Fifteen people in the Auckland region are now confirmed to have measles since an Emirates flight arrived in Auckland from Brisbane in mid-January.

A Queensland fisherman washed overboard by a rogue wave has survived a marathon, six-hour swim to shore.

Cyclone Yasi is building as a storm of unprecedented ferocity - the likes of which hasn't been seen since 1918 - and already it is lashing the Queensland coast.

Get out now. Don't bother to pack your bags. Just gather your family and leave. That's the grave directive Premier Anna Bligh has made to people in low-lying parts of north Queensland under direct threat from monster Cyclone Yasi.

'The most serious cyclone you can have' is how Queensland Premier Anna Bligh is describing the storm set to ravage the state tonight. The storm has been upgraded to a Category Five cyclone - the most severe level imaginable.

Thousands of people are fleeing their homes and hospitals are being emptied as severe tropical cyclone Yasi bears down on the north Queensland coast.

Evacuations are underway as severe tropical cyclone Yasi continues its charge towards the north Queensland coast.

Wilma has now well and truly gone, absorbed into the roaring 40s to bring more gales and rain to the South Ocean.

NRL boss David Gallop concedes the impact a second Brisbane team would have on the Broncos would be a major consideration in any expansion decision it made.

Express paceman Shaun Tait is no certainty to return as Australia again seek a one-day series win against England.

There have been weeks of flooding in Queensland, and, for many, weeks before the dispossessed can return.

Two bull sharks have been spotted swimming past the McDonald’s restaurant in suburban Ipswich, south-west of Brisbane, 30km from the coast.

A victim found 80km away from where the person went missing in the Lockyer Valley demonstrates the massive search and rescue task ahead, authorities say.