Coles shoppers flee fire, 2025 warning to Aussie homeowners, Facebook and Instagram hit by global outage

Some sad news for you now. Australian broadcast “trailblazer” Clive Robertson has died at the age of 78.

Robertson, who worked at the ABC in the 70s before moving to Seven in the 1980s, died from cancer last week.

Aussie radio broadcaster Margaret Throsby called Robertson a “brilliant broadcaster” in a tribute posted to X on Thursday.

“Very very sad to learn of the death of my old partner in crime Clive Robertson,” Throsby wrote.

“Eccentric, one-off, brilliant broadcaster, tease, unreconstructed, his Breakfast show on 702 Sydney was essential listening. RIP.”

Media commentator Jason Morrison described Robertson as “one of (his) greatest mates”.

“He was a deeply private person and didn’t want any fuss about his death,” Morrison said.

“He was funny, brilliant and remarkable."

- NCA NewsWire

A team of wildlife rescuers in NSW have urged people to stop calling in about a possum that "enjoys" lounging in a rather revealing position.

Hunter Wildlife Rescue say they've attended to the possum five times and insist it isn't trapped despite what passers-by believe.

"It seems that he enjoys the breeze on his boys in this heat," the organisation claimed.

"It is not the preferred home for a possum, but he is perfectly fine. Please leave him be."

Well this is a surprise result. We asked our readers where they'd be doing their Christmas supermarket shop and Aldi has come out on top by quite a distance.

More than 8,000 of you responded, with 37 per cent saying they'd be going to Aldi, despite the German supermarket having just 10 per cent of the Australian market share.

It's a 7 per cent jump from when we asked the question last year. There's no doubt that rise in part is due to the scrutiny Coles and Woolworths' pricing tactics have faced this year.

Of the big two, Woolworths (21 per cent), came above Coles (19 per cent) as your destination for the big shop.

Can't be bothered cooking a Christmas lunch or dinner? Well Domino's has you covered. The pizza giant has announced it will now open on Christmas Day with well over 100 stores across the country taking part.

"Whether you’re looking for a delicious family feast or a festive snack, we’ve got you covered—no need to stress about putting on the oven! On the 25th of December, over 100 Domino’s stores will be open to help Aussie’s celebrate Christmas," Domino's says.

Give your local store a call to see if they are.

Well this is an interesting one. US President-elect Donald Trump has reportedly invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration next month.

Trump invited Xi in early November, shortly after the US election, sources told CBS News, but it was not clear whether he has accepted the invitation.

China has been tipped as one of the countries to suffer most from Trump's re-election, with the 78-year-old flagging plans to slap tariffs on Chinese imports.

While RBA governor Michele Bullock says she won't be swayed by what's happening overseas, it's worth noting Canada has just cut its interest rate by 50 basis points, dropping it to 3.25 per cent.

The RBA has held Australia's rate at 4.35 per cent for all of 2024, but a cut is widely tipped to come by May. Bullock has been cautious with her approach warning underlying inflation remains too high, however the board revealed they were seeing promising signs it was heading in the right direction.

Economist Stephen Koukoulas, who has been calling for a rate cut for months, says a similar 50 basis point cut should be delivered by the RBA in February.

Plenty of capital cities will near 40C in the coming days as a heatwave sweeps across central and eastern Australia.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a heatwave warning for much of Australia, coming off the back of a suffocatingly hot Wednesday in Western Australia, with the southeastern states set to cop temperatures up to 16C above the December average from the weekend.

Adelaide will get close to 40C on Sunday, while Melbourne could reach that mark on Monday. Other areas of the state, as well as western NSW are expected to surge well beyond 40C.

By Tuesday, Sydney will really heat up, with western suburbs expected to hit 37C.

Is this toy under your Christmas tree?

ACCC's Product Safety has issued a recall for Shelf Talkers' 12-inch Homer Simpson, Bart Simpson and Deadpool plushes as they failed to inform customers button batteries are used inside the toy.

"There is a risk of choking or serious injury if young children gain access to the button/coin batteries and swallow or place them inside their body," it said.

The ACCC says keep the toy out of the reach of children and contact Headstart or the place of purchase to receive a copy of the required warning information.

Here's a question that's been brought up in the Yahoo office and has prompted varying responses.

With all that's going on on Christmas Day, whether it be ripping open presents or cooking the festive meal, will your dog get a walk on December 25? Have your say below.

Ad Standards received more than 4,000 complaints this year and a KFC TV ad took out top spot as the ad with the most complaints.

There were 69 complaints for the ad that showed an older woman coming out of the bedroom of a shirtless man before another woman says, "Mum?"

Those unhappy with the ad complained of the sexual nature of the ad but Ad Standards found there was nothing wrong with it.

Aussies are being urged to get their seafood from trusted sellers like Coles and Woolworths as authorities look to crack down on the black market seafood trade ahead of a busy Christmas period.

NSW Police has teamed up with the state's Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) to weed out sellers of illegal produce including stolen oysters, warning perpetrators can be fined up to $275,000.

"NSW is renowned for its fresh, healthy, and sustainable seafood, however the illegal oyster trade poses serious health risks to consumers", Acting Executive Director Biosecurity & Food Safety, Dr Lisa Szabo, said.

"Stolen oysters, in particular, may not meet health and safety standards and could come from areas outside the NSW Shellfish Program, which monitors the safety of shellfish."

Police officers have had boiling liquid thrown on them in what’s been described as a “disgusting” assault in the Northern Territory.

Police attended a home in a remote community of the Victoria Daly Region about 3.30pm on Monday to execute a search warrant following domestic violence-related offending.

The 42-year-old resident allegedly threw a cup of boiling liquid at the officers and then fled.

The man went into a nearby river, with police unable to catch him at the time.

The police officers were taken to a local clinic for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

NT Police Commander Kylie Anderson called the assault “disgusting”.

“This is yet another disgusting assault on our frontline members as they go about their duty protecting Territorians,” Ms Anderson said.

“Luckily, it does not appear as though they have suffered permanent injuries.”

The incident comes just more than a week after officers were bitten and knocked unconscious while attempting to arrest a man at a Milikapiti property in relation to alleged domestic violence offences.

Lifeline: 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au

Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 or beyondblue.org.au

Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800 or kidshelpline.com.au

Headspace: 1800 650 890 or headspace.org.au

13YARN: Speak to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander crisis supporter on 13 92 76 or visit 13yarn.org.au

- NCA NewsWire

It's one of the most popular Christmas films and now you can own the ultimate piece of memorabilia from the movie.

Jim Carrey's Grinch suit from the scenes where he donned a Santa suit is up for auction but it will cost you.

The current bid is sat at US$65,000 ($102,000) and the online auction ends in two days.

"This costume is the most iconic and coveted piece from the film, representing the heart of Jim Carrey’s unforgettable portrayal of the Grinch. Featured in the most pivotal scenes and central to the film's promotional campaigns, this Santa suit is one of the few remaining Jim Carrey “Grinch” costumes ever to come to market—making it a rare and exceptional opportunity for collectors to own the ultimate piece of cinematic history," it's listing by Icons of Pop Culture says.

If you're wanting to spend a little less, the company, which sells of authentic movie props and costumes, has a host of other Grinch props such as Whoville cutlery and wigs which are going for under $50 currently.

Well this would have been a terrifying experience. A Coles store south of Hobart was evacuated after it filled with thick smoke on Wednesday evening.

Shoppers and staff fled the store about 6pm before emergency services located a shopping trolley on fire inside the Kingston Plaza store, Pulse Tasmania reported.

Police reportedly questioned several news after the fire was extinguished.

Coles shut the store for the evening with the shopping centre confirming it would reopen on Thursday.

Social media behemoth Meta has been hit by a global outage, leaving users unable to access their accounts. Thousands of users have reported issues with Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp this morning.

Reports began flowing in at around 4:30am AEDT on Thursday, according to online disruptions website Downdetector. It has received more than 100,000 complaints about the platform.

Meta confirmed the outage on X, along with updating its “status and outages of Meta business products” page to confirm it was experiencing issues.

Read more here.