Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out a so-called Quad summit taking place in Sydney without President Joe Biden, saying the four leaders will talk at the Group of Seven meeting this weekend in Japan. Albanese said Wednesday he understands why Biden pulled out of the summit to focus on debt limit talks in Washington since they are crucial to the economy. The summit including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had been scheduled for May 24. “The blocking and the disruption that’s occurring in domestic politics in the United States, with the debt ceiling issue, means that, because that has to be solved prior to 1st June — otherwise there are quite drastic consequences for the U.S. economy, which will flow on to the global economy — he understandably has had to make that decision,” Albanese told reporters. Biden “expressed very much his disappointment” at being unable to come to the Sydney summit and to the national capital Canberra a day earlier to address Parliament, Albanese said. The four leaders will soon be together in Hiroshima, Japan, for the Group of Seven summit and are planning to meet there, he said. Also Read: Quad voices deep concern at "deteriorating situation" in Myanmar “The Quad is an important body and we want to make sure that it occurs at leadership level and we’ll be having that discussion over the weekend," Albanese said. He said Modi will visit Sydney next week, noting the Indian leader was scheduled to give an address to the Indian diaspora at a sold-out 20,000-seat stadium on Tuesday. But Kishida will not visit. Also Read: Quad FMs, wary of China’s might, push Indo-Pacific option “Prime Minister Modi will be here next week for a bilateral meeting with myself. He will also have business meetings, he’ll hold a very public event ... in Sydney,” Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp. “I look forward to welcoming him to Sydney,” Albanese said. “Prime Minister Kishida of Japan was just coming for the Quad meeting. There wasn’t a separate bilateral program.” Also Read: Beijing wants Dhaka not to join Quad Albanese said it was “disappointing” that Biden decided he could not come. “The decision of President Biden meant that you can’t have a Quad leaders’ meeting when there are only three out of the four there,” Albanese said.

Following a boundary change, Melbourne has surpassed Sydney as Australia's most populated city for the first time since the 19th-century gold rush. Sydney has proudly maintained the position for over 100 years, reports BBC. However, as the population in Melbourne's outskirts grows, the city borders have been stretched to cover the Melton region, it said. According to the most recent government figures, Melbourne has a population of 4,875,400, which is 18,700 higher than Sydney. Read More: Australian lawmaker breaks ranks to support Indigenous Voice The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines a city's "significant urban area" as any linked suburb having a population of more than 10,000 persons. "Until the 2021 census definition, the Sydney significant area had a higher population than Melbourne. However, with the amalgamation of Melton into Melbourne in the latest... classification, Melbourne has more people than Sydney - and has had since 2018,” Andrew Howe of Australian Bureau of Statistics told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, which described the redrawn boundary as "a technicality". Greater regions of a city, according to the Bureau of Statistics, take into consideration its "functional area" and include individuals that routinely socialize, shop, or work inside the city but may live in small towns or rural areas around it, the report also said. The federal government, on the other hand, anticipated that Greater Melbourne will surpass Greater Sydney in 2031-32. Read More: Ten journalists visiting Australia for skills, capacity building in mass media It is not the first time Melbourne has held the title of Australia's largest city. Melbourne grew rapidly and outnumbered Sydney until 1905 as a result of the late 19th century gold rush, which saw people flock to the state of Victoria.

Australia, one of the top crickets playing nations, will host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2022 for the first time. Local people and international fans will have the opportunity to join the festival and enjoy the host cities’ marvelous tourist spots, exotic foods, versatile culture, and more. The world Cup tournament’s 45 matches will be played in seven stadiums located across 7 big cities including Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, and Perth. Let’s take a look at the top things to do in the host cities for the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Host cities for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Australia 2022 You should not just enjoy your time watching some exciting matches. You can also check out what these cities have in their bucket to offer you. Sydney Sydney is a beautiful city with plenty to see and do. From the iconic Sydney Opera House to the attractive Bondi Beach, there is something for everyone to enjoy.  Read ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022: Meet the 16 Captains Regarding food, Sydney offers a wide variety of cuisines from all over the world. If you are looking for something truly unique, be sure to try one of the city’s many Aboriginal restaurants.

Floodwaters were receding in Sydney and its surrounding area Thursday as heavy rain threatened to inundate towns north of Australia’s largest city. Evacuation orders and official warnings to prepare to abandon homes were given to 60,000 people by Thursday, down from 85,000 on Wednesday, New South Wales state Premier Dominic Perrottet said. Read:Sydney floods burden 50,000 around Australia’s largest city But towns including Maitland and Singleton in the Hunter Valley, north of Sydney, were still threatened by inundation, Perrottet said. Around 50 rescues were made in the past 24 hours, several of which involved people stranded in cars in floodwaters, he said. Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke said record-breaking rain that began around Sydney on Friday last week was easing. “It is very pleasing to see that the weather situation is starting to ease after almost a week of relentless rain,” she said. The weather system that had brought heavy rain to a vast swath of New South Wales was moving further from the coast out to sea north of Sydney, Bureau of Meteorology manager Diana Eadie said. Read:After 3 feet of rain, 32,000 in Sydney area may need to flee Bulga, a town about 180 kilometers (110 miles) north of Sydney by road, experienced its highest flood level since 1952, she said. Taree, some 320 kilometers (200 miles) north of Sydney by road, was drenched by 305 millimeters (12 inches) of rain overnight — almost a third of the town’s annual rainfall average, Eadie said.

More than 30,000 residents of Sydney and its surrounds have been told to evacuate or prepare to abandon their homes on Monday as Australia’s largest city braces for what could be its worst flooding in 18 months. Parts of the city of 5 million people are facing a fourth flooding emergency in a year and a half after torrential rain since Friday caused dams to overflow and waterways to break their banks. “The latest information we have is that there’s a very good chance that the flooding will be worse than any of the other three floods that those areas had in the last 18 months,” Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Read: 500,000 people on flood alert as rain lashes Sydney The current flooding might affect areas that managed to stay dry during the previous floods, Watt added. New South Wales state Premier Dominic Perrottet said 32,000 people were impacted by evacuation orders and warnings. “You’d probably expect to see that number increase over the course of the week,” Perrottet said. Emergency services had made 116 flood rescues in recent days, 83 of them since 9 p.m. Sunday, he said. Hundreds more requests for help were made by Monday morning. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology manager Jane Golding said some areas between Newcastle, north of Sydney, and Wollongong, south of Sydney had received more than a meter (39 inches) of rain in the previous 24 hours. Some has received more than 1.5 meters (59 inches). “The system that has been generating this weather does show signs that it will ease tomorrow, but throughout today, expect more rain,” Golding said. Rain was forecast across New South Wales's coast, including Sydney, all week, she said. The flooding danger was highest along the Hawkesbury River, in northwest Sydney, and the Nepean River in Sydney’s west. “The water is flowing really quickly,” Golding said. “It’s dangerous out on the rivers and we do have some more rain to fall which means the flash-flood risk is not over yet.” State Emergency Services Commissioner Carlene York said strong winds had toppled trees, damaging rooves and blocking roads. She advised against unnecessary travel. Theresa Fedeli, mayor of the Camden municipality on the Nepean River southwest of Sydney, said the repeated flooding was taking a toll on members of her community. “It's just devastating. They just keep on saying ‘devastating, not again,'” Fedeli said. “I just keep on saying ... ‘We've got to be strong, we will get through this.” But you know deep down it's really hitting home hard to a lot of people," she added. Read:Australia commits to reducing greenhouse emissions by 43% Perrottet said government and communities needed to adapt to major flooding becoming more common across Australia’s most populous state. “We’re seeing these flood events more regularly, there’s no doubt about that,” Perrottet said. "To see what we’re seeing right across Sydney, there’s no doubt these events are becoming more common. And governments need to adjust and make sure that we respond to the changing environment that we find ourselves in,” he added.

After being cancelled two years in a row due to the pandemic, one of Sydney's most iconic events, Vivid Sydney, is set to once again light up the city's most famous landmarks. From May 27 to June 18, each night as the sun goes down Sydney will be lit up with illuminations, installations and interactive events, bringing together light artists, music makers and a variety of creatives to celebrate the soul of Sydney. New South Wales (NSW) Minister for Tourism Stuart Ayres, who kicked off the 23-day event on Friday evening, said after two years of darkness Vivid 2022 would be "bigger, brighter and bolder" than ever. "This is the moment that we have all been waiting for... it's time to put a smile back on everyone's faces, and that's exactly what Vivid's going to do," said Ayres moments before the lights were turned on for the first time. And for the first time in its 12-year history, the event was kicked off with a "First Light" smoking ceremony and Indigenous performance, in acknowledgement and celebration of Australia's Indigenous peoples and culture. READ: New Australian leader Albanese makes whirlwind world debut And, although the crowds are expected to be lower than before the pandemic, Ayres urged visitors to plan ahead as "massive crowds" were expected. "The weekends are going to be huge... I'm quite confident Sydneysiders and people right around the country really want to get out and about and see Vivid," he said. The event will see 11 sections across downtown Sydney lit up, including the iconic Darling Harbour, the sails of Sydney Opera House, Taronga Zoo and Sydney Harbour Bridge. Over the 23 nights a total of 200 hours of unique moving images would be projected onto the Opera House, the centerpiece of the festival. The event will also host a Vivid Ideas Exchange, at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) with talks, seminars and film screenings, designed to spark debate between the nation's top minds. 

Around 500,000 people in Sydney and its surrounds had by Thursday been told to evacuate or prepare to flee floodwaters as torrential rain lashed an extraordinarily long stretch of the Australian east coast. Rivers were rising in Australia’s most populous city, home to 5 million, with New South Wales' State Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke warning of “treacherous weather conditions” over the next 24 hours. Read:Major floods swamp Australia's east coast, claiming 7 lives Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology warned of life-threatening flash flooding and damaging winds with peak gusts in excess of 90 kilometers (56 miles) an hour. Major flooding was expected along several rivers in and around Sydney. Dozens of suburbs were on high alert. The State Emergency Service issued evacuation orders to 200,000 residents and evacuation warnings had been sent to another 300,000. New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet urged residents to take the orders seriously. “We do believe that things will get worse before they get better," Perrottet said. Minor flood warnings were also issued for coastal communities as far as 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of Sydney. Floodwaters were also rising in Brisbane, Australia’s third-most populous city 730 kilometers (450 miles) north of Sydney, as severe thunder storms struck. Hailstones 5 to 6 centimeters (2 inches) wide pounded the town of Inglewood, 270 kilometers (170 miles) southwest of Brisbane, early Thursday, the Bureau of Meteorology said. Extraordinarily heavy rain brought flash floods to the Queensland state coast 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of the capital Brisbane last week and a south-moving low-pressure system had since brought the rain south of Sydney. The flooding has claimed 14 lives in Queensland and neighboring New South Wales since Feb. 22, when the body of a 63-year-old woman was recovered from a submerged car at Belli Park, north of Brisbane. In New South Wales, a 54-year-old man was found Friday in a submerged SUV in Matcham, 90 kilometers (50 miles) north of Sydney. Most recently, a man in his 70s was found in his flooded apartment Wednesday in Lismore, New South Wales. Four people died in the town of 28,000. Several Brisbane suburbs remain flooded after the river that snakes through the city center peaked on Monday. Read:Australia welcomes back tourists with toy koalas, Tim Tams Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Assistant Commissioner John Cawcutt said hundreds of people were calling for help in Brisbane — home to 2.6 million people — and its surrounds with heavy rain causing flash flooding. “We’ve got high winds and of course we’ve got the potential for flash flooding because of the already sodden ground out there,” Cawcutt told Nine Network television. “Because of the saturation, creeks are rising very, very quickly — drains, stormwater areas, water is bubbling up from below ground so it’s right across Brisbane,” Cawcutt added. He described the dangerous weather extending north of Brisbane and south of Sydney as an “enormous event.” Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Laura Boekel said thunderstorms brought the chance of more flooding, extending 450 kilometers (280 miles) north from Brisbane to Bundaberg during the next day or two. “This is a very dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation for southeast Queensland,” Boekel said.

England’s tailenders resisted Australia’s bowlers in fading light Sunday to clinch a draw on a dramatic final day of the fourth test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Jack Leach, Stuart Broad and then Jimmy Anderson batted out the final 10 overs under immense pressure after Pat Cummins and Scott Boland took three quick wickets in the final session before Steve Smith removed Leach with two overs remaining to set up a nervous finale to a gripping test match. At stumps, England finished on 270-9 with Broad unbeaten on eight and Anderson not out on nought to give England its best result of the five-match series that Australia leads 3-0. Read: Latham, Conway come up with thumping response “It’s a small step forward,” said captain Joe Root. “I think coming into the game I spoke a lot about putting some pride back into English cricket and into the test performance. “The fight, desire and character shown today and throughout the five days has done that in a small way.” With the final hour approaching, Cummins removed Jos Buttler and Mark Wood in the space of three balls to turn the test on its head after it was looking increasingly likely that England would earn a draw after its most determined batting effort of the series. Boland then continued his torrid start to test cricket by having first-innings centurion Jonny Bairstow caught by Marnus Labuschagne for 41. It was Boland’s 14th wicket in just his second test after making his test debut in the third test at Melbourne where he was named man of the match. But Broad and Leach saw out the remaining 10 overs despite Australia have all its fielders around the bat in catching positions as the fading light meant Australia had to bowl spinners Nathan Lyon and Steve Smith in the final three overs. “From the position we found ourselves in at certain points in this game, to be able to sit here having drawn... was going to take a good performance and I’m really proud of the way the guys dug in and managed to do that,” Root said. Earlier in the session, Stokes, no stranger in proving to be an immovable object for Australia after his heroics in the 2019 Ashes series in England, did not appear to let the pain of his left side injury curtail his attacking shots as he crushed ten boundaries and a six as part of his 60 runs, to go with his 66 in the first innings. But Lyon eventually made the vital breakthrough as he caught Stokes in two minds as to whether to play at a ball or leave it. In the end, he did neither and guided a simple chance to Smith at slip. It was the ninth time that Lyon has taken Stokes’ wicket, including twice in this match. As the final hour loomed, Cummins (2-80) made a breakthrough when trapping Buttler lbw for 11. On-field umpire Paul Reiffel initially rejected the appeal before Cummins referred to the TV umpire, who reversed the decision. Two balls later Cummins dismissed Wood with a vicious in-swinging delivery that hit the tail-ender on the foot for a much easier lbw decision for Reiffel to confirm. Boland then had Bairstow caught to expose England’s tail, but Leach and Broad and then Anderson found a way to survive despite up to nine fielders in close catching positions. It was the third time in the past 12 months that Australia’s attack has failed to bowl out a team on the final day, having twice squandered winning positions against India last season, and again here at the SCG on Sunday. “I think first of all the weather played a bit of a part in this game and you basically can’t predict it at all,” said Cummins when asked about the timing of his declaration on Saturday. “I thought the wicket still wasn’t playing too many tricks and I thought if they batted really well, 350 was pretty achievable out there. “I thought 110 overs was enough time but having the luxury after the way Uzzie (Khawaja) and (Green) batted we had enough runs in the bank and that we could effectively attack for those whole 110 overs.” Before tea, Root and Stokes combined for a 60-run partnership from 26 overs before Boland had the English skipper edging through to wicketkeeper Alex Carey for 24 to give Australia renewed optimism it may be able to bowl England out. Read:Pumped-up Tigers aim for monumental series win against Blackcaps Needing to bat out the day to draw the test after being set an improbable 388 to win, the tourists lost a very defensive-minded Hameed (9) and Malan (4) in the morning session, but Zak Crawley decided that attack was the best form of defense as he unleashed eight boundaries on his way to a 69-ball half-century. Hameed was dropped by Carey off Cummins, but only survived a few more overs as he again edged through to Carey, who made the catch, to give Boland yet another wicket. Lyon (2-28) was introduced into the attack and in his third over found a way through Malan’s defenses to have England at 74-2 after the first hour of play. Crawley’s enterprising innings was halted at 77 after 13 boundaries when Cameron Green (1-38) captured the 23-year-old opener leg before wicket. Usman Khawaja was named man of the match for his twin centuries — just the third player to achieve the feat at the SCG — in his first match since 2019. Khawaja, who scored 137 in the first innings, followed up with an unbeaten 101 off 138 balls as part of a 179-run partnership with Green in the second innings.

Australia was battling to contain several COVID-19 clusters around the country on Monday in what some experts have described as the nation’s most dangerous stage of the pandemic since the earliest days. Sydney in the east and Darwin in the north were locked down on Monday. Perth in the west made masks compulsory for three days and warned a lockdown could follow after a resident tested positive after visiting Sydney more than a week ago. Brisbane and Canberra have or will soon make wearing masks compulsory. South Australia state announced new statewide restrictions from Tuesday. Australia has been relatively successful in containing clusters throughout the pandemic, registering fewer than 31,000 cases since the pandemic began. But the new clusters have highlighted the nation’s slow vaccine rollout with only 5% of the population fully vaccinated. Read:Australian court upholds ban on most international travel Most of the new cases stem from a Sydney limousine driver who tested positive on June 16 to the delta variant, which is thought to be more contagious. He was not vaccinated, reportedly did not wear a mask and is suspected to have been infected while transporting a foreign air crew from Sydney Airport. New South Wales state on Monday reported 18 new cases in the latest 24-hour period. The tally was fewer than 30 cases recorded on Sunday and 29 on Saturday. Authorities warned that a two-week Sydney lockdown that began on Friday would not reduce infection rates for another five days. “We have to be prepared for the numbers to bounce around and we also have to be prepared for the numbers to go up considerably,” New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said. Health policy adviser Bill Bowtell, who was the architect of Australia’s first AIDS response in the 1980s, said the government needed to consider hastening vaccinations by shortening the gap between AstraZeneca shots from 12 to 8 weeks. “We really face the most serious crisis in the COVID pandemic since the early days in February-March last year,” Bowtell said. The crisis has also highlighted the dangers posed by hotel quarantine, which is the source of most cases of community virus spread in Australia. Read:Australia’s Victoria state to return to lockdown A mine worker is suspected to have become infected with the delta variant while in hotel quarantine in Brisbane in Queensland state before flying to a gold mine in the Northern Territory. The miner infected at least six people at the mine. One of the infected miners had since traveled home to Queensland and another to New South Wales. Authorities were attempting to track down 900 mine workers around the country who could have been infected by the initial case. The Northern Territory capital Darwin, and neighboring Palmerston, on Sunday locked down for 48 hours after an infected miner returned home to Palmerston. That lockdown would be extended to Friday after another miner tested positive after returning home to Darwin on Friday, officials said on Monday. The Northern Territory has never before experienced COVID-19 spreading in the community. Queensland on Monday reported three new cases, including the miner. She is one of 170 potentially infected miners who live in the state and fly to an from work. Read:Australia won’t buy J&J coronavirus vaccine Masks will become compulsory from Tuesday for two weeks in Brisbane and several surrounding towns. “The next 24-to-48 hours are going to be very crucial in Queensland about whether or not we see any spread of this delta strain,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczu said. The Queensland government has called on the federal government to tighten already tough border restrictions to reduce the number of travelers arriving in Australia. Western Australia state reported one new case in Perth linked to the Sydney cluster. The state is home to 177 of the potentially infected miners.

A record-breaking downpour has seen the Australian city of Sydney relax strict water restrictions, a little over two months after they were introduced.