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Novak Djokovic is still in the dark as to whether he will be deported just days ahead his attendance at the Australian Open.

The unvaccinated tennis star landed in Australia a week ago only to be detained by border officials.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Thursday that Immigration Minister Alex Hawke was still considering the use of discretionary powers to cancel the visa after considering evidence provided by Djokovic's lawyers on the matter.

"These are personal ministerial powers able to be exercised by minister Hawke and I don't propose to make any further comment at this time," Mr Morrison said.

The prime minister was asked if unvaccinated non-citizens were a public health threat, and should keep a visa if they'd been allowed in.

Mr Morrison emphasised Australia's policy that a visa holder must be double-vaccinated or show acceptable proof they cannot be vaccinated to enter quarantine-free.

"That is the policy and we would expect authorities to be implementing the policy of the government when it comes to those matters," he said.

Mr Morrison also stressed there was a difference between being granted a visa and border entry requirements.

The prime minister's remarks came after the grand slam's draw was mysteriously postponed "until further notice" just minutes before it was due to begin at around 3pm.

A YouTube stream set to broadcast the draw had already started, but was then taken down.

The draw was then rescheduled for 4.15pm, where Djokovic drew fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic for his first-round match.

Australian Border Force officials cancelled the world No.1's visa for entering the country while unvaccinated, only for the cancellation to be later quashed by a federal court.

Djokovic's lawyers have provided lengthy submissions and supporting documentation to the minister.

Officials looked into potential discrepancies on Djokovic's declaration form, which stated the tennis star did not travel out of the country in the two weeks before his flight to Australia.

Djokovic was filmed playing tennis in Serbia on Christmas Day and was later seen training in Spain on December 31, both in the two-week window.

However, Djokovic has denied he was trying to mislead the government on the form, stating an agent had made an "administrative mistake" while filling out the form.

In a statement posted to social media, the Serbian player also admitted to attending a media interview in Belgrade when he knew he had COVID.

After carrying out a PCR test on December 16, Djokovic attended the interview two days later.

"I felt obliged to go ahead and conduct the interview as I didn't want to let the journalist down, but did ensure I socially distanced and wore a mask except when my photograph was being taken," Djokovic wrote.

"While I went home after the interview to isolate for the required period, upon reflection, this was an error of judgement and I accept that I should have rescheduled this commitment."

Since he was freed from immigration detention on Monday, Djokovic has been training at Melbourne Park.

The 34-year-old is looking to win a record 21st Grand Slam title when the Australian Open begins on Monday.

The decision came as Spanish radio reported Djokovic was being investigated over entering the European country without proper authorisation.

Since late September, Serbian citizens required a vaccine certificate or special exemption to enter Spanish territory, but it is unclear what steps Djokovic took in seeking entry.

© AAP 2022

Prince Andrew has failed to persuade a US judge to dismiss Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit accusing the Duke of York of sexually abusing her when she was underage, and being trafficked by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.

In a decision made public on Wednesday, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said Giuffre, 38, was entitled to pursue claims that Andrew battered her and intentionally caused her emotional distress.

The judge said it was premature to consider Andrew's efforts to "cast doubt" on those claims although the 61-year-old prince could do so at a trial.

Kaplan said it was also too soon to decide whether Giuffre and Epstein "clearly and unambiguously" intended to release people like Andrew through a 2009 settlement agreement resolving Giuffre's lawsuit against the late financier.

Lawyers for Andrew and Giuffre did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The decision keeps Giuffre's case against Andrew on track for a trial that Kaplan has said could begin late this year.

While the claims have not been proven and the prince is not accused of criminal wrongdoing, his ties to Epstein have damaged his reputation and cost him many royal duties.

A spokesman for Buckingham Palace declined to comment on Kaplan's decision.

Andrew has denied Giuffre's accusations that he forced her to have sex more than two decades ago at a London home of former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and abused her at Epstein's properties in Manhattan and the British Virgin Islands.

Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in what New York City's medical examiner ruled a suicide.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted on December 29 of recruiting and grooming girls for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004.

She is seeking a new trial after one juror told media, including Reuters , that during jury deliberations he had discussed being a victim of sexual abuse.

In his 44-page decision, Kaplan said the "muddled" language in Giuffre's and Epstein's 2009 settlement agreement suggested that they may have arrived at "something of a middle ground" on whether to shield Andrew or others from future lawsuits.

"We do not know what, if anything, went through the parties' minds," Kaplan wrote.

"The parties have articulated at least two reasonable interpretations of the critical language. The agreement therefore is ambiguous."

Settlement agreements can restrict plaintiffs like Giuffre from pursuing further litigation, even against third parties.

Giuffre was awarded $US500,000 ($A688,805) in the 2009 settlement.

Kaplan also rejected Andrew's claim that letting Giuffre sue violated his due process rights under New York's constitution.

Giuffre had sued Andrew in August, less than a week before the expiration of a state law giving accusers a two-year window to bring claims over alleged child abuse occurring long ago.

Kaplan called that window, which was extended by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, "a reasonable measure for remedying injustice to victims" of child sex abuse.

© RAW 2022

Cooks will be able to buy "tearless" onions for the first time when they go on sale in the UK from next week.

The Sunion onion is perfect for those with sensitive eyes as well as for cooking in the kitchen with children, the supermarket chain Waitrose says.

Their mild flavour makes them perfect for use in cooking while they can also be used raw in a salad, the firm added.

Waitrose onion buyer Paul Bidwell said: "We understand how appealing tearless onions are to our customers which is why we're delighted to launch Sunions in selected stores and via Waitrose.com from January 18.

"Ideal for taking the tears out of the kitchen, the sweetness of this type of onion lends itself perfectly to a variety of dishes, from salads to hot meals."

The onions are the invention of Rick Watson, a plant breeder working for the German chemical company BASF. He began working on the innovation in the late 1980s, using natural techniques rather than genetic modification to create the unique variety.

The brand said it took more than 30 years of breeding less pungent varieties of onion to find a variety where the vapours released on chopping are not powerful enough to bring tears to the eye.

Sunions said its onions are not a genetically modified product and were grown through an all-natural cross-breeding program.

It said volatile compounds in onions are responsible for the tears and pungent flavour, and the amounts of those compounds in other onions remain the same or increase over time. In Sunions, these compounds do the opposite and decrease to create a tearless, sweet and mild onion.

Sunions, which cost more than standard onions, are already on sale in America but have not been universally well-received.

A 2018 review in the Washington Post said they were very sweet - "sweet enough that you could sit there and eat them like popcorn" - and barely had any scent. Another journalist who tried them said they were "almost flavourless".

© PAA 2022