Informer: News that's worth singing and dancing about

NSW will scale back coronavirus restrictions from Friday, to allow for singing and dancing to return to clubs, while two-metre density limits in venues will be scrapped.

Further changes from February 25 will mean QR codes are required only for music festivals and nightclubs. People will be allowed to remove their face masks indoors, except on public transport.

The steps are a bit smaller in Victoria, where the dance floors will be able to reopen, but an ongoing requirement for masks will make the singing a bit harder for a while longer.

QR check-ins will no longer be required in retail, schools and workplaces in the state, however they will remain for hospitality and entertainment patrons to ensure those attending are double-dose vaccinated.

Premier Daniel Andrews says Victoria will begin moving "back to normal" over the coming weeks as the state cautiously eases COVID-19 restrictions.

It's not all happy news, though.

In Sydney, a shark attack that killed a swimmer on Wednesday was the first in 60 years.

Western nations warn the Russian military threat to Ukraine continues to heighten, contradicting Moscow's claims of a pullback.

Up to 7000 Russian troops have amassed along the Ukrainian border in recent days, a senior official in US President Joe Biden's administration said.

Meanwhile, more armored vehicles, helicopters and a field hospital have been identified, according to Britain's defence intelligence chief.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews announced a violent right-wing extremist network has been added to the country's list of terrorist organisations.

Known as the Nationalist Social Order, the extremist hate group is a network of neo-Nazi supporters who want to overthrow governments and start race wars in order to achieve a white ethnostate. It is not clear whether the group has a presence within Australia.

The entirety of Palestinian nationalist group Hamas will also be added to the list as a banned terrorist organisation.

Also in Parliament today, two Liberal backbenchers have supported the crossbench calling for the government to establish a federal anti-corruption commission.

And outgoing Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon has called for greater freedom in the major political parties, saying strict party discipline is "strangling our democracy".

Meanwhile, Labor Leader Anthony Albanese revived his "sit down boofhead" meme from last year, when he told Leader of the House Peter Dutton to take a seat on Wednesday.

Mr Albanese motioned for Mr Dutton to take a seat while he was speaking during Question Time, throwing it back to the "boofhead" remark he made in November last year.

Just another morsel for the online masses in this election year.

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