Good morning everyone, Mostafa Rachwani here, and welcome to another Australian live blog.
It’s Thursday, which means tomorrow is Friday, which hopefully bodes well for what I’m sure will be a busy day.
First up, New South Wales is scrambling after three new locally acquired cases were reported yesterday. One patient is a van driver from the airport, the other two are from the northern beaches.
We know the van driver contracted the virus from aircrew he was transporting but we are still waiting to find out how the two others caught it. We’ll be keeping you updated on that.
Second, wild weather continues to lash the east coast, with much of NSW under severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall warnings, in addition to southern Queensland. Since the downpours began on Saturday, the State Emergency Service has attended more than 1,900 jobs.
The federal government will today be handing down its mid-year budget, which will reportedly include funding for the aged care industry and show a stronger than expected economic recovery.
And Israel’s justice minister has signed an extradition order for Malka Leifer, saying it is their “moral duty†to see her stand trial. The order means Leifer could be back in Australia within the next two months.
If you see any news that you think should be on here, don’t hesitate to shoot me a message on Twitter, @Rachwani91, or by email to mostafa.rachwani@theguardian.com.
