Police have confirmed two people have died after a train derailed north of Melbourne. A Transport for NSW spokesperson confirmed the train had come off the rails near the town of Wallan, 45 kilometres north of the Victorian capital. The train was the Sydney to Melbourne XPT service with around 160 passengers on board. There are five passenger cars derailed, …

Here’s what you need to know this morning. Water restrictions to be relaxed Level two water restrictions across Sydney are to be relaxed after recent downpours boosted dam levels. The downgrade from level two to level one is expected to come into force on March 1. Warragamba Dam is currently at 80 per cent capacity, up from 44 per cent …

Rock behemoths Queen have re-enacted the band’s legendary 1985 Live Aid set for a roaring crowd, in a star-studded concert raising millions of dollars for people impacted by bushfires. A crowd of more 75,000 wrapped their arms around each other and joined in the chorus of We are the Champions in a massive show of support for the victims and first responders …

Diplomatic tensions over Britain’s decision to allow Chinese telco Huawei into its 5G network have boiled over after confidential discussions with Australia about the policy were leaked. The ABC can reveal the UK’s High Commissioner has taken the rare step of writing to the heads of two federal parliamentary committees to formally protest the leak of details of sensitive talks …

A man has died and a woman has been injured after being washed off the rocks by powerful waves at Bondi Beach. Emergency services were called to Mermaid Rocks after reports of two people in distress in the water around 5:30pm. The man, aged in his 40s, was pulled to shore with the help of bystanders but couldn’t be revived …

Back in October, the nation’s often-warring media companies joined forces in a rare display of unity. As part of the “Right to Know” campaign, newspaper front pages were blacked out and TV ads ran across the networks. It was an attempt to harness “people power” behind the cause of press freedom. The rival bosses of News Corp, the ABC and …

A massive bushfire on the NSW South Coast that destroyed homes and claimed the lives of several people has been declared extinguished after this weekend’s heavy rain. The NSW Rural Fire Service last night said the Currowan Fire in the Shoalhaven had been officially set to ‘out’. For 74 days the fire burnt out 499,621 hectares, destroying 312 homes in …

A man has been arrested after driving erratically with multiple roads in Melbourne’s CBD put into lockdown but police say the incident wasn’t terror-related. A man arrested after driving erratically down Melbourne’s busy Flinders Street caused a lockdown and revived horrific memories for the city. The 26-year-old was arrested without incident and no one was hurt, in stark contrast to …

The mother of the three Abdallah children says she has forgiven the alleged drunk driver who killed her three children in Sydney’s north-west. Just before 8pm on Saturday, Anthony, Angelina and Sienna Abdallah were walking with four other children along a footpath on Bettington Road, Oatlands, when police allege Samuel Davidson’s Mitsubishi Triton mounted the kerb and hit the group. The three …

The father of three children killed by an alleged drink-driver last night has bravely spoken of his loss. Seven children were struck by the 4WD on Bettington Road in Oatlands, in Sydney’s north-west, just before 8pm yesterday. The group were riding their bikes to get ice cream when they were hit. Three of Danny Abdallah’s six children were killed: Anthony, …