Millions of people are bracing for severe heat over the Australia Day long weekend, with swimmers warned of threats above and below the waves.

A “heat dome” could bring record-breaking temperatures and fire danger to parts of the nation, Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Kevin Parkin said.

South Australia is first in the firing line as heatwave conditions drift eastwards, bringing 40C days to capitals along Australia’s southeast. 

Temperatures will start to build across Victoria, inland NSW, the ACT and southern Queensland from Saturday and into next week.

As thousands of people flock to beaches and inland waterways to escape the heat, authorities are bracing for heightened water safety risks.

It has been a busy start to summer for Victoria’s Water Police Squad, which has conducted about 500 rescues and issued some 280 infringement notices.

Boat and jet ski collisions account for most callouts, with Water Police Squad Inspector James Dalton noting there have been some “really significant” injuries.

“People need to remember that a split-second decision can have lifelong consequences,” Insp Dalton told reporters on Friday.

Threats will extend below the surf, with thousands of lion’s mane jellyfish spotted around Melbourne’s inner-city beaches.

Swimmers have been urged to cover up or else avoid the water altogether as lifesavers brace for painful stings.

Meanwhile, Sydneysiders are on guard against a more menacing predator following four recent shark attacks along the NSW coast.

The city’s popular northern beaches are expected to reopen for the long weekend after closing following the attacks.

Lifeguards will conduct regular patrols supported by jet ski patrols, increased aerial surveillance and extra drumlines to protect swimmers. 

Drowning poses an even greater risk, having claimed nearly 50 lives since the summer began.

Beachgoers are urged to remain between the flags with coastal drownings three times as common around public holidays, according to Surf Life Saving Australia. 

The risk extends to inland waterways, where calm surfaces can conceal strong currents, sudden drop-offs and poor visibility. 

Temperatures in coming days will rival those recorded in the Black Summer of 2019-20, threatening to break all-time records, senior meteorologist Jonathan How told AAP. 

High heat will result from the same slow-moving mass of hot air that brought temperatures nearing 50C to parts of Western Australia this week. 

Shallow winds will bring some reprieve to the southeast from Saturday afternoon, with the mercury set to rise again from Monday.

Extreme fire danger ratings are in place across parts of South Australia with a catastrophic rating due for the Yorke Peninsula on Saturday. 

Adelaide is forecast to hit 42C, while Maitland on the peninsula could reach 44C.

Moderate fire danger ratings are in place across inland NSW, with extreme ratings expected in the Northern Slopes and Central Ranges from Monday. 

Sydney is forecast to reach 33C on Sunday, with elevated heat continuing into next week. 

Temperatures in Dubbo will hover in the low-to-mid 40s over the next week, with similar conditions across the regions.

Melbourne is set to reach 40C on Saturday, before topping 41C on Tuesday after a brief reprieve on Sunday. 

Parts of the state will edge towards 50C, with a forecast top of 47C in Hopetoun, about 400km northwest of Melbourne.

Winds across the state over the next week are forecast to be lower than those behind the fast-moving fires earlier in January.

But Mr How described this as a “double-edged sword”, posing a lower spread risk for fires but meaning high temperatures will likely persist for longer.

Victoria will be covered by total fire bans from Saturday, prohibiting all open air burns.

Total fire bans are already in place across parts of SA.

In a hypothetical nuclear war involving Russia, China and the United States, the island of Greenland would be in the middle of Armageddon.

The strategic importance of the Arctic territory — under the flight paths that nuclear-armed missiles from China and Russia could take on their way to incinerating targets in the United States, and vice versa — is one of the reasons US President Donald Trump has cited in his disruptive campaign to wrest control of Greenland from Denmark.

The move has alarmed Greenlanders and longtime allies in Europe alike. 

Trump has argued that US ownership of Greenland is vital for his “Golden Dome” — a multi-billion dollar missile defence system that he says will be operational before his term ends in 2029.

“Because of The Golden Dome, and Modern Day Weapons Systems, both Offensive and Defensive, the need to ACQUIRE is especially important,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday. 

That ushered in another roller-coaster week involving the autonomous Danish territory, where Trump again pushed for US ownership before seemingly backing off, announcing Wednesday the “framework of a future deal” on Arctic security that’s unlikely to be the final word.

Here’s a closer look at Greenland’s position at a crossroads for nuclear defence. 

Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, or ICBMs, that nuclear adversaries would fire at each other — if it ever came to that — tend to take the shortest direct route, on a ballistic trajectory into space and down again, from their silos or launchers to targets. 

The shortest flight paths from China or Russia to the United States — and the other way — would take many of them over the Arctic region.

Russian Topol-M missiles fired, for example, from the Tatishchevo silo complex southeast of Moscow would fly high over Greenland, if targeted at the US ICBM force of 400 Minuteman III missiles, housed at the Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, the Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana and the Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming.

Chinese Dong Feng-31 missiles, if fired from new silo fields that the US Defence Department says have been built in China, also could overfly Greenland should they be targeted at the US eastern seaboard.

“If there is a war, much of the action will take place on that piece of ice. Think of it: those missiles would be flying right over the centre,” Trump said on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

At the US Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, an array of farseeing early warning radars acts as the Pentagon’s eyes against any missile attack. 

Pronounced “bee-doo-FEEK,” it used to be called Thule Air Base, but was renamed in 2023 using the remote location’s Greenlandic name, recognising the indigenous community that was forcibly displaced by the US outpost’s construction in 1951.

Its location above the Arctic Circle, and roughly halfway between Washington and Moscow, enables it to peer with its radar over the Arctic region, into Russia and at potential flight paths of US-targeted Chinese missiles. 

“That gives the United States more time to think about what to do,” said Pavel Podvig, a Geneva-based analyst who specialises in Russia’s nuclear arsenal. 

“Greenland is a good location for that.”

The two-sided, solid-state AN/FPS-132 radar is designed to quickly detect and track ballistic missile launches, including from submarines, to help inform the US commander in chief’s response and provide data for interceptors to try and destroy warheads. 

The radar beams out for nearly 5550 km in a 240-degree arc and, even at its furthest range, can detect objects no larger than a small car, the US Air Force says. 

Pitching the “Golden Dome” in Davos, Trump said that the US needs ownership of Greenland to defend it. 

“You can’t defend it on a lease,” he said. 

But defence specialists struggle to comprehend that logic, given that the US has operated at Pituffik for decades without owning Greenland. 

French nuclear defence specialist Etienne Marcuz points out that Trump has never spoken of also needing to take control of the United Kingdom — even though it, like Greenland, also plays an important role in US missile defence.

An early warning radar operated by the UK’s Royal Air Force at Fylingdales, in northern England, serves both the UK and US governments, scanning for missiles from Russia and elsewhere and northward to the polar region. 

The unit’s motto is “Vigilamus” — Latin for “we are watching”.

Trump’s envisioned multi-layered “Golden Dome” could include space-based sensors to detect missiles. 

They could reduce the US need for its Greenland-based radar station, said Marcuz, a former nuclear defence worker for France’s Defence Ministry, now with the Foundation for Strategic Research think tank in Paris. 

“Trump’s argument that Greenland is vital for the Golden Dome — and therefore that it has to be invaded, well, acquired — is false for several reasons,” Marcuz said.

“One of them is that there is, for example, a radar in the United Kingdom, and to my knowledge, there is no question of invading the UK. And, above all, there are new sensors that are already being tested, in the process of being deployed, which will in fact reduce Greenland’s importance.” 

Because of its location, Greenland could be a useful place to station “Golden Dome” interceptors to try to destroy warheads before they reach the continental US.

The “highly complex system can only work at its maximum potential and efficiency … if this Land is included in it,” Trump wrote in his post last weekend.

But the US already has access to Greenland under a 1951 defence agreement. 

Before Trump ratcheted up the heat on the territory and Denmark, its owner, their governments likely would have readily accepted any American military request for an expanded footprint there, experts say. 

It used to have multiple bases and installations, but later abandoned them, leaving just Pituffik.

“Denmark was the most compliant ally of the United States,” Marcuz said. 

“Now, it’s very different. I don’t know whether authorisation would be granted, but in any case, before, the answer was ‘Yes.'”

Dozens of South Koreans allegedly involved in online scams in Cambodia have returned to South Korea to face investigations in what was the largest group repatriation of criminal suspects from abroad. 

The 73 South Korean suspects allegedly scammed fellow citizens out of 48.6 billion won ($A48 million), according to a South Korean government statement. 

Upon arrival in South Korea’s Incheon airport aboard a chartered plane on Friday, the suspects — 65 men and eight women — were sent to police stations. 

Local TV footage showed the suspects, in handcuffs and wearing masks, being escorted by police officers and boarding buses. 

They were among about 260 South Koreans detained in a crackdown in Cambodia in recent months. 

“When it comes to crimes that harm our people, we’ll track down and arrest those involved to the very end and get them to face corresponding consequences,” senior police officer Yoo Seung Ryul told a televised briefing at the airport.

Public outrage over scam centres in Southeast Asia flared in South Korea when a Korean student was found dead last summer after reportedly being forced to work at a scam compound in Cambodia. 

Authorities said at the time he died after being tortured and beaten, and South Korea sent a government delegation to Cambodia in October for talks on a joint response.

The suspects repatriated on Friday include a couple who allegedly operated a deepfake romance scam to dupe 12 billion won ($A12.0 million) from about 100 people in fraudulent investment schemes. 

South Korea has made various efforts to bring them back home, including more than 10 rounds of video meetings with Cambodian officials, the Justice Ministry said in a statement.

At the airport briefing, senior Foreign Ministry official Yoo Byung-seok expressed gratitude to the Cambodian government over Friday’s repatriation. 

He said South Korea hopes to continue close bilateral coordination until online scams targeting South Koreans are eradicated in Cambodia.

Cybercrime has flourished in Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia and Myanmar, as trafficked foreign nationals were employed to run romance and cryptocurrency scams, often after being recruited with false job offers and then forced to work in conditions of near-slavery. 

According to estimates from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, scam victims worldwide lost between $US18 billion ($A26 billion) and $US37 billion ($A54 billion) in 2023.

In January, Cambodia said it had arrested and extradited to China a tycoon accused of running a huge online scam operation.

Since October, about 130 South Korean scam suspects from Cambodia as well as more than 20 such Korean suspects from Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines have been sent back home. 

After Friday’s repatriation, about 60 South Koreans will remain detained in Cambodia awaiting repatriation, according to police.

South Korean officials said in October that about 1000 South Koreans were estimated to be in scam centres in Cambodia. 

Some are believed to be forced labourers.

On Thursday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called for stern responses to transnational cybercrimes that he said erode mutual trust in society and trigger diplomatic disputes with other countries.

A load of washing and pool pumps running in the middle of the day could save households hundreds of dollars a year once electricity is made free during a three-hour window.

Government modelling of the savings possible under an incoming free solar scheme suggests a family of five could spend $800-$1100 less on power bills annually were they able to shift a quarter of their energy use to the time of abundant solar generation.

That would likely entail scheduling the dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, pool pump and electric car charging for the middle of the day.

A more modest 10 per cent shift in energy use to the zero-cost timeslot could save a five-person household $400, or $150 for someone living solo.

The new figures from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water follow consultation on the program due to be introduced in some states from mid-2026.

Solar Sharer, as the scheme is known, is intended to bring the benefits of abundant, cheap solar generating in the daytime to more households, including those without their own panels.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen says it will also take pressure off the grid by shifting more energy use into the daytime rather than in the peak evening period, helping to lower network and system security costs.

“Australia has more rooftop solar capacity than the entire fleet of remaining coal-fired power stations across the country,” he said.

Following consultation, the federal government has confirmed the program will be opt-in, flexible to local conditions, and enforce a daily cap on extreme energy use to keep the system fair and equitable.

It’s acknowledged the scheme may not be suitable for all households and will depend on their ability to shift electricity use into the daytime.

The industry body representing energy generators and retailers, the Australian Energy Council, has been calling for accompanying changes to network tariffs to align with the free-usage period to help cover the costs of poles, wires and other distribution infrastructure.

The concern is energy companies will end up recovering network, metering and other costs outside the free window.

“Without this change, there is a risk that energy charges outside the free window will be significantly higher, which may disadvantage some customers,” AEC chief executive Louisa Kinnear said.

Retailer concerns are acknowledged in the government consultation paper and work with industry will be ongoing on “how best to price the non-free-power periods to allow retailers to recover costs where necessary”.

Smart Energy Council chief executive John Grimes described the scheme as “brilliant” and applauded the move to “democratise” the supply of cheap energy.

“Networks are wasting tens of millions of dollars turning off free solar energy. Solar Sharer instead gives it to people for nothing,” he said.

“There will be critics of this shift, particularly those with vested economic interests, but measures that increase energy resilience, security and independence are to be applauded.”

Households in NSW, South Australia and southeast Queensland with smart meters will be able to opt-in to the three hours of free electricity from July 2026.

Other states can expect the scheme to be rolled out in 2027.

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has dissolved the lower house of parliament, paving the way for a snap election on February 8.

The move is an attempt to capitalise on her popularity to help the governing party regain ground after major losses in recent years.

But it will delay a vote on a budget that aims to boost a struggling economy and address soaring prices.

Elected in October as Japan’s first female leader, Takaichi has been in office only three months, but she has seen strong approval ratings of about 70 per cent.

Takaichi is also seeing rising animosity with China since she made pro-Taiwan remarks. 

And US President Donald Trump wants her to spend more on weapons as Washington and Beijing pursue military superiority in the region.

The dissolution of the 465-member lower house paves the way for a 12-day campaign that officially starts Tuesday.

Takaichi’s plan for an early election aims to expand a governing majority in the lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament.

The scandal-tainted LDP and its coalition have a slim majority in the lower house after an election loss in 2024. 

The coalition does not have a majority in the upper house and relies on winning votes from opposition members to pass its agenda.

Opposition leaders criticised Takaichi for delaying the passage of a budget needed to fund key economic measures.

“I believe that the only option is for the people, as sovereign citizens, to decide whether Sanae Takaichi should be prime minister,” she told a news conference Monday when announcing plans for the election. 

“I’m staking my career as prime minister (on it).”

A hardline conservative, Takaichi wants to highlight differences with her centrist predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba.

Takaichi stresses that voters need to judge her fiscal spending moves, further military build-up and tougher immigration policies to make Japan “strong and prosperous”.

While an upbeat and decisive image has earned her strong approval ratings, especially among younger people, the LDP is not popular as it recovers from a political funds scandal. 

Many traditional LDP voters have shifted to emerging far-right populist opposition parties, such as the anti-globalist Sanseito.

Meanwhile, Japan faces escalating tensions with China after Takaichi made remarks suggesting that Japan could become involved if China takes military action against Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own. 

A furious China has increased economic and diplomatic retribution.

Takaichi wants to push further a military build-up and spending increases, while Trump has pressured Japan to spend more on defence.

More work is needed to counter disinformation generated by artificial intelligence, a review of Labor’s landslide federal election victory has found.

While praising the campaign that delivered Anthony Albanese 94 seats in the House of Representatives and badly damaged the Liberals and the Greens, the review shows Labor has a number of areas to work on before the next election.

The four-person review panel found AI was used by Labor’s opponents to spread disinformation during the 2025 campaign.

This included unlabelled AI-generated videos and images for posters and online content.

“International evidence shows that AI fundamentally lowers the cost and increases the scale of disinformation operations,” the review handed down on Friday by Labor national president Wayne Swan said.

“Increasingly, people cannot tell authentic from manufactured information.”

The review identified a shift away from obvious viral AI content with campaigners now creating thousands of slightly different versions of the same message, which are harder to detect.

It warned the Electoral Commission only has limited powers to crack down on computer-generated disinformation.

Broadly, the review found that while Labor ran a successful, targeted campaign, the actions of the opposition helped the government return to power.

“Post-election research showed voters felt that the coalition was out of touch, ran a poor campaign and did not offer meaningful solutions to Australia’s key challenges,” the document said.

In particular, voters were concerned about the cost and long timelines associated with the coalition’s nuclear plan, the review found.

They were also unhappy with then-opposition leader Peter Dutton’s promise to scrap working from home rights for public servants, which was eventually abandoned.

“Rather than a retrospective referendum, Labor turned the election into a contest over which party would make Australians better off in three years’ time,” the reviewers said.

“This put the onus on the Liberal Party to detail their plans and present Australians with a viable alternative, and they failed this test.”

Labor’s review was written by former Victorian Labor secretary Chris Ford, Australian Services Union secretary Emeline Gaske, former WA Labor official Lenda Oshalem and strategic advisor Moksha Watts.

The four reviewers warned Labor must deliver on its promises over the next two years to build the foundations for its next election campaign.

“Delivery is not optional; it is the cornerstone of Labor’s agenda and will shape our bid for a third term,” they said.

They also raised concerns about the prospect for more three-cornered contests – where government, opposition and independent or third-party candidates all have a reasonable chance of winning a seat.

The review warns Labor needs to be alert to independent challengers, who can seize on local issues to run a successful campaign.

“There is no such thing as a safe seat and campaigns must be attuned to the likelihood of three-cornered contests regardless of where they currently sit on the 2025 post-election pendulum,” the report said.

The Liberals have also produced a campaign review, but its release has reportedly been delayed because Mr Dutton claims parts of it could be defamatory towards him and his former staff.

The Bank of Japan kept interest rates steady on Friday and raised its economic and inflation forecasts, signalling its confidence a moderate recovery would justify ​raising still-low borrowing costs further.

Markets are focusing on Governor Kazuo Ueda’s post-meeting press conference for hints on when the BOJ might next raise rates, a decision complicated ⁠by a fresh bout of market volatility caused by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s decision to call a snap election next month.

The central bank is caught between a need to keep yen bears at bay with hawkish communication, without triggering further rises in bond yields on expectations of hefty spending by Takaichi’s government.

At a two-day meeting that ended on Friday, the BOJ maintained its key policy rate at 0.75 per cent in a widely expected decision after having just hiked ‌the rate from 0.5 per cent ​in December.

In a quarterly outlook report, the BOJ raised its growth forecast for fiscal 2025 and 2026, and maintained its ‍view the economy will remain on course for a moderate recovery.

It also revised up its core consumer inflation forecast for fiscal 2026 to 1.9 per cent from 1.8 per cent three months ago, adding that risks to the economic and price outlook were roughly balanced.

The central bank also maintained its pledge to keep raising rates if economic and price developments move in line with its projections.

“The mechanism in which wages and prices rise moderately in tandem will be sustained, allowing for ​underlying inflation to continue rising moderately,” the BOJ said in the report.

Japan’s economy has weathered the hit from US tariffs and is likely to get a lift from Takaichi’s stimulus package focusing on steps to cushion the blow ​from rising living costs.

But the premier’s vow to strengthen her expansionary fiscal policy and suspend the 8.0 per cent sales tax on food has stoked ‍fears of additional debt issuance, leading to the spike in bond yields, which could hurt the economy.

The yield spike has drawn renewed attention to the BOJ’s quantitative tightening plan, under which it has been unwinding its years of massive stimulus by gradually slowing its bond buying ​at ​a set pace to reduce its huge balance sheet.

The BOJ ​has been tapering bond buying since 2024 under a pre-set, moderate pace. ​But it has said it could suspend this tapering or conduct emergency bond-buying operations to cope with extreme market stress.

Some analysts speculate the BOJ could tap these tools soon. But the central bank has set a high hurdle for deploying these measures, as ramping up bond-buying would run counter to its efforts to wean the economy off the stimulus it deployed to fight years of deflation.

Ueda has repeatedly said while bond yields should be set by markets, the BOJ will step in if they make “exceptional, unusual moves.”

The BOJ changed direction in 2024, raising its policy rate several times and tapering bond purchases on the view Japan was on ‍the cusp of durably achieving the bank’s 2.0 per cent inflation target.

The Bank of Japan kept interest rates steady on Friday and raised its economic and inflation forecasts, signalling its confidence a moderate recovery would justify ​raising still-low borrowing costs further.

Markets are focusing on Governor Kazuo Ueda’s post-meeting press conference for hints on when the BOJ might next raise rates, a decision complicated ⁠by a fresh bout of market volatility caused by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s decision to call a snap election next month.

The central bank is caught between a need to keep yen bears at bay with hawkish communication, without triggering further rises in bond yields on expectations of hefty spending by Takaichi’s government.

At a two-day meeting that ended on Friday, the BOJ maintained its key policy rate at 0.75 per cent in a widely expected decision after having just hiked ‌the rate from 0.5 per cent ​in December.

In a quarterly outlook report, the BOJ raised its growth forecast for fiscal 2025 and 2026, and maintained its ‍view the economy will remain on course for a moderate recovery.

It also revised up its core consumer inflation forecast for fiscal 2026 to 1.9 per cent from 1.8 per cent three months ago, adding that risks to the economic and price outlook were roughly balanced.

The central bank also maintained its pledge to keep raising rates if economic and price developments move in line with its projections.

“The mechanism in which wages and prices rise moderately in tandem will be sustained, allowing for ​underlying inflation to continue rising moderately,” the BOJ said in the report.

Japan’s economy has weathered the hit from US tariffs and is likely to get a lift from Takaichi’s stimulus package focusing on steps to cushion the blow ​from rising living costs.

But the premier’s vow to strengthen her expansionary fiscal policy and suspend the 8.0 per cent sales tax on food has stoked ‍fears of additional debt issuance, leading to the spike in bond yields, which could hurt the economy.

The yield spike has drawn renewed attention to the BOJ’s quantitative tightening plan, under which it has been unwinding its years of massive stimulus by gradually slowing its bond buying ​at ​a set pace to reduce its huge balance sheet.

The BOJ ​has been tapering bond buying since 2024 under a pre-set, moderate pace. ​But it has said it could suspend this tapering or conduct emergency bond-buying operations to cope with extreme market stress.

Some analysts speculate the BOJ could tap these tools soon. But the central bank has set a high hurdle for deploying these measures, as ramping up bond-buying would run counter to its efforts to wean the economy off the stimulus it deployed to fight years of deflation.

Ueda has repeatedly said while bond yields should be set by markets, the BOJ will step in if they make “exceptional, unusual moves.”

The BOJ changed direction in 2024, raising its policy rate several times and tapering bond purchases on the view Japan was on ‍the cusp of durably achieving the bank’s 2.0 per cent inflation target.

TikTok has finalised a deal to create a new American version of the app, avoiding the looming threat of a ban in the US that has been in discussion for years.

The social video platform company signed agreements with major investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX to form the new TikTok US joint venture.

The new app will operate under “defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurances for US users,” the company said on Thursday.

Adam Presser, who previously worked as TikTok’s head of operations and trust and safety, will lead the new venture as its CEO. He will work alongside a seven-member, majority-American board of directors that includes TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew.

The deal marks the end of years of uncertainty about the fate of the popular video-sharing platform in the US.

After wide bipartisan majorities in Congress passed — and President Joe Biden signed — a law that would ban TikTok in the US if it did not find a new owner in the place of China’s ByteDance, the platform was set to go dark on the law’s January 2025 deadline.

For a several hours, it did.

But on his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep it running while his administration sought an agreement for the sale of the company.

Actors Rose Byrne and Jacob Elordi are leading an Aussie onslaught in Hollywood, with both receiving their first Oscar nominations. 

The pair are nominated for best actress, best supporting actor, and are joined by a third Australian in line for a major gong with Nick Cave getting a surprise shot at best original song. 

Byrne’s performance in indie film If I had Legs I’d Kick You has already earned her the best actress prize at four key pre-Oscars events including the Golden Globes. 

She received the news of her Oscar nomination in the middle of the night in Australia. 

“I was falling asleep and then (husband Bobby Cannavale) starts FaceTiming me (from New York) because I wanted to try and stay up but it was so late,” she said.

“And then he started screaming, it was like ‘They said your name!’ and then my parents came in the room, they’re like ‘Oh my God’ and then we were all screaming, and that was it. Now I’ve had a shot of adrenaline and I’m wide awake.”

Byrne is up against Jessie Buckley in Hamnet, Kate Hudson in Song Sung Blue, Renate Reinsve in Sentimental Value and Emma Stone in Bugonia. 

Elordi has been nominated for his role in Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein, one of nine nods for the Netflix film. 

Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, the Brisbane-born actor said he was “beside himself” after receiving the news. 

“I am so excited. I mean, I’m 28 years old. It’s wind in the sails,” he said.

 Cave was nominated for the title song to Clint Bentley’s film Train Dreams, which stars Australian actor Joel Edgerton.

Joel Edgerton, the central pillar of Train Dreams, was not nominated, though the picture earned four nominations, including best picture.

Australian costume and production designer Fiona Crombie has also been nominated for an Oscar this year, in the best production design category, for her work on Hamnet. 

Sinners, a Segregation-era vampire thriller starring Michael ‍B Jordan, has stormed into the awards race with the most Academy Award nominations of ​any film this year, landing a record 16 nods. 

The large haul sets up Sinners as the ⁠frontrunner heading into the March 15 Oscars, where it will face off against contenders including One Battle After Another, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme and others for the coveted best picture prize. 

The previous record for most nominations in a single year was 14, a mark hit by All About ‌Eve, Titanic and La La ​Land.

Bugonia, F1, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value and Train Dreams also were nominated for this ‍year’s best picture trophy.  

Winners of the gold Oscar statuettes will be chosen by the roughly 10,000 actors, producers, directors and film craftspeople who make up the Academy of ​Motion ​Picture Arts and Sciences. 

Comedian Conan ​O’Brien will host for the second year.

Warner Bros Discovery, the studio subject to a bidding war between Netflix and Paramount Skydance, led all studios with 30 nominations.

with Reuters and Associated Press