Oklahoma executed a man Thursday for the 1985 shooting death of an Oklahoma City-area schoolteacher after courts rejected his claim that the state's lethal injection method would result in unconstitutional pain and suffering.

Bigler Stouffer II, 79, received a three-drug lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

Stouffer was the first person executed in Oklahoma since John Grant convulsed on the gurney and vomited during his lethal injection in October as the state ended a six-year execution moratorium brought on by concerns over its protocols.

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Thursday's execution process that began at 10 am appeared to go more smoothly. After receiving lethal drugs, Stouffer was declared unconscious at 10.07 am, and his breaths became shallower at 10.09 am. He was declared dead at 10.16 am.

Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor said in statement that the execution "was carried out with zero complications." The Reverend Howard Potts, who was in the death chamber with Stouffer, said Stouffer "was totally at peace."

Stouffer's last words were: "My request is that my father forgive them. Thank you."

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Stouffer has maintained his innocence in the attack that left Linda Reaves dead and her boyfriend, Doug Ivens, seriously injured.

He and his attorneys argued in court filings that the state's three-drug execution method poses a risk of unconstitutional pain and suffering and that Stouffer should be included among other death row plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging the protocols.

But his request for a stay of execution was denied by a federal district judge and the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

A final appeal with the US Supreme Court was denied Thursday morning, less than two hours before the scheduled execution

Stouffer was convicted and sentenced to death in 2003 after his first conviction and death sentence were overturned. At a parole board hearing last month, he said Mr Ivens was shot as the two men fought over a gun at Mr Ivens' home, and that Ms Reaves was dead when he arrived.

"I am totally innocent of the murder of Linda Reaves and my heart goes out to the family of Linda Reaves that have suffered as a result of her murder," Stouffer told the board during a video appearance from prison.

Prosecutors said Stouffer went to the home to borrow the gun from Mr Ivens, then fatally shot Reaves and wounded Mr Ivens to gain access to Mr Ivens' $2.80 million life insurance policy. At the time, Stouffer was dating Mr Ivens' ex-wife.

Despite being shot three times with a .38-caliber pistol, including once in the face, Mr Ivens survived and testified against Stouffer. Mr Ivens has since died.

"Stouffer's heinous actions against Doug and Linda, his lies and manipulations in the years to follow, and his complete lack of sorrow and remorse for the hurt he caused should dictate one conclusion — the jury's death sentence must be carried out," attorneys for the state wrote in asking the Pardon and Parole Board to reject Stouffer's request for clemency.

Several members of the board voiced concerns about the state's ability to humanely execute people. But Republican Governor Kevin Stitt ultimately rejected the board's recommendation that Mr Stitt commute Stouffer's sentence to life in prison without parole.

Ms Reaves' cousin, Rodney Thomson, spoke to reporters after Stouffer's execution, saying the killing had consumed his family members. He thanked the attorney general and staff and other prosecutors and investigators who worked on the case.

"Today we witnessed the law of the land carried out on behalf of my cousin," Mr Thomson read from a statement. "Although long in coming, justice has prevailed."

Mr Stitt did grant clemency to another man on death row, Julius Jones, last month just hours before his scheduled execution, commuting his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. That case had drawn outcry and protests over doubts about his guilt in the slaying of a businessman more than 20 years ago.

Executions in Oklahoma have typically been held in the evenings, but prison officials moved Stouffer's execution to 10am to make it easier for the prison to return to normal operations, said Department of Corrections spokesman Josh Ward.

Oklahoma had one of the nation's busiest death chambers until problems in 2014 and 2015 led to a de facto moratorium. Richard Glossip was just hours away from being executed in September 2015 when prison officials realised they received the wrong lethal drug. It was later learned the same wrong drug had been used to execute another man in January 2015.

The drug mix-ups followed a botched execution in April 2014 in which inmate Clayton Lockett struggled on a gurney before dying 43 minutes into his lethal injection — and after the state's prisons chief ordered executioners to stop.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has confirmed today the ADF will ditch its fleet of troubled Taipan helicopters a decade earlier than scheduled, and replace them with new Black Hawks from the US.

Mr Dutton has told Today it was a necessary move to replace the Australian Army's fleet of European produced Airbus MRH-90 Taipans.

He said the US produced Black Hawk helicopters would would be an "incredible platform" for the Australian military.

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"There are about 1000 of those in operation around the world. Obviously the Americans use it very heavily.

"For the interoperability with the US and Australia which is increasingly important for us given the instability in our region, the Black Hawk made perfect sense."

The decision will reportedly cost Australian taxpayers $7 billion

Mr Dutton said the ADF's 41 Taipan helicopters had not lived up to expectations.

"The Taipans have been very unreliable. They haven't lived up to the expectations."

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison agreed this morning, saying the Taipans "weren't doing their job".

"If something isn't working, we will go out and find something that does," he said.

But Deputy Labor Leader Richard Marles said the decision raised big questions over the Federal Government's major defence programmes.

He said defence procurement was in a "shocking state" following the scrapping of the $90 billion Future Submarines programme earlier this year.

"We are seeing a whole lot of defence programs being scrapped," Mr Marles said

"When we see defence programs being turned over like this, it is billions of dollars wasted."

Earlier, Labor front bencher Bill Shorten said hard decisions "had to be taken" by the Federal Government over the decision to scrap an entire fleet of helicopters.

"Maybe you do get points for making the hard decision to go back to something that is more reliable," Mr Shorten said.

"You have to ask how did we get ourselves into this situation in the first place."

China has dismissed a multinational diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games as "farce", warning the US and Australia will "pay a price" for the stance.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin has repeatedly attacked the boycott at his daily press conferences this week, while claiming the host isn't concerned about more nations following suit.

Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom have all followed the United State's pledge to not send any politicians or diplomats to the games, although athletes will still compete.

READ MORE: Australia to follow US with diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics 

On Wednesday, Mr Wang said the move "gravely violates" the political neutrality enshrined in the Olympic charter and accused Australia of "blindly following" the US.

"The US and Australia will pay a price for their erroneous actions," he said, according to an English transcript of his press conference on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

"You may wait and see."

Rights groups have called for a total boycott of the Beijing Winter Games, citing Chinese human rights abuses against its Uyghur minority in the northwest Xinjiang region, which some have called genocide. 

They also point to Beijing's suppression of democratic protests in Hong Kong and a sweeping crackdown on dissent in the semi-autonomous territory.

On Thursday Mr Wang said the Games still had support from the "overwhelming majority" of the international community, with several heads of state, government leaders and members of royal families registered to attend.

He said officials from the boycotting nations — which along with New Zealand make up the Five Eyes intelligence alliance —  had not been invited by China.

But the spokesman also said national leaders attended the Games "at the invitation of their National Olympic Committee".

New Zealand said it informed Beijing earlier that it wouldn't be sending any officials due to pandemic travel restrictions but had also communicated its human rights concerns.

"Sports have nothing to do with politics," Mr Wang said.

"The Olympic Games is a grand gathering of athletes and sports lovers, not a stage for the posturing and grandstanding of politicians.

"A handful of countries including the US, Australia, the UK and Canada refused to co-sponsor the UN resolution on Olympic Truce for the Beijing Winter Games, and now put on a self-staged farce of 'not sending officials', pitting themselves against the big Olympic family."

Major European powers have reportedly opened the door to a European Union-wide boycott but been unwilling to go it alone.

In justifying Australia's stance, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country's support for the boycott was "not surprising", citing rising tensions with China and its human rights record.

Canada's support was similarly predictable in the context of the sharp deterioration in bilateral ties since China arrested two Canadians in December 2018.

The arrests came shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, Huawei Technologies' chief financial officer and the daughter of the company's founder, on a US extradition request.

Canada and others condemned what they called "hostage politics," while China described the charges against Huawei and Meng as a politically motivated attempt to hold back China's economic and technological development.

China, the US and Canada completed what was essentially a high-stakes prisoner swap earlier this year, but the Chinese government's reputation has been severely tarnished in Canada.

Not everyone is up for being insulted by their iPhone — but its snarkiest weather app has just been named Apple's Watch app of the year.

Carrot Weather happily hurls insults at its users, designed by Brian Mueller to be a "combination of [his] mum, sister and wife".

"My family likes to make fun of each other a lot, which is where Carrot gets a lot of her personality from," Mueller told 9News.com.au.

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"She'll say things like, 'it's a perfect day outside but you'll probably spend all day inside watching cat videos'."

Mueller has spent six years improving his app, which launched on the iPhone in 2015 before squeezing its soul onto the much smaller screen of an Apple Watch.

"I couldn't rely on the jokes and the funny imagery I did on the iPhone app," Mueller said.

"That's what really drove the development of the professional side of the app."

He says he quickly realised a major problem with other apps designed for Apple Watch.

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"The same interface is made to work for everyone in the world. That's just not the case."

Mueller said people in London or Melbourne "need a completely different weather app than people living in California".

"Everybody needs, based on where they live or their hobbies or their job, completely different interfaces and configurations and that's what Carrot has really become well known for.

"Now you can have a completely weather focused watch face.

"You can actually have a short and long term forecast on a single watchface."

Mueller says he doesn't pay much attention to how many people are using Carrot Weather because he doesn't want to be distracted or driven by its million-plus users.

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"I don't want that to determine features or focus on daily revenue or anything like that. That stuff just bores me."

What excites him are the little differences like making use of long-look notifications.

"You can show radar imagery of a storm approaching your location and it's just something other weather apps haven't really taken advantage of," he said.

"I love finding ways of making boring and complicated things fun."

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Here's the full list of Apple's 2021 App Award winners:

• iPhone App of the Year: Toca Life World, from Toca Boca.

• iPad App of the Year: LumaFusion, from LumaTouch.

• Mac App of the Year: Craft, from Luki Labs Limited.

• Apple TV App of the Year: DAZN, from DAZN Group.

• Apple Watch App of the Year: Carrot Weather, from Grailr.

Australia's top free iPhone apps were dominated by COVID-19:

1. Express Plus Medicare

2. Check In Qld

3. Service NSW

4. Service Victoria

5. myGovID

6. Instagram

7. TikTok

8. YouTube: Watch, Listen, Stream

9. Snapchat

10. Facebook

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Meanwhile the country's top paid iPhone apps were:

1. WikiCamps Australia

2. The Wonder Weeks

3. Monash University FODMAP diet

4. TripView – Sydney & Melbourne

5. Forest – Your Focus Motivation

6. Procreate Pocket

7. Rain Parrot

8. TouchRetouch

9. AutoSleep Track Sleep on Watch

10. 75 Hard

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie have announced the birth of a baby girl.

Mr Johnson's office says a healthy baby, the couple's second child together, was born in a London hospital early Thursday.

"Both mother and daughter are doing very well," the office said in a statement.

"The couple would like to thank the brilliant NHS maternity team for all their care and support."

The baby is a sister for Wilfred, who was born in April 2020.

The couple moved into 10 Downing Street together when Mr Johnson became prime minister in 2019, becoming the first unmarried couple to openly live together at the British prime minister's official London residence.

Mr Johnson, 57, and Carrie, 33, married in May, in what is her first marriage and his third.

Mr Johnson has at least five other children from previous relationships.

The new baby is the fourth born to a sitting British prime minister this century.

The wives of leaders Tony Blair and David Cameron also had babies while their husbands were in office.

The birth comes at a tumultuous time for Mr Johnson, who faces widespread condemnation over allegations of a lockdown-breaching Downing Street party at Christmas time last year.

The Prime Minister has ordered an inquiry but there has been unrelenting pressure for further action.

A woman has been caught on camera taking a 22-year-old cat from its owners' driveway in Melbourne's east.

A week since he went missing, Bob the cat's heartbroken owners are now pleading for their beloved pet to be returned.

Their CCTV camera captured the woman walking past their home just after 9pm on Wednesday, December 1 before stopping to do something they never expected.

READ MORE: Cat reunited with owners after almost two years missing

After a few pats and a failed attempt to pick him up, the woman then managed to scoop the feline into her arms and walk away.

Giuseppina Roberts and her son Vincent Mennilli are worried.

"A very brave cat, a very friendly cat, but a cat that we deeply miss," Mr Mennilli said.

"I thought how dare somebody comes into our property and takes our pet," Ms Roberts said.

The pair have door-knocked the neighbourhood and posted the footage online.

They're increasing for Bob, who is missing part of one paw and is blind in one eye.

"I'm very worried, very worried, in fact I think he could already (be) gone," Ms Roberts said.

It has been reported to police but Ms Roberts says she just wants her pet returned.

"No questions asked, just bring the cat back … and that will be my greatest gift, it will be a Christmas present."

By Lois Williams, Local Democracy Reporter The irrational attitude of anti-vaxxers is damaging Reefton’s hospitality, health services and reputation, Inangahua Community Board chairman John Bougen says. Bougen told Tuesday’s board…

Instagram head Adam Mosseri testified for the first time before a Senate subcommittee on Wednesday as lawmakers question the app's impact on the mental health of younger users.

During his testimony, Mr Mosseri said Instagram is planning to bring back a version of its news feed that would give users the option to sort media chronologically rather than ranked according to the platform's algorithm, potentially addressing concerns over how algorithms push users into harmful rabbit holes.

The company has been working on the feature "for months" and plans to roll it out in the first quarter of next year, Mr Mosseri said.

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Mr Mosseri also acknowledged the need for updated regulations to keep people safe online as well as the need for more parental and user tools on the platform.

"Specifically, we believe there should be an industry body that will determine best practices for social media companies to verify user ages, cater to different age groups and provide parental controls," he said, adding the body "should receive input from civil society, from parents, and from regulators."

Mr Mosseri declined to explicitly commit to suggestions for an "independent" body that is not led by Big Tech, but he agreed it is important for regulatory standards to apply to social media when it comes to young people.

Mr Mosseri is the most high-profile figure from Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, to testify before members of Congress since Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked hundreds of internal documents.

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Some of those documents showed the company knew how Instagram can damage mental health and body image, especially among teenage girls.

In his opening remarks, Mr Mosseri argued the platform has long worked to safeguard the wellbeing of its teen users and show support for government regulation of social media as it relates to children.

"In addition to making sure young people are safe on Instagram, we believe it's important to support young people who are struggling with mental health and wellbeing," Mr Mosseri said.

"Sometimes young people come to Instagram dealing with hard things in their lives. I believe Instagram can help many of them in those moments."

Near the end of his testimony, Mr Mosseri acknowledged his personal responsibility to keep users safe while speaking directly to parents.

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"I'm a father of three. To any parent who's lost a child already, even had a child hurt themselves, I can't begin to imagine what that would be like for one of my three boys," he said.

"As the head of Instagram, it's my responsibility to do all I can to keep people safe. I've been committed to that for years and I'm going to continue to do so."

But Mr Mosseri faced criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn confronted Mr Mosseri with an exchange he had with influencer JoJo Siwa, who told him during an Instagram live event in June that she had been using the platform from the age of eight.

While Mr Mosseri told Siwa that "I don't want to hear it", he said during the hearing that he now believes the exchange was a "missed opportunity" to address underage Instagram use.

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Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said children and their parents are still struggling with the same issues on social media despite years of testimonies from representatives at Instagram's parent company, now known as Meta.

"Nothing has changed. It's all still happening," Senator Blumenthal, who chairs the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security, said in his opening remarks on how the company has been slow to roll out changes.

"In the meantime, more lives have been broken, real lives with real families and futures."

Ahead of the hearing this week, Instagram launched a new tool called Take a Break, which it claims will encourage users to spend some time away from the platform after they've been scrolling for a certain period.

The company also said it will take a "stricter approach" to what content it recommends to teenagers and actively nudge them toward different topics, such as architecture and travel destinations, if they've been dwelling on something, any type of content, for too long.

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Instagram said it is also testing a new educational hub for parents and a tool that allows them to see how much time their kids spend on Instagram and set time limits.

During the hearing, Senator Blackburn criticised the latest product updates.

"While I'm sure you know that we fully share the goal of protecting kids and teens online, what we aren't sure about is how the half measures you've introduced are going to get us there," she said.

In recent months, execs from Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat's parent company, Snap, have all testified before members of Congress, following Ms Haugen's disclosures.

In September, lawmakers held a hearing with Facebook's head of global safety, Antigone Davis, where lawmakers grilled her on Instagram's effects on kids.

Although Ms Davis said the company was "looking for ways to release more research" that she suggested might paint a different picture about the platform, she was criticised for not more firmly agreeing to release more internal information about the platform.

Facebook has repeatedly tried to discredit Ms Haugen and said her testimony in Congress and reports on the documents mischaracterise the company's actions.

But the outcry from Ms Haugen's disclosures pressured the company to rethink the launch of an Instagram app for children under 13.

Asked on Wednesday if Instagram would "stop developing" an app for younger users, Mr Mosseri defended the project and said that "no child between the ages of 10 to 12, if we should ever manage to build an Instagram for 10 to 12-year-olds, will have access without their explicit consent."

Members of Congress have shown rare bipartisanship in criticising tech companies on the issue of kids online.

Some lawmakers are now pushing for legislation intended to increase children's privacy online and reduce the apparent addictiveness of various platforms, though it remains unclear when or if such legislation will pass.

Bushfires are continuing to rage across parts of the Augusta-Margaret River Shire in Western Australia, 270 kilometres south of Perth.

An emergency warning is in place for the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, with campers and residents evacuated as the blaze burns.

"More than 3200 hectares has been burned so far," WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) Commissioner Darren Klemm said.

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DFES said the fire is moving fast in multiple directions and is currently uncontrolled and uncontained.

"[The] situation in this area is extremely serious. A number of properties are under threat," Commissioner Klemm said.

"People in the warning area of these emergency warning areas are in danger."

He is urging residents to enact their bushfire survival plans immediately.

https://twitter.com/joshuadawe9/status/1468839972492828674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

READ MORE: Australia's property prices smash records in 2021 with fastest growth on record

Commissioner Klemm added over 100 volunteer firefighters are helping to contain the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park fire.

A Watch and Act alert is also in place for the towns of Redgate, Witchcliffe and Karridale in the Augusta-Margaret River Shire.

A community meeting will be held at the Margaret River Hub of Entertainment, Arts and Regional Tourism at 6pm today to discuss ongoing plans as the situation changes rapidly.

A second emergency warning is in place for residents in Yallingup in the town of Busselton as a fire rages along Quiniup Road and Tilly Road.

The NSW Rural Fire Service has also been called to action to help Western Australian firefighters.

A large RJ-85 air tanker has been sent to help contain the bushfires in the western state.

https://twitter.com/NSWRFS/status/1468777608531775488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Weather conditions are expected to remain difficult, but Commissioner Klemm said authorities are hoping they will improve in the next 24 hours.

"Obviously the safety of the community is our highest priority and we're doing everything possible to get this fire under control," he said.

A backpackers hostel in Sydney's eastern suburbs has been locked down amid concerns of a COVID-19 outbreak.

One COVID-19 case has been confirmed at Noah's Backpackers in Bondi.

NSW Health has locked down the hostel and sent in a testing squad to check everyone staying there.

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NSW Police has been requested to assist with locking down the hostel.

It's not the first time the hostel has had a COVID-19 outbreak — a cluster emerged at the hostel in late September this year.

The current developments come as NSW recorded 420 new COVID-19 cases as dozens of infections emerge from a pub trivia night in Sydney's Inner West.

Eight of these cases are the Omicron strain of the virus, taking the total to 42 in the state.

One death was also recorded in the 24 hours to 8pm yesterday.

More than 80 per cent of 12- to 15-year-olds have had their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine across the state, while 93 per cent of people aged over 16 are fully vaccinated.

https://twitter.com/NSWHealth/status/1468701956302532608?s=20

Earlier, health authorities said 44 people have tested positive to coronavirus after attending the event at the Oxford Tavern in Petersham on November 30.

It has not been determined if the pubgoers have the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus or the Delta strain.

Anyone there that day between 4pm and 10.30pm is considered a close contact.

Staff from the pub are also getting tested. The pub will be closed for cleaning until Saturday.

Under the NSW isolation rules, fully vaccinated close contacts can leave isolation if they have had a negative test on or after December 6 but need to undergo a further test on December 12.

"If you have not been fully vaccinated, please remain in isolation until December 12, and have another test on this date," Sydney Local Health District said.

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There is a new alert for a nightclub in Byron Bay, in northern NSW, where many teenagers have been celebrating Schoolies.

NSW Health is contacting staff and patrons who attended Woody's Surf Shack Nightclub on November 30; December 1; December 2 or December 3 from 8pm – 3.30am each day.

Anyone who is not fully vaccinated is considered a close contact and anyone who is fully vaccinated is considered a casual contact.

The venue was also linked to a COVID-19 case on December 1, and on November 23.

READ MORE: Omicron spread a 'wake up call' as Australia re-opens

Earlier five cases of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant were confirmed after an outbreak on a Sydney Harbour party boat.

More cases are expected from the party outbreak, with NSW Health instructing 140 people who checked in with a QR code to get a test and isolate.

The cruise, operated by Cadman Cruises, left King Street Wharf 9 at 7.30pm and returned about 11pm, last Friday.

NSW Health said in a tweet: "Operated by Cadman Cruises, the cruise was jointly marketed as 'Flow Fridays – 90s Themed Boat Party' and 'Freaky Sunday Afrovibe: The Last Dance'."

Genome sequencing to confirm the Omicron variant is underway and NSW Health is urgently contacting around 140 people."

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said residents should be "beating down the doors" to get their booster jab.

He was speaking after NSW recorded 403 COVID-19 cases yesterday – a major rise in transmissions.