As the COVID outbreak continues to take hold across parts of the nation, one state has shut down its breast screening service.
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BreastScreen NSW announced on Tuesday it would suspend all routine breast screening across NSW because of the outbreak.
Hospitals in NSW are "under enormous pressure" as the COVID-19 outbreak that has locked down Sydney for nearly eight weeks worsens.
"There is no question that the hospital system is under enormous pressure across NSW," the state's health minister Brad Hazzard acknowledged on Tuesday.
But he insisted that overall the system was "still extraordinarily good".
With Vietnam Veterans' Day being commemorated today, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged Vietnam veterans to reach out and support the thousands of Australians who served in Afghanistan, which has again descended into chaos.
The Taliban have held their first official news conference in Kabul since the shock seizure of the city, declaring they wanted peaceful relations with other countries and would respect the rights of women within the framework of Islamic law.
"We don't want any internal or external enemies," the movement's main spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said.
The insurgents seek no revenge and "everyone is forgiven" he said.
Taliban leaders have made reassurances that the rights of women would be protected within the framework of Islam.
But Afghan girls' education activist Pashtana Durrani, 23, is wary of Taliban promises.
"They have to walk the talk. Right now they're not doing that," she told Reuters, referring to assurances that girls would be allowed to attend schools.
The US Air Force is investigating human remains found in the wheel well of one of its C-17s that flew out of Kabul amid the chaos of the Taliban takeover.
Meanwhile Victorian health authorities are pleading for residents of southeast Melbourne to get tested for COVID-19 as the city's mystery cases continue to grow.
Five mystery cases in the beachside suburb of St Kilda are worrying Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton.
"We want to see more tests right across the area because it's becoming a real concern for us," Professor Sutton said in Tuesday night's coronavirus update.
"We need more tests to track down unidentified chains of transmission and protect the whole local community."
There are now more than 510 exposure sites, with over 50 sites stretching from South Melbourne to Brighton.