Australian Homes On Fire

An Australian father faced triple murder charges Thursday, accused of setting his home ablaze and locking the door with his seven children and their mother inside.

Australia's government on Monday fired a powerful civil servant known as a hardliner on immigration following an investigation into WhatsApp messages he reportedly sent to sway senior politicians.

Bush and grass fires sweeping across Australia's southeast destroyed homes, killed cattle and forced hundreds to flee on Sunday as dry, hot winds fanned the flames.

An official says wildfires blazing out of control in Western Australia state have destroyed about 95 homes in a single township and are threatening other communities.

Fire crews battled into the night on Friday after raging bushfires reduced at least 53 homes to ashes in a famous Australian beauty spot on Christmas Day, sending hundreds of residents fleeing for their lives.

At least 20 homes have been razed in the worst fire conditions Australia has seen since a deadly 2009 inferno which killed 173 people, with flames threatening the country's second-largest city, officials said on Monday.

Thousands of Australians were urged to evacuate their homes on Wednesday as dry winds threatened to fan a firestorm in mountainous bushland around Sydney, where firefighters battled to control blazes which have been raging for a week.

Officials searched on Monday for bodies among the charred ruins of more than 100 homes and other buildings destroyed by wildfires in the Australian island state of Tasmania. Around 100 residents remained unaccounted for, three days after the fires broke out.

An Australian father faced triple murder charges Thursday, accused of setting his home ablaze and locking the door with his seven children and their mother inside.

Australia's government on Monday fired a powerful civil servant known as a hardliner on immigration following an investigation into WhatsApp messages he reportedly sent to sway senior politicians.

Bush and grass fires sweeping across Australia's southeast destroyed homes, killed cattle and forced hundreds to flee on Sunday as dry, hot winds fanned the flames.

An official says wildfires blazing out of control in Western Australia state have destroyed about 95 homes in a single township and are threatening other communities.

Fire crews battled into the night on Friday after raging bushfires reduced at least 53 homes to ashes in a famous Australian beauty spot on Christmas Day, sending hundreds of residents fleeing for their lives.

At least 20 homes have been razed in the worst fire conditions Australia has seen since a deadly 2009 inferno which killed 173 people, with flames threatening the country's second-largest city, officials said on Monday.

Thousands of Australians were urged to evacuate their homes on Wednesday as dry winds threatened to fan a firestorm in mountainous bushland around Sydney, where firefighters battled to control blazes which have been raging for a week.

Officials searched on Monday for bodies among the charred ruins of more than 100 homes and other buildings destroyed by wildfires in the Australian island state of Tasmania. Around 100 residents remained unaccounted for, three days after the fires broke out.