The rollout of booster vaccination shots will start from November 29 and anyone aged 18 and over will be able to get a booster once six months have passed since their second dose. Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins announced the details…

A southern province in Egypt has been lashed by heavy rain, flooding and even snow which has left three people dead and more than 500 others hospitalised from scorpion stings.

Lightning lit up the skies as downpours, hail and thunder in the province of Aswan over the weekend forced local authorities to suspend school classes Sunday, Governor Ashraf Attia said.

The storms forced scorpions from their hiding places into many houses across the province, Mr Attia added.

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He said at least 503 people were hospitalised after suffering scorpion stings and that all of them were discharged after they were given anti-venom doses.

Acting Health Minister Khalid Abdel-Ghafar said in a statement that no deaths were reported from scorpion stings.

Photos and video footage circulated on social media showed flooded streets and damaged houses, vehicles and agricultural farms.

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The Al-Ahram daily reported the deaths, citing Ehab Hanafy, the Health Ministry's Undersecretary in Aswan. It did not elaborate on the cause.

The rainfall also caused power outages.

Hundreds of residents of the NSW Central West town of Forbes could be evacuated as early as this afternoon as flood waters rise.

People living at around 800 properties could be told to leave their homes with an evacuation warning likely to be upgraded to an order, SES Superintendent Greg Swindle said.

SES volunteers and emergency crews have already had 1500 calls for help, especially for residents keen to get sandbags.

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All eyes are on the slowly rising Lachlan River, with two or three times November's total rainfall falling in just days.

Mr Swindle said people could be ordered to leave "as early as this afternoon or evening."

"We are assessing and working closely with the Bureau in regards to predictions that may escalate to an evacuation order – when that does occur forewarning will be given to those residents," he said.

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"The community of Forbes is quite resilient they're aware as to what could occur."

Flood levels at Forbes are expected to reach up to 10.65m, similar to those experienced in September 2016 – or even higher.

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Wyangala Dam is at 104 per cent capacity, with rain now easing off.

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OPINION: Gardenia Lemoa is a year 12 Māngere College student among the thousands of senior high school pupils across Auckland who returned to school last month. She recounts what it’s been like to be back. As told to Justin…

A nine-year-old boy who was trampled on during a crowd crush at Travis Scott's Astroworld festival in Houston has died from his injuries.

Ezra Blount died on Sunday (US time) after spending days on life support due to suffering critical injuries sustained at the concert earlier this month.

The death toll from the festival now stands at 10, with dozens more attendees injured.

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The nine-year-old was atop his father's shoulders when the pair fell to the ground during the crowd surge.

The boy was separated from his father and taken to hospital, where he was placed in a medically induced coma with critically injured internal organs.

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The mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, said he was devastated to learn of the tragic news today.

"I am saddened to learn of Ezra's death this evening," he wrote on Twitter.

"Our city tonight prays for his mom, dad, grandparents, other family members and classmates at this time.

"They will need all of our support in the months and years to come.

"May God give them strength. RIP Ezra."

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The boy's father Treston Blount last week told local US media outlets they were "stoked" to go to the event before the horror tragedy occurred.

Mr Blount said he was not "ready to lose [his] boy".

"We still got a bunch of living to do," Mr Blount told ABC 13 in Houston.

"That's my boy."

Cruise bosses have rebuffed the idea Australians could be back on board ships by Christmas, after Health Minister Greg Hunt suggested he might lift the ban on the vessels within weeks.

While industry bosses said they welcomed Mr Hunt's announcement he was "reviewing" the ban, which is in place until December 18, they say they need more notice to actually get geared up for guests – and Easter could be more likely.

All cruise firms – including Royal Caribbean, Princess, Cunard, Carnival and P&O – have already cancelled sailings for the rest of the year and as far away as March 2022, with the Cruise Lines International Association earlier calling the ongoing lack of a plan "absurd".

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Over the weekend, Mr Hunt said he was working with states and territories on a plan, and NSW authorities confirmed they have met with cruise bosses.

"I expect to be able to make a decision on cruise ships in the coming weeks once we've got the medical information but it will require at least one state or territory to partner on that," Mr Hunt said.

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"But, we would like to see cruising back on before Christmas."

Cruise Lines International Association managing director Joel Katz said it's not as simple as the Federal Government just lifting the ban.

"Cruise lines will also need several months to prepare for operations and bring ships back from other parts of the world, so there's still work to be done before we see a return to cruising," he said.

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However, he said he's hopeful ships could return before the end of the Australian summer.

Throughout the pandemic, cruise bosses have criticised the government's lack of a plan for the restart of the $5 billion industry, which supports 18,000 Aussie jobs.

Travel agents, food suppliers, maritime firms and on-shore tour and tourism firms also suffer a knock-on effect.

New safety measures planned include passengers and crew being fully vaccinated and COVID-19 testing.

Cruising has resumed in other parts of the world and now Australian citizens and permanent residents can leave the country and return if they live in NSW and Victoria, it's possible to take a cruise overseas.

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NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said, in a statement sent to 9News, cruises would "need to meet a range of health and safety criteria and also be approved by the Commonwealth".

"The cruise industry is a very important segment of the travel market and we look forward to the greatest harbour in the world being able to welcome ships from around the world once again when it is safe to do so," he said.

Sydney, the country's busiest cruise port, sees 115,000 passengers a year, and during the summer season from December to March, multiple cruise ships dock in Sydney Harbour daily.

But Circular Quay has remained silent since the end of March 2020, when an initial 30-day cruise ship ban was announced.

Almost 30 passengers on the Ruby Princess ship died after the virus spread on board at the start of the pandemic, with NSW Health blamed after it then tore through the country when passengers disembarked.

Since then, cruise ships have not been allowed to dock anywhere in Australia.

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Dubai's biennial Air Show has opened to a world still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic and an aviation industry hard-hit by the coronavirus, but on the mend.

Boeing and Airbus have traditionally been the stars of the aviation trade show, competing for multibillion-dollar Gulf-based airline purchases and hammering out final details minutes before back-to-back press conferences.

This year, however, the five-day exhibition is expected to be more muted than in the past due to the subdued state of flying and travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Rather, the air show's first day on Sunday drew eyes toward defence and military hardware from countries such as Russia and Israel.

The star on the tarmac outside the exhibition hall was Russia's Checkmate fighter jet, which was shown to the press in a custom-built hangar with a display of laser lights bouncing off a mirrored ceiling.

The jet, with a baseline US$35 million price tag, is a less costly competitor to the US F-35, which the UAE has been trying to acquire since formally recognising Israel last year in a deal brokered by the Trump administration.

That sale has slowed under US President Joe Biden.

In a dramatic promotional video, the Checkmate soared through burnt orange skies, blasting away targets in the desert as music blared in the background and a thundering voiceover rattled off the plane's features.

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"The idea was born as we used all the experience that Russia got during its Syria operations and many of the features of the aircraft came from realistic situations that we experienced," United Aircraft Corporation CEO Yuri Slyusar said through a translator at the unveiling.

In Syria's devastating civil war, Russian fighter jets have supported President Bashar Assad's forces.

UAC is a holding company of state-owned Rostec, Checkmate's parent company.

Production of the jet is expected to start in 2025.

More than 100 American companies are also exhibiting at the air show, including defence giants Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

"We are committed to deepening and strengthening this vital strategic relationship," Sean Murphy, the US Embassy's charge d'affaires, said.

At the opening of the US pavilion, he also thanked the UAE for its help in the US-led evacuations out of Afghanistan.

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China's state-owned defence firm CATIC displayed a range of anti-aircraft missiles, munitions and fighter jets.

Israeli companies displayed their hardware for the first time at the air show following Israel's normalisation of diplomatic ties with the UAE last year.

The state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries company showed off a range of manned and unmanned naval and aerial drones.

Boeing brought its new 777-9 passenger jet from the American city Seattle in the longest flight to date for the aircraft as it undergoes continued tests and awaits regulatory approval.

Boeing says it will be the world's largest and most efficient twin-engine jet.

The Middle East's largest carrier, Emirates, has ordered 126 of the 777X, but the Dubai-based airline has expressed frustration with delays around its delivery, which is not expected before late 2023.

The air show is taking place near Dubai's Al Maktoum Airport, a second and smaller international hub to Dubai's main airport, which is the world's busiest for international travel.

With vaccine rollouts ongoing in many nations worldwide, the airline industry as a whole is recovering from last year's roughly US$138 billion net loss.

Detectives have narrowed down the details of a dark blue Nissan Patrol that could be connected to the high-profile case of missing Victorian campers Carol Clay and Russell Hill.

The vehicle police are looking for is understood to be a five-door wagon GU model Nissan Patrol Series 1, built between 1997 and 2001.

Police have high hopes the four-wheel-drive could be the key to discovering what happened to the pair, who vanished while camping in the Wonnagatta Valley last March.

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The new information came from Australia's Nissan Patrol community following an appeal for information last week.

Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper last week said a person may have been camping nearby due to Mr Hill not camping in the best spot on-site.

He believes that person could have been the driver of the four-wheel-drive who may have engaged in a "confrontational and aggressive" interaction with the pair.

He said identifying the importance of the car was "a significant breakthrough in the investigation".

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"If we identify this vehicle, it will go a long way to help us understand what happened," he said.

"We have witness statements that put this blue vehicle and its trailer in the valley at the time Russell and Carol were there, and indeed near the spot that they had set up their camp."

Detectives had received information that a vehicle attempted to leave the valley late at night on the evening of March 20 – the day Mr Hill was last heard from, but the Myrtleford gate was closed due to the bushfires.

The driver then had to make a complicated U-turn back in the direction they had come from.

"That same vehicle is also spotted on two cameras at the top of Mount Hotham, consistent with where a vehicle would exit the valley given the closure of the Myrtleford gate," he said.

Detectives have called for anyone who may recognise the vehicle, particularly if the car towed a trailer, or any other information to come forward.

A newly-discovered frog in a New South Wales national park is one of only a handful of known species that store their tadpoles on their bodies.

Researchers from University of Newcastle and the South Australian Museum recently identified the species, found in Wollumbin national park, as distinct from its close relation, another "hip-pocket" or pouched frog Assa darlingtoni, after genetic analysis.

The species was described in scientific journal Zootaxa.

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The frog's habitat, confined to about 2000hc on Wollumbin Mountain, has been granted government protection, NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean confirmed earlier this month.

The new species has been named Assa wollumbin sp.nov. in consultation with Indigenous Elders of the Wollumbin Consultative Group.

Dr Michael Mahony from the University of Newcastle, one of the researchers who described the species, said it was an exciting find.

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"The hip-pocket frog is not only unique for its amazing breeding biology among Australian frogs, but it is also unique among frogs of the world, since there are only four of the 4000 species worldwide that have male parental care where the male carries its developing tadpoles," Dr Mahony said.

NSW Environment Matt Kean said the small population size made the frog species vulnerable to climate change.

"This incredible discovery shows just how much we don't know about the world around us, with this tiny 16mm frog found on just one isolated mountain in the Wollumbin National Park," Mr Kean said.

The biggest mystery in Australian maritime history is on the brink of being solved, with a breakthrough set to be announced this week.

DNA testing has uncovered the identity of the 'the unknown sailor', the only body recovered from the battleship HMAS Sydney after it sunk with all its crew in World War II, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

The pride of the Royal Australian Navy was sunk after a short but fierce battle with the German raider HSK Kormoran on November 19, 1941, off the coast of Western Australia.

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All 645 crew aboard the Australian warship died.

Three months after HMAS Sydney sank, the only body from the warship washed ashore in a life raft off Christmas Island. It has since been known as 'the unknown sailor'.

He was buried on Christmas Island but the remains were exhumed in 2006 and samples of bone and dental collected before reinterment at the war cemetery in Geraldton, WA.

For the past 15 years, DNA checks have been made with relatives of the HMAS Sydney crew to find a match.

Now the identity of the mystery sailor is set to be revealed on Friday, the 80th anniversary of the Australian warship's sinking.

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A source who does not wish to be named said there is DNA which matches the 'unknown sailor'.

The breakthrough came after advances in testing that enabled a trace through the paternal line of a family, known as Y-DNA.

The sinking of HMAS Sydney was the largest loss of life in the RAN, the biggest Allied warship lost with all hands during World War II, and a major blow to Australian morale.

With no survivor testimonies, the sinking of HMAS Sydney II has attracted speculation for decades, with many historians believing she was ambushed by the German vessel.

Just how the heavily-armoured and powerfully gunned Australian battleship was was lost to an armed merchant vessel has been the subject of debate over decades.

The official Australian Government inquiry concluded that both ships were travelling at 14 knots when Kormoran, disguised as a Dutch freighter, de-camouflaged, showing her battle flag before opening fire.

In March 2008, the Australian Government announced that the wreckage of both ships had been found, approximately 112 nautical miles off Steep Point, Western Australia.