Millions of residents and visitors in southeast Australia have been warned to brace for catastrophic bushfire conditions over the Christmas period.

Authorities on Monday declared a total fire ban for greater Sydney and northern regions of the state of New South Wales (NSW) due to the threat posed by high temperatures and strong winds, reports news agency.

It comes ahead of a period of forecast extreme danger across Australia's southeast.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has forecasted that temperatures in Sydney, Melbourne in the southeastern state of Victoria and Adelaide in South Australia will exceed 35 degrees Celsius on Wednesday and Saturday.

In Victoria and South Australia, authorities have warned that conditions on Thursday will pose a catastrophic bushfire threat, with strong winds expected to make it more challenging to contain fires.

ਦੱਖਣੀ ਕੋਰੀਆ ਦੀ ਫੌਜ ਨੇ ਸੋਮਵਾਰ ਨੂੰ ਕਿਹਾ ਕਿ ਉੱਤਰੀ ਕੋਰੀਆ ਯੂਕਰੇਨ ਵਿਰੁੱਧ ਮਾਸਕੋ ਦੀ ਲੜਾਈ ਦੇ ਸਮਰਥਨ ਵਿੱਚ, ਸੰਭਾਵਤ ਤੌਰ 'ਤੇ ਆਤਮਘਾਤੀ ਡਰੋਨਾਂ ਸਮੇਤ, ਰੂਸ ਨੂੰ ਵਾਧੂ ਸੈਨਿਕ ਅਤੇ ਫੌਜੀ ਉਪਕਰਣ ਤਾਇਨਾਤ ਕਰਨ ਦੀ ਤਿਆਰੀ ਕਰ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ।

ਦੱਖਣ ਦੀ ਜਾਸੂਸੀ ਏਜੰਸੀ ਦੇ ਅਨੁਸਾਰ, ਇਹ ਮੁਲਾਂਕਣ ਉਦੋਂ ਆਇਆ ਹੈ ਕਿਉਂਕਿ ਮੰਨਿਆ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਉੱਤਰੀ ਕੋਰੀਆ ਨੇ ਯੂਕਰੇਨ ਦੇ ਖਿਲਾਫ ਆਪਣੀ ਜੰਗ ਵਿੱਚ ਰੂਸ ਲਈ ਲੜਨ ਲਈ ਹਜ਼ਾਰਾਂ ਫੌਜਾਂ ਭੇਜੀਆਂ ਹਨ, ਜਿਸ ਵਿੱਚ ਮਾਰੇ ਗਏ ਲੋਕਾਂ ਦੀ ਗਿਣਤੀ ਲਗਭਗ 1,100 ਹੋਣ ਦਾ ਅਨੁਮਾਨ ਹੈ, ਨਿਊਜ਼ ਏਜੰਸੀ ਦੀ ਰਿਪੋਰਟ.

ਸੰਯੁਕਤ ਚੀਫ਼ ਆਫ਼ ਸਟਾਫ਼ (ਜੇਸੀਐਸ) ਨੇ ਕਿਹਾ, "ਕਈ ਖੁਫ਼ੀਆ ਜਾਣਕਾਰੀਆਂ ਦਾ ਇੱਕ ਵਿਆਪਕ ਮੁਲਾਂਕਣ ਦਰਸਾਉਂਦਾ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਉੱਤਰੀ ਕੋਰੀਆ (ਰੂਸ ਵਿੱਚ) ਫੌਜਾਂ ਦੀ ਤਾਇਨਾਤੀ ਨੂੰ ਘੁੰਮਾਉਣ ਜਾਂ ਵਧਾਉਣ ਦੀ ਤਿਆਰੀ ਕਰ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ, ਜਦੋਂ ਕਿ ਵਰਤਮਾਨ ਵਿੱਚ 240-ਮਿਲੀਮੀਟਰ ਰਾਕੇਟ ਲਾਂਚਰ ਅਤੇ 170 ਮਿਲੀਮੀਟਰ ਸਵੈ-ਚਾਲਿਤ ਤੋਪਖਾਨੇ ਦੀ ਸਪਲਾਈ ਕਰ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ।" ) ਨੇ ਕਿਹਾ।

North Korea appears to be preparing to deploy additional troops and military equipment to Russia, possibly including suicide drones, in support of Moscow's war against Ukraine, South Korea's military said on Monday.

According to the South's spy agency, the assessment came as North Korea is believed to have sent thousands of troops to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine, with the number of casualties estimated to be around 1,100, news agency reported.

"A comprehensive assessment of multiple intelligence shows that North Korea is preparing to rotate or increase the deployment of troops (in Russia), while currently supplying 240-millimetre rocket launchers and 170 mm self-propelled artillery," the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

A police manhunt is underway for two people after a woman was shot dead in Australia's state of Queensland.

The Queensland Police said in a statement on Sunday that they were called to a Railway Parade address at Caboolture, a town about 45 km north of Brisbane, at around 12.10 a.m. on Sunday, where they located the woman unconscious and unresponsive. She was declared dead later, reports news agency.

Initial investigations indicate the 23-year-old woman was assaulted by two males and sustained a gunshot wound outside the Railway Parade property.

Detectives believe this is not a random attack and have launched a homicide investigation.

South Korean companies pointed to heated global competition amid China's cheap exports as a major source of concern for their businesses next year, which is feared to affect them more than US President-elect Donald Trump's tariff policies, a central bank report showed on Monday.

According to the report on the regional economy released by the Bank of Korea (BOK), South Korean firms expected domestic exports to continue to expand in 2025, though the pace of growth is projected to slow down compared with this year.

But they voiced concerns about intensifying competition to be caused by the oversupply of Chinese goods and a flood of cheap exports into the global market, reports news agency.

The report was based on a survey of 200 local exporters conducted by the BOK in November on their prospects for and conditions of exports in 2025.

At least 23 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

At least nine people, including three children and two women, were killed, and some others were injured as a result of the Israeli bombing of the Musa bin Nusayr School on Sunday, which houses displaced people in the Al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City, news agency reported quoting WAFA.

Four more people were killed when the Israeli army bombed a vehicle on the Al-Jalaa Street in Gaza City, it added.

Five citizens, including four children, were killed on Sunday morning in Israel's shelling of the Jabalia town, north of Gaza City, WAFA said in a separate report.

In the southern Gaza Strip, two people were killed when the Israeli army bombed their apartment west of Khan Yunis, and three others died in the Israeli bombing of the city of Rafah, WAFA said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would "act with force" against the Houthi group in Yemen, a day after the group launched a missile toward the Tel Aviv area.

"Just as we acted with force against Iran's (other) allies, we will act against the Houthis," Netanyahu said in a video statement on Sunday.

He emphasised that Israel was not acting alone, noting that the United States and other nations share the same view with Israel that the Houthis are posing "a threat not only to international shipping but to the global order."

"Hence, we will act with strength, determination, and ingenuity," Netanyahu added. "Even if it takes time, the outcome will be the same as with other terrorist groups."

Netanyahu’s comments came a day after a ballistic missile launched by the Iran-backed group exploded in a playground in south Tel Aviv on Saturday, wounding 16 and causing extensive damage after attempts to intercept it failed, news agency reported.

Four people on board were killed when an air ambulance helicopter crashed after colliding with a hospital building in Turkey's Aegean province of Mugla.

The helicopter, owned by the health ministry, lost control on Sunday due to heavy fog before colliding with the building of the state hospital, news agency reported.

Onboard the helicopter were one pilot, a technical staff member, a doctor, and a healthcare worker. Preliminary reports indicated that all four were killed, said the report.

The accident occurred during the takeoff, said Mugla Governor Idris Akbiyik.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, eighteen people were injured in a traffic accident in western Turkey when a truck collided with a passenger bus on a highway, the state Anadolu Agency reported on Sunday.

Seven people were killed and five injured in a road accident in Limpopo Province, northeastern South Africa, local authorities confirmed.

The accident occurred on on Sunday involved a pileup of seven cars including a minibus carrying passengers on the N1 highway near Ga Phasha, a village in Limpopo Province, leading to the tragedy, said Violet Mathye, a member of the executive council for transport and community safety at the Limpopo Provincial Legislature.

The injured were immediately taken to the hospital, Mathye said.

"We urge our drivers and pedestrians to be more cautious when driving or walking along the roads during the festive season. Road safety is the responsibility of all," said Mathye.

In two separate incidents, fishermen from Tamil Nadu were attacked by Sri Lankan pirates in the sea.

Fishermen leaders said that a group of three fishermen from Tamil Nadu were attacked and robbed by Sri Lankan pirates while fishing near Vedaranyam on Saturday.

According to reports, Rajkumar, Rajendran, and Nagalingam from Nagapattinam were fishing in their fibre boats when six Sri Lankan pirates in two boats ambushed them.

The pirates attacked the fishermen with sticks and knives, leaving them injured.