An inflatable water park has closed in Auckland after an alleged attack on a lifeguard late last night and a further break-in party early this morning. Waterworld Water Park has three blow-up obstacle courses set up across Auckland…

When San Francisco developers built the luxury 58-storey Millennium Tower, they hoped the rich and famous would come.

And come they did.

Launched in 2009, the tallest residential tower in San Francisco was a hit, with sports stars and Silicon Valley tech execs throwing down millions to snap up their glamour residences.

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The tower's 400 apartments quickly sold out, clocking up just over $1 billion in sales.

But that was literally the high point for the prestige building, which has been slowly sinking into the San Francisco earth ever since.

In court papers filed by some unhappy residents, they claim their multi-million-dollar apartments are now worth nothing, or a couple of dollars at best.

Since the problem first came to light, developers have been trying to work out how to keep the building upright and up.

Apartment values aside, residents are anxious.

San Francisco sits on one of the world's most notorious fault lines, the 1200 kilometre-long San Andreas Fault.

In 1989, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake rocked the San Francisco Bay Area, killing 67 people and causing more than $5 billion in damages.

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According to a structural engineer now charged with combating Mother Nature and fixing the gargantuan problem, the Millennium Tower is steadily sinking, and tilting to the side by about 7.5 centimetres every year.

If the problem is not rapidly fixed, engineer Ron Hamburger believes the building may tilt to such an angle that elevators will not run and the building's extensive plumbing could stop working.

Last week Mr Hamburger told city supervisors the building remained safe, and that 18 steel piles hammered into bedrock under the tower would stop it tilting further.

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Engineers have calculated that for every 2.5 centimetes the tower sinks into the ground, it tilts almost 13cm to the side at the top.

NBC reported last year the tower was now tilting 66cm at the top.

The current project to fix the tower is estimated to cost $138 million.

Last year the fix-it project and efforts to drill into the bedrock was temporarily halted after engineers noted the tower had sunk 2.5cm in a matter of weeks, just after work had begun.

Any decision to cancel Novak Djokovic's visa won't be made until at least tomorrow, as the Australian government wades through pages of new evidence provided by the tennis star's lawyers and a fresh claim from Djokovic that he did not personally tick a critical box on his immigration application.

Rejecting the assertion he deliberately misled border officials, Djokovic today declared that his "support team" was responsible for completing the immigration paperwork which contained an error that could now seem him deported from the country.

In response to a question asking if he travelled in the 14 days before his flight to Australia, the Djokovic application ticked "no".

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But the world No.1 and nine-time Australian Open champion was seen in Spain and Serbia in that two-week period, casting doubt on the veracity of that answer.

"On the issue of my travel declaration, this was submitted by my support team on my behalf," Djokovic said in a statement posted to his Instagram account this afternoon.

He said he told Australian Border Force officials about this during his interview at Melbourne Airport.

"My agent sincerely apologises for the administrative mistake in ticking the incorrect box about my previous travel before coming to Australia," he continued.

"This was a human error and certainly not deliberate."

He said travel during the pandemic was extremely challenging, and honest mistakes could be made.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CYnO7cDqbdj/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke this afternoon said there would be no decision on Djokovic today.

"Mr Djokovic's lawyers have recently provided lengthy further submissions and supporting documentation said to be relevant to the possible cancellation of Mr Djokovic's visa," he said in a statement.

"This will affect the timeframe."

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Australian government weighs up action and fallout

After the scenarios and political fallout have been crunched and calculated, the Federal Government is unlikely to try and boot Novak Djokovic from Australia and will instead let him defend his Australian Open title, a former senior immigration official believes.

Mr Hawke is right now considering whether the Australian government wants to dig its heels in and cancel Djokovic's visa, after the Serbian won his appeal in court, securing his liberty from a detention centre.

If his visa is cancelled, Djokovic will be promptly escorted back to a Melbourne detention centre, however former Immigration Department deputy secretary Abul Rizvi believes the government will shy away from that confrontational option while the world's media is hovering.

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"I think we're in real trouble here if cancellation is pursued," Mr Rizvi said.

"Just imagine the media crew that would be outside Mr Djokovic's hotel when Australian Border Force arrive to take him to a detention centre."

All eyes are now on Hawke and in particular an Australian immigration form signed by Djokovic, ahead of his arrival.

Hawke could conceivably deport Djokovic if the government finds and decides that form was filled in incorrectly.

But, Mr Rizvi said, the government would need to be ready for the ensuing media circus.

Some critics have argued Djokovic has become a convenient scapegoat for an Australian government facing criticism for its recent handling of the pandemic.

Mr Rizvi said any notice of cancellation would be delivered to Djokovic by Australian Border Force officers.

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The ABF would then take Djokovic from his hotel and escort him to a place of detention where he would be held until his next appeal is considered by the courts.

Mr Rizvi said the government faced "enormous difficulties" if they decide to pursue the cancellation option.

"If I was the decision maker I would not place a huge amount of emphasis on that little mistake," he said.

"But these things are viewed increasingly through a media and a public presentation prism and people make decisions that are sometimes not very logical."

It would be better, he said, for the government to sit down with Djokovic and work out ways to keep him and other players safe from infection, and how to present that to the public.

After winning his court battle and freedom, Djokovic held a practice yesterday afternoon at Rod Laver Arena.

Soon after, tournament organisers made him the top-seeded player in the men's singles draw.

The athlete was seen hitting shots from behind the baseline, taking feedback from his coach, and stretching beside the court with a trainer.

He spent four nights confined to an immigration hotel and now is getting back into the swing less than a week before the Grand Slam tournament starts.

The Australian Open is set to begin on January 17.

With Associated Press

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Beer laced with hallucinogenic drugs derived from plant seeds may have helped leaders of a South American culture maintain their political control for hundreds of years, according to new research.

The Wari, who built an empire and ruled the highlands of what is now Peru from 600CE to 1000CE, preceded the Incas.

Archaeological excavations at the Quilcapampa site in southern Peru, which took place between 2013 and 2017, have found that the Wari used seeds from the vilca tree and combined the hallucinogenic drug with chicha, or beer made from the molle tree.

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This beer was then served to guests at communal feasts, reinforcing relationships while maintaining Wari political control.

The research, published Tuesday in the journal Antiquity, has shown the first evidence of vilca seeds at a Wari site.

The discovery of vilca at Quilcapampa fills a gap in the understanding of how different civilizations used substances.

"This was a turning point in the Andes in terms of politics and use of hallucinogens," said study author Matthew Biwer, a visiting assistant professor of archaeology at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.

"We see this kind of use of hallucinogens as different use context than in prior civilizations, who seem to have closely guarded the use of hallucinogens to a select few, or the latter Inca Empire who emphasized the mass-consumption of beer but did not use psychotropic substances such as vilca at feasts."

The power of the feast

Researchers have yet to uncover the reason behind the collapse of the Wari Empire, but studying Wari sites is revealing more about its people.

​"The Wari Empire stretched from northern Peru to the far south near the Chilean border, and from the coast to the mountainous areas of the Andes," Professor Biwer said.

"It is the first example of an empire in South America, having collapsed around 400 years prior to the rise of the Inca Empire."

It has long been known that the Wari used beer and feasting as part of their political control, but the research proved their access to vilca and its use as a hallucinogen.

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Additionally, the scientists discovered evidence that the Wari were brewing chicha in large quantities. Alongside the well-preserved botanical remains were ceramics from the centre of the site, which indicate that this is where the feasts were held, the study authors said.

​"The Wari added the vilca to the chicha beer in order to impress guests to their feasts who could not return the experience," Professor Biwer said.

"This created an indebted relationship between Wari hosts and guests, likely from the surrounding region.

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"We argue that the feasting, beer, and vilca thus served to create and cement social connections between Wari affiliated peoples and locals as the Empire expanded. It also was a way for Wari leaders to demonstrate and maintain social, economic, and political power."

The guests of these feasts would have felt compelled to acknowledge the power of their hosts or feel the need to owe them a favour in the future, he said.

"In the Andes, this is typically known to have occurred by the consumption of beer (chicha), llama meat, various plants such as corn and potatoes, and other foods and drink," Professor Biwer said.

The use of vilca, typically inhaled like snuff or through a pipe, dates back at least 4000 years, indicated by an ancient pipe from that time found at the Inca Cueva site in Argentina. The drug was also used by those in Tiwanaku, a neighbouring site in Bolivia, during the time of Wari rule.

A ritual for empire-building

Earlier findings also showed vilca was only provided exclusively to some, like priests, and not available to all.

The Wari, however, were likely dropping the drug in their alcohol and providing it to others, effectively enhancing the psychoactive effects of both substances. This inclusive behaviour by the Wari elites not only showed off their hospitality, but offered an experience that wasn't widely available elsewhere and couldn't be easily replicated by anyone who may want to oppose Wari control.

"They may have experienced euphoric or spiritual sensations," Professor Biwer said.

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"This type of food would have been a very powerful experience for guests who were led on a journey by Wari hosts."

It would have been too dry in the region surrounding Quilcapampa to grow vilca, he said.

"Wari established a system of roads, which the later Inca used, that move people and resources," Professor Biwer said.

"I would say that it would not have been accessible to everyone, as it was in the interest of Wari leaders to control the use and access to vilca, but it would not have been extremely difficult to get vilca to Quilcapampa."

Vilca grows in the Ayacucho region, where the capital of the Wari Empire once stood, as well as parts of the Cusco region 400km from Quilcapampa, he said.

Previous research has shown that the Wari were also capable of accessing other distant resources, like seashells, obsidian and Amazonian feathers.

Next, Professor Biwer and his team are eager to search for Wari sites in a coastal valley in Peru. Discovering new sites could help researchers determine how climate change and drought could have impacted the Wari before their reign ended.

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