Australia’s deadly wildfires are showing no signs of stopping. Here’s what you need to know
(CNN)Australia is being ravaged by the worst wildfires seen in decades, with large swathes of the country devastated since the fire season began in September.
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Australia fires: Smoke turns New Zealand skies ‘eerie’ yellow
Blue skies turned yellow
“I have never seen anything like the haze over the past 48 hours,” Arthur McBride of glacier tour company Alpine Guides told the BBC.
Tourist flights up to Tasman, Franz Josef and Fox glaciers are a popular way to experience New Zealand’s stunning mountain scenery.
But for the past days, visitors have endured a thick yellow haze, instead of the white snow and bright blue skies expected.
“Wednesday afternoon was particularly bad,” Mr McBride says, “and the smell of woodsmoke is still distinct.”
Half a billion animals perish in Australian bushfires
There are real concerns entire species of plants and animals have been wiped out by bushfires following revelations almost 500 million animals have died since the crisis began.
Ecologists from the University of Sydney now estimate 480 million mammals, birds and reptiles have been lost since September.
That figure is likely to soar following the devastating fires which have ripped through Victoria and the NSW South Coast over the past couple of days, leaving several people dead or unaccounted for, razing scores of homes and leaving thousands stranded, news.com.au reports.
Transgender woman found dead in vacant apartment in Southeast
WASHINGTON — D.C. police have confirmed that the deceased person found in a vacant apartment building on Monday identified as a transgender woman. The body was found almost 24 hours after an exchange of gunfire between security guards and an unknown suspect in the same apartment building.
Around 10:43 p.m. Sunday, private security guards employed by Metropolitan Tactical Elite Protective Services were called to a vacant apartment building for a possible burglary in the 4200 Block of Barnaby Road Southeast. The guards came across an armed, adult suspect, and D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said evidence shows there was an exchange of gunfire between the suspect and the guards.
The suspect fled on foot, and the security guards believed the suspect had left the building. When D.C. police arrived to secure the location, with a K-9, they were unable to locate a victim or suspect in the shooting.
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