Britain will become the first Western country to introduce a COVID-19 vaccine to the public this week.

England’s National Health Service CEO Sir Simon Stevens said the department’s successful history of vaccinations gives him confidence to label this vaccine as a turning point in the battle against coronavirus.

According to the United Nations, the number of Ethiopian refugees arriving into Sudan has increased from about 400 a day to more than 800. 

A new round of fighting has been reported between the Ethiopian army and rebel forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in the area of Shire, west of the regional capital, Mekelle.

More than a month of fighting is believed to have killed thousands of people, displaced more than one million and driven some 47,000 others into Sudan.

A little pygmy possum has been found on Kangaroo Island almost a year on from bushfires that were feared to have destroyed its habitat. 

The discovery has been labelled as very exciting by fauna ecologist Pat Hodgens as there have only ever been 113 records of the animal. 

The world’s smallest possum resides predominantly in Tasmania and Kangaroo Island in South Australia.

The Northern Territory government banned news outlet, NT Independent in April from media conferences and refuses to answer their questions. 

Media freedom advocate Peter Greste believes this ban should be reversed and the NT government has a responsibility to be "open, transparent and accountable to all news organisations"

The Alliance for Journalists' Freedom, founded by Greste, has offered to mediate the dispute. 

A recent survey of Job Keeper payment recipients shows some were left with as little as $7 per day after paying rent.

Anglicare Australia surveyed around 600 Centrelink recipients from the past 5 months to find 72 per cent were skipping meals each week. 

Welfare groups are concerned about what effects upcoming cuts to the payment might have.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk refused to say if she used a private email account for ministerial business before a ban on using personal accounts for government work came into effect in 2018. 

During an estimates hearing on Monday, Opposition MP Fiona Simpson said the Liberal National Party had received an anonymous email showing correspondence between then energy minister, Mark Bailey and Ms Palaszczuk, using the personal accounts discussing a potential government appointment on April 22, 2015.

An ally and former lawyer of Donald Trump has failed an attempt to decertify Joe Biden’s election victories in Michigan and Georgia.

Mr Trump and his allies have filed lawsuits in states won in his 2016 campaign, making unfounded claims of fraud. 

A US Judge said the claims have not only been made too late, but lacked the legal standing to bring a lawsuit.