Construction has started north of Kaitaia on New Zealand’s biggest solar power station with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern turning the first sod this morning. The $30 million power station will have 32,000 panels spread over 12 hectares…

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Prince William and Prince Harry have unveiled a statue of their mother, Princess Diana, on what would have been her 60th birthday.

The Duke and Cambridge and Duke of Sussex were joined at Kensington Palace by a small number of guests, including Diana's siblings Charles Spencer, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes.

"Today, on what would have been our Mother's 60th birthday, we remember her love, strength and character – qualities that made her a force for good around the world, changing countless lives for the better," the brothers said in a joint statement.

"Every day, we wish she were still with us, and our hope is that this statue will be seen forever as a symbol of her life and her legacy.

"Thank you to Ian Rank-Broadley, Pip Morrison and their teams for their outstanding work, to the friends and donors who helped make this happen, and to all those around the world who keep our mother's memory alive."

The statue, commissioned by the brothers in 2017, is positioned in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, one of Diana's favourite spots within the London residence.

It depicts the royal surrounded by three children representing the "universality and generational impact" of Diana's work, a palace statement explains.

"The portrait and style of dress was based on the final period of her life as she gained confidence in her role as an ambassador for humanitarian causes and aims to convey her character and compassion," the palace added.

The unveiling began at 11pm AEST (2pm local time), taking place in the Sunken Garden, one of Diana's favourite spots in the grounds of the London palace where she once lived.

The half-hour ceremony was a private affair, with only close family, members of the statue committee, sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley, garden designer Pip Morrison and Chair of Historic Royal Palaces, Rupert Gavin in attendance, and no live media coverage.

It marked the first time the Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex have met face-to-face since the funeral for their grandfather Prince Philip in Windsor in April.

Harry returned to the UK from the US to attend the event; Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has remained at home in California with their children Archie and Lilibet.

The duke has been staying in Windsor during his time in the UK.

Ten people in lockdown in Queensland have become instant millionaires after their syndicate ticket won the entire $60 million Powerball jackpot.

The 10-share store syndicate was bought in Townsville, which is currently in lockdown amid an outbreak of coronavirus in the state.

One of the winning men joked that lottery officials had "ruined my good night's sleep" when they broke the news to him of his new fortune, while one woman in the syndicate said it had made her "the happiest person in the world".

The winning numbers for Powerball draw 1311 on Thursday, July 1 were 13, 19, 18, 17, 11, 16, and 20, and the Powerball was 15.

READ MORE: Man pulls knife on Gold Coast servo attendant but agrees to wear mask

https://twitter.com/theLott/status/1410551961397600260

Each member of the syndicate takes home $6 million.

One man of the Townsville 10 was watching football when a lottery official rang him with the news, The Lott officials said.

"Holy s—. If it was raining movie stars, I'd end up with Lassie," he said.

"Can I just write that down that amount?

"You just ruined my good night's sleep, but I think I can live with that.

"Put it this way, my children and grandchildren can live a very comfortable life now."

Another winner took great delight in breaking the news to her husband in the neighbouring room.

The Lott said the woman cried with happiness.

"Oh my god. You have no idea. I've got kids, grandkids, a beautiful husband, and a mortgage," she said.

"This is surreal. My husband's looking at me shaking his head. He doesn't believe me."

READ MORE: Lottery winners about to lose millions because of unclaimed prizes

The woman said she bought syndicate entries "especially for the big jackpots".

"My kids said to me today, 'If anyone's going to win Powerball, it's you'.

"You just made me the happiest person in the world."

Another of the syndicate members said he planned to use his $6 million to retire earlier than planned.

"S—. Holy crap. When I heard the phone ring, I wondered who was calling this late," he said.

"This probably changes my life a lot. I'll probably retire tomorrow.

"This is just excellent. You've astounded me. I might go have a beer to celebrate."

READ MORE: Canberra retiree scoops $10m on lottery

Two others of the Townsville 10, a Kirwan couple, plan to settle in for late-night scotch to digest the life-changing phone call, The Lott said.

"Are you fair dinkum?" they said.

"Honestly? Honesty? I think someone must be pulling my leg," the husband of the couple said.

"I cannot believe this.

"I think I may have just retired.

"We don't usually buy syndicate entries, I'm not quite sure why we decided to.

"Holy s—. Holy s—.

"You have just made our life. Thank you very much."

READ MORE: New Queensland exposure sites after airport worker tests positive

The winning syndicate entry was sold at Nextra Willows News at Thuringowa Central.

The next biggest single prize won during Thursday night's draw was a huge step down from the jackpot — 24 division two winners took claimed $36,838.90 each after the $884,000 division two pool was divided up.

There were 110 division three winners, who took home just under $5000 each.

As COVID-19 mutates into new strains, the symptoms are also changing with some signs now more prevalent than others.

Observations of patients with the Delta virus strain in the UK have indicated a cough may no longer be among the telltale signs of COVID-19.

People with Delta strain are reportedly more likely to experience a headache, runny nose and sore throat.

READ MORE: The highly contagious Delta strain explained

Among non-immunised patients, a fever is also a reoccurring symptom of the Delta strain.

Flu-like symptoms of any kind remain common among those with the virus and health authorities are urging people to get tested regardless of the severity of their symptoms.

"I would ask the community not to delay getting a test," NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said.

"Don't wait to see if you have got a severe illness … As soon as you get symptoms, go out and get a test."

Delta is rapidly becoming the most dominant strain in Australia, with health authorities scrambling to contain fast-growing outbreaks in multiple states and territories.

READ MORE: Woman with 'health issues' dies after COVID-19 jab

It is widely accepted Delta is more transmissible than the Alpha variant, which is also known as the UK variant.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said Delta was showing twice the transmission rate of other variants with people contracting the virus through fleeting interactions.

Data from countries to have fought a Delta outbreak suggest the strain moves more easily among children than other strains of the coronavirus.

A cyclist is in hospital with serious injuries and a section of State Highway 1 is closed following a crash in Invercargill tonight. A serious crash involving a car and a cyclist was reported to police just before 9.30pm which occurred…

By RNZ Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins does not know how many young people have received surprise invitations to book in for a vaccine.Those over 65 or with underlying serious health issues are currently being vaccinated.However,…

Queensland's Chief Health Officer says she does not regret advising people aged under 40 to refrain from getting the AstraZeneca jab as the debate on whether young Aussies should access the vaccine intensifies.

Medical advice from vaccine advisory body ATAGI has not changed, with AstraZeneca only recommended for Australians aged over 60.

But the Federal Government has given the green light for people under 40 to access the vaccine upon consultation with their GP, a move that has sparked uproar among some state premiers and chief health officers.

LIVE UPDATES: Prime Minister urged to stop giving vaccine advice

Dr Jeanette Young yesterday did not hold back from making her point of view clear about the AstraZeneca eligibility expansion, saying: "I do not want under-40s to get AstraZeneca."

"I don't want an 18-year-old in Queensland dying from a clotting illness who, if they got COVID, probably wouldn't die," she said.

"We've had very few deaths due to COVID-19 in Australia in people under the age of 50. Wouldn't it be terrible that our first 18-year-old in Queensland who dies related to this pandemic died because of the vaccine?"

The chief health officer today said she did not regret her comments as they were "the truth".

"There is a risk that you can die from one of those rare, and they are rare, blood clots and the younger you are, the more likely it is that it will happen," she said.

"The risk significantly decreases over the age of 60. But the younger you are, the higher the risk."

For people under 60, the risk of getting a rare but treatable blood clot is 1 in 35,000 after the first dose and 1 in 1.5 million after the second dose.

More than two million Australians have had the AstraZeneca jab. So far, just two people have died from clotting.

Statistically, aspirin is more than 200 times more dangerous than AstraZeneca – resulting in 15 deaths per 100,000.

Dr Young has come under fire for saying under-40s should not get the AstraZeneca jab, instead of following the Federal Government's stance to "go talk to your GP".

"I am giving my advice. I am a doctor," she said.

"I am on the record as supporting vaccination. But I want the right vaccine to go to the right person."

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said anyone under 40 wanting to get the AstraZeneca vaccine from a Commonwealth hub should get a consultation, similar to getting advice from a GP.

"We want to make sure that anyone going to those Commonwealth sites are going to have the opportunity to talk to a medical physician and be able to have that conversation around informed consent as well," she said.

Australia is facing a "very serious crisis" amid backlash from the vaccine expansion, strategic health policy consultant Professor Bill Bowtell said.

Professor Bowtell, former adviser to Paul Keating, told Today communication on the vaccine rollout had "broken down" since the accessibility expansion of AstraZeneca.

"I don't know what's been going on between the National Cabinet and the ATAGI and the chief health officers' committees – but clearly something has gone wrong," he said.

"We are facing a very serious crisis. We've got to get a grip.

"There's got to be some order restored to the chaos that's enveloping the technical and medical advice side of this."

The Commander of Defence COVID-19 taskforce, Lieutenant General John Frewen, said allowing Australians under 40 to get the AstraZeneca jab was about giving people the right to choose.

"The ATAGI advice has remained unchanged. The medical advice has remained unchanged," he told Today.

READ MORE: GPs 'scrambling' after AstraZeneca opened up to all

"What the PM announced the other day is those under 40 can make an informed choice with their GP about whether they wish to access AstraZeneca or wait until later in the year for an alternative vaccine.

"I would hope all Australians have the right to make an informed choice about the available vaccines."

Since the prime minister made the announcement, 2616 Australians under 40 have chosen "with informed consent" to have AstraZeneca, Mr Frewen said.

"That's 2600 Australians who feel, right now, they would rather have the available vaccine than wait. I think all Australians have that right."

Former Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Nick Coatsworth said yesterday's explosive comments made by leaders about the AstraZeneca vaccine was "a day that the Australian vaccine campaign didn't need to have".

"I think you've seen a lot of medical leaders, myself included, the College of General Practitioners, distancing themselves from Dr Young's comments," he said.

"We don't need this debate at the moment. We just need to crack on with the vaccination campaign.

"Australians can make the decision to have the AstraZeneca if they're over 18 and a consenting adult."

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews today advised under 40s to seek advice from their doctor rather than turning to politicians.

"Don't take medical advice from members of parliament – 'pollies' – take your advice from your GP," he said.

"Talk to your doctor, talk to your pharmacist."

Leading GP Dr Todd Cameron today took aim at Prime Minister Scott Morrison for opening the floodgates of AstraZeneca use to under-40s, saying it would be best if he did not direct the public health initiative around COVID-19 vaccine advice.

Dr Cameron said advice that AstraZeneca could be administered to those under 40 with consultation with their doctor was "confusing".

READ MORE: 'The only winners out of today are the anti-vaxxers': Chris Uhlmann

"So the advice around 18-39s now being able to access AZ is not actually new advice as such, but we would prefer that we don't have the prime minister directing the public health initiative because it is very confusing for people to hear different messaging," he said.

Dr Cameron also said Dr Young's advice that young people should stick with the Pfizer jab was sensible.

"I think Dr Jeannette Young's advice is quite sensible and appropriate for a public health expert, because when you are making advice that relates to a universal approach to strategy, then the consequences of that, they have to weigh up doing more good than harm," he said.

"Her call is the right call as the public health officer. The nuanced conversations around the individual circumstances of people really come back down to them taking personal accountability for exactly what their decision is."

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The Labor states want international arrivals slowed to a trickle to reduce the risk of bringing in the Delta variant of COVID-19.

There are about 34,000 Australians still trying to get home from overseas.

Queensland, Victoria and WA want the 6000 people allowed into the nation each week to be cut.

"My view is it's better to lock some people out than lock everyone down," Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said, arguing hotel quarantine can't cope with the more infectious variant of COVID-19.

READ MORE: Melbourne family reunited with stranded son, thanks to a stranger

"We have it within our power to dramatically reduce the number of people coming back, just for the next three to four months until we get a critical mass of people a jab," he said.

Excluding New Zealand flights, which are separate as part of the travel bubble, weekly international arrivals are capped at just over 6000.

Sydney takes about half with 3010 passengers, Brisbane and Melbourne taking 1000 each and just over another 1000 is split between Adelaide and Perth, which take 530 each.

Some special repatriation flights go to Howard Springs at Darwin but are not subject to the flight caps.

Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, wants her numbers cut to half.

"Our hotels are not built to contain it and obviously our hospitals are not built to contain it either," she said,

Western Australia also wants numbers slashed, with Premier Mark McGowan saying "it's the biggest threat to Australia and it needs to be cracked down on now."

READ MORE: Tens of thousands of Aussies still stranded overseas

Victoria says the cap on arrivals should be cut by as much as 80 per cent.

The borders are closed amid some of the tightest rules in the world, with only Aussies, Permanent Residents and their spouses and children allowed to come in and nobody allowed to leave without permission.

But there are exemptions being given.

Everybody has to pay $3000 for 14-days of quarantine during which they are tested multiple times, plus people must test negative to coronavirus before they get on a flight to Australia.

Many of the stranded Australians say flights have never resumed in places where they are stuck, others have been unable to get a flight yet due to the tight numbers and expense, while some expats didn't want to return home before, but now need to come back.

National Cabinet will meet tomorrow where the issue will be a hot topic among the nation's leaders.

"The Morrison Government wants credit for its border lockdowns," says Simon Birmingham, Finance Minister.

"We have also shown a willingness to tighten it even further, such as during the India outbreak."

Federal Labor argues the Prime Minister has failed by not having purpose-built quarantine stations.

"If he'd done his job on quarantine we wouldn't now be having a difficult conversation about stranded Australians," MP Tony Bourke, said.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull has joined the conga line of Government critics over the hapless vaccine rollout.