A volcano on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia has erupted, with reports of smoke and ash billowing out into the open. On Sunday morning, the volcano was seen firing clouds of ash into the air which reached over 1000 metres, and projected hot ash clouds that began looming near the southeast province of Indonesia. Local villagers have been told to remain five kilometres away from the bottom of the crater, and need to be conscious of potential lava risks. There have been no reported casualties in the eruption.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has arrived in Germany over the weekend for urgent medical treatment after a suspected poisoning. The anti-corruption activist and well-known critic of Vladimir Putin was reportedly poisoned on a flight to Moscow and remains in a coma. Leaders from around the world have expressed their concern for Mr. Navalny, with UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab calling for a “full and transparent investigation” on Twitter.

The Northern Territory election still remains too close to call despite Labor securing 11 of the 25 seats in Parliament - two short of forming a majority. Nine seats are still in doubt, with absentee and postal votes yet to be counted. Labor leader Michael Gunner says he is “very confident” that his party will retain government, having won enough seats to form at least a minority government.

New South Wales and the ACT have been hit with a late winter cold spell, with warnings issued for potential blizzards and avalanches. The states are experiencing heavy snow fall, with areas such as the Blue Mountains, Oberon, Orange, Snowy Mountains and surrounding parts currently coated in snow. Agata Imielska, manager of The Bureau of Meteorology for NSW and the ACT, has advised residents to be careful in the affected areas and to take caution.

Queensland’s ongoing water scarcity issues have prompted experts to call for a re-evaluation of the state’s dam network. Two-thirds of the state remains drought-declared, with inland towns such as Stanthorpe relying on water being trucked in daily. SEQ Water has urged urban residents to watch their water usage, with the water grid approaching 60 percent capacity.

Nine COVID-19 cases are now affiliated with the Detention Centre cluster, where an employee was confirmed with the virus last week. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has addressed that over 200 of the 500 staff at the Centre have returned negative test results, and over 110 youths have tested negative. Testing at the centre had become the main priority for health authorities, where it has been in lockdown since Wednesday evening.