Like many others in Australia, Alice has watched with horror at the unfolding crisis in Afghanistan. With her mother-in-law and extended family remaining trapped in Kabul, the Taliban's takeover has had deeply personal consequences.

A US official says multiple rockets were fired at Kabul's international airport, but they were intercepted by a missile defence system.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian says NSW is on track to reach its target of 70 per cent of the population being fully vaccinated in October as the state records 1,290 new COVID cases and four deaths.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she expects the worst pressure on the state's health system to come in October, but says health authorities have been gearing up for nearly two years to deal with it. Follow live.

The death toll from the COVID pandemic passes the 1,000 mark with the deaths of four more people in NSW.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton says Victoria will attempt to drive its Delta outbreak back to zero cases, but won't hold out "absurd hope" if numbers continue to climb, despite heavy restrictions. The state recorded 73 new local cases on ...

Paramedic Joe Ibrahim makes an emotional plea for people to get vaccinated, giving an insight into frontline workers' conditions as they rush COVID patients to hospital.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton describes the deaths as "tragic" and says he is seeking further information about the incident.

Ellie Cole finishes one spot outside the medals in her quest for a third straight 100m backstroke S9 gold medal, while Timothy Hodge gets on the podium in the men's final at the Tokyo Paralympics. Follow all the action in our live blog. ...

The NRL has come down hard on the Sydney Roosters for abusing referees over the high shot that's seen Souths fullback Latrell Mitchell banned for the finals.

Virgin chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka says international flights could resume by Christmas and she is optimistic Australians will achieve desired vaccination rates to enable lockdowns to end, and state borders to reopen.

The latest data from the federal health department gives an even clearer breakdown of which local government areas have the highest and lowest rates of vaccination in the country. 

An Aboriginal man who died from COVID-19 at the Dubbo hospital is the first coronavirus death in western New South Wales.

Lyn Bailey lived a comfortable life before her divorce, travelling overseas and putting her four children through private school. She never expected to be staring down the barrel of homelessness.

New Zealand is extending alert level 4 restrictions in Auckland for at least another two weeks but lowering the alert level for other parts of the country.

Singapore's Health Minister says 80 per cent of the country's population of 5.7 million people have had their "full regimen" of COVID-19 jabs.

The last major of the year kicks off with Aussie Ash Barty in hot form and fellow world number one Novak Djokovic aiming for a bit of history. Keep across all the live scores and results.

Far north Queensland swimmer Grant 'Scooter' Patterson fulfils his childhood dream of winning a Paralympic medal.

A rifle found by Australian soldiers in a Taliban cache north of Tarin Kot in 2011 encapsulates the story of Afghanistan and how we were always destined to fail, writes Andrew Probyn.

Blood lead levels in Port Pirie children are at a 10-year high, according to SA Health data, putting them at risk of not reaching their full IQ potential.

Environment groups call on the Commonwealth to take over regulating Glencore's McArthur River Mine after confidential documents revealed the NT Government has reduced the scope and funding of the mine's current independent monitor.

New Orleans residents are told to "hunker down" as one of the most powerful storms to hit the US, category four Hurricane Ida, makes landfall.

Margaret Watts watches her husband of nearly 40 years slip away every day in lockdown without being able to visit him. Worried about his deteriorating condition, she chose to pull him out of aged care.

A Sydney court hears that the reattached finger of INXS guitarist Tim Farriss is "useless" after it was severed in a boating accidents and that the musician is depressed.

YouTube star Jake Paul beats UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley by split decision in Cleveland.