News in 5: Connie Johnson's final moments; Girl, 8, dies from flu; George Clooney can't stop crying.

1. “She went out on top.” Sam Johnson shares Connie’s final moments.

Actor Sam Johnson, now Australia’s ‘Chief Cancer Vanquisher’, has spoken about his sister Connie’s final moments before she succumbed to the cancer she’s been fighting for nearly her whole life.

Connie, 40, founder of Love Your Sister, a charity dedicated to raising money for cancer research, and mother of two boys, died last Friday, September 8.

Speaking to The Project panel on Monday night, Sam said he and his sister spent “half an hour laughing,” before she “fell asleep and never woke up”.

Co-host Carrie Bickmore was visibly holding back tears as he spoke.

Over the weekend, ahead of Connie’s funeral, Sam sat down with Mia Freedman to re-live her final days.

The day before her death, from the bed in her hospice, she was awarded a Medal of The Order of Australia from the Governor General Peter Cosgrove.

“We said, ‘Con Con it’s happening’,” Sam told Mia. “It looks like the smallest smile when you watch the video back but really it was an ear-to-ear smile, she just didn’t have the energy to move her face properly.”

READ: Samuel Johnson makes passionate announcement about how he will continue Connie’s fight.

“It was perfect. Every part of it was perfect. She heard, not just from her family or her village, but from the government that she did put in a great effort, that she was an inspiration, and that her work won’t be forgotten and will be continued.”

Sam said the Governor kissed Connie on the forehead and the family who were present delivered small round of applause.

“The Governor General left us alone for a while. We smile and laughed and she fell asleep and never woke up.”

A day later, and Connie passed away. “She went out on top,” Sam said. “She went out on top.”

Sam is still dedicated to reaching the Love Your Sister goal of raising $10 million for cancer research. He says it’s likely he won’t stop there.

“I feel as if Connie’s coursing through me now,” he told me. “I feel like she’s inside me. I feel stronger. I am going to fulfill my promise to Connie and to our village to raise the $10 million. After that, I think I might get serious about fundraising.”

To donate to Love Your Sister, click here. 

2. Woman with vaginal mesh implants dismissed by doctors when she found it too painful to have sex.

A woman who suffered crippling pain from a vaginal mesh implant has told senators of the living nightmare her life has become.

NSW woman Gai Thompson is one of a dozen women to appear before a Senate inquiry in Sydney on Monday. She told of severe complications she's suffered since the surgery including excruciating and chronic pain, losing three pints of blood, multiple autoimmune diseases and the inability to have sex.

"When the doctor told me I would no longer be able to have sex with my husband, he said there was more than one way to skin a cat," Thompson, who received a mesh implant nine years ago in a bid to repair her damaged pelvic floor, told AAP.

Just three years after it's implantation, Thompson approached Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration to warn of a looming disaster involving the device. She is now among 800 women involved in a class action lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, claiming the vaginal mesh implants have left thousands in pain.

3. Girl, 8, latest victim in "horror" flu season and Australians are being urged to get vaccinated.

NHS chief warns of severe winter flu outbreak after worst season on record in Australia https://t.co/6cvdRG0tSQ

— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 12, 2017

An eight-year-old girl is the latest victim of Victoria's "horror" flu season, with people urged to get vaccinated and not ignore symptoms.

The death of the Melbourne youngster on Friday is "horrifically sad" and follows the flu death of young dad Ben Ihlow on Father's Day, Health Minister Jill Hennessy said.

"What it does show us is that we have a horror flu season on our hands," the minister told media on Monday.

"The number of people with influenza has doubled. People are not just getting the flu, they're getting very, very sick with this flu. Do not underestimate how serious influenza can be. Don't dismiss your symptoms."

Earlier this month, the Immunisation Coalition confirmed there was a 156 per cent increase in diagnosed cases of influenza in August this year, compared to the same time last year, News Corp reports. And, according to the Department of Health, at least 73 people have died from the flu in Australia in 2017.

GPs are urging Australians to receive vaccination against the deadly flu, saying it's not too late to be immunised.

For more information on how to protect yourself from the flu, click here.

4. "I'm so tired." George Clooney says he can't stop crying after the birth of twins.

Not even George Clooney is immune to the intense emotions and insanity-inducing lack of sleep that is new parenthood.

Speaking to Daily Mail, the 56-year-old actor, who welcomed twins with wife Amal Clooney in June this year, said he was exhausted but endlessly proud.

"You can tell boy from girl, right?" showing reporter Gabrielle Donnelly a photograph on his phone of Alexander and Ella. "He’s twice the size she is. He’s a moose and she’s just this little tiny beautiful thing."

And this, this will just melt your heart: "They don't cry," Clooney continued. "I cry more than they do. I cry four times a day right now because I'm so tired."

5. Trump wants to make UN great - not again.

President Trump condemns UN's 'bureaucracy and mismanagement' https://t.co/YR9M5W4RLQ

— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 18, 2017

US President Donald Trump has made his long-awaited debut at the United Nations and not surprisingly opened his remarks with a critique of the world body and a boast about a successful business deal he made across the street from its New York headquarters.

"The main message is: make the United Nations great - not again," Trump said on Monday. "Make the United Nations great. Such tremendous potential."

Trump has been a harsh critic of the UN, but with world leaders and foreign ministers, including Australia's Julie Bishop, looking on inside the UN's packed Economic and Social Council Chamber the president did soften his words.

"In recent years, the United Nations has not reached its full potential because of bureaucracy and mismanagement," Trump said. "While the United Nations on a regular budget has increased by 140 per cent, and its staff has more than doubled since 2000, we are not seeing the results in line with this investment.

"But I know that under the secretary-general, that's changing and it's changing fast."

The president will deliver his main address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.