Australia

There are now just four active cases in Victoria.

Two of those are 'mystery' cases with an unknown source of infection.

Health authorities carried out 10,653 Covid-19 tests in the past 24 hours.

Premier Daniel Andrews yesterday lifted restrictions across a number of industries, as well as easing some of the limits on social gatherings in Melbourne.

Gyms, cinemas and libraries have been cleared to reopen, but with strict limits on the number of patrons.

The High Commissioner to Australia HRH Princess Angelika Lātūfuipeka Tuku’aho and His Majesty’s Armed Forces’ Lieutenant Colonel Tevita Siu Fifita accepted the VOEA Ngahau Siliva on behalf of Tonga.

Australia’s Minister for Defence, Senator Linda Reynolds CSC said the handover represented a focus on the enhanced maritime capability in the defence cooperation between our nations.

“Australia and Tonga have long worked together in pursuit of our shared goals for sovereignty, security and prosperity in the Pacific,” Minister Reynolds said.

Zero cases were reported in the 24 hours between 20:00 on Friday and 20:00 on Saturday - the first time this has happened since 9 June.

The state of Victoria - epicentre of Australia's second wave - recorded zero cases for the second day in a row after a 112-day lockdown.

Health officials say more restrictions may be eased in the coming days.

"Thank you to all of our amazing health & public health workers & above all else the Australian people," Health Minister Greg Hunt said on his Twitter account.

The government gave A$1 million in initial funding to the bid last year.

Hosting the tournament is projected to deliver A$2 billion in direct and indirect expenditure, bring in more than 200,000 international visitors for the six-week duration and create 12,000 jobs, Rugby Australia said in a statement.

“I want to thank Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the Australian Government for supporting Australia’s bid to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup,” Rugby Australia Chairman Hamish McLennan said in the statement.

Several new species have already been discovered during the project, Institute spokesperson Carlie Wiener said, as well as the "world's longest recorded sea creature" - a 45-metre long siphonophore found at Ningaloo canyon, off Western Australia.

A siphonophore is a type of colonial organism; it's a string-like arrangement of many individual animals - zooids - that live connected together in a colony, and carry out different functions that allow the collective to digest food, float, reproduce and move about.

Melbourne's 14-day rolling average for new cases has now fallen to 3.6, and there are seven "mystery" cases.

In regional Victoria the average remains at 0.2.

It is the first day since June 9 that no new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Victoria.

Victoria’s commander of testing and community engagement, Jeroen Weimar, said 2,100 tests had been processed from the northern suburbs from yesterday and hundreds more would go through laboratories today.

The recommendation was outlined in a new policy paper released today by the University of New South Wales' Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law.

The paper urges the government to do more to help neighbouring countries, with several Pacific island nations facing an existential threat from rising sea levels.

Co-author Jane McAdam said it was a roadmap for Australia to deal specifically with the displacement of Pacific Islanders as a result of climate change and natural disasters.

From Monday, people will be able to travel further and meet up with more friends without a time limit on how long they spend outside the home.

But strict measures remain in place for restaurants and retailers, limiting them to takeaway and delivery options.

The city of Melbourne, which has been under stricter lockdown, will also have rules eased.

As of 19 October, in Melbourne:

People can travel up to 25km (15 miles) from their home for exercise or shopping

Gatherings of up to 10 people from two different households are allowed

The All Blacks camp tweeted on Thursday night that the injury had happened during “field training” on Wednesday, though details were scant.

“George Bridge will be out of rugby for up to six months after suffering a chest injury in field training yesterday. He’ll be assessed over the next 48 hours to determine the next course of action,” the tweet said.

It is understood Bridge injured a pectoral muscle.

Bridge played for all of the first test in Wellington on Sunday, the left wing playing a pivotal role in halfback Aaron Smith’s try.

While the advanced workshops follow the success of the Introductory Digital Tourism initiative, they remain free of charge and are available to the anyone in the tourism sector across the Pacific region.

PTI Australia is working to increase the digital capacity of the Pacific tourism operators with the aim of driving local economic development across the sector, especially in the wake of COVID-19 and to ensure operators are in the best position when international borders reopen.