It has been announced the Australian Defence Force will be issued to more natural disasters and COVID-type emergencies around the country.

The change comes as what the ADF is calling a “paradigm shift” to concentrate on the effects of climate change.

The Melbourne Cup is preparing for its annual event today, despite things looking quite different this year.

The horses and trainers will be at the track, but there will be no audiences at the actual Melbourne Cup due to coronavirus restrictions.

An elevated tram in the Dutch city of Rotterdam drove past the end of its tracks.

However, instead of falling 10 metres to the ground, it landed delicately on the top of a statue of a whale’s tail.

The conductor was unharmed, and there were no passengers on board.

Anger has risen in Bangladesh, where over 50,000 people have joined together in protest against French president Emmanuel Macron.

Citizens of Bangladesh are outraged over Macron’s approval of secular laws, which allow the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

The death toll in Turkey from an earthquake in the Aegean Sea has risen to 60, with more than 900 people injured. The magnitude 7 earthquake also triggered a small tsunami and hundreds of aftershocks that were felt across both Turkey and Greece. The quake occurs as Turkey struggles with economic downturn and the pandemic.

Europe has recorded more than 1.5 million new cases of coronavirus in the past week, taking the total number of infections in the region to 10 million. France, Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom have announced nationwide lockdowns and Portugal, Spain, Belgium and Italy have tightened their restrictions. The Slovakian Government has made the decision to test all of its 5.4 million residents for the virus, with Prime Minister Igor Matovic calling it a “road to freedom”.

Monthly data from property management company Corelogic has shown that house prices in Australia have risen overall for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Every capital city has seen a slight gain in prices, except for Melbourne. This national increase comes after five months of decline due to the pandemic.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says Australia is close to securing two more sources for a coronavirus vaccine which he predicts will be available next year. This is on top of the already existing contracts for the Oxford-AstraZeneca and the University of Queensland vaccines. He also said health workers and the elderly will be given priority in receiving the vaccine.