NSW Health is concerned about increased transmission in party settings, saying likely Omicron cases visited the Albion Hotel in Parramatta and Cult Nightclub in Potts Point.

Gladys Berejiklian managed to be front page news all this week, despite not making a single public utterance until today.

The Pfizer vaccine has been officially approved for 5- to 11-year-olds, former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is expected to today confirm she won’t contest the next federal election and four suspected Omicron cases are under investigation in Victo...

James Delinicolis and Angelo Dellosa met the 17-year-old at a bus stop and had sex with her in a hotel two days later. They have pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office.

The week in photos from the award-winning Sydney Morning Herald and Financial review photographers.

Friday’s budget figures would normally be regarded as a horror show. But these are not normal times.

“Some people told me that my career was ruined because I couldn’t ‘shut my legs’,” a woman has told the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

Scientists analyse samples taken from the first handful of people infected with Omicron in Australia.

Vaccinations for those aged five to 11 will begin on January 10 after Pfizer’s vaccine for children received final approval.

Severe thunderstorms triggered flash flooding in Sydney on Friday, hours after a woman’s body was found after she was swept away by floods in regional NSW.

The Queensland Ombudsman is assessing complaints about border travel, but will not confirm whether an investigation similar to other states is under way due to confidentiality.

Police are expecting lengthy delays at the southern road border for two days from 1am on Monday, as it opens to vaccinated travellers from southern hotspot states for the first time in months.

A victim of historical sexual abuse has confronted her abuser in court during a victim impact statement that was acclaimed by a judge.

Where do Aussies abroad pine for? Six journalists dive into their memory banks.

Artist Gail Mabo and her son, dancer William Mabo, share a famous family legacy, but it was their both having triplets that really brought them close.

A 1989 police complaint against Anthony Caruana led to two unsuccessful prosecutions in 1992. Now aged 80, he’s been found guilty on 26 counts and will spend the next decade behind bars.

Christopher Hyslop will spend up to 9½ years behind bars because he hit and killed cyclist Deborah Locco on Beach Road then left her to die.

COVID-19 has exposed the surprisingly fine line between hedonism and nihilism.

Want to chat? We’d love to hear from you. Send your letters to goodweekend@​goodweekend.com.au.

The cases come as national cabinet is due to meet on Friday to discuss the Commonwealth’s decision to shut the borders to eight southern African nations.

Today on Please Explain, Brisbane Times editor Sean Parnell joins Nathanael Cooper to bring us up to speed from the other side of the Queensland border.

Thunderstorms across Sydney, with heavy rainfall a key concern.

’He got nominated by community members about the way in which he goes above and beyond his normal police work ... out of the goodness of his heart,” Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said.

The budget update reveals a sea of red ink with deficit and debt predicted to surge.

Christmas is the perfect time to treat friends and family while helping Melbourne businesses and organisations reeling from the pandemic.

Danny Richards died on his family’s kitchen floor after struggling with police officers, but the State Coroner has cleared those who arrested him of using excessive force.

If found guilty, Sakina Muhammad Jan, 45, could become the first person in Australia convicted of coercing someone into marriage.

The thought of a bullet in the back of the head does wonders for one’s posture.

Dozens of contact tracing sites including gyms and stores have been listed, related to six new cases all recorded on the Gold Coast on Friday.

Ted Hui said the snub was disappointing and confusing given how willing Mr McGowan was to wade into the Beijing debate on economic issues, which suggested his government had chosen trade over human rights.

The bushfire emergency warning is still in place for residents bounded by Redgate Road to the north, Bussell Highway to the east, Chapman Road and Hamelin Bay Road West to the south and the coastline.

Police allege a motorbike rider doused a car in flammable liquid, lit a rag and threw it at the driver as he was trying to flee.

A police investigation is under way into the death of a woman after the car, in which she was a passenger, was swept into floodwaters at Aspley in Brisbane’s north on Thursday night.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors

A leading defamation judge in Sydney has backed legal experts’ criticisms of the Morrison government’s proposed anti-troll laws.

If the current situation isn’t fixed, things could get very ugly for the Premier in the lead-up to the state election.

Could the 80-year-old be eyeing off a career pivot?

Australia is unlikely to follow New Zealand’s push to outlaw smoking while some parties continue to accept donations from tobacco companies.

Potential buyers of high-rise apartments will be able to use a rating system from next March to help them decide whether to purchase units.

The way we think of money - and spend it - is changing rapidly and radically. You’d better keep up.

Two former NSW attorneys-general, Labor and Liberal, write that the state’s just system is failing, with the prison population growing by 38 per cent in a decade.

Three cases have seen questions raised this week as to whether Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan’s pandemic rules are too strict and why the rules have not changed as the population has been vaccinated.

The prospect of finally getting rid of the Cahill Expressway lifts my heart, and if any state leader can finally achieve it, our new Premier might well be the one.

Aeroflot in Australian airspace, a popular pastime and Santa needs protection.

Trivia buffs: test your knowledge with today’s interactive superquiz and target.

Use of Queensland’s check-in app has waned in recent months as authorities position the platform as a key pillar in the state’s reopening from next week.

The quick work by scientists at Queensland Health’s specialist genomics lab will allow more accurate detection of the sub-variant, which lacks a key feature of the main Omicron strain.

Decluttering your idioms.

COVID-19 cases are ratcheting up in Sydney on the back of end of year celebrations, with growing concerns about the large number of people in their 40 and 50s requiring a vaccine booster dose over summer.

There were 420 new cases reported in NSW on Thursday, the highest number since October 13, and 42 cases with the new variant in the state.