There are 8395 new community Covid cases today as health officials continue to track the rising demand on hospitals nationwide. The Ministry of Health reported a further 17 Covid-related deaths.Today’s reported deaths include…

An Australian activist who shouted "Where is Peng Shuai?" and held up a sign with the same message was removed from Centre Court during the Wimbledon men's final.

Drew Pavlou, from Brisbane, an activist who made a similar protest at the Australian Open this year, said he shouted the message during a stoppage in play and was then forcefully removed from the stadium on Sunday.

"I didn't want to disrupt the actual match itself so I waited to make sure there was a break in the play and then I just basically held up a sign saying 'Where is Peng Shuai?'" Pavlou told The Associated Press.

READ MORE: Novak Djokovic withstands Nick Kyrgios firestorm en route to seventh Wimbledon crown

"And I just said, 'Where is Peng Shuai? This Chinese tennis star is being persecuted by the Chinese government. Why won't Wimbledon say something?'"

Peng is a retired professional tennis player from China who last year accused a former high-ranking member of the country's ruling Communist Party of sexual assault. She has made very few public appearances since then.

On Monday, four activists wearing "Where is Peng Shuai?" T-shirts were stopped by security at Wimbledon and had their bags searched.

Pavlou said he smuggled the sign onto the grounds of the All England Club by folding it up and hiding it in his shoe. He also had a T-shirt with the message tucked into the waistline of his jeans.

He shouted the protest early in the third set of the match between Serbian Novak Djokovic and Australian Nick Kyrgios. Djokovic eventually beat Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

READ MORE: Millions more Australians can get extra COVID-19 booster from today

"I tried to be as loud as possible," said Pavlou. "I screamed it because I wanted people to hear it."

Pavlou said security wrestled him to the ground and then four of them restrained him with his arms behind his back and brought him to a public area outside Centre Court. He said he was then told to leave the grounds.

In a tweet, Pavlou said described how he was "crash tackled" by security staff and forcibly removed from the Wimbledon ground.

https://twitter.com/DrewPavlou/status/1546232570588712960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

He tried to re-enter a short time later but a security guard told him his tickets had been canceled.

The All England Club said Pavlou was removed "after disrupting play by shouting, running down the stairs and causing a nuisance to their fellow spectators."

At the Australian Open in Melbourne, a spectator was removed from the grounds for wearing a T-shirt supporting Peng but the tournament later reversed its decision and allowed people to wear the clothing as long as they didn't congregate in large groups or cause problems for other spectators.

Peng disappeared from public view last year after accusing former Communist Party official Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. Her accusation was quickly scrubbed from the internet, and discussion of it remains heavily censored.

Peng won two Grand Slam women's doubles titles in her career, including at Wimbledon in 2013.

The women's professional tennis tour cancelled its tournaments in China because of the situation surrounding Peng.

More than half of Australians experienced a reaction to at least one of their first two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, but less than 1 per cent sought medical advice for it.

Those are the findings of a new study by AusVaxSafety, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, which surveyed more than three million Aussies after they were vaccinated.

The second Pfizer dose and the first AstraZeneca dose were the doses who made most Australians feel unwell in the days after the injections, the study found.

EXPLAINED: Australians aged over 30 now eligible for a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose – Everything you need to know

Almost 55 per cent of people who had Pfizer reported a reaction after the second dose, while only 36 per cent had a reaction to the first dose.

Almost 53 per cent of people who had AstraZeneca reported a reaction after the first dose, and only 22 per cent reported one after the second dose.

The most common symptoms were pain at the injection site, headaches, fatigue and muscle aches.

Most people said the symptoms were "short-lived" and resolved themselves within eight days of the vaccine being administered.

Only 0.9 per cent of people sought medical advice in the three days following vaccination, the study found.

Researchers also found that adverse events were more frequently reported by people with underlying medical conditions, including a history of anaphylaxis.

READ MORE: COVID-19 antiviral treatments opened to more people

They found the chance of a reaction to a vaccine was "higher for women than men, for people with a history of anaphylaxis, and for people reporting certain underlying conditions, including obesity, immunodeficiency, or chronic inflammatory disease".

The researchers also discovered that the frequency of reactions were higher for the COVID-19 vaccines than for other vaccines in Australia.

"Perhaps because mRNA and viral vector vaccines more often elicit transient mild to moderate side effects than other vaccine types," the researchers wrote.

The study surveyed 3,035,983 people who received COVID-19 vaccines between February 22, 2021 and August 30, 2021, asking them about any reaction they may have experienced three days and eight days after they received a vaccine.

It included frontline workers, older adults, people with underlying medical conditions and Indigenous Australians.

The authors of the study have said they are continuing to monitor COVID-19 vaccine safety in Australia, including for booster doses.

The Sydney Opera House has been lit up in the colours of the Japanese flag in tribute to the slain former Prime Minister.

It was the rescue mission that gripped the world — 12 boys and their football coach, stranded in a flooded cave in Thailand for 17 desperate days.

Four years on, never-before-seen video has emerged from Australian crews who brought home a life-changing story.

The footage was taken by a crack team of six Australian Federal Police divers, wading by torchlight.

READ MORE: Man dies in skydiving accident near Victoria's Great Ocean Road

It was a winter afternoon in Canberra when leading Senior Constable Kel Boers answered a call he would never forget.

"His question to me was simple — do you guys cave dive?" he said.

Boers replied: "Sure, why not?"

The story of the stranded football team was just breaking

Within 24 hours, the AFP specialist response group members found themselves part of the multinational mission.

The task was clear: first locate and then rescue the 12 Wild Boars.

They had only one thin rope to guide them.

Their photos show a makeshift camp set on the side of a muddy hill.

Stacks of vital oxygen tanks and production lines of crews carting gear can be seen.

The plan for a complex rescue was scrawled on a whiteboard.

"Once we got into the cave and we sat and waited for the first one to come through the nervous energy was terrible, you could have cut it like a knife," Boers said.

The boys were carried out sedated, oxygenated, and strapped to a stretcher, after being hauled through tiny rock openings by specialist divers.

Then Boers and his team got involved.

"When the first boy came through and everything went smoothly and everything worked like clockwork, and we did medical checks and passed 'em on, it was sort of like — that worked," he said.

It would take three full days before on July 10, 2018, the news the world had been waiting for came.

The boys were safe.

Boers, who recalled eating pizza and KFC with his team mates to keep them going, said the children didn't realise how big their story had become.

"They all thought they had to ride their bikes home when we got them out," he said.

The Australians ended up being among the final crew to get out of the cave.

All were honoured for the effort, with Boers awarded an Order of Australia and Bravery Medal.

Heavy rain and wild winds have returned to large parts of New South Wales as thousands of residents and businesses continue the flood clean-up.

The Bureau of Meteorology forecast areas around Sydney and the Newcastle region could get 10 to 20 millimetres on Sunday, between 20 and 40 millimetres in the Illawarra.

Residents were also being warned of hazardous surf conditions in Byron Coast, Coffs Coast, Macquarie Coast, Hunter Coast, Sydney Coast, Illawarra Coast and Batemans Coast.

READ MORE: Massive NSW flood clean-up underway as government expands disaster payments

Beach conditions in these areas could be dangerous and people should stay well away from the surf and surf-exposed areas, the bureau warned.

The big swell is being caused by a low-pressure system close to New Zealand and a high pressure over southeastern Australia.

The rain is forecast to move away from coastal areas on Monday, but it could return as early as Wednesday.

The severe weather warning came as thousands of NSW residents returned home on Saturday to begin the long journey of recovery after the latest flooding event.

READ MORE: Protesters set fire to home of Sri Lankan Prime Minister after storming President's residence

On Sunday, the Hawkesbury river finally fell below flood level and more people returned home.

For Joanne Kendall and her husband Chris it hasn't been an easy task.

Mr Kendall has been battling leukaemia and is now in remission but has been on the tools trying to clean up.

The federal government expanded the flood disaster payments to include eight more local government areas which were devastated by floodwaters.

Residents in Cumberland, Mid Coast, Muswellbrook, Nambucca, Newcastle, Port Stephens, Randwick and Warren are now eligible for the payments.

Premier Dominic Perrottet said on Saturday it would take a "major effort" to repair damage to flood-hit communities.

"I had the opportunity this morning with (Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke) to fly above Maitland and Singleton and see the extent of the damage from above," he said yesterday.

"And the enormity of the challenge in front of us, not just for local communities but governments, to make sure we get our communities back on track was not lost on me."

A 34-year-old man man has died in a accident near Victoria's Great Ocean Road.

The man was one of 12 skydivers left Torquay airport with Australian Skydive around 10.25am.

Both his main parachute and reserve failed to open.

He died at the scene, just off Breamlea Road in Connewarre, just five minutes later.

READ MORE: Melbourne endures another period with limited ambulance services after code red overnight

Victoria Police Fletcher Pearson said he was being coached with another man, who also landed in a paddock near him.

The second skydiver was not injured.

"He's known the other skydiver that he was diving with for over ten years," Pearson said

APF chief executive Richard McCooey said the man was doing his first jump in a 'wing suit'.

It's a special garment which allows the wearer to glide through the air at a slower rate rather than free falling.

He said it was too early to know what happened.

READ MORE: Elderly man in critical condition after being hit by train in Adelaide

"We understand that the man had successfully completed 300 jumps and was doing his first jump in a wing suit, under the supervision of an experienced tutor," he said.

"We know very little beyond that at this stage, although it appears the man failed to deploy either of his parachutes.

"This is an awful situation and our thoughts are with the man's family and friends."

McCooey said an Australian Parachute Federation Safety and Training Officer was there, and would begin an investigation.

Police will prepare a report for the coroner.

In July 2021, experienced skydiving instructor Arron Toepfer was killed when his parachute malfunctioned during a tandem skydive, also in Torquay.

The other person survived.

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An elderly man is in a critical condition after being hit by a train in Adelaide.

Emergency services were called to Ovingham Railway Station, in the city's north, just before 9am, after a man was struck by a passing train at the pedestrian crossing on Devonport Terrace.

The 81-year-old was rushed to Royal Adelaide Hospital, and is in a critical condition.

READ MORE: Melbourne endures another period with limited ambulance services after code red overnight

It's the second incident at the crossing, which due to be upgraded.

There is already work underway.

Warning lights were covered, and safety gates not yet in use.

It comes two weeks after a cyclist was hit by a train at a North Adelaide crossing, where works were also underway.

Both incidents happened on the Gawler line, where work continues after a $900 million electrification project.

A passenger travelling from Sydney to Wellington who ended up “abandoned” in Christchurch believes Qantas should have informed passengers before take-off that they were never going to land in the capital city. More than a hundred…