Australia

An Australian military aircraft has landed in Honiara - the first of two flights carrying emergency medical supplies to support the Solomon Islands' response to an escalating Covid-19 outbreak.

Australian Antarctic expeditioners have discovered an enormous, 2-kilometre-deep canyon underneath a glacier that may make it more vulnerable to warming oceans.

Australia is to provide $US420 million to Papua New Guinea to upgrade key ports, amid concern in Washington and Canberra that China's infrastructure investment in the Pacific had a military ambition.

Case numbers in NSW appear to be plateauing but hospitalisations in Victoria have risen.

Australia is learning about exponential growth the hard way, and tackling big questions; are the numbers accurate, how to test, will the health system hold up?

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has told employers to stop forcing staff to get a Covid test before returning to work after the state recorded 34,994 new cases and six deaths.

NSW has recorded 35,054 new Covid-19 cases and eight deaths, while 17,636 new cases and 11 deaths have been reported in Victoria, as pressure mounts on Australia's health systems.

New South Wales has started the new year with a slight increase in Covid-19 cases, with the state recording 22,577 new infections and four deaths.

The latest figures mark the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases recorded in any Australian jurisdiction.

Bindi Irwin wants to make sure her daughter understands life and death from a young age because that was a "gift" her parents gave to her.

The announcement from SydPath came as NSW recorded another 6062 Covid-19 cases and one death.

Australia's pacemen crashed through England's top order with four wickets in a thrilling final hour on day two of the third Ashes test.

New South Wales has recorded a new peak of 6394 new Covid-19 cases, with testing programmes in the Australian state straining under a backlog of soaring demand.