another review, we said we needed an investigation into prices at the checkout. “The cost-of-living crisis was not now – it was last year.”

Residents in Northern and Central Victoria remain on alert despite the floods easing in some parts of the state. As some towns begin to clean up for the second time in two years, there are concerns about a likely rise in insurance premiums. It comes as some insurance companies increased premiums by thousands of dollars in the wake of the 2022 floods. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to travel from Far North Queensland to Central Victoria on Wednesday afternoon. Mr Albanese will visit the towns impacted by the recent floodwaters.

Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has unleashed on the Albanese government and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek for “smashing” farmers in the Murray-Darling Basin with a water buy-back plan. “I’ll tell you one thing Labor could have done,” she told Sky News Australia when responding to reports Labor were reviewing supermarkets’ code of conduct. “And that is, not smash my farmers in the Murray-Darling Basin by taking water away from them. Ms Ley blasted the “ridiculous announcement” by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek which “doesn’t recognise you need water to grow food”. “So, we are going to see less Australian-grown produce on our supermarket shelves and I wonder how much that is going to put up prices.”

The US has seen a rise in migrants crossing its southern border illegally in recent years. 2023 saw its most intense increase yet. A part of this increase comes from China, with Chinese migrants embarking on perilous journeys through South America to find a new life in the USA. There have been more than 31,000 Chinese migrants recorded in 2023 trying to cross the Southern US Border. The 2023 number is roughly double the prior 10 years of Chinese migrants combined.

The coroner’s report for the late singer Sinead O’Connor has just revealed her cause of death. The report shows Sinead died of natural causes. The Irish singer was found unresponsive at her home in London in July – dying at the age of 56. Her death came just 18 months after one of her children, who was 17, took his life. O'Connor was planning to make a return to performing this year – previously announcing on Facebook she was going on tour.

Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has praised Shadow Energy Minister Ted O’Brien for his “excellent” policy points as the Coalition looks to form a “credible” energy plan ahead of the next federal election. “We will have credible and effective and, most importantly, affordable policies for Australians by the time we get to the next election,” Ms Ley told Sky News Australia. “I am not going to jump ahead of my team led in energy by Ted O’Brien who has made some excellent points on this. “Particularly around the critical components of energy policy; we must have security, we must have affordability and we must have sustainability. “Labor has made a complete mess of this – we have got 80 per cent of base-load power exiting the grid in the next ten years.”

Sky News contributor Kel Richards says the tragedy about the NASA-backed mission by tech company Astrobotic being the first US moon landing attempt in more than 50 years is that they are “not going to get there”. The capsule is carrying a number of random items, including a piece of rock from Mount Everest, DNA from former presidents, the human remains of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, and a cache of artworks, among other things. However, Astrobotic has said there is a ‘failure within the propulsion system’ on the lunar lander, which is causing a critical loss of propellant in a post on X. “The tragedy about this is they’re not going to get there,” Mr Richards said. “It’s broken down, the Astrobotic has broken down. “What’s going to happen to the ashes? I have no idea.”