Australia

Australia's border reopens to international visitors

The country imposed some of the world's strictest travel bans after shutting itself off in March 2020 due to Covid.

Australians and some others were allowed to return from late last year, but most foreigners have had to wait.

There were tearful reunions at Sydney Airport on Monday as hundreds of people began arriving on flights.

One young girl, Charlotte, shared an emotional hug with her grandfather. She told the local Nine Network: "I've missed him so much and I've looked forward to this trip for so long."

Simon Nellist: Sydney shark victim named locally as British man

A friend confirmed Simon Nellist died in the attack on Wednesday.

Police have not yet formally identified the victim and his family have not commented.

Australian authorities are still searching for the great white shark, with swimmers banned from the water and most city beaches shut after Wednesday's attack.

Mr Nellist - who was a diving instructor - was mauled by a great white shark just off Little Bay in east Sydney. He was a member of the city's Scuba Diving Social Club and a regular swimmer at the beach, BBC Sydney correspondent Shaimaa Khalil reports.

Swimmer dies in first fatal shark attack in Sydney since 1963

Emergency services were called to Little Bay beach near Malabar on Wednesday afternoon where human remains were found in the water, police say.

Authorities in the New South Wales state have not named the victim, and an investigation is under way.

Little Bay and several nearby beaches are now closed.

At the time of the attack at 16:30 local time (05:30 GMT) on Wednesday, there were dozens of people swimming, paddle boarding and fishing on the nearby rocks, according to Sky News Australia.

PNG workers arrive in NSW

The workers were selected to undertake employment in Australia as part of the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme.

The arrival of the three workers, who graduated from the Australia Pacific Training Coalition (APTC) in Port Moresby, is a significant milestone following the disruption to international travel caused by COVID-19. These participants are the first of many PNG workers who will travel to Australia in 2022 under the PALM scheme to provide much-needed support to businesses in rural and regional Australia.

Australian MP in emotional plea over religion bill

Critics says the bill enables discrimination and would allow religious schools to exclude transgender students.

Mentioning his late gay nephew, Labor MP Stephen Jones said the bill had not been thought through.

"He was just 15 when he took his own life," he told parliament.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison introduced the Religious Discrimination Bill in November, and said it will ensure protection for religious people and organisations to express beliefs and avoid "cancel culture".

Northern Territory has Australia's highest Covid hospitalisation rate, more admissions expected

Deakin University chair of epidemiology Catherine Bennett said at New South Wales' peak, the state had roughly 3.5 patients hospitalised with coronavirus per 10,000 residents.

By comparison, she calculated the Northern Territory (NT) now had roughly 6.32 Covid-related hospitalisations per 10,000 people.

Professor Bennett said the territory's high hospitalisation wasn't altogether surprising, considering many people in the NT had a "high risk profile".

Tigers may have FINALLY found solution to $1.7m mystery. It could end a ‘decade of disaster’

Benny Elias and Mark Geyer have told foxsports.com.au why they believe 2022 will see a change in fortunes for the Tigers who have not played finals since 2011.

The return of Sheens and some shrewd recruiting has sparked a cautious degree of optimism in Tigerland heading into 2022.

There are hopes Sheens will become a football whisperer for under-pressure duo in coach Michael Maguire and halfback Luke Brooks.

Australian PM signals reopening borders to tourists 'not far away'

Australia, which shut its borders in March of 2020, has been going through a staggered reopening in recent months, allowing in only its citizens and residents, skilled migrants, international students and certain seasonal workers.

In January, Morrison said he hoped international borders could fully reopen before Easter.

His popularity has been sliding in recent months, however, in part reflecting questions about his handling of the Omicron outbreak, and he faces pressure from a federal election that must be called by May.

Deputy keeps job despite calling Scott Morrison a liar

Mr Joyce apologised after learning that the message - sent last year and passed to a former staffer of Scott Morrison's Liberal Party - was being made public.

The text was dated 22 March, before Mr Joyce took on his current role.

Rejecting his resignation, Mr Morrison said: "We all have our frailties and none of us are perfect."

Mr Joyce, 54, told reporters on Saturday: "I want to apologise to the prime minister... I should have never written the text that I did.

Victoria reports rise in hospitalisations, teen among deaths in Queensland

Of the patients in hospital, there are 122 in intensive care, 40 of whom are receiving ventilation.

The state has officially recorded 21,966 new Covid-19 infections, but the true number of new cases in the community could be much higher.

About half of the state's cases have been diagnosed using RATs, with yesterday's tally reported from 11,693 PCR results and 10,273 rapid testing kits.

Considering these figures, Premier Daniel Andrews said it was clear Covid-19 was prevalent in Victoria.