Girl's horror burns behind Temu recall, BYD overtakes Tesla, extreme heat set to near 50C

"What are the odds of that?"

That's what one Sydney man was left asking after he scored $100k from a free ticket.

“Did I just win $100,000?!” the winning man questioned when contacted by The Lott. “Are you kidding?! That’s fantastic!"

“I think I’m going to have to leave work early — I’m just too excited.”

He held the 1st Prize winning entry in Lucky Lotteries Super Jackpot drawn today.

They've been pretty divisive over the past couple of years but criticism of beach cabanas has really intensified this summer.

And now even the prime minister has had his say on them, well sort of.

Anthony Albanese responded to news this morning that some owners of the popular beach gazebos were getting in early, planting down their shades and heading off to do other things after reserving their spot.

"That's not on…. to think that you can reserve a little spot as just yours,' he told reporters on Tuesday when asked about the practice.

I think most of us will agree that's a shady tactic (excuse the pun) and one that needs to be kept to the hotel pools of Europe.

But what are your thoughts on CoolCabanas in general? Are they taking up too much room on our beaches or are you happy to see people being safe in the sun? Have your say below.

Lifeguards in NSW are warning about the dangers of digging holes on the beach after a young tourist needed resuscitating days after Christmas.

The child, visiting Australia with his family, was left buried in the sand when a big hole he dug on a Lake Macquarie beach collapsed around him on December 28.

“Only his feet were visible,” lifeguard Chris Wilson said.

“Bystanders raised the alarm and while Hams Beach is not patrolled, our lifeguards were thankfully close by, leapt into action and started digging him out.”

Wilson said the near-tragedy was a stark reminder for families to keep an eye on their children at the beach, and for visitors to swim and play between the flags where lifeguards are close at hand.

“Not all hazards at the beach are in the water,” he said.

A lawyer for one of the men charged with the shooting murder of a woman days before Christmas has alleged the woman was armed with a “rifle” when she turned up at his client’s home.

Brothers Codye Thomson, 29, and Kaine Thomson-Gleeson, 32, were arrested without incident in parkland off Civic Pde at Logan about 2pm on Monday.

The pair are charged with the shooting murder of Chloe Jade Mason, 23, on December 22, 2024.

Police allege Ms Mason was shot by the pair outside an address on Railway Pde, in Caboolture, just before 12am.

Mr Thomson and Mr Thomson-Gleeson were not brought before Brisbane Arrests Court on Tuesday when their matters were mentioned for the first time.

But outside court, Ken Mackenzie, who is representing Mr Thomson-Gleeson, took aim at police allegations contained in a media release following the brothers’ arrest.

“At 3pm yesterday, police released a statement to the media. It said Kaine … had been charged with murder,” Mr Mackenzie told reporters.

“But I was with him at 3.30pm, and he was being interviewed by the police. So that wasn’t true.

“The other curious thing about that press release was that it suggested police had found them.”

Mr Mackenzie claimed the release did not acknowledge the pair were found metres away from a police station as they were “about to hand themselves in”.

He called it a curious case before claiming it was “not in dispute” that Ms Mason had turned up in front of his client’s house armed with a “rifle”.

“Kaine explained to the police he did not kill Chloe,” Mr Mackenzie said.

“And what he did, he did to defend his home and his family against a murderous attempt.”

Mr Thomson and Mr Thomson-Gleeson will next front Caboolture Magistrates Court on January 13.

- NCA NewsWire

A campfire area and items confirmed to belong to a bushwalker missing for nearly two weeks in a NSW national park have been found as crews remain hopeful the experienced hiker is still alive.

Hadi Nazari was last seen by his friends about 2.30pm on December 26.

The 23-year-old was hiking with friends in the Kosciuszko National Park and had been descending the Hannels Spur trail between Khancoban and Thredbo.

He was expected to meet his friends at the Geehi campground but failed to arrive.

Mr Nazari’s sister Zahra said he’d told his friend he was going to “stay back and take some photographs”; however, he didn’t return to the campsite, 9 News reported.

His friends began to look for him and police were alerted about 8.45pm on Boxing Day.

Officers, assisted by the SES, began to search for Mr Nazari on foot and with vehicles, with a multi-agency search launched the next day with the assistance of Goulburn Police Rescue, National Parks and Wildlife Service, SES, NSW Ambulance, VRA and Polair.

Up to 300 people have been involved in the search so far, with rubbish and hiking poles believed to belong to Mr Nazari found near the Kosciuszko River late on New Year’s Eve.

In a major development, Riverina Police District commander Superintendent Andrew Spliet on Tuesday confirmed a campfire area and items belonging to Mr Nazari were found on Sunday, with the area now a major focus for emergency services.

“We found a fire scene, a little campfire as well as a lighter and camera case and camera that belongs to Mr Nazari,” Superintendent Spliet said.

“We are making inquiries to try and determine how long ago that little campfire was lit and that will give us, if we can determine that, some type of timeline to when he was last in that specific area.”

Read more here from NCA NewsWire.

Well this is an interesting one.

Camping and caravanning has experienced a huge boom of late and plenty of you have been taking their pets on the road. But one family came across a contentious charge during a recent stay where guests were made to pay $15 for dogs.

The charge has proven divisive so join the discussion and have your say below. And you can read all about it here on Yahoo Lifestyle.

While there's been plenty of talk about the surge of electric vehicles in Australia, the Ford Ranger has comfortably taken out the top spot for best selling car in 2024.

It retained its title from 2023, with Ford selling more than 62,000 in the calendar year, VFACTS data reveals.

The Toyota RAV4 came second with over 58,000 sales. Toyota maintained its dominance overall, with a huge 241,296 sales overall.

Tesla failed to make the top 10 with 38,000 sales.

Well it's 2025 and it's the year of the rate cut, supposedly.

We're just over a month away from the RBA's first meeting of the year and Australia's biggest bank Commonwealth believes a cut will be delivered then.

The other three big banks think the first will come in May and NAB group CEO Andrew Irvine has reiterated the bank is confident the tide would start to turn in 2025.

“It’s my view that we’re at the hardest point of the economic cycle right now and things will get better from here,” Irvine said.

Read more from Yahoo Finance here.

If you're heading to the UK anytime soon, make sure you've sorted yourself out an ETA.

This week the UK introduces its Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme for travellers who don't need a visa to enter the country, meaning you can't simply enter with just your Australian passport and a flight ticket. Australia is among a host of countries added to the scheme from January 8.

It will cost Aussies roughly $20 and will be digitally linked to your passport for two years. For all the information, head to the UK government's website.

A mum in Victoria received the ultimate Christmas present after her son gifted her one of the winning tickets in last weekend's Tatts Lotto draw.

The woman walks away with $2.14 million, after sharing division one with 13 others.

After seeing her local shop had sold one of the winning tickets, she checked her ticket this morning and discovered her newfound fortune.

"I don't normally even play... how fantastic," she told lottery officials.

A 39-year-old man will front court today after a gun was allegedly found in his luggage at Sydney Airport.

A security worker monitoring an x-ray allegedly identified suspicious items in the man’s checked baggage on December 28.

"AFP officers inspected the luggage and found parts of a disassembled shotgun and ammunition," police said.

"The man, 39, was stopped from boarding a flight to Lebanon and was questioned about the weapon, which was seized."

The AFP said if the man was found guilty of trafficking prohibited firearms out of Australia, he could face up to 20 years behind bars.

A Queensland girl's horrific burns are behind the recall of a popular clothing item sold on Temu that Australian authorities say failed to meet local safety standards.

Daniella Jacobs-Herd was left needing several skin graft operations after the glow-in-the-dark jumper caught fire after an ember was blown onto it in her family's backyard last year, the ABC reported.

Her mother said it was "scary" items not meeting standards were widely available online.

"Does a kid have to be burned by a product … for them to recall the products and investigate [them]?" she asked.

Temu later issued a recall after consultation with the ACCC with the family now seeking compensation for her injuries.

BYD's global surge continues amid a difficult period for Elon Musk's Tesla. The Chinese EV giant produced more vehicles than its rival last year, surpassing Tesla after its deliveries fell year on year.

While Tesla's 1.77 million sales last year slightly pipped BYD, BYD produced more vehicles, showing its intentions to become the world's biggest vehicle manufacturer.

Chinese state media development hailed the development, saying it showed trust in the quality of the Chinese market.

BYD has been hugely popular in Australia and sales of its latest release, a hybrid ute, has exceeded the company's expectations.