A bushfire raging outside the Western Australian city of Perth has forced nearby residents to evacuate, as the city remains in a coronavirus lockdown.

The blaze, whipped up by strong winds, had doubled in size overnight to a 75km (46 miles) fire-front said officials. At least 30 homes are believed lost.

People have been told to flee to safety even if it means breaking lockdown.

Western Australian (WA) Premier said the state was facing an “extremely concerning and serious” situation.

“Right now WA is battling two different kinds of emergencies – a dangerous fire emergency and a Covid-19 lockdown emergency,” said Mark McGowan.

However he urged the majority of the state capital’s residents – not in harm’s way of the fire – to remain in their homes to reduce the risk of the virus spreading.

By global standards, it is a very low risk as the city has reported just one local case. But the city of two million people entered a snap five-day lockdown on Sunday after that case – the first local infection in Western Australia in 10 months – was found.

“It is going to be an extremely challenging day for everyone involved. Please do everything you can to keep you and your family safe and look after each other,” Mr McGowan said.

The Wooroloo fire, first reported at Monday midday, has grown into a fast-moving, erratic blaze which overnight raced through the hills and valleys fringing the city’s north-west.

Perth residents woke up on Tuesday to a blanket of smoke across the city. People reported ash falling from the sky in locations 50km away from the fire-front.

Fire authorities told people living in the north-west semi-rural suburbs – including Ellenbrook, Averley and Brigadoon – that they were in “immediate danger” and needed to evacuate or enact their bushfire survival plans.

Those in areas further afield have been told “the best option is to leave early and to leave now”.

About 250 firefighters – who are wearing masks and socially distancing – are battling the blaze but struggling in the hot and windy conditions, said Western Australia deputy fire commissioner Craig Waters.

Perth is enduring 35C (95F) temperatures and has experienced a run of hot days as well as extended dry conditions.

Mr Waters said historically, the area had not seen such large fires but “in the last few years, we have seen increased fire behaviour with rapid escalation overnight”.

“The changing climate… and moisture deficit in the soil is impacting how the fire behaves,” he said.

He said back-up had been requested from the fire services of eastern Australian states – where bushfires are traditionally more common.

Twitter has restored dozens of Indian accounts that were earlier blocked in response to a legal notice by the government, citing objections based on public order.

The accounts were all linked to continuing farmers’ protests against a series of agricultural reform laws.

They included farmers’ leaders, activists and a news magazine.

The protests are now in their third month, with many farmers camped on the outskirts of the capital, Delhi.

Reports say government officials highlighted in their submission to Twitter about 250 accounts and tweets which they said constituted a threat to public security.

Two popular accounts associated with the protest, Kisan Ekta Morcha and Tractor2Twitr, were withheld.

Twitter also blocked the accounts of Caravan, a news magazine, activist Hansraj Meena, actor Sushant Singh and other lawmakers

An online memorial to commemorate Indians who have lost their lives to Covid-19 has been launched by a group of doctors and social workers.

The virtual memorial will allow family members and friends of the victims to pay their tributes.

India has reported more than 154,000 Covid-19 deaths, but infections have dropped sharply in recent months.

Social workers helped by doctors, health workers and journalists will help run the memorial.

The memorial – nationalcovidmemorial.in – was launched at the weekend by the Covid Care Network, a non-governmental organisation led by a team of doctors in the eastern city of Kolkata.

Tributes are already being posted on the site – families need to upload the death certificates of their loved ones or provide their phone number for verification.

“A national Covid memorial is an initiative for Indians to keep alive the memories of their loved ones who succumbed to the disease. This is a place where everybody can join,” Dr Abhijit Chowdhury of the Network said.

“This memorial will restore some dignity of the people who died and were cremated without even their families being allowed to attend the funeral”.

During the pandemic, family members of the victims were mostly not allowed to attend the funerals. Such was the stigma and fear over the infection that a crowd in south India in August violently prevented the burial of a prominent doctor who died of the disease.

N Ram, director of The Hindu Group of Publications, said volunteers, NGOs and journalists would be needed to help gather tributes of “the poor and the destitute” who lost their lives to the virus.

“The memorial has to be inclusive. We should not be missing anyone,” Mr Ram said.

V Mohan, a physician who is advising the memorial’s founders, said India didn’t have a tradition of commemorating the dead.

“We don’t have a tradition of memorials. We don’t remember the dead,” he said. “The tragedy and emotional trauma Covid caused will stay with the affected families for decades. This is one place people can visit and relive memories. This should become a national movement.”

Saved by the Bell actor Dustin Diamond has died from cancer, his representative has said.

The 44-year-old was best known for playing Samuel “Screech” Powers in the popular 1990s US sitcom about a group of high school friends and their headmaster.

He had recently completed a first round of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with lung cancer last month.

His condition had deteriorated fast in the last week, said agent Roger Paul.

“Dustin did not suffer. He did not have to lie submerged in pain. For that, we are grateful,” he said on Monday.

Saved by the Bell ran for four seasons from 1989 to 1993 and was a global hit series.

Co-stars have been paying tribute.

Mario Lopez, known to fans of the show as AC Slater, said: “Dustin, you will be missed my man. The fragility of this life is something never to be taken for granted. Prayers for your family will continue on.”

Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who played Zack Morris, tweeted that Diamond was “a true comedic genius” and said he “will miss those raw, brilliant sparks that only he was able to produce”.

Diamond reprised his role in follow-up series Saved by the Bell: The New Class, and Saved by the Bell: The College Years. But he did not appear in the recent revival series.

The American was also a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother in 2013.

Diamond served three months in jail after he stabbed a man during an altercation at a bar in Wisconsin in 2014.

A fire outbreak at the Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, has razed a female hostel in the school

Footage from the fire shows rooms on the top floor burning while smoke billows out of the roof.

The cause of the fire has not been revealed at the moment.

Captain Sir Tom Moore has been admitted to hospital with coronavirus, his daughter has said.

The 100-year-old, who raised almost £33m for the NHS, was taken to Bedford Hospital after requiring help with his breathing, Hannah Ingram-Moore said on Twitter.

She said he had been treated for pneumonia over the past few weeks and last week tested positive for Covid-19.

Mrs Ingram-Moore said her father was not in intensive care.

A spokeswoman for the family said Capt Sir Tom had not yet received the Covid-19 vaccine due to the medication he was on for pneumonia.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: “You’ve inspired the whole nation, and I know we are all wishing you a full recovery.”

The Army veteran won the nation’s hearts by walking 100 laps of his garden in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, before his 100th birthday during the first national lockdown.

He was knighted by the Queen in July.

In Mrs Ingram-Moore’s tweet, she said her father had been at home with the family until Sunday when he “needed additional help with breathing”.

She said the medical care he had received in the past few weeks had been “remarkable”.

“We know that the wonderful staff at Bedford Hospital will do all they can to make him comfortable and hopefully [he will] return home as soon as possible,” she said.

There has been an outpouring of well wishes for the centenarian on social media.

BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker posted: “Come on Captain Tom”, while actor and singer Michael Ball sent “love and prayers”.

Capt Sir Tom, who was given the honorary title of colonel on his 100th birthday, had initially set out to raise £1,000 for NHS charities by repeatedly walking an 82ft (25m) loop of his garden.

But he eventually raised £32,794,701 from more than 1.5m supporters.

The Australian city of Perth has begun a snap five-day lockdown after a security guard working at a quarantine hotel tested positive for coronavirus.

Western Australia – the state of which Perth is the capital – had not had a case of locally acquired coronavirus for 10 months.

The lockdown began at 18:00 (10:00 GMT) and runs until Friday night.

Schools, restaurants, bars, cinemas and gyms have been ordered to close.

Only essential travel is allowed and masks must be worn.

People in the city of two million – along with people living in the nearby Peel and South West regions – must stay at home, except for essential work, healthcare, food shopping or exercise, said Western Australia state Premier Mark McGowan.

A scheduled return of schools on Monday has also been delayed by a week.

“I know for many Western Australians this is going to come as a shock,” Mr McGowan said at a news conference. “We cannot forget how quickly this virus can spread, nor the devastation it can cause.

“Our model is to deal with it very, very quickly and harshly… so that we can bring it under control and not have community spread of the virus as you have seen in other countries around the world,” he added.

Mr McGowan said the guard may have the UK variant of the virus: “We are told the guard was working on the same floor as a positive UK variant case.” The guard and his family have been placed into quarantine at a state-run facility, he added.

Leaders of other states and territories have also been contacted and advised not to allow people to travel into the state.

Australia has recorded nearly 29,000 cases and 909 deaths since the pandemic began, for a populations of about 25 million – far fewer than many other countries.

In recent months in particular, the nation has taken swift and aggressive actions to contain outbreaks at their source, and it currently has a travel ban in place preventing residents from overseas travel.

Earlier this month, Queensland’s capital, Brisbane, completed a three-day lockdown over the detection of a single case.

Earlier this week, Australia also suspended a travel bubble with New Zealand after its first Covid case in months was confirmed to be a more contagious variant.

It has now reopened the travel bubble with New Zealand. Travellers to Australia will be screened before and after flights for the next 10 days, but will no longer be required to enter quarantine.

Until the Perth case, Australia had not had any locally acquired infection for the past 14 days. Its only infections had been in returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine.

On Thursday, Australia was ranked eighth in a list of nations which had responded best to the virus. New Zealand and Vietnam topped the list from the Lowy Institute think tank.