GLENREAGH, Australia: Australians on Wednesday began sifting through the ashes of hundreds of bushfires that have ravaged the country, relieved that their worst fears were unrealized — but wary of a long and brutal summer ahead.
Firefighters were still battling 140 blazes across the country’s eastern seaboard, but a respite from “catastrophic” weather conditions meant the danger from many fires was downgraded.
The northern state of Queensland remained on high alert, with residents on the north shore of popular holiday town Noosa told to “leave immediately” as an “unpredictable” fire was burning nearby.
But in the worst-hit areas of New South Wales, cooler southerly winds eased conditions — a stark contrast with the gale-force gusts and high temperatures that plagued firefighters for much of Tuesday.
In all, 50 homes were damaged or destroyed, and around 20 people were injured, but most populated areas were spared.
Residents of the small towns of Glenreagh and Nana Glen returned to find houses intact, a nearby 150,000-hectare (370,000-acre) inferno having stopped just short of their doors.
But on nearby farmland, unlucky families faced homes destroyed and cars transformed into blackened husks.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services acting commissioner Michael Wassing said another wind change on Wednesday afternoon could worsen several large fires in difficult-to-access areas of the state.
“We’ve got another tough day today and there’s an extended forecast that we’re not out of the woods by any means,” he said.
Tough conditions were expected to flare again in Queensland and New South Wales at the weekend as the temperature rises and winds pick up.
“We will not have all these fires contained before then,” New South Wales Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said, adding that it could be “many, many weeks” before the situation is fully under control.
“Unfortunately, what we need is rain... and there is certainly nothing in the forecast for the foreseeable future that’s going to make any discernible difference.”
More than 300 new fires began in the state Tuesday, with 19 classified as emergencies. They spanned a distance of almost 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) — from the outskirts of Sydney north toward Brisbane.
“The losses, the damage, the consequences could have been simply enormous across such a broad geographic area,” Fitzsimmons said.
New South Wales Police said they had begun investigating whether a small number of the blazes had been deliberately lit, as they made handful of arrests for suspected looting of fire-stricken properties.
The hot, dry continent of Australia has long experienced bushfires, but scientists say climate change is exacerbating extreme weather conditions, including a prolonged drought in the country’s east that has created tinderbox-like conditions.
The Bureau of Meteorology says human-caused climate change is also “influencing the frequency and severity of dangerous bushfire conditions” by increasing temperatures, sapping moisture from the environment and causing an earlier and more extreme fire season.
The unprecedented wave of bushfires have brought renewed calls for the conservative government to curb fossil fuels and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
However Prime Minister Scott Morrison and other senior ministers have repeatedly refused to answer questions about climate change during the unfolding catastrophe.
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Bushfire threat still high as Australia clean up begins
Bushfire threat still high as Australia clean up begins
- Firefighters were still battling 140 blazes across the country’s eastern seaboard
- Tough conditions were expected to flare again in Queensland and New South Wales at the weekend as the temperature rises and winds pick up
US immigration officials grilled by Congress over Trump crackdown
- Trump administration officials faced a barrage of criticism and tough questions from Democratic lawmakers over the major crackdown on migrants in multiple US cities
- Rodney Scott hailed efforts on the southern US frontier, saying CBP ‘spent the last year rebuilding what was an intentionally broken border’
WASHINGTON: The heads of US immigration agencies faced heavy criticism in Congress Tuesday as they defended President Donald Trump’s mass deportation drive and fielded questions about the fatal shootings of two protesters in Minneapolis.
Trump acknowledged in the wake of the Minneapolis killings that a “softer touch” may be needed on immigration, and his administration announced concessions including the withdrawal of hundreds of officers from the Midwestern city.
But the issue remains far from resolved, with Democrats demanding changes to the way the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducts its immigration sweeps and threatening to block its funding, while Trump’s administration vows to maintain its deportation efforts, with backing from Republican lawmakers.
“The president tasked us with mass deportation, and we are fulfilling that mandate,” Todd Lyons, the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said in his opening remarks during the Tuesday hearing on DHS oversight.
He testified alongside Rodney Scott, the head of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Citizenship and Immigration Services director Joseph Edlow.
Scott hailed efforts on the southern US frontier, saying CBP “spent the last year rebuilding what was an intentionally broken border” and that “the United States... enjoys the most secure border in our nation’s history.”
The Trump administration officials faced a barrage of criticism and tough questions from Democratic lawmakers over the major crackdown on migrants in multiple US cities, which Republican representatives largely defended.
“This administration and the agencies represented before us have shown a complete and utter disregard for the law and the Constitution,” Democratic Representative Tim Kennedy said.
Representative Eli Crane, a Republican, pushed back on criticism of immigration enforcement, accusing Democrats of seeking to “demonize ICE and Homeland Security.”
‘Days, not weeks’
In Minneapolis, thousands of federal agents have in recent weeks conducted raids in what the administration claims are targeted operations against criminals.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said Tuesday that he expects the crackdown — which has seen detentions of broad categories of immigrants and sometimes citizens — to end soon.
“We’re very much in a ‘trust but verify’ mode. But it’s my expectation... that we are talking days, not weeks and months, of this occupation,” Walz said.
The operations have sparked mass protests in Minneapolis, and the fatal shootings of US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti less than three weeks apart last month led to a wave of outrage.
When Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell asked Tuesday if Lyons would apologize to Good and Pretti’s families over the Trump administration’s initial description of them as “domestic terrorists,” he declined, saying he would not comment on active investigations.
Opposition Democrats have been calling for sweeping reforms to ICE operations, including ending mobile patrols, prohibiting agents from concealing their faces, and requiring warrants.
Democratic leaders in Congress are also threatening to block the 2026 funding bill for DHS. The White House has indicated it is willing to negotiate, but its response has failed to satisfy opposition lawmakers so far.
“Republicans shared an outline of a counterproposal, which included neither details nor legislative text,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
They denounced the White House response as “incomplete and insufficient in terms of addressing the concerns Americans have about ICE’s lawless conduct,” and said they were awaiting further details.
If negotiations fail, DHS could face a funding shortfall starting Saturday. CBP and ICE operations could continue using funds approved by Congress last year, but other sub-agencies such as federal disaster organization FEMA could be affected.
Trump acknowledged in the wake of the Minneapolis killings that a “softer touch” may be needed on immigration, and his administration announced concessions including the withdrawal of hundreds of officers from the Midwestern city.
But the issue remains far from resolved, with Democrats demanding changes to the way the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducts its immigration sweeps and threatening to block its funding, while Trump’s administration vows to maintain its deportation efforts, with backing from Republican lawmakers.
“The president tasked us with mass deportation, and we are fulfilling that mandate,” Todd Lyons, the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said in his opening remarks during the Tuesday hearing on DHS oversight.
He testified alongside Rodney Scott, the head of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Citizenship and Immigration Services director Joseph Edlow.
Scott hailed efforts on the southern US frontier, saying CBP “spent the last year rebuilding what was an intentionally broken border” and that “the United States... enjoys the most secure border in our nation’s history.”
The Trump administration officials faced a barrage of criticism and tough questions from Democratic lawmakers over the major crackdown on migrants in multiple US cities, which Republican representatives largely defended.
“This administration and the agencies represented before us have shown a complete and utter disregard for the law and the Constitution,” Democratic Representative Tim Kennedy said.
Representative Eli Crane, a Republican, pushed back on criticism of immigration enforcement, accusing Democrats of seeking to “demonize ICE and Homeland Security.”
‘Days, not weeks’
In Minneapolis, thousands of federal agents have in recent weeks conducted raids in what the administration claims are targeted operations against criminals.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said Tuesday that he expects the crackdown — which has seen detentions of broad categories of immigrants and sometimes citizens — to end soon.
“We’re very much in a ‘trust but verify’ mode. But it’s my expectation... that we are talking days, not weeks and months, of this occupation,” Walz said.
The operations have sparked mass protests in Minneapolis, and the fatal shootings of US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti less than three weeks apart last month led to a wave of outrage.
When Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell asked Tuesday if Lyons would apologize to Good and Pretti’s families over the Trump administration’s initial description of them as “domestic terrorists,” he declined, saying he would not comment on active investigations.
Opposition Democrats have been calling for sweeping reforms to ICE operations, including ending mobile patrols, prohibiting agents from concealing their faces, and requiring warrants.
Democratic leaders in Congress are also threatening to block the 2026 funding bill for DHS. The White House has indicated it is willing to negotiate, but its response has failed to satisfy opposition lawmakers so far.
“Republicans shared an outline of a counterproposal, which included neither details nor legislative text,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
They denounced the White House response as “incomplete and insufficient in terms of addressing the concerns Americans have about ICE’s lawless conduct,” and said they were awaiting further details.
If negotiations fail, DHS could face a funding shortfall starting Saturday. CBP and ICE operations could continue using funds approved by Congress last year, but other sub-agencies such as federal disaster organization FEMA could be affected.
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