The Guardian

Victoria has been battered by some of the most destructive bushfires in its history, with blazes tearing through 400,000 hectares across the state and claiming the life of a cattle farmer, Maxwell Hobson. Almost 900 buildings have been destroyed, including more than 250 homes, and more than 15,000 livestock have been killed, along with countless wildlife.

The number of buildings lost in Victoria’s devastating bushfires has risen to 350, with authorities warning that number would grow as assessors are able to access more areas affected by 12 large fires still burning across the state.

Speaking from the small western Victorian town of Natimuk on Monday, Jacinta Allan also announced a fundraising appeal to support victims of the fires.

The Victorian premier said Natimuk, about 25km west of the regional city of Horsham, lost at least 30 homes when the Grass Flat blaze tore through the township on Friday.

At least 119 structures are believed to be lost in bushfires across Victoria and more than 300,000 hectares of bushland has been burned as the state continues to battle blazes that may rage for “weeks”.

Emergency management commissioner, Tim Wiebusch, told the media on Saturday that around 50 homes had been lost in the Ravenswood and Harcout fire, which was believed to be a “conservative number”. The Bendigo railway line had also been damaged by fire and was closed.

From a Queen Anne decorative portico to a modern frosted-glass doorway, five properties with a statement entrance

Should cars be illegal? Are drivers evil? The way some councils have been imposing “low-traffic neighbourhoods” over the past five years, it seems their leaders definitely think so. Not so much because they want to cut traffic (everybody does) but because of the way they have responded to people who object to the LTNs’ impact on their everyday lives.

Properties priced at £395,000 and below, from a city centre apartment to a country cottage

Topics

Distrust, disbelief and frustration is palpable on the streets around Electric Avenue. Here in Brixton, the buzzing heart of south London, news is sinking in that a police officer has been cleared of murdering an unarmed Black man in the borough.

Chris Kaba, 24, was fatally shot in the head by firearms officer Martyn Blake, 40, during a vehicle stop in Streatham Hill on 5 September 2022. He was the fourth unarmed man to be shot dead by police in non-terrorist operations since 2005. All were Black.

A Metropolitan police marksman has told a court he shot dead an unarmed man in a car after becoming “filled with dread” the suspect would use the vehicle as a weapon and kill his colleagues trying to detain him.

Martyn Blake denies the murder of 24-year-old Chris Kaba on 5 September 2022 in Streatham, south London.

The Audi Q8 Kaba was driving had been forced to stop by police who believed it was linked to a firearms incident the previous night in nearby Brixton.

Historic England is releasing the Air Pictures Portleven Collection, a unique archive of images revealing 1930s England from the air taken by pioneering aerial photographer Arthur William Hobart, on its website. Hobart started in the young aerial photography industry in about 1920. This way of capturing the new developments and industry of the time provides a fascinating and informative insight into a changing country

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A Metropolitan police firearms officer may have been “angry, frustrated and annoyed” when he shot a suspect in the head despite him posing no imminent threat, a jury has been told.

Chris Kaba, 24, was killed on 5 September 2022 in Streatham, south London after a single bullet was fired through the front window of the car he was driving by a police marksman, Martyn Blake, 40, who denies murder.