Russia continues its war on Ukraine as talks are under way on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border between two delegations, neither of which are represented by their leaders, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.

Follow our live coverage of the record-breaking floods as governments respond to the natural disaster, rescue teams try to assist residents and forecasters warn of further rain.

Parts of the Cranbourne and Pakenham train lines were out of action until Tuesday evening.

Thousands are unable to begin cleaning up and repairing flood-ravaged homes due to short supplies in the building industry, while the threat of more rain lingers.

Rising floodwaters are threatening to swamp the centre of Ballina tonight while the Lismore mayor confirmed a second body had been found.

Police divers found the body of a 76-year-old man, who was reported missing on Sunday, in his submerged vehicle near Lake Wivenhoe. 

Restrictions are easing, but still a lot of people are dying. It may be time to change the way we think about COVID.

It was supposed to be the shot in the arm Melbourne desperately needed, but on the day many ventured back to city offices for the first time in months, the anticipated hustle and bustle was more of a gentle hum. 

Knox Grammar headmaster Scott James said his school was experiencing a major staff shortage and there was stiff competition between education sectors.

The pipes, the 2277 pipes are calling.

Stephen and Sally Starling, aged 74 and 75, were discovered by police about 6.45pm after a neighbour noticed the couple’s barn door was open. 

An 11-month-old baby who was in a car when it was allegedly stolen at Keysborough has been reunited with his family.

After escaping with their lives, shocked residents are starting to return to their mud-stained, water-filled houses to survey the devastating impact of record floods.

Experts speculate that the Omicron variant or a lower dose of the vaccine could be to blame for its rapidly decreasing protection against infection with COVID-19.

This planning reform package was a generational opportunity for improvement to make our planning system the nation’s best.

Labor’s $800 million levy backdown presents a masterclass in how not to make the political sausage. The tragedy is, it will mean fewer social and affordable houses.

A NSW Transport bureaucrat at the centre of Sydney’s train shutdown saga has gone on “directed leave”, despite being scheduled to appear before a parliamentary estimates hearing.

A Federal Court judge found the newspaper did not paint him as a mobster, but merely a ‘petulant young man’ with ‘a fondness for wisecracks’.

A former elite solider who was allegedly told by war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith to execute an unarmed Afghan man has objected to giving evidence on the grounds he might incriminate himself.

The National Trust says the “unremarkableness” of the soap’s Ramsay Street has resonated with viewers and should be preserved, but Whitehorse council says it won’t rush into a decision.

A police officer involved in a collision with a motorbike rider told his commander, ‘I killed a man tonight, I just don’t really know how he ended up under the car’, a court has heard.

Let me explain why I care about underpants even as the North Coast floods and missiles fall on Ukraine.

As the floods continue to affect south-east Queensland, health authorities are warning of a number of dangers, while COVID claims 10 more lives in the state.

Residents in fast-growing suburbs are likely to have to wait until early next decade for the second stage to be completed if the government commits to it.

It comes a day after the state government announced WA would move to level two restrictions on Thursday to combat the rise in coronavirus case numbers. 

“Letdown at St. Kilda,” bellowed disappointed ticket holders after watching Joe Frazier, smoking on one piston only, stop a demoralised Jimmy Ellis in the ninth round of the so-called “Showdown at St. Kilda”.

The Pharmacy Guild of Western Australia warns that child-sized masks are more difficult to find even for hospitals.

Councillor Ryan Murphy said the CityCat Beenung-Urrung sunk in about eight metres of water off Addison Quays in Bulimba. 

Two businesses and a home in flood-affected areas have been looted, with a 21-year-old man arrested over one of the robberies.

As authorities, residents and insurers continue to assess the damage from widespread flooding, plans are being made for the mammoth clean-up in Brisbane and beyond.

The Andrews government has dumped its controversial $800 million social housing tax, even if Labor is re-elected, after fierce resistance from the property sector.

In the face of the worst disaster they’d ever experienced, the community had no choice but to band together to save themselves. Despite it all, they managed a smile on Monday.

The wild weather currently battering the state’s north is headed south along the coast today, with minor flood warnings in place for some Sydney rivers.

One week. That’s how long level one COVID-19 restrictions lasted in Western Australia before the state government revealed it would bring in even tougher rules starting on Thursday.

While he waited for the flood in his home to subside, Brisbane Times reporter Tony Moore took to the streets – and waterways – of his beloved West End.

Labor’s centenary of 1991 was the sort of birthday no political party would want to have. For the first time in its history the ALP ousted a federal leader in office when Paul Keating replaced Bob Hawke in the top job.

Extraordinary rescues continue to take place in Lismore, including that of a 93-year-old woman who was found in a house “up to its eyes” in water.

The Lismore levee was breached on Monday morning with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting river levels of 14 metres.

Senator Eric Abetz has been to the near-unwinnable third Senate slot on the Coalition ticket. But he is not one to go quietly.

Women in everyday professional jobs which require an online presence are censoring themselves after being attacked for their sex, appearance and being working mothers.

“Seeing children armed ... doesn’t sit right with me,” Nick Janiw says. “I don’t think children should die when there are able-bodied, capable men.”

We have an opportunity to put people affected by unemployment and inadequate incomes at the heart of economic policy.

The most disadvantaged year 1 students were half as likely to meet the expected standard as their advantaged counterparts.

When Steven Asman arrived in Australia and at Cabramatta High School he didn’t speak a word of English. Just three years later, he is completing his HSC.

As WA farewelled its hottest summer on record a Perth sustainability expert warns the sprawl of big homes on increasingly tiny blocks on the city’s urban fringe will soon become unsustainable.

A total of five people have tested positive to COVID-19 in hotel quarantine in the past fortnight, during which time tens of thousands of local cases were recorded.

Western powers have imposed financial sanctions on Russia, while also pledging to supply more weapons to Ukraine. Follow our rolling coverage of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The West would be wise to realise that Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is part of a larger plan to rebuild a Russian empire.

80 years ago, HMAS Perth sank after being torpedoed in the Battle of Sunda Strait. Of a crew of 681, only 214 made it back home at the end of the war.

Kuwait is liberated, how I won the war, and Column 8