WA news LIVE: Ellenbrook house destroyed by fire

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10.21am

WA Premier hosted by robot during China trade visit

WA Premier Roger Cook has been hosted by a robotic diplomat during his trade tour of China, quite literally.

Cook, yesterday, experienced first-hand some of the technological advances underway in China, as he unveiled a new investment and trade office in Hangzhou, highlighting WA’s deepening bilateral ties.

WA Premier Roger Cook being led by a robot into the 10th Biennial Western Australia-Zhejiang Exchange Committee meeting in China.

“This is all part of our relationship with the Zhejiang Province,” he said.

“It’s an important relationship which has underpinned over 35 years of cooperation, starting with iron ore and now moving to the digital economy.”

Cook will next head to Japan as he continues on his trade mission.

9.30am

Ellenbrook house destroyed by fire

A Perth family have escaped a fire that engulfed their home overnight.

The blaze was reported at 1.30am at a property on Bendora Turn in Ellenbrook.

Almost the entire house was gutted, with vehicles out the front also damaged.

The family of five was asleep when the blaze took hold, but managed to escape uninjured. This morning they were trying to see what was salvageable, including looking for important documents such as passports.

The fire was so intense it sparked a smoke alert for residents within a two-kilometre radius.

The cause is yet to be determined, but the fire appears to have started in the garage.

9.30am

Across the nation and around the world

Here’s what’s making news across the nation and around the world this morning:

Optus is bracing for a wave of customer losses and long-lasting reputational damage after the Triple Zero failure in which at least three Australians died and hundreds were unable to contact emergency services, with industry insiders warning the telco’s credibility has been shredded and its governance structures exposed.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on October 20, ending long-running speculation about when the two men would hold their first face-to-face meeting.
US President Donald Trump has used the global stage of the United Nations to lecture the world on the “disaster” of unchecked immigration and the “con job” of climate change in a defiant and at-times threatening address that asserted American dominance and put other leaders on notice.

US President Donald Trump pulled no punches with other world leaders.

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Today’s weather

9.30am

Welcome to our live news blog

Good morning readers, and welcome to our live news blog for Wednesday, September 24.

Making headlines today, a popular TikToker has faced court in Perth after he allegedly threatened to decapitate his mother during a livestream in July.

Turan Salis, aka “Turan Spidey”, was arrested in July after livestreaming a video where he allegedly threatened to kill his mum.

Turan William Salis, otherwise known as “Turan Spidey” on the popular social media app, was arrested after fans who saw the video sent it to his mother, University of Western Australia medical researcher Amanda Salis, who then called police out of fears for her safety.

Meanwhile, a disability care director has left Western Australia despite claims his company owes more than $6.4 million to the tax office, employees and other creditors, while facing allegations from a liquidator of insolvent trading and funnelling money into offshore property and luxury assets.

And the WA government will not say whether it has put extra security protocols in place at a Perth hospital after two prisoners from the facility escaped within 12 months.

Stay with us as we bring you the local news of the day, as it happens.