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All NSW beaches open for Australia Day long weekend after week of shark attacks
All NSW beaches are expected to be open for the Australia Day long weekend after a spate of shark attacks prompted days-long closures.
It comes as at least five days of temperatures above 40C are forecast for parts of South Australia, Victoria and NSW, prompting heatwave and bushfire warnings.
Sydney can expect a top of 28C on Saturday, before things heat up to 34C on Sunday and back to 27C on Monday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Melbourne is forecast to see a top of 40C on Saturday before it cools down to a top of 25C on Sunday and a top of 30 on Monday.
Adelaide’s mercury is set to climb to 42C on Saturday before relenting slightly to 36C on Sunday and back to a top of 43C on Monday, BoM says.
Aussies in the running for Oscar glory
Australian actors Rose Byrne and Jacob Elordi are among a slew of Hollywood heavyweights who have been nominated for the industry’s highest honour – an Oscar.
Byrne, raised in Sydney, is in the running for best actress for her “knockout” performance in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, a psychological comedy-drama.
Elordi, a Queenslander, was nominated in the best supporting actor category for his beastly role in Frankenstein, which the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw described as a “monstrously beautiful melodrama”.
See the full list here:
Graham Readfearn
Sulphur cleanup helped accelerate coral bleach on Great Barrier Reef, study finds
Steps to clean up the shipping industry by removing sulphur from fuels intensified a major coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef by allowing more of the sun’s energy to hit the oceanic wonder, according to a new study.
Sulphur pollution can cause respiratory problems for humans and cause acid rain, but it also has a shading effect and can make clouds brighter, providing more shade to areas underneath.
Dr Robert Ryan, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Melbourne who led the research, said the removal of sulphur from the fuels – which he believes is necessary – had paradoxically caused “a lot of extra sunlight getting on to the reef”.
Read more from our reporter Graham Readfearn here.
Challenge for Liberal leadership could occur today: sources
A challenge to Sussan Ley’s leadership of the Liberal party could begin to materialise as early as today, after the day of mourning for the Bondi massacre, senior Liberals have told Guardian Australia.
Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie are the leading contenders to replace her – Tim Wilson and Ted O’Brien have been mentioned internally, but are thought to be outsiders.
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, on Thursday morning said the Coalition was “untenable” after Ley sacked three Nationals senators for crossing the floor over the laws, prompting all of the country party’s frontbenchers – including the leader – to quit the shadow ministry in solidarity.
Guardian Australia’s Tom McIlroy notes Ley has surpassed eight months and eight days as her party’s leader.
This meant that, no matter what would subsequently happen, she lasted longer in the top job than Alexander Downer did during his tenure as the shortest-serving Liberal leader.
Read more here:
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to Guardian Australia’s live news coverage for today.
The very near future remains unknown for the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, after the Coalition broke up this week sparked by a spat over Labor’s controversial hate speech bill. Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie are the leading contenders to replace her, according to Liberal sources, who anticipate a challenge could begin to materialise as early as today.
In other news: all NSW beaches are expected to be open this long weekend following a week of shark attacks.
Stay with us.
