US: Residents of a Northern California community 20 miles south of Sacramento were ordered to evacuate ahead of imminent flooding, and evacuation warnings were in place elsewhere in rural parts of the region on New Year’s Day.

This comes after a powerful storm brought drenching rain or heavy snowfall to much of the state, breaching levees, snarling traffic and closing major highways.

TUNISIA: Public transport ground to a halt in Tunis on Monday after employees of the state transport company went on strike over delays in the payment of wages.

The strike by members of the one-million strong UGTT comes as it announced a stoppage by air, land and sea transport workers on January 25 and 26 to protest against what the union called “the government’s marginalisation of public companies.”

AUSTRALIA: Two helicopters collided near the Sea World Theme Park in Main Beach on the Queensland Gold Coast, killing four passengers and critically injuring three others.

One helicopter landed safely with all the dead and injured people coming from the crashed aircraft.

Footage of the crash showed a helicopter being clipped by another shortly after takeoff.

AUSTRALIA: Passengers on a luxury New Year’s cruise around New Zealand and Australia have reportedly been stranded on board for a week because of a “marine growth” on the ship’s hull.

According to the Australian fisheries department, a team of divers had to remove the growth from the Viking Orion while it was anchored to protect the country’s waters from “potentially harmful marine organisms.”

There was no harm caused to any of the passengers or crew.