Sydney welcomes in 2018 with annual fireworks spectacle

Britain's Brexit transition period is over; the country has left the EU's Customs Union and Single Market. Friday's public holiday meant little cross-Channel freight traffic and none of the much-feared border queues.

The finishing touches are being put on a glitzy show at the Sydney Opera House, as the venue prepared to host an opera crowd for the first time since March. "The Merry Widow" will open on Tuesday to masked audiences up to 75 percent capacity, in a sign of hope for a performing arts industry crippled by the pandemic

Taiwan has called off its largest Lunar New Year lantern festival for the first time, as authorities rush to stem a Covid-19 cluster in one of the few places to survive the pandemic largely unscathed.

Cool or cringe? The US ambassador to Vietnam has produced an unusual Lunar New Year message to the country - in the form of a rap. Career diplomat Daniel Kritenbrink rhymed his well wishes to mark Tet, the most important annual holiday for Vietnamese.

Wuhan residents enjoy festive lantern decorations in parks and light shows along the Yangtze River on the eve of Lunar New Year.

Residents west of Sydney have been evacuated after unprecedented rainfall. Sixteen parts of New South Wales have been declared "disaster ridden."

President of FIFA Gianni Infantino names host cities for 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Stargazers in Sydney cast their eyes skyward to witness a rare "Super Blood Moon", as the heavens align to bring an extra-spectacular lunar eclipse. The first total lunar eclipse in two years will happen at the same time as the Moon is closest to Earth, in what astronomers say is a once-in-a-decade show.

Sydney's usually bustling harbourside restaurants are shuttered and the streets deserted as a lockdown has been extended across Australia's largest city over the Delta coronavirus variant.

The two men got lost in a forest after an encounter with a deer, prompting a phone call to police. Once found, the pair were fined for breaking stay-at-home orders by traveling outside Sydney.

Police guard the entrances of a Sydney apartment block where nine people have tested positive for Covid-19. The building was placed under strict lockdown, as authorities step up efforts to curb a coronavirus outbreak. Residents put up signs reading "send beer" and "where is the vaccine?" in the buildings' windows. Australia's latest Covid-19 outbreak began in mid-June and has since grown to 767 cases.

Australia's largest city will remain in lockdown until at least July 30. South Korea has tightened its restrictions after daily COVID cases have reached record levels. Follow DW for the latest coronavirus news.