Victorian emergency services have warned Halls Gap residents to leave immediately and holiday-makers to stay away, as an expanding bushfire is expected to burn for weeks.

A man says his truck displaying the Palestinian flag was burned outside his inner-Melbourne home,  as also investigate a separate incident involving an anti-Semitic sign that was displayed outside state parliament.

The new legislation extends government funding until March 14, provides $US100 billion for disaster-hit states and $US10 billion for farmers.

Bus company Greyhound Australia says it is 'heartbroken' by the death of a 32-year-old bus driver in a collision on the Hume Highway this morning that also injured several passengers.

While most Australians will enjoy settled Christmas Day weather, conditions leading up to December 25 and from Boxing Day onwards are looking extreme.

At least two people are dead after a car was driven into a group of people at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday.

You may have noticed, even as the 2024 political year trudges to an unedifying close, that people are still referring to the possibility of an "early election".