Victorian Liberal MP Cindy McLeish discusses the growing concern among Victorian communities over the threat of flash flooding as the state experiences heavy rain. The state’s northwest and High Country regions are particularly expected to be hit hard by rain. Ms McLeish says there is particular concern around the threat of flash flooding as there is notable capacity in rivers and dams in the state. “We had some heavy rain and storm a week or so ago and a lot of that water got absorbed which was pretty good,” she told Sky News Australia. “So unless there’s drains that are blocked, there’s always drains on roads that are blocked and in streets, and that causes a lot of flash flooding – I expect that’s probably going to happen.” She applauded drivers who have been “sensible” on roads amid heavy rain. “That’s what’s required if you don’t need to be out – don’t be out.”

Alaska Airlines has been ordered to ground all of its Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft after a section of a plane blew out mid-flight. The plane departed from Portland, Oregon for Ontario, California but was forced to return to make an emergency landing. There were reportedly 171 passengers and four flight attendants onboard with two pilots. “Fortunately, all passengers deplaned – we are not aware of any serious injuries,” National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said in a press conference. “We are aware of reports of minor injuries … I imagine this was a pretty terrifying event, we don’t often talk about psychological injury but I’m sure that occurred here.”

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The United States East Coast is preparing for its first major snowfall of 2024. The storm is expected to bring heavy snow to more than a dozen states. The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings for the Carolinas up through Maine. Parts of New York state and New England could see as much as a foot of snow. Emergency crews have spent the last few days chaining up their tyres and salting up the roadways.

Several parts of Victoria are under severe weather warnings, southeast Queensland will be provided with more disaster funding, Victorian local governments are bracing for fringe and anti-lockdown groups plan to get elected, Eric Abetz will seek pre-selection for Tasmania's next state election, farmers threaten walkout over unfair pricing, Melbourne’s west gate freeway will endure closures, a wild brawl has erupted at a major festival in Canberra. See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.

Donald Trump believes the entire Republican Party should show “allegiance” to him, says The Washington Post White House Bureau Chief Toluse Olorunnipa. “He not only wants to defeat his Republican rivals — he wants to crush them, he wants to embarrass them, he wants to drive them out of the Republican Party,” Mr Olorunnipa said. “I would not be surprised if this primary race becomes very brutal, becomes very nasty. “And in the general election – between potentially Donald Trump and the current president Joe Biden – could be even darker, even more gloomy, even more nasty.” According to a Fox Business poll of Iowa GOP caucus-goers, Mr Trump is polling at 52 per cent, Ron DeSantis at 18 per cent, Nikki Haley at 16 per cent, Vivek Ramaswamy is at seven per cent and Chris Christie is at three per cent. More than 80 per cent of Trump supporters say their minds cannot be changed at this point.

Queensland shopping centres are calling on the government for tougher laws to address violent crime. It comes as criminals are stashing deadly weapons in shopping malls. These include the hiding of knives in malls across Queensland. The Shopping Centre Council of Australia is calling Queensland Premier Steven Miles to make the deliberate concealment of a weapon a criminal offence. The Queensland government has already introduced laws banning the sale of replica guns and knives to children.

A neighbourhood in Alaska’s biggest city has seen one of its new year’s traditions return. The tradition involves an eight-metre snowman nicknamed ‘Snowzilla’. Put up in time to ring in the new year after a long hiatus – this is just one of a few novel ways people around the United States have celebrated the start of 2024. The snowman had previously been on a ten-year hiatus. One family celebrated the return by recreating a family photo taken before the hiatus.

A family in Pennsylvania’s dog has eaten $USD4,000 in cash. Clayton Law had taken out cash and left it in an envelope to pay for a fence being installed in his home when his dog, Cecil, ate the money. Half an hour later, Mr Law found the cash in bits. “He throws up and I was like wow that’s a lot of hundreds,” Mr Law said. Clayton and his wife began taping the bills together piecing them together like a puzzle, with the two having to go through the dogs dropping and wash up the torn bits.

Political strategist and former Labor advisor Bruce Hawker says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has “done well” in his first term but the Voice to Parliament and the cost of living crisis is dragging him down in popularity. Mr Hawker sat with Sky News Australia to discuss the political predictions for 2024. “The problem that he’s had has essentially been two-fold, one has been the Voice which dominated politics in the last part of 2023 and cut out a lot of other things, and of course the economy,” he told Sky News Australia. “Although there’s very low unemployment, the lowest almost on record under his government – cost of living has gone up, that’s due to international factors. “If the economy starts to improve in so much as the interest rates start coming down and there’s more relief for people and their mortgages, that’s very good news for the government.”

Queensland storm victims could be waiting more than two years for repairs to their damaged homes. The demand for urgent repairs could also cause costs and wait times to increase on other residential construction projects in the state. Residents who are unable to return to their homes because of storm damage fear they will have nowhere to go as emergency housing requests fill up. The federal government will give a $1,000 relief payment per adult to those in the worst-hit areas. Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick has said it will cost over $2 billion to recover from the natural disasters which hit the state over recent weeks.

After days of heavy rain, new flood warnings have been issued for Nottinghamshire in the UK – with parts of the River Trent reaching record levels. More than 200 flood warnings are in place across England as the government announces a raft of financial measures to help those impacted by the flooding. Communities have been swamped by the worst floods in two decades, while local business owners are frustrated that no one has come to help. The last few days with the heavy floods have made many wonder if the flooded conditions are the new normal. There have also been warnings of cold weather across the country when the flooding has already turned off the heating and electricity in many homes.

The biggest shake-up to the nation's income tax system in decades is now just months away. From the first of July, Australians earning more than $45,000 a year will receive a tax cut but there's still argument over the fairness of the plan. The last part of a massive tax reform plan was legislated by the former Morrison government and left unchanged by Labor, and aims to target ‘bracket creep’. From July 1, the 37 per cent tax bracket will be abolished and anyone earning between $45,000 and $200,000 will pay the same tax rate of 30 per cent, costing the budget $308 billion over a decade. The more you earn, the bigger the tax cut you’ll receive, with those on a $200,000 salary in line to get a $9075 tax cut, those on $120,000 earning $1875 back, however, those earning under $45,000 will not get any tax cut.

Several areas of Victoria are under flood warnings ahead of forecast heavy rain and thunderstorms over the coming days. 150 millimetres of rain has been forecast, but authorities are predicting more than 200 millimeters could fall. Flooding catchments are already full from last week's rain. Victoria's State Emergency Service is warning flood-prone areas are particularly at risk – reminding residents to take necessary precautions. The severe weather is being caused by unusually high levels of moisture in the air, combined with a strong low-pressure trough.

Parts of Victoria under flood warning, Queensland storm victims waiting for repairs, ‘Yes’ advocate backs legislative Voice to Parliament, a second republic referendum in doubts, fugitive Nicholas Rossi extradited to the US, ChatGPT accused of misusing copyrighted works. See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.

As the weather heats up across the southeast of Australia, there is a call for citizen scientists to join the fight against fire risk. Country Fire Authority Remote Sensing Analyst Dr Danielle Wright says citizens on the ground are needed to accurately monitor the level of dry grass, which will increase the chance of a fire. “We refer to the drying out of grass as curing - it’s measured as a percentage,” Dr Wright told Sky News Australia. “The satellite model isn’t perfect – in some areas, it can overestimate or underestimate curing. “We need observations on the ground by citizen scientists to adjust those values.” The Country Fire Authority is recruiting volunteers across outer Metropolitan Melbourne to help keep authorities informed about grass growth.

The UK Health Secretary says the NHS cannot be switched on and off during strikes as junior doctors in England sustain the longest walkout in the service’s history. The government claim industrial action is having serious consequences for patients, but the British Medical Association union says they would stop the walkouts with a decent pay offer. “If the government came to us today with that offer, we could cancel these strikes and never need to strike again, but, unfortunately, that offer has not been forthcoming,” The British Medical Association’s Dr Vivek Trivedi said. Between Christmas and New Year's Eve, 33 per cent of ambulances took more than 30 minutes to respond to emergency calls. However, that is better than during the same period the year before, when it was nearly 40 per cent. One of the reasons is the drop this winter due to so-called bed blockers – patients who are well enough to leave the hospital, but with nowhere to go.

The Spice Girls have been given the ‘stamp’ of approval. Britain’s Royal Mail has released a first of its kind series of 15 stamps, celebrating 30 years since the Spice Girls formed. The stamps go on sale in the UK next week. They include iconic performances, like the one at the 2012 London Olympics when the group briefly reformed. It’s the first time the Royal Mail has dedicated an entire issue of stamps to a female pop group.

Sky News has seen papers which show that UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had doubts the government’s Rwanda scheme would help stop small boat crossings back when he was chancellor. In March 2022, while Boris Johnson was still prime minister, the Downing Street papers seem to paint a picture of a split between the then-prime minister and the then-chancellor about the viability of the scheme. “Chancellor wants to pursue smaller volumes initially, 500 instead of 1.5k this year, and 3k instead of 5k, in years two or three,” the documents seen by Sky News said. In a separate bit, it says, “Chancellor is refusing to fund any non-detained accommodation (e.g. Greek style reception centres) because hotels are cheaper.” Mr Sunak is preparing to bring back legislation that he says will solve some of the concerns the Supreme Court had about the Rwanda policy and allow flights to get off the ground. There are a section of MPs within the Conservative Party that are concerned that the legislation doesn’t go far enough, and they want to see the prime minister disregard some other parts of international law.

A microlight pilot has received serious injured after a plane crash in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region. It is understood the man in his 60s crashed just after 11am this morning in Beverley, 130 kilometres southeast of Perth. The plane was found in a rocky field on farmland near Little Hill Road. Police say he was the only occupant on board. Emergency services are investigating.