Power will be out from 10pm to 6am, as temperatures plunge.

Police have identified the man and say they will be speaking to him ‘shortly’.

Mayoral hopefuls give their views on how the changes fit with the growing city’s needs.

Court case was in the public interest – campaigners says costs ruling ‘really unfair’.

Young People’s Chorus from NYC are out to defend their titles at the World Choir Games.

Teenagers from across the country will spend three months at a Palmerston North facility.

A Russian-born married couple who live in Brisbane have today been charged with allegedly accessing military material for sharing with Russia.

Army Private Kira Korolev, 40, and her 62-year-old husband Igor Korolev, who works as a labourer, were arrested at a Brisbane home yesterday.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw earlier today gave details of their arrests – the first time charges have been laid under new counter-espionage laws introduced six years ago.

READ MORE: Joe Biden mistakenly calls Ukrainian President 'Putin' ahead of crucial press conference

"They have been charged with one count each of preparing for an espionage offence, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment," he said.

He said the woman – an ADF information systems technician – had taken non-disclosed travel to Russia while on leave from the army.

The AFP allege the couple worked together to access Australian Defence Force material that related to Australia's national security interests.

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess, speaking alongside Kershaw, said the arrests came after a "lengthy and complex investigation" by law enforcement agencies.

Kershaw said the arrests were the culmination of an operation by the counter-foreign interference task force, which includes AFP, ASIO and other federal agencies.

READ MORE: Australians killed in Philippines just days from returning home

"We allege the woman was undertaking non-declared travel to Russia, whilst she was on long-term leave from the Australian Defence Force," he said.

"We allege that whilst she was in Russia, she instructed her husband, who remained in Australia, on how to log into her official work account from their Brisbane home.

"We allege her husband would access requested material and would send to his wife in Russia. We allege they sought that information with the intention of providing it to Russian authorities.

"Whether that information was handed over remains a key focus of our investigation."

The couple have lived in Australia for more than 10 years.

The woman obtained Australian citizenship in 2016 and he became a citizen four years later.

Burgess answered reporters' questions about the vetting procedures for people working in the ADF and other sensitive government branches.

"I respectfully suggest that vetting is not a solution that stops problems because it depends on what you say 'How is it missed?'

"If you meet the requirements to get a security clearance, you will get one but that doesn't mean to say the security journey stops at this point.

"In this case, because of defence and security awareness, ASIO and the task force and the AFP were able to intervene and control this operation."

Burgess said spying was not a "quaint" notion and could have "catastrophic real-world consequences".

"Espionage is real. Multiple countries are seeking to steal Australia's secrets."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, speaking from Queensland, said the charges showed law enforcement agencies were continually vigilant. 

He said anyone who sought to harm Australia would be brought to account.

The couple will appear before Brisbane Magistrates Court today.

Facing calls from within his own party to drop out of the presidential race, today's high-stakes media appearances by Joe Biden were meant to reassure Democrats and voters he was still up to another four years in the job.

Instead, the concerns will only grow deeper after he made two embarrassing gaffes: mixing up Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, just hours after he referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as President Putin.

His first formal solo news conference after the disastrous presidential debate was to be another make-or-break moment on the world stage.

LIVE BLOG: Follow key updates as Biden faces press conference

Asked about what he thought of Harris' capabilities to potentially fill his shoes, Biden said: "I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be Vice President did I think she was not qualified to be President. Number one, I will start there."

Earlier, he mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as "President Putin".

"I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination – please welcome President Putin," Biden said.

READ MORE: What happens if Joe Biden drops out of his re-election race?

The president's last similar outing came nearly eight months ago when he took questions from reporters after his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in California.

At that news conference, Biden called on reporters from four organisations, one of whom asked two questions.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre jumped in to end the news conference after the fourth reporter, though Biden proceeded to answer an additional nine questions.

Biden's most recent joint news conference was during the G7 summit last month.

Biden says he's 100 per cent in, even if some aides have private doubts.

READ MORE: Actor George Clooney, a high-profile Biden supporter and fundraiser, asks president to leave race

While Biden has expressed confidence in his chances, his campaign today acknowledged they are behind, and a growing number of the president's aides in the White House and the campaign privately harbour doubts that the president can turn it around.

But they're taking their cues from Biden, expressing that he is in the race 100 per cent — unless and until he isn't, and there appeared to be no organised internal effort to convince the president to step aside.

One reporter today quizzed Biden about his 2020 campaign position as a "bridge candidate" to pass the torch to a younger generation.

"What changed was the gravity of the situation I inherited in terms of the economy, our foreign policy and domestic division," he said.

"What I realised was my long time in the Senate had equipped me to have the wisdom to know how to deal with the Congress, to get things done.

"I got more major legislation passed that no-one thought would happen and I want to finish … to get that finished."

He suggested he'd remain in the race with democracy "under siege", citing the conservative Supreme Court and the spectre of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump's return to the presidency.

READ MORE: Milwaukee radio station says it edited Biden interview after campaign request

"But the other reason why I didn't want to hand off to another generation, I have to finish this job," he said.

"I've got to finish this job because there's so much at stake".

His allies were well aware heading into the week there would be more calls for him to step down, and they were prepared for it.

It really is not clear how many lawmakers – or movie stars – it would take for Biden to reconsider his decision or if that number even exists.

Reported with AP, CNN

An entire pod of 77 pilot whales has died after becoming stranded on a beach on a remote Scottish island in what is believed to be the biggest mass stranding in the UK for decades.

Locals sighted the pod on the isle of Sanday in Orkney on Thursday morning.

The British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) was called in to assist the whales at about 10.45am on Thursday (7.45pm Thursday AEST).

LIVE UPDATES: Follow key updates as Joe Biden gives press conference

"BDMLR's regional team was immediately mobilised with response equipment to make their way over to the island, whilst we waited for more information on the situation from the small number of medics already on Sanday," the group reported in a statement on their website.

By the time medics arrived, the whales had evidently been stranded for several hours already and only 12 of the 77 animals were still alive.

The medics began health assessments and gave first aid to the surviving animals as the incoming tide approached, in the hopes they could be refloated.

READ MORE: Why do whales beach themselves?

Medics also believe there was a "high likelihood" the whales inhaled water with the incoming tide, further injuring them were unable to be refloated.

Medics also believe there was a "high likelihood" the whales inhaled water with the incoming tide, further injuring them.

The medics were forced to euthanise the remaining animals.

The Scottish Marine Animals Stranding Scheme (SMASS) is now attempting to recover as many of the whales' bodies as possible to conduct post-mortems, in an attempt to understand the reason for the mass stranding.

"There are no obvious indications as to why they all stranded," BDMLR reported.

"It may be some time before full results are available due to the huge task of conducting these examinations."

Australians with their eyes trained skyward may catch a glimpse of a "once-in-a-lifetime" stellar event in the coming months.

A pair of stars named T Coronae Borealis is set to explode, lighting up the southern hemisphere skies for the first time in 80 years.

T Coronae Borealis, also known as the Blaze Star, periodically undergoes something called a nova, where the star periodically bursts in brightness as it partially explodes.

READ MORE: Black hole 20,000 times size of the Sun discovered on our doorstep

"We can predict when this will happen based on the star's brightness over time, and anytime over the next few months to two years, it could happen," Melbourne astrophysicist Dr Sara Webb explained.

"It's in the constellation Corona Borealis and if you keep an eye on that patch of sky you might notice when the 'new star' appears."

The Coronae Borealis constellation is visible in Australia between May and September in the evening sky.

The constellation is 3000 light years away and usually only visible using a telescope.

However, when the Blaze Star explodes, it rapidly increases in brightness to around a magnitude +3, making it easily visible even in light-polluted areas.

LIVE UPDATES: Follow key updates as Joe Biden gives press conference

It's as if a brand new star appears in the night sky, before fading away a few nights later.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime event that will create a lot of new astronomers out there," Dr Rebekah Hounsell, an assistant research scientist specialising in nova events at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre, said.

"It'll fuel the next generation of scientists."

T Coronae Borealis is what is known as a white dwarf – a star whose internal fire has burnt out and is now essentially a dead star, which has been dramatically compressed.

The white dwarf is an Earth-sized remnant of a dead star with a mass comparable to that of our sun.

However, it is in orbit with another star – a red giant.

The white dwarf is extracting hydrogen from its red giant neighbour, which builds up until a runaway thermonuclear reaction occurs.

This causes an explosion which makes the white dwarf shine 1500 times brighter than usual, briefly lighting up our night sky.

"There are a few recurrent novae with very short cycles, but typically, we don't often see a repeated outburst in a human lifetime, and rarely one so relatively close to our own system," Hounsell said.

"It's incredibly exciting to have this front-row seat."