Australia

A flight with about 280 passengers from Auckland, New Zealand is expected to arrive on 14 January.

That flight is expected to include 21 people from Samoa who will be repatriated separately on the same day on a Lulutai Airlines flight.

According to a government statement, a charter flight will arrive from Sydney Australia on 22 January  to fly out 152 seasonal workers back to Australia.

Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini - all part of India's Test squad to play Australia - will be isolated from other players but are still able to train.

Both teams are investigating to determine whether bio-secure protocols for the tour have been breached.

The third Test begins on 6 January.

The tour is being played with restrictions to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The anthem will no longer refer to Australia as "young and free" - in an attempt to reflect the country's long indigenous history.

The announcement was a surprise but welcomed across the government.

Mr Morrison said he hopes the change will create a "spirit of unity".

People inhabited Australia for tens of thousands of years before it was colonised by mostly white English settlers in the 18th Century.

Acting Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan told Victorians the state would close its border to all of NSW from 2 January because of an increase in case numbers in NSW, where 10 new cases were confirmed on Thursday.

"Obviously this is going to cause some disruption for Victorians who may be holidaying, we do apologise for this disruption, however as I said, these difficult decisions are about protecting our community," she said.

"It is a decision based on the public health advice.

Officials are scrambling to trace the source of the infection, which so far has been found in 28 cases across the city's Northern Beaches region.

The New South Wales (NSW) government has urged all locals to wear a mask in public areas and to be on "high alert".

Local residents now face curbs on travel to Australia's other states.

The new cluster has sparked national concern and cast uncertainty over many Australians' plans for a relatively normal Christmas.

Prior to Wednesday, the country had recorded just one locally acquired case in the past fortnight.

The coronavirus pandemic has devastated economies around the world but Fiji has been hit particularly hard by international travel bans.

Figures from June showed more than 100,000 people were no longer employed due to the tourism standstill.

Jessie McComb, a senior tourism expert with the International Finance Corporation, said tourism operators in Fiji are already preparing to welcome tourists back.

Cabinet have agreed in principle to quarantine-free travel in the first quarter of 2021.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said officials were working on contingency plans in the event of an outbreak.

The decision is dependent on Australia's agreement and no major change in circumstances in either country.

Australian federal health minister Greg Hunt said his government was keen on the idea.

"We're ready to implement from our side as soon as New Zealand's ready. It's the first step on a return to international normality."

 On Thursday, Australian citizen Sadam Abudusalamu was able to reunite with his wife Nadila Wumaier, and three-year-old son Lutfy in Sydney.

The family was allowed to leave China following diplomatic negotiations.

Ms Wumaier - also a member of China's Uighur Muslim minority - said she had previously been under house arrest.

The family shared pictures of their emotional meeting at Sydney Airport on Friday. Mr Abdusalam had never met his son before, who was born in 2017.

"Thank you Australia. Thank you everyone," Mr Abdusalamu tweeted.

More than 2,000 homes in the cities were out of power on Monday after strong winds tampered with power lines.

Tides up to 8m (26 feet) high were recorded, eroding the shoreline in some areas.

Emergency services said they had had over 700 calls for help since Sunday.

About half a dozen people stranded in floodwaters had been rescued, they added.

Meteorologists have warned that this Australian summer will see the impacts of a La Niña weather pattern, which typically brings more rainfall and tropical cyclones.

The Juukan Gorge caves in Western Australia were destroyed as part of an iron ore exploration project.

In a report released on Wednesday, the inquiry blasted Rio Tinto's "inexcusable" act, and said they should compensate the traditional owners.

Rio Tinto repeated its apology and pledged to change its practices.

Earlier this year several senior figures at the company, including Chief Executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques, resigned over the incident, following a backlash from shareholders and the public.