Australia

The declaration gives the federal government power to intervene and deploy resources.

It is a legislative power that Morrison sought after the 2019-2020 bushfire crisis.

Morrison is also set to outline more money to help communities recover from floods on the east coast when he visits Lismore today, as government ministers expect anger from residents whose lives have been upturned.

The federal government has been criticised for the pace and scale of its response to the floods.

The weather station on Observatory Hill in the CBD has recorded 822mm of rain so far this year.

That's about 70 percent of the amount that would normally fall in a year, or what would have accumulated by August.

The wet start has broken the previous record of 783mm up to 8 March, which was set in 1956.

The third wettest start to the year was recorded in 1990, when 754mm of rain fell.

Reprieve from the weather is forecast for Thursday as the east coast low moves offshore.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk compared the weather to a cyclone event, as Brisbane, the Queensland capital, was bracing for flooding on Sunday, before the rainfalls ease by Monday.

They will target specific Russian individuals and corporations "who are at the heart of this bullying and aggressive behaviour".

"The reason we're doing this is there must be a price for the unprovoked, unlawful, unwarranted, unjustified attacks and threats and intimidation that has been imposed by Russia on Ukraine," Morrison tells reporters in Sydney on Thursday.

Ukrainians currently in Australia and with visas that expire by 30 June will have them extended by six months.

He's dismissive of Vladimir Putin's claim that he is sending troops to separatist areas for a peacekeeping mission.

The "suggestion they are peacekeeping is nonsense", he says.

He says he hopes that diplomatic efforts can avoid a violent confrontation and says he will be "in lock-step" with other countries in quickly putting in place sanctions on Russia.

"Russia should step back. It should unconditionally withdraw. It's unacceptable, it's unprovoked, it's unwarranted," he says.

The country imposed some of the world's strictest travel bans after shutting itself off in March 2020 due to Covid.

Australians and some others were allowed to return from late last year, but most foreigners have had to wait.

There were tearful reunions at Sydney Airport on Monday as hundreds of people began arriving on flights.

One young girl, Charlotte, shared an emotional hug with her grandfather. She told the local Nine Network: "I've missed him so much and I've looked forward to this trip for so long."

Acting High Commissioner Clemency Oliphant, Director General Prime Minister’s Office, Dr Gregoire Nimbtik and Director General of the Ministry of Education and Training, Bergmann Iati signed an agreement formalizing the extension.

Dr Nimbtik acknowledged skills training as a national priority and cross-sector need central to achieving the goals in the People’s Plan as covered in the National Human Resource Development Plan.

Iati emphasized the Ministry’s support for the Partnership and looked forward to this work continuing.

A friend confirmed Simon Nellist died in the attack on Wednesday.

Police have not yet formally identified the victim and his family have not commented.

Australian authorities are still searching for the great white shark, with swimmers banned from the water and most city beaches shut after Wednesday's attack.

Mr Nellist - who was a diving instructor - was mauled by a great white shark just off Little Bay in east Sydney. He was a member of the city's Scuba Diving Social Club and a regular swimmer at the beach, BBC Sydney correspondent Shaimaa Khalil reports.

Emergency services were called to Little Bay beach near Malabar on Wednesday afternoon where human remains were found in the water, police say.

Authorities in the New South Wales state have not named the victim, and an investigation is under way.

Little Bay and several nearby beaches are now closed.

At the time of the attack at 16:30 local time (05:30 GMT) on Wednesday, there were dozens of people swimming, paddle boarding and fishing on the nearby rocks, according to Sky News Australia.

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) have entered an 'exclusive dialogue' period with the state's authorities.

While a submission still has to be formally evaluated, Victoria is now likely to be officially confirmed as the host in April.

The Games would be primarily held in regional Victoria.

The news will come as a major relief to the CGF which had been trying to find a host to follow Birmingham.

Birmingham will stage the 2022 Games in July.