National News

A 7.7 magnitude undersea earthquake has struck the South Pacific region, triggering a brief tsunami warning for Australia and New Zealand that was cancelled, with no immediate reports of damage.

South Australia will push ahead with important arts and sporting events over the coming weeks despite closing the border with Victoria in response to a growing cluster of COVID-19 cases in Melbourne.

A third worker and second released guest of Melbourne's Holiday Inn quarantine hotel have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases linked to the outbreak to eight.

Crown Resorts may have to "blow itself up" to save itself after a damning report found it wasn't fit to run a Sydney casino, the head of the NSW gaming regulator has said.

It could take six years for the world to be vaccinated against COVID-19, so jabs must be shared with developing countries to ensure "more sinister" strains don't emerge, an infectious disease expert says.

Casino giant Crown Resorts is not fit to run its $2.2 billion Sydney casino because it facilitated money laundering and has other "deep" problems, a highly anticipated report has found.

A hotel quarantine worker and released guest of the same Melbourne quarantine hotel where an infected staff member worked have tested positive for COVID-19.

Businesses have started the year in a more optimistic mood, while confidence among Australians more generally is running close to the long-run average as the nation tries to put aside the devastation of the 2020 recession.

Russia's updated statistics on coronavirus-linked deaths show that 162,429 people with COVID-19 had died in the pandemic last year, a number much higher than previously reported by government officials.

Victorian authorities are looking to make COVID-19 testing compulsory for hotel quarantine workers on their days off, after a second worker contracted the virus in less than a week.