An MIQ cleaner is believed to have caught Covid-19 from an infected traveller, but Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has no concerns about the processes in place to prevent such infections.The cleaner had also received two…

Virgin Australia will no longer serve complimentary food to economy passengers.

Economy customers will be forced to purchase food and drink from the onboard menu from March 25, but will still be offered free water, tea and coffee.

Business class guests will be offered a plated meal from the airline's new business class menu.

READ MORE: Aussies concerned JobKeeper 'taken advantage of' while other sectors struggle

Virgin Australia was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and is continuing to adapt to coronavirus related travel challenges.

In September the airline was bought by American investment firm Bain Capital.

READ MORE: New dad's plea for Aussie jobs to be saved after redundancy

Incoming CEO Jayne Hrdlicka proposed to make Virgin a "mid-market" airline with three levels on in-cabin seating, including business class, economy X and economy seats.

The move is designed to pitch Virgin as a middle ground airline, between a premium Qantas offering and the more budget Jetstar.

The driver of a car involved in a serious crash in Manutahi, South Taranaki earlier today has died. Emergency services were notified at about 5.20pm of the two-vehicle crash involving a car and a truck on South Rd, which is now…

A pet emu has been rescued from floodwaters in Windsor in NSW today.

Paul Zammit had to carry his pet, Gookie, after rescuing her from floodwater in the Hawkesbury.

READ MORE: Clearer weather will not reduce flood risk, BoM warns

Animal rescues have been widespread during the flood disaster in Australia's east, from livestock and horses on the Mid North Coast to pets and even pelicans.

But this is the first emu that's been spotted being carried to safety.

The Bureau of Meteorology said on Tuesday that the record rainfall across much of NSW may stop soon, but the flood risk will remain.

The highest amount recorded in the previous 24 hours was at Mount Seaview on the Mid North Coast with 1083mm. Other parts of the region such as Comboyne have also seen a metre of rain in just a few days.

"Putting that into context, that is two-thirds of annual rainfall falling in the space of just one week," the BoM's Agata Imielska said.

"Just to give some sense of just how, what kind of rainfall is leading to this disastrous condition."

One of the most striking images of the Western Sydney floods has been the sight of the New Windsor Bridge submerged in roiling water.

The $137 million bridge was opened in the Hawkesbury in May last year as a safer, less flood-prone bridge, despite opposition from within the local community and claims the development would damage the historical value of the area.

Locals gathered yesterday as waters rose and crested over the supposedly flood-proof bridge.

READ MORE: Rescue crews deployed to assist suburbs cut off by floods

"They should have built it higher," one person said.

Transport for NSW said the bridge had been designed to cope with "high levels" of rainfall and changes to river height.

"The current flooding event is a rare and extreme event," a spokesperson said.

READ MORE: Full list of NSW schools and roads closed

"The design of the new bridge carefully balances flood resilience while minimising the visual impacts that a significantly higher bridge would have had on historic Thompson Square and surrounds."

The bridge is set to remain closed during the extreme weather, nonetheless.

However, the Transport spokesperson said it was "anticipated" the bridge would re-open sooner than the old bridge would have, due to being higher and in better condition.

The Hawkesbury River is set to peak this afternoon, with evacuation orders in place throughout the region.

Transport for NSW said the bridge would be re-opened as soon as it was safe to do so.

Capturing panoramas of the Milky Way, the galaxy in which we reside, might seem like a daunting task considering it is, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, about 100,000 light-years across.

But Finnish astrophotographer JP Metsavainio has spent almost 12 years stitching together 234 frames to create a mosaic of 125 degrees of sky.

The panorama, which shows 20 million stars, captures the space between the Taurus and Cygnus constellations and was completed on March 16.

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"Astronomical photography is one of the most difficult forms of nature photography," Mr Metsavainio, a professional artist, told CNN Friday.

"My mosaic image is generally very deep, meaning that it shows extremely dim targets and formations in gas clouds of our home galaxy, the Milky Way."

Each image in the mosaic is an independent artwork and available to see on Mr Metsavainio's blog.

He claims an image like this has never existed before, which is one of the reasons he decided to dedicate thousands of hours to the project.

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Clear, dark skies away from the light pollution of cities are vital to astrophotography, the photography of astronomical objects, an activity that happens worldwide.

Patience is also key, as it can take hours or even days to capture just one photo over a long exposure.

Mr Metsavainio used a range of modified camera lenses and telescopes at his observatory in northern Finland, near the Arctic Circle.

https://twitter.com/JP_Metsavainio/status/1371745893104427010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

He first uses image processing software to adjust levels and color before stitching the separate panels together on Adobe PhotoShop, using stars as indicators to match the correct frames.

The astrophotographer said his favorite images are of supernova remnants, a phenomenon that forms after a star explodes.

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Several of them are visible in his panorama and the Cygnus Shell, a particularly dim supernova remnant which can be seen as a pale blue ring near the North America nebula, took the astrophotographer 100 hours alone to create.

His blog has had 750,000 visitors since the photo was published, up from an average of about 1,000 a day.

"The reason I keep doing my slow work is basically an endless curiosity, I love to see and show how wonderful our world really is," he told CNN.

"This is lonely and slow work but every time I see the results, I'm as thrilled as the first time."

Alongside Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May, Mr Metsavainio participated in a live virtual broadcast in September hosted by the Science Museum of London.

At the time he was publishing a 3-D book about cosmic clouds with the musician and Astronomy Magazine editor David J Eicher.

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A devoted lover of the night sky, Mr Metsavainio plans to continue his work but with a different lens.

"I have shot the night sky with relatively short focal length optics for the last few years," Mr Metsavainio said.

"In the future, I'll go back to a longer focal length instrument."

The Crown has closed its case in the Red Fox Tavern murder and aggravated robbery trial, disputing the alternative defence theory of who is responsible. A man with name suppression and Mark Joseph Hoggart have been on trial in the…

An Auckland businessman caught falsifying documents to illegally import sea containers has been fined $30,000. Fifty-three-year-old Sanjive Ramavtar Kapoor, manager and owner of Divine Logistics Limited, was sentenced in the Manukau…

The organiser of Tasmania's Dark Mofo has apologised after the arts festival received backlash over plans to cover a Union Jack flag in Indigenous blood.

The festival put out a call on its Instagram account for Indigenous people to donate a small amount of blood, facilitated by a medical professional before the event.

The blood would then cover the Union Jack for an art project called Union Flag by Spanish artist Santiago Sierra.

READ MORE: Rescue crews deployed to assist suburbs cut off by floods

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMnR0Q0s98o/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp

"We've heard the community's response to Santiago Sierra's Union Flag," festival director Leigh Carmichael said.

"In the end the hurt that will be caused by proceeding isn't worth it.

"We made a mistake, and take full responsibility.

https://www.facebook.com/darkmofofestival/posts/3521822394607448

"The project will be cancelled. We apologise to all First Nations people for any hurt that has been caused. We are sorry."

READ MORE: New dad's plea for Aussie jobs to be saved after redundancy

Prior to the apology, the festival defended its decision on Monday, after it was "overwhelmed with responses" from Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

"We understand, respect and appreciate the many diverse views in relation to this confronting project.

"Self-expression is a fundamental human right, and we support artists to make and present work regardless of their nationality or cultural background.

READ MORE: UFO report to include 'hard to explain sightings'

"The range of perspectives reflects the conversations we had with Tasmanian Aboriginal people prior to announcing the project.

"It's not surprising that the atrocities committed as a result of colonising nations continue to haunt us."

There are 805,200 people in Australia who don't have a job.

Last week Tim Walls became another one.

The father of seven-week old son Frankie was made redundant from his job of more than two years.

Tim worked at Keppel Prince.

The company is the only manufacturer of wind turbines in Victoria, but last week laid off 40 staff.

A multinational company had opted to use steel from a foreign company.

Another 100 jobs at Keppel Prince are now at risk.

This morning, 33 hours after leaving his home in western Victoria, Tim arrived in the nation's capital.

Along with colleagues and officials from Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, and the Australian Workers Union he took take his plea to preserve local manufacturing jobs, to politicians inside Parliament House.

Tim added his voiced to a union campaign calling on the federal government to boost local content and help protect and save jobs.

About 1005 kilometres from his home, Tim stood in a hall which has been graced by prime ministers, ministers and MPs from around the country.

And he wept.

Tim cried for his future, for his baby, for his family.

"It's not nice," he said.

"The government wants to sit there talking about creating jobs, jobs jobs.

"Enough is enough.

"It's not a very nice feeling to go home, you don't sleep properly.

"It's hard to deal with."

His lip quivered, tears rolled down his face.

This was a man feeling the pressure of looking after his family, without an income to help.

He said it is his partner Siarle and son Frankie keeping him going.

"I just have to step up, and move forward," he told me.

I asked him if Frankie had helped make him smile.

It was the only time during this interview he managed a smile.

A brief chuckle.

"Yeah, yep," he said.

Then more tears, as the hand of a mate patted him on the back, as if to say "you'll be right".

Hopefully for the sake of his family, and for himself, Tim will be.

He spent the day in Parliament House, campaigning to save jobs like the one he lost.

Tomorrow he heads home, still without a job but with mates who say they've got his back.

And Tim's not alone.

There's 805,200 Australians just like him.