Australia to build nuclear-powered submarine fleet under new defence deal with UK, US.
Australia will get access to nuclear submarine technology as part of a landmark security pact with the United States and United Kingdom.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday announced the historic agreement, which also paves the way for Australia's $90 billion French submarine deal to be scrapped.
The new AUUKUS trilateral security partnership will allow the three countries to share technology covering cyber security, artificial intelligence, underwater systems and long-range strike capabilities.
First-dose vaccination numbers in Blacktown, Parramatta and Campbelltown have cleared 80 per cent of the eligible population, with other local government areas of concern not far behind.
The premier called on residents not to become complacent as she ditched the hotspots' curfew on Wednesday.
The unvaccinated will be shut out of much of society when it begins to reopen at the 70 per cent double-dose threshold, Ms Berejiklian said.
"It will be a health order and the law that if you're not vaccinated, you can't attend venues on the roadmap," she said.
"Unvaccinated people will not be able to utilise hospitality venues. They won't be allowed into particular events. They won't be allowed into particular indoor settings."
Nervous businesses are seeking more clarity and rules from the NSW government, as they approach the date they'll start having to turn unvaccinated people away.
Ms Berejiklian said the government was seeking legal advice on how to handle the issues.
NSW reported 12 more deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, and the state recorded 1259 new cases.
Some 1241 people are in hospital with the virus, including 234 in intensive care.
Tasmania joins ACT in vaccine milestone.
Tasmania has reached a coronavirus vaccination milestone, with more than half of the island state's population aged over 16 now fully protected.
The state joins the ACT as the only jurisdictions in Australia to have more than 50 per cent of the cohort receive both jabs.
Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff said the mark was passed on Wednesday, with thousands of vaccinations pushing Tasmania past 49.9 per cent coverage reached on Tuesday.
"We are continuing to track well compared to most of the country," he said.
According to the most recent data, NSW is next best with 48.5 per cent, followed in order by the Northern Territory, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia.
More than 68 per cent of Tasmanians over 16 have received their first vaccination, behind NSW, the ACT and Victoria.
Premier Peter Gutwein said earlier this week the state was on track to reach 80 per cent fully vaccinated in early November.
Higgins' alleged rapist to face ACT court.
Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins' alleged rapist is due to face court in Canberra for the first time on Thursday morning.
The 26-year-old man was in August summonsed to appear in the ACT Magistrates Court on the charge of sexual intercourse without consent at Parliament House in March 2019.
Ms Higgins went public in February alleging she had been raped by a colleague in the office of cabinet minister Linda Reynolds.
It triggered a reckoning over the culture in federal politics, questions about who in the government knew what and when, as well as treatment and safety of women at work.
Sexual assault detectives first received a report about the alleged rape in April 2019, with a formal complaint made in February this year.
If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.
Leifer courtroom opens, she won't appear.
After days of evidence behind closed doors, allegations against former ultra-Orthodox school principal Malka Leifer will be aired publicly.
The 55-year-old is facing 74 child sexual abuse charges involving three sisters during her time at Melbourne's Adass Israel School between 2004 and 2008.
A committal hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court has been closed while two of the three sisters - Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer and Elly Sapper - give their evidence.
The court will briefly open to hear evidence from non-Jewish witnesses on Thursday, which is the high holy day Yom Kippur.
Leifer has also been granted an exemption from appearing in court, allowing her to observe the important religious day.
Evidence from the second of the three sisters will continue in closed court on Friday.
All witnesses will appear by video link for the hearing, as is Leifer who is currently at Melbourne's women's prison, the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
Aust bushfires sparked massive ocean bloom.
Australia's devastating bushfires two summers ago spewed millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but in an unexpected twist, sparked a rare and massive ocean phytoplankton bloom which removed the same amount of gas.
The unusual phenomenon could point to a way to tackle climate change in the future.
New research has found the bloom, between New Zealand and South America, spanned an area larger than Australia, with its emergence tracking the progress of the fires which hit multiple states including NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
It was estimated the fires emitted 715 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, with the smoke turning New Zealand glaciers brown and travelling across the ocean to South America and beyond.
In a study published in Nature, researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes and the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, said the phytoplankton bloom was unprecedented in the 22-year satellite record, and lasted about four months.
Ironically, the phytoplankton growth, removed significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the air, absorbing the gas as part of the photosynthesis.
Emotional Biles blasts FBI, USA Gymnastics.
Olympic gold medallist Simone Biles has told the US Congress through tears that the FBI and gymnastics officials turned a "blind eye" to USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar's sexual abuse of her and hundreds of other women.
Biles told the Senate Judiciary Committee that "enough is enough" as she and three other U.S. gymnasts spoke on Wednesday in stark, emotional terms about the lasting toll Nassar's crimes have taken on their lives.
The 2016 Olympic champion and a five-time world champion - widely considered the greatest gymnast of all time - said she "can imagine no place that I would be less comfortable right now than sitting here in front of you." She declared herself a survivor of sexual abuse.
"I blame Larry Nassar and I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse," Biles said, adding USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee "knew that I was abused by their official team doctor long before I was ever made aware of their knowledge."
Biles said a message needs to be sent: "If you allow a predator to harm children, the consequences will be swift and severe. Enough is enough."
The hearing is part of a congressional effort to hold the FBI accountable after multiple missteps in investigating the case, including the delays that allowed the now-imprisoned Nassar to abuse other young gymnasts.
Around the world.
- Ash Barty's coach has revealed how he made a tactical and technical change that impacted the world No.1's serving before her shock third-round loss at last week's US Open.
- Coronavirus infections have risen by a third in North America over the past week due to surges in the US and Canada. The United States is reporting more than 100,000 new daily cases for the first time since January and hospital capacity in many southern states is worryingly low.
- Britain's high court has agreed to intervene if necessary to serve papers on Prince Andrew in the sexual assault civil case filed against him in the US, it has said.
- With AAP
Feature image: AP Photo/AAP/Andrew Harnik/Rohan Thomson/Getty/Facebook.
Want to win $100? Tell us what you think