At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Victoria is heading into an intense heatwave over the long weekend, while northern Australia faces a separate weather threat. Parts of Victoria are forecast to exceed 40°C, with the most extreme heat expected on Tuesday. Northern towns, including Mildura, could set new temperature records. Mildura is forecast to reach 42°C tomorrow and up to 48°C on Tuesday, close to its all-time high. Melbourne is expected to hit 40°C tomorrow, cool to the mid-20s on Sunday, then climb again to 41°C on Tuesday. Hot, dry conditions have pushed fire danger to critical levels. A total fire ban is in place across Victoria tomorrow, with extreme fire risk forecast for Wimmera and South West Victoria. North East Victoria is expected to face similar conditions on Sunday. Authorities are urging residents to have a bushfire plan and follow updates through VicEmergency. No rain is forecast for the state over the next two weeks, increasing the ongoing fire risk. Further north, Queensland is monitoring a tropical low in the eastern Gulf of Carpentaria. The system has a moderate chance of developing into a cyclone over the weekend. Communities in northern Queensland and the eastern Northern Territory have been advised to stay alert. Flood warnings also remain in place for parts of Queensland, including Bedourie, Windorah and Glengyle, with a minor warning issued for the Sutton River. Source : 9News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. An Australian teenager with Sri Lankan roots is using coding to help close the global digital divide. Neth Dharmasiri began learning computer programming at age 11 after discovering Python. Six years later, the 17-year-old has built his own programming language and launched a new education app. Inspired by the lack of access to technology in rural Sri Lanka, Neth and his friend Chinmay Lal created Thadus, a beginner-friendly coding platform designed to work offline in areas with limited internet. Released in 2026, the app offers three structured courses that introduce core coding concepts and show how they connect to real-world careers. One course focuses on data science, reflecting the growing demand for skills linked to artificial intelligence. The project has gained support from Sri Lankan philanthropist Kushil Gunasekera, whose Foundation of Goodness runs more than 20 computer labs in rural communities. The partnership is expected to give thousands of students access to coding education. While Thadus CodeLabs operates as a commercial venture, the app is free for charities and non-profit organisations. Education experts say initiatives like this are vital as digital skills become as important as reading and maths, especially for students in regional and disadvantaged areas. Neth says coding is not about talent, but opportunity. With the right access, he believes anyone can learn to create, problem-solve and innovate. Source : ABCNews Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Millions of Australians will see changes to Centrelink reporting and payment dates due to Australia Day closures. Services Australia service centres and most call centres will close on Monday for the public holiday. As a result, reporting and payment schedules will shift for many recipients. People receiving payments such as JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, Austudy, ABSTUDY, Age Pension, Disability Support Pension, Carer Payment, Parenting Payment and family payments are among those affected. If you don’t need to report income, your payment will usually be made earlier than normal. The amount does not change, but you’ll need to budget so it lasts until your next payment date. If you do need to report and want to be paid before the holiday, you must report early. This means estimating your income and reporting any expected changes. Errors can be fixed within 14 days. You can still report income online on the public holiday. However, payments made after reporting on the day will be processed once Services Australia reopens. Full details on changed payment and reporting dates are available on the Services Australia website and through individual Centrelink online accounts. Source : 7News More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. ජනවාරි 6 වන දින සිට බලපැවැත්වෙන පරිදි අතිරේක දිවා කාලයේ ගුවන් ගමන් තුනක් දියත් කිරීමත් සමඟ සිංගප්පූරු ගුවන් සේවය කොළඹ සහ සිංගප්පූරුව අතර සිය මෙහෙයුම් පුළුල් කර ඇති අතර, එමඟින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සහ ගුවන් සමාගමේ ගෝලීය ජාලය අතර ගුවන් සම්බන්ධතාවය තවදුරටත් ශක්තිමත් වේ. නව සේවාවන් අඟහරුවාදා, බ්‍රහස්පතින්දා සහ ඉරිදා දිනවල ක්‍රියාත්මක වේ. නවතම එකතු කිරීමත් සමඟ, සිංගප්පූරු ගුවන් සේවය දැන් කොළඹ-සිංගප්පූරු මාර්ගයේ සතිපතා ගුවන් ගමන් 10 ක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරයි. පුළුල් කරන ලද කාලසටහන මගීන්ට වැඩි නම්‍යශීලී බවක් සහ පහසුවක් ලබා දෙන අතරම සිංගප්පූරු ගුවන් සේවයේ ජාත්‍යන්තර මාර්ග ජාලය හරහා ගමනාන්ත වෙත ඉදිරි සම්බන්ධතාවය වැඩි දියුණු කරනු ඇතැයි අපේක්ෂා කරන බව ගුවන් සමාගම පැවසීය. Source : DailyMirror More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australians were treated to a rare natural spectacle overnight as a powerful aurora australis lit up skies far beyond its usual range. The southern lights were visible across much of the country, from Tasmania and Victoria to parts of New South Wales, central Queensland and Western Australia. Experts say that level of coverage is highly unusual. Swinburne University astrophysicist Dr Rebecca Davies said the display was driven by heightened solar activity. The sun remains in an intense phase of its solar cycle, producing stronger and more frequent space weather events. The lights were spotted as far north as Byron Bay, where locals described vivid colours rarely seen in the region. Inland observers, including in Dubbo, also reported clear views once cloud cover eased. Auroras occur when charged particles from the sun collide with Earth’s atmosphere during geomagnetic storms, creating glowing bands of colour in the sky. The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed a severe geomagnetic storm was active overnight. While that peak has passed, solar activity continues, with weaker auroras still possible. Forecasters say people in southern Australia, including Victoria, Tasmania and southern Western Australia, may still catch a faint display on the southern horizon tonight. Source : 9News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Sri Lankan community informed with timely updates. හෙන්ලි සහ හවුල්කරුවන් විසින් නිකුත් කරන ලද නවතම ගෝලීය විදේශ ගමන් බලපත්‍ර ශ්‍රේණිගත කිරීම්වලට අනුව, ගමනාන්ත 39 කට ප්‍රවේශය සහිතව 2026 හෙන්ලි විදේශ ගමන් බලපත්‍ර දර්ශකයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව 93 වන ස්ථානය දක්වා ඉහළට පැමිණ තිබේ. හෙන්ලි විදේශ ගමන් බලපත්‍ර දර්ශකය ලොව පුරා විදේශ ගමන් බලපත්‍රවල මුල් සහ වඩාත්ම බලයලත් ශ්‍රේණිගත කිරීම ලෙස සලකනු ලබන අතර, පූර්ව වීසා බලපත්‍රයක් ලබා නොගෙන විදේශ ගමන් බලපත්‍ර හිමියන්ට ප්‍රවේශ විය හැකි ගමනාන්ත ගණන මනිනු ලැබේ. ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන් ප්‍රවාහන සංගමයේ (IATA) සුවිශේෂී දත්ත භාවිතා කරමින් මෙම දර්ශකය සම්පාදනය කර ඇති අතර, හෙන්ලි සහ හවුල්කරුවන්ගේ පර්යේෂණ කණ්ඩායම විසින් වැඩි දියුණු කරන ලදී. සිංගප්පූරුව අඛණ්ඩව දෙවන වසරටත් ඉහළම ස්ථානය රඳවා ගෙන ඇති අතර, එහි විදේශ ගමන් බලපත්‍ර හිමියන්ට ගමනාන්ත 192 කට වීසා රහිත හෝ වීසා-පැමිණීමේ ප්‍රවේශය භුක්ති විඳිති. ජපානය සහ දකුණු කොරියාව දෙවන ස්ථානය බෙදා ගන්නා අතර, ඩෙන්මාර්කය, ලක්සම්බර්ග්, ස්පාඤ්ඤය, ස්වීඩනය සහ ස්විට්සර්ලන්තය ගමනාන්ත 186 කට ප්‍රවේශය සහිතව තුන්වන ස්ථානයේ සිටී. දර්ශකයට අනුව, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව පසුගිය වසරේ ගමනාන්ත 44 කට ප්‍රවේශය සහිතව 96 වන ස්ථානයට පත්විය. කෙසේ වෙතත්, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ විදේශ ගමන් බලපත්‍රය නේපාලය, බංග්ලාදේශය සහ පකිස්ථානය ඇතුළු දකුණු ආසියානු කලාපීය සහයෝගීතා සංගමයේ (SAARC) රටවල් කිහිපයකට වඩා ඉහළින් ශ්‍රේණිගත කර ඇත. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Sri Lankans .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. An exciting group-stage encounter awaits cricket fans as Sri Lanka Under-19 take on Australia Under-19 in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2026. The match is scheduled to be played on Friday, January 23, at 1:00 pm in Windhoek, Namibia, and is expected to have a significant impact on the group standings. Sri Lanka currently sit at the top of the group points table, with Australia close behind in second place, making this contest a potential decider for group supremacy. Both teams have shown strong form in the tournament so far, combining disciplined bowling attacks with promising young batting line-ups. Adding an extra layer of intrigue to the fixture is the presence of two players of Sri Lankan origin in the Australian Under-19 squad, a detail that has drawn attention from fans and analysts alike. Their inclusion highlights the increasingly global nature of modern cricket and is sure to add emotional subplots to an already high-stakes contest. Sri Lanka Under-19 Squad Led by captain Vimath Dinsara, Sri Lanka will rely on a balanced squad featuring solid top-order batters and a versatile bowling unit. The team includes: Vimath Dinsara (c), Kavija Gamage, Dimantha Mahavithana, Viran Chamuditha, Dulnith Sigera, Chamika Heentigala, Adam Hilmy, Chamarindu Nethsara, Sethmika Seneviratne, Kugathas Mathulan, Rasith Nimsara, Vigneshwaran Akash, Jeewantha Sriram, Senuja Wekunagoda, and Malintha Silva. Australia Under-19 Squad Australia, captained by Oliver Peake, bring their trademark aggressive approach and depth in all departments. Their squad includes: Oliver Peake (c), Kasey Barton, Naden Cooray, Jayden Draper, Ben Gordon, Steven Hogan, Thomas Hogan, John James, Charles Lachmund, Will Malajczuk, Nitesh Samuel, Hayden Schiller, Aryan Sharma, William Byrom, and Alex Lee Young. With both teams already in strong positions, the match promises high-quality youth cricket, intense competition, and valuable experience for players aiming to represent their countries at the senior level in the future. All eyes will be on Windhoek as two traditional cricketing nations clash in what could be one of the standout group matches of the tournament. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. ඇමරිකාවේ මැණික් විද්‍යා ආයතනය (GIA) සහතික කළ ස්වභාවික දම් පැහැති තරු නිල් මැණික් සහ ලොව විශාලතම ලේඛනගත නිදර්ශකය වන Star of Pure Land, ඊයේ කොළඹදී පැවති කැපවූ සාකච්ඡාවකදී ගෝලීය විද්‍යාත්මක හා සංස්කෘතික වාර්තාවට විධිමත් ලෙස හඳුන්වා දෙන ලදී. කැරට් 3,536 ක් බරින් යුත් මෙම මැණික් ගල ජාත්‍යන්තරව පිළිගත් මැණික් විද්‍යාත්මක ප්‍රමිතීන්ට අනුකූලව ස්වාධීනව පරීක්ෂා කර සත්‍යාපනය කර ඇත. ඇමරිකාවේ මැණික් විද්‍යා ආයතනය (GIA) විසින් සහතික කිරීම එහි සත්‍යතාව, ස්වාභාවික සහ රත් නොකළ සැකැස්ම සහ දුර්ලභ දෘශ්‍ය ලක්ෂණ තහවුරු කරයි. එහි වර්ගීකරණය සහ ශ්‍රී ලාංකික (ලංකා) සම්භවය ලංකා මැණික් විද්‍යා රසායනාගාරය (LGL) විසින් ස්වාධීනව ලේඛනගත කර ඇත. උපදේශක මැණික් විද්‍යාඥ අෂාන් අමරසිංහ මහතා මෙම සාකච්ඡාවේදී සඳහන් කළේ “Star of Pure Land” ලෙස නම් කර ඇති වටකුරු හැඩැති මැණික ලොව විශාලතම ලේඛනගත ස්වාභාවික දම් පැහැති තරු නිල් මැණික් බවයි ඔහු තවදුරටත් මෙසේ පැවසීය, “මෙය මේ ආකාරයේ විශාලතම දම් පැහැති තරු නිල් මැණික් ය. මැණික හොඳින් අර්ථ දක්වා ඇති තාරකා විද්‍යාවක් පෙන්වයි. එයට කිරණ තාරකා විද්‍යාවක් ඇත. එය අනෙක් සියලුම ගල් අතරින් විශේෂ දෙයකි." ජාත්‍යන්තර තක්සේරුකරුවන් විසින් ගලෙහි වටිනාකම ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 300 සිට ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 400 දක්වා ඇස්තමේන්තු කර ඇති බව අමරසිංහ අවධාරණය කළේය. මෙම හඳුන්වාදීම ස්වාධීන විද්‍යාත්මක සත්‍යාපනය, භූ විද්‍යාත්මක සන්දර්භය සහ දිගුකාලීන සංස්කෘතික ඉදිරිදර්ශනය එකට ගෙන එන ව්‍යුහගත රාමුවක් තුළ මැණික් ගල පිළිබඳ පළමු මහජන පිළිගැනීම සනිටුහන් කළේය. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Elective surgeries in Victorian public hospitals will be delayed from Wednesday as part of an ongoing pay dispute with the state government. The Health Workers Union says protected industrial action will run from January 14 to February 1. During this time, Category 2 and 3 elective surgeries will be paused. The action also includes closing one in four hospital beds, halting cleaning in non-clinical areas such as offices and staff rooms, and stopping the training and onboarding of new staff. Union leaders say the measures are designed to limit risk. Emergency care will continue, and children and pregnant patients are excluded from the surgery delays. HWU lead organiser Jake McGuinness said the action would cause disruption but was unavoidable. He said workers are seeking a fair pay rise and relief from heavy workloads and staff shortages. The union is pushing for a six per cent wage increase as part of a new two-year enterprise agreement, arguing current pay offers do not keep up with living costs. The Victorian Government says it is working with hospitals and the union to reduce impacts on patient care. A spokesperson confirmed emergency services and critical treatments will continue, with contingency plans in place across the hospital system. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Sydney is in for more rain today, but the worst of the weekend downpour has passed. Heavy falls that soaked the city and surrounds are easing after intense bursts of rain over the weekend. Some areas on the Northern Beaches and Central Coast recorded between 80mm and 140mm in just a few hours. Weather experts say those totals were similar to tropical monsoon rain and are considered extremely rare. Flash flooding hit parts of Sydney, and flood warnings remain in place. This includes the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers in the city’s west. The wild weather was driven by warm, moisture-laden winds from the Tasman Sea feeding into a coastal weather system. More than 19,000 lightning strikes were detected near Sydney since late Friday, mainly across the north and Central Coast. That system is now moving offshore. Showers are still expected today, but conditions should gradually improve. The rest of the week looks mostly dry, with a chance of heavier rain returning on Friday. Meanwhile, a severe weather warning remains active for Norfolk Island, where very heavy rain is forecast. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. මෑතකදී ඇති වූ ඩිට්වා සුළි කුණාටුවෙන් සිදු වූ හානිය තක්සේරු කිරීම සඳහා ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල (IMF) ජනවාරි 22 සිට ජනවාරි 28 දක්වා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට කරුණු සෙවීමේ මෙහෙයුමක් යැවීමට තීරණය කර තිබේ. විස්තීර්ණ අරමුදල් පහසුකම (EFF) වැඩසටහන යටතේ අදාළ ප්‍රතිපත්තිමය ඇඟවුම් පිළිබඳව කණ්ඩායම සාකච්ඡා කරනු ඇති බව IMF හි සන්නිවේදන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජූලි කොසැක් ද ප්‍රකාශ කළාය. භූමියේ තත්ත්වය පිළිබඳව පැහැදිලි අවබෝධයක් ලබා ගැනීමට කණ්ඩායමට හැකිවන පරිදි මෙය කරුණු සෙවීමේ මෙහෙයුමක් බව ඇය අවධාරණය කළාය. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Sri Lankans .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. New imagery compiled from an orbiting weather satellite shows how fast and far the fires spread across the state. The visuals were created by stitching together hundreds of satellite images taken over several days. Since extreme heat and strong winds triggered catastrophic conditions, more than 400,000 hectares have been burnt. Hundreds of buildings have been destroyed and one man has lost his life. At the height of the emergency, multiple major fires were burning at once. Data from Victorian fire agencies shows more than 100 separate burn areas recorded since January 5. Some of the worst-hit zones, including the Longwood and Walwa fires, each cover more than 100,000 hectares. Others are much smaller, burning less than a hectare. Fire scientist Professor David Bowman from the University of Tasmania says the pattern differs from the 2019–20 Black Summer fires. This time, the damage is being driven largely by grass and rural land, rather than dry forest. After several wetter years, grass fuel loads were high. Combined with strong winds, this allowed fires to race across open landscapes. Satellite views of the Longwood fire show long, narrow burn paths. Experts say this is a clear sign of wind-driven fires spreading quickly before merging at the edges. The images were captured by Japan’s Himawari weather satellite, which takes pictures every 10 minutes. Together, they offer a rare, statewide look at how the emergency unfolded. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .