December 21 isn't just four days before Christmas for many in Australia.

Singer-songwriter Paul Kelly is an icon in Australia but a cult figure in the rest of the world.

Two Americans imprisoned in Japan for helping former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn avoid trial and escape to Lebanon are hoping to serve the rest of their time in the U.S. Paul Kelly, the attorney for Michael Taylor and his son Peter Taylor, said the elder man was suffering from serious back pain and frostbite.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy says COVID-19 vaccines would be made available at key airports in the state starting June 1.

Australia says it has finalized a deal to buy an extra 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine as it rapidly pivots away from its earlier plan to rely mainly on the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Australia has become the latest country to restrict use of the AstraZeneca vaccine by recommending that it not be given to people under age 50.

A city in northern China is offering rewards of 500 yuan ($77) for anyone who reports on a resident who has not taken a coronavirus test. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)BRISBANE – A city in northern China is offering rewards of 500 yuan ($77) for anyone who reports on a resident who has not taken a recent coronavirus test. China on Friday reported 53 new cases, including 33 in Hebei. Quarantine workers would be tested for the virus daily. Authorities in Brisbane are locking Australia’s third-most populous city down for three days beginning Friday evening to contain the spread.

(AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)CANBERRA Prime Minister Scott Morrison requested that the next two-week sitting of Australias Parliament be canceled because of increasing concerns over the spread of the coronavirus in parts of the country. Parliament was due to sit from Aug. 4 to 13 and would not meet again until the next planned two-week sitting starting on Aug. 24. Morrison said he had written to the parliamentary speaker to ask for a cancellation. Kelly says, The entry of a high-risk group of individuals could jeopardize the health situation ... and place residents at unnecessary risk of infection. On Friday, Victoria state reported a new high of 428 cases and three deaths, most in and around the nations second-largest city of Melbourne, which has been locked down since last week.

BOSTON A Massachusetts father and son who prosecutors say helped smuggle Nissans former chairman out of Japan last year were denied bail by a federal judge in Boston on Friday. The Taylors' lawyers had argued the pair were unlawfully arrested and cant be extradited because bail jumping is not a crime in Japan and, therefore, helping someone evade their bail conditions isnt a crime, either. The Taylors are wanted in Japan on allegations that they helped Ghosn flee the country in December while he was out on bail and awaiting trial on financial misconduct allegations. Authorities say the Taylors helped sneak Ghosn out of a hotel in a large box and then out of Japan on a private jet. The flight took Ghosn to Lebanon, where Ghosn has citizenship but which has no extradition treaty with Japan.

Andrews also announced that the state border with New South Wales will be closed from late Tuesday night in an agreement between the two state premiers and Prime Minister Scott Morrison. New South Wales had previously banned travel from dozens of Melbourne suburbs that were locked down last week for a month due to high rates of infection. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian had criticized states that closed their borders to New South Wales residents when Sydney, the state capital and Australia's largest city, had most of the country's COVID-19 cases. The Department of Health reported 2,434 cases in recent days, the majority in metropolitan Manila, raising cases nationwide to more than 44,250, including 1,297 deaths. China reported four new cases, three from outside the country and one transmitted locally in Beijing, the National Health Commission reported.