Melbourne
Japan's Osaka beats Brady to win Australian Open
Osaka edged a tight first set and broke the American twice in the second to win 6-4, 6-3 in 77 minutes in front of thousands of fans at Rod Laver Arena.
Under the restrictions, some five million people in Australia's second-biggest city will have to remain at home for five days from midnight except for a limited number of permitted essential activities.
Much of the United States - the worst-hit nation in the world - is also bracing for a tough winter, but there was exhilaration and relief in Melbourne as its five million people were able to return to shops and restaurants after months at home.
Stay-at-home orders for Melbourne's five million residents will be lifted from midnight Tuesday into Wednesday while restaurants, beauty salons and retail stores will be permitted to throw open their doors.
The figure was the lowest daily rise in infections in Victoria since June 12 and came as residents of the state capital Melbourne saw a raft other virus restrictions also eased.
About 250 people attended the illegal protest - the second in as many days in the city - promoted by coronavirus conspiracy groups on social media.
Victoria state, of which Melbourne is the capital, recorded 422 coronavirus cases on Thursday - a dip from a record peak of 484 on Wednesday, but its 18th consecutive day of triple-digit rises.
Authorities in the state of Victoria, whose capital Melbourne is in partial lockdown amid a new outbreak, reported 275 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, down from a daily record of 438 three days earlier.
The total was higher than any single daily increase in COVID-19 cases for the entire country since late March.
Three pubs in Sydney and its surrounds were closed after being linked to outbreaks or failing to comply with social distancing requirements.
Residents have been told to stay at home for six weeks after other measures to contain a spike in COVID-19 failed to prevent the virus spreading.
Five million residents were ordered back into a six-week lockdown beginning midnight Wednesday into Thursday as soaring community transmission of the coronavirus brings more than 100 new cases daily.
From midnight on Wednesday the first suburb-specific stay-home order will be imposed on some 320,000 people, the Victorian state Premier Daniel Andrews told a news conference on Tuesday.
While the number of new cases is relatively low compared to soaring tallies elsewhere in the world, the Melbourne outbreak has sparked fears of a second wave of the epidemic.
Novak Djokovic is unlikely to care a jot for those sentiments, and if the bookmakers are to be believed, is set to crush them ruthlessly.
Naomi Osaka’s victory over Petra Kvitova in Melbourne last year earned her a second consecutive Grand Slam title following her success at the 2018 US Open.
Organisers of the year’s first Grand Slam said practice had been suspended at Melbourne Park until 11 am (0000 GMT) and qualifiers would not get underway until 1 pm
At least 180 fires continued to burn across Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) states although widespread rainfall is forecast for fire-hit areas on the east coast from Wednesday.
County Court of Victoria Chief Judge Peter Kidd, who handed down the sentence in a live television broadcast, said there was a real possibility that at age 77, Pell could spend the rest of his life in prison.