Australia news live: Meta blocks nearly 550,000 accounts in first month of under-16s social media ban; Victorian bushfires expected to burn for weeks

Social media giant said while complying with the law, it continued to lobby government for ‘better way forward’. Follow the latest updates liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastVictoria emergency services minister urges residents to respect roadblocks and avoid burned-out areasVicki Ward, Victoria’s emergency services minister, is providing an update on the ongoing firefighting effort in the state.We need to have … qualified people, who know what they’re doing, going in there to check to make sure that roadways are safe because trees can just fall on people.We do not want to see those kinds of incidents. We do not want to see people who have done the right thing, who have left early, who have saved their lives, the lives of their families, then go back into a fire area only to be harmed, possibly killed by a falling tree. Continue reading...