Decluttering your idioms.

COVID-19 cases are ratcheting up in Sydney on the back of end of year celebrations, with growing concerns about the large number of people in their 40 and 50s requiring a vaccine booster dose over summer.

There were 420 new cases reported in NSW on Thursday, the highest number since October 13, and 42 cases with the new variant in the state.

An emergency warning has been issued for residents in the Shire of Augusta Margaret River, with a bushfire raging in the Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park to the south of the surfing town.

A Victorian woman who allegedly forcibly married off her daughter to a stranger in WA told her to stay with her husband. Months later, her daughter was killed.

Former magistrate Rodney Higgins and the mother of his deceased fiancee have reached a settlement over Ms Petrie’s superannuation and life insurance benefits following her death in 2019.

A weather warning for areas including Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Scenic Rim has been issued.

Disability royal commission hears violence between residents was rife at a Melbourne group home run by Life Without Barriers.

The new CBD light rail trams are being tested to revive the suspended service. The government has also been forced to bring back one of the old Freshwater ferries.

Pressure is growing on former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian to make a call on whether or no to run for federal politics, the Victorian government says it will fix the state’s strained emergency call system and Britain and Canada have joined Austra...

The moment of senseless violence left the 25-year-old fighting for his life, with the court hearing Mr Hodgson came close to death “over and over again” while in hospital.

Bureau of Meteorology said Penrith received about 20 millimetres of rain in about 30 minutes when the storm moved through on Thursday afternoon.

Governments, state and federal, along with their public health teams must come up with a considered, consistent plan to deal with pandemic complications presented by the Omicron strain.

A two-year-old boy has died and his infant brother is in Perth Children’s Hospital after having emergency surgery following circumcisions at a Perth medical centre.

A new research centre will study the state’s most effective schools to discover the secrets of their success

A current serving member of the navy has told the Royal Commission of the traumas of border protection mission Operation Resolute, where he saw bodies floating in the ocean and how his crew turned to alcohol and drugs.

The residents in the Inner West Council area have sent a strong indication to the state government they want their amalgamated council split back into three municipalities.

Genome sequencing is being carried out on the four cases, but Victoria’s Premier says the state is not aiming to wipe Omicron out.

The Premier wants to seize all responsibility for childcare and early education from the federal government. Great idea, but NSW is not blameless, so he needs to fix its own mistakes while he’s at it.

Waiting one minute to clamp the umbilical cords of preterm babies significantly reduces the risk of death and disability in the first two years of life, a major study has found. 

Please Explain host Nathanael Cooper joins Rachel Clun to discuss issues that have led to a review of the music industry.

O’Grady covered murder of Prime Minister Aldo Moro and the scandal that led to the death of banker Roberto Calvi.

Police have been hunting Zachary Elkheir, previously known by his nickname “Sonny”, since Stuart MacGill was allegedly kidnapped in April.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors

The risk of a dangerous new coronavirus variant emerging on Australia’s doorstep is very real, as Papua New Guinea battles high rates of infection and low vaccination coverage.

A record 2000 fireworks will shoot from the four sails of the Sydney Opera House as more than one billion viewers worldwide watch this New Year’s Eve.

A teacher has been fired from Mount Scopus Memorial College after former students made complaints about inappropriate conduct.

Thomas Sewell, who police allege is the leader of the Australian nationalist socialist movement, has been granted bail as he awaits trial on allegations he attacked and robbed a group of hikers.

The new facility was officially launched on Thursday and is planned to manufacture and test the company’s new needle-free vaccine patches which are currently in clinical trials.

Katie and Paul Guerin were trapped in Tasmania with their son Jasper when the pandemic caused the state to close its borders.

The level of concern within schools about students’ mental health and academic progress throughout the pandemic peaked in term three this year, new data shows.

Colin Stratton, 80, begged his son to shoot him to end his chronic pain soon after being told paperwork for assisting dying could take weeks.

Do I need a permit to fly interstate? What about a PCR test? Our travel planner answers all your questions — so you can just worry about packing presents for the family.

Queensland has hit the long-awaited 80 per cent fully vaccinated mark, with the state now preparing for the border relaxing on Monday to bring a rise in cases.

Police have released CCTV of two vehicles seen travelling 15 minutes apart in the weeks before Bilal Hamze was shot dead outside a restaurant in Sydney’s CBD.

Premier Mark McGowan lauded the overall department vaccination rate of 97.5 per cent across the government, but Communities and Justice had a take-up rate below 90 per cent as of the cut-off date.

The federal regulator for medical practitioners will continue investigations into a Perth nurse who was accused by police of faking COVID-19 jabs but whose case fell over at its second hearing.

Information from AN0M, an app criminals believed to be encrypted that was secretly run by the FBI, has revealed a range of techniques used by drug importers, as police embark on a second phase of targeting organised crime.

Macleod retiree Rolf Schwabe made a doll’s house in lockdown that he will donate to an underprivileged child.

The man Daniel Andrews hand-picked as his new Aged Care Minister once gave a taxpayer-funded job to one of sacked powerbroker Adem Somyurek’s chief branch stackers.

The man, wanted by police for months, is alleged to be linked to the drug deal gone wrong that led to Mr MacGill’s kidnapping. 

Property prices are sky-high, but many people will find it harder to buy as a lending clampdown cuts their borrowing capacity by as much as 15 per cent.

An elderly woman has died overnight after her car was swept into floodwaters west of Brisbane.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has sharpened up his suits as well as strategies, but will it be enough to get him over the line first?

The 10 clubs and pubs are mostly venues with hundreds of poker machines and at least one of them has been hosting money launderers since at least 2014.

It’s go time for the Christmas Party of the season.

Crime bosses hiding in Turkey while allegedly trafficking drugs to Australia talked about “being able to get away with murder” in evidence now gathered by police.

The game of cricket has been with us since the beginnings of modern Australia. It is central to my inheritance, both Aboriginal and white, and now I believe we should give the Ashes a new focus.

A major review into the failings of the triple-zero system has been announced after chronic staff shortages have led to major connection delays as recently as last month.

Authors of a Victorian Cancer Registry report, released on Thursday, warn that the state’s medical system is in ‘uncharted territory’.