NSW bushfires: Shifting weather offers little relief to firefighers

PETER HANNAM Firefighters and residents in fire-hit regions of the Blue Mountains and southern highlands will have to contend with variable winds and possible thunderstorms on Tuesday ahead of worsening conditions on Wednesday.

NSW bushfires: Blazes continue to rage as hot dry conditions intensify and two boys charged with starting a massive bushfire

Nick Ralston, Sarah Whyte, Peter Hannam It had hoped to be a day of relative quiet before another looming firestorm but hot dry conditions saw three emergency warnings issued for major blazes across NSW and two boys charged with starting a massive bushfire.

Queensland's coastal residents face greatest fire peril

AMY REMEIKIS Fuel: Houses near thick bush in Brisbane's outer suburbs

Canberra falls short of heat record

TOM MCILROY Just four days after a record overnight low for October, Canberra topped 30 degrees for the first time this season

NSW bushfires: pollution levels soar 50-fold

PETER HANNAM Residents in the Sydney region are being hit with air quality levels as much as 50 times worse than normal as pollution from the state's bushfires casts a pall of smoke over the city and beyond.

Bushfire smoke causes Sydney Airport delays

MATT O'SULLIVAN A heavy blanket of smoke from bushfires in the Blue Mountains has delayed flights at Sydney Airports due to poor visibility but air-traffic controllers expect the situation to improve this afternoon.

NSW bushfires: what you need to know, Tuesday October 22

On Tuesday there were 62 fires still burning around the state, 13 of which were not contained.

Thunderstorms may bring rain to bushfire-hit Blue Mountains

PETER HANNAM Thunderstorms forecast for late on Tuesday have the potential to bring fire-dousing rains to Blue Mountain regions now under threat from bushfires, according to Weatherzone.

NSW bushfires: firefighters brace for Wednesday as forecast worsens

MEGAN LEVY Firefighters battling the worst NSW fire disaster in nearly half a century have successfully prevented spot fires from jumping a major road in the Blue Mountains overnight, but they are now facing the prospect of stronger winds on Wednesday when conditions are expected to be their worst.

Educating owners 'better way' to cut dog attacks

STATHI PAXINOS Educating dog owners and making them more responsible for their pets' behaviour, rather than destroying certain breeds, is the most effective way to reduce attacks, according to an international campaigner visiting Australia to lobby for changes to laws that declare some breeds dangerous.

O'Farrell cut climate change watchers

PETER HANNAM Deep cuts to staff and funding by the NSW government have largely dismantled the state's ability to investigate and prepare for the effects of climate change such as more frequent extreme fire weather, a former senior scientist with the government said.

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Happy wanderers return to national park with help from grazing sheep

DARREN GRAY The recent discovery of a critically endangered bird in a Victorian national park has generated excitement and relief among park rangers and bird watchers. Until two of the birds were found, surveyors had seen just a solitary plains-wanderer in the Terrick Terrick National Park since floods hit northern Victoria in January, 2011.

State of emergency declared as bushfire conditions worsen

Rick Feneley, Judith Whelan Hundreds of thousands of people face a growing bushfire calamity, with the entire Blue Mountains area as well as Penrith and Richmond in danger of burning over the next few days.

Residents angry at mixed messages on evacuation

PETER HANNAM Residents of the Blue Mountains town of Bilpin are angry after receiving confusing signals about the risk from a nearby blaze which might have hindered local efforts to limit damage to their homes.

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Entire Blue Mountains area could come under threat: RFS

Nicky Phillips Residents of the tiny township of Bell are being warned to evacuate as a major fire between Lithgow and the Blue Mountains is upgraded to emergency status.

Another large oarfish found in US

For the second time in less than a week, a 'sea serpent' has attracted gawkers on a Southern California beach.

A boom Broome doesn't want

MELISSA FYFE One of the nation's most renowned beauty spots has a new battle on its hands.

City types are just winging it

NICKY PHILLIPS They're the bird Sydneysiders love to hate, but the native white ibis, or tip turkey as they're sometimes known, are true city slickers.

Close eye kept on repeat offenders

EAMONN DUFF Police profilers have assembled a hit list of more than 40 serial arson suspects and placed them under continuing surveillance - until at least the end of summer.

More homes threatened as hopes for rain recede

Tim Barlass, Lucy Carroll Fires were threatening more homes in Blue Mountains villages on Saturday as western Sydney faced blisteringly hot weather forecasts and residents from devastated towns came to terms with the loss of 200 houses.

Hot and dry conditions align for fiery season

Natasha Wallace, Peter Hannam A ''long, hot winter'' and recent drought conditions that are consistent with the effects of climate change have created the extreme bushfire conditions already experienced this season, according to a leading bushfire expert.

Power company warned of cable at heart of Springwood inferno

Tim Barlass The Blue Mountains bushfire that claimed almost 200 properties might have been prevented by a $100 tree maintenance job.

Survivors tell their harrowing stories

RACHEL OLDING As the flames advance, the fate of hundreds hangs in the balance, Rachel Olding and Tim Barlass report.

Japan typhoon death toll rises to 29

Tokyo: The death toll from a typhoon that triggered massive landslides on a Japanese island has risen to 29, as officials advised residents to take shelter in anticipation of more heavy rain.

Green investment bank profitable as Abbott axe looms, CEO Yates says

Clean Energy Finance Corp., Australia’s green development bank earmarked for closing by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, is making a profit and prodding commercial banks to lend, according to its chief executive officer.

Nations should explain their carbon cuts ahead of global talks, Obama says

The US says nations must be ready to explain their emission-reduction pledges as it unveiled proposals on how countries should conduct climate negotiations before a global treaty in 2015.

What about me?

When a relationship ends, the division of assets begins. But who gets to keep the cat? Peter Munro reports on the increasingly common – and sometimes messy – custody disputes involving pets.

Climate change ship heads into uncharted waters

Wendy Harmer Whether or not it's unseemly for Greens politicians to raise the spectre of future cataclysmic climate change when bushfires are still raging out of control, there's no doubt that many of us who looked up to bruised and belligerent skies swirling with ash and a drift of incinerated gum leaves had to wonder, ''is this what the future will be like''?

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Early bloomers a sign of abnormal conditions

PETER HANNAM Bizarre plant behaviour has been seen in the city's gardens.

Their shout: cricketers toast brewery's deal

Amy Corderoy, Chris Barrett Alcohol remains a fraught issue for those who run cricket.

'The ocean is broken'

Greg Ray Nothing could have prepared Ivan Macfadyen for the devastation all around him as he sailed the Pacific.

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Longer fire seasons to be expected

Craig Butt, Lara O'Toole A bushfire season that starts in spring and stretches well into autumn will be the new normal for Australia's south-east, scientists say.

Teacher hid loss during exodus

Kim Arlington The bushfires were closing in around their school. The flames had razed homes and were threatening others. But the teachers and staff of St Thomas Aquinas Primary in Springwood remained calm as they led their pupils 2.5kilometres to safety.

'I thought of calling my wife'

When The Newcastle Herald photographer Jonathan Carroll pulled up at Doyalson North on Thursday night, fires were surging through Lake Munmorah.

Blaze destroys houses but not street's spirit

Emma Partridge, Megan Levy Catherine Hubbard might have suffocated in smoke had it not been for a phone call.

Fire corners elderly on water's edge

RACHEL OLDING The statuesque gum trees that give Tall Timbers Road its name are charred but central coast residents appeared to escape Friday's once-in-a-lifetime fires relatively unscathed.

More than 100 homes destroyed, conditions set to worsen

RICK FENELEY There is no measuring the relativities of grief in Winmalee.

Resident dies fighting the flames

RACHEL OLDING His 1927 heritage-listed home stands cruelly intact. His four-year-old Alaskan malamute, Rex, is oblivious to the terror that unfolded on Thursday night.

Tiny 'Catho' mostly saved

Dan Proudman On a day of such devastation came the little tale of a miracle.

True devastation of bushfires not yet known

NICK RALSTON ONE man is dead and hundreds of homes have been destroyed but the true devastation of the NSW bushfires may not be known for some days, and maybe not before a dangerous weather conditions fan the flames again.

Temperature forecast raised for fire-hit regions

PETER HANNAM NSW faces a return to extreme fire weather this weekend, with the Bureau of Meteorology lifting its temperature forecasts for regions around Sydney and saying rain probably won't come now until Tuesday.

Family plea for Australian Greenpeace activist held in Russia

ANDREW DARBY Australian Greenpeace activist Colin Russell has been refused bail in Russia, in a decision that leaves his family pleading for action to free him.

Pens down, now: HSC students evacuated mid-exam

Josephine Tovey, Amy McNeilage The fires which tore through NSW on Thursday broke out as many HSC students held pens in hand, studying for or sitting the exams they have worked towards for years.

Canberra wineries hit by coldest October morning ever

Kirsten Lawson and Hamish Boland-Rudder Canberra winemakers were reeling from the heavy frost overnight on Thursday, Canberra’s coldest October morning on record, which wiped millions of dollars from the industry.

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Bushfire survivors in Blue Mountains tell of losing homes

Emma Partridge, Megan Levy As Sue Dunlop stood in the blackened rubble of the home she had lived in for the past 41 years, the ferocity of Thursday's firestorm became painfully clear.

Reprieve for firefighters likely to be temporary, forecasters say

PETER HANNAM Another bout of blisteringly hot weather is on the way for NSW regions burnt by Thursday's major fires, making the current cooler conditions merely a temporary reprieve, forecasters say.

Volunteer firefighters face agony of own homes burning down

NICK RALSTON Volunteer firefighters who spent Thursday trying to save their local communities from raging bushfires have returned to discover their own homes have been destroyed.