NSW to reach crucial vaccination milestone.
A day after reporting the 100th death linked to the state's spiralling COVID-19 outbreak, NSW is expected to reach a happier milestone - 70 per cent first dose COVID-19 vaccination coverage.
As of Tuesday, more than 6.9 million vaccine doses have been administered in NSW, with 69.3 per cent of the population aged 16 and over receiving at least one dose.
Almost 38 per cent are fully vaccinated.
"Cam and I have been inseparable since 2011, our shared world centred on messing about on boats. Describing what Cam means to me is impossible – everyone who knows us understands how much we simply loved each other," she wrote.
"Even while experiencing indescribable grief, I feel so grateful for the family, friends, and communities Cam has given me and the person I’ve become with him. I take enormous strength from having been so devotedly loved. The years of treasured memories offer enormous comfort," she added.
Watson has been named Young Australian of the Year, Youth Representative for the United Nations World Food Program and has received the Medal of the Order of Australia. But she says being "Cam's 'Jess'" is the role she's most proud of.
Al-Qaeda congratulates Taliban, as fighters go door-to-door.
The al-Qaeda terrorist network has congratulated the Taliban this week for its "historic victory" against the United States, which just ended a 20-year presence in Afghanistan and flew its last soldier out of the country.
"We congratulate you on this great victory against the crusader alliance," al-Qaeda said, addressing the Taliban.
Al-Qaeda said this "victory" is a "prelude to the liberation of Palestine" and would help lead to liberation of other areas such as the "Levant, Somalia, Yemen, Kashmir and the rest of the Islamic lands."
Hours after the US withdrew from Afghanistan, Taliban members were going door to door in Kabul and executing people, a senior US official has told Fox News.
So far, it is unclear who the victims are, but Fox said that US officials in Kabul gave the Taliban a list of American citizens, green card holders, and Afghan allies in an effort to grant them entry to the airport.
The Taliban has surrounded the only remaining province resisting its rule, a senior leader says, calling on rebels to negotiate a settlement with the group.
Since the fall of Kabul on August 15, mountainous Panjshir has been the only province to hold out against the Islamist group, although there has also been fighting in neighbouring Baghlan province between Taliban and local militia forces.
Under the leadership of Ahmad Massoud, son of a former Mujahideen commander, several thousand members of local militias and remnants of army and special forces units have been holding out against the Taliban.
In a recorded speech addressed to Afghans in Panjshir, senior Taliban leader Amir Khan Motaqi called on the rebels to put down their weapons.
"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is home for all Afghans," he said.
The Taliban have declared an amnesty for all Afghans who worked with foreign forces during the past two decades but crowds fearing reprisals have continued to flock to the borders in an attempt to flee the land-locked country.
Biden outraged by Texas abortion ban.
Texas woke up to the strictest anti-abortion law in the country after the US Supreme Court declined to act on a request by abortion-rights groups to block the law banning the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy.
It was a victory for conservatives, who have long sought to eliminate abortion access in the United States.
Prominent Democrats including President Joe Biden voiced outrage, saying the Texas law that came into effect at midnight on Tuesday violated the right to abortion access established by the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Roe v Wade in 1973.
"My administration ... will protect and defend that right," Biden said.
The law amounts to a near-total ban on abortion procedures given that 85 per cent to 90 per cent of abortions occur after six weeks of pregnancy, and would likely force many clinics to close, the abortion-rights groups said.
Weather disasters have risen fivefold: UN.
The number of disasters, such as floods and heatwaves, driven by climate change have increased fivefold over the past 50 years, killing more than 2 million people and costing $US3.64 trillion ($A4.97 trillion) in total losses, a UN agency says.
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says its "Atlas" is the most comprehensive review of mortality and economic losses from weather, water and climate extremes ever produced.
It surveys some 11,000 disasters occurring between 1970-2019, including major catastrophes such as Ethiopia's 1983 drought, which was the single most fatal event with 300,000 deaths, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that was the most costly, with losses of $US163.61 billion.
The report showed an accelerating trend, with the number of disasters increasing nearly fivefold from the 1970s to the most recent decade, adding to signs that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to global warming.
The WMO attributed the growing frequency to both climate change and improved disaster reporting.
Piers Morgan cleared by UK regulator over Markle comments.
Britain's media regulator has cleared TV presenter and journalist Piers Morgan of any broadcasting code violations for making comments about Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
The number of complaints received by OFCOM was the largest ever received by the watchdog agency.
OFCOM says Morgan didn't breach the broadcasting code when he said on Good Morning Britain that he did not believe what Meghan Markle said during an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
On the program he added, "I wouldn't believe her if she read me a weather report," referring to comments the duchess made about her mental health and alleged racist attitudes.
Around the world.
- Trainers for the Swiss Gymnastics Federation's (STV) women's team have resigned en masse following an ethics investigation that upheld athletes' complaints of psychological abuse after a series of poor performances.
- Three US police officers and two paramedics have been charged over the death of Elijah McClain, a black man who was put in a chokehold and injected with a powerful sedative two years ago in suburban Denver.
The 23-year-old's death gained widespread attention during last year's protests against racial injustice and police brutality following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
- With AAP
Feature image: ABC/Instagram/jessicawatson_93/MWE/GC/Getty.
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