The Government is providing $4 million to services that provide mental health support to young members of New Zealand’s Rainbow community.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has made the announcement before her appearance at the Big Gay…

It was buzzy, breezy and, if you were a Luna Rossa supporter, beautiful on the water and off as the Prada Cup finals kicked off under a summer stunner yesterday.Thousands flocked to bars and eateries or parked themselves in front…

The last of Perth and WA's lock lockdown measures are being lifted as of midnight (3am AEDT) meaning masks are no longer mandatory.

It means the city — which was put into a five day lockdown alongside Peel and parts of the state's south west on January 31 after a single virus case in a hotel quarantine worker — returns to pre-lockdown conditions.

No new cases were reported yesterday.

READ MORE: One new cases in Melbourne

The WA government confirmed online: "The Chief Health Officer has advised that the full 14-day incubation period is on track to run its course, with no indication of any community transmission.

"From Sunday, 14 February masks will no longer be required to be worn either inside or outside, there will be no travel restrictions in WA, except for remote Aboriginal communities and mandatory contact registration will continue, as was planned prior to the lockdown."

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However, WA is now closed to Victorians amid the new Melbourne outbreak.

Premier Mark McGowan confirmed that no flights from Melbourne to Perth on February 9 originated at Terminal 4 at Tullamarine Airport.

A hunt is on for passengers who were at the airport on that day, after a cafe worker worked while infectious with the virus.

All the passengers were all tested at the airport and were placed in quarantine for two weeks.

READ MORE: New Victorian case friend of Holiday Inn worker

Four people refused entry into the state yesterday because they had recently been in Victoria, were "sent back to where they had come from."

Mr McGowan admitted it was a "very harsh measure", but "these are the rules we put in place to keep people safe".

"Prior to the hard border with Victoria coming into force at 6pm last night (Friday), we had one flight from Melbourne yesterday with 80 people on board," Mr McGowan, said.

No cases were recorded in hotel quarantine in Western Australia today.

WA will be open to people from all other states from Tuesday, when it will start letting people from NSW back in.

The Senate is poised to vote Saturday (local time) on whether to convict former President Donald Trump for inciting the insurrection at the Capitol last month in the culmination of the first impeachment trial of an ex-president in US history.

The final vote is not set, but the Senate is racing toward concluding the trial in five days — unless the Democratic impeachment managers seek witnesses.

That could extend the trial beyond Saturday, although senators in both parties are not expecting any witnesses to be called.

READ MORE: Trump's lawyers wrap up impeachment case in just three hours

Democrats have been debating whether to call witnesses in light of new details that have emerged with the trial underway this week, according to multiple sources, including new descriptions about Alabama GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville's call with Trump as the riot unfolded and new details about House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's call with the former President.

It's unclear what has been decided, but it should become clear soon after the Senate gavels into session at 10am ET (2am Sunday AEDT).

RELATED: 'He was rooting for them': Trump backed rioters in call with top Republican: lawmakers

Multiple aides said the debate is that witnesses could clarify the timeline of what Trump knew and when in a compelling way, but it's not clear that the witnesses would change minds of senators already dug in about the verdict. Witnesses would also extend the trial considerably with Senate Democrats eager to move on to President Joe Biden's agenda.

The managers have repeatedly declined to say whether they will seek witnesses, though most senators don't expect them to do so. "No comment. No comment," lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland said as he left the Capitol Friday evening.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also declined to comment on his way out of the Capitol on Friday.

"It's up to the managers," Schumer said. "We defer to them."

If there are no witnesses, the impeachment managers and Trump's lawyers will make closing arguments of up to two hours each before the Senate will move to a final vote, which could be held at 3pm ET (7am Sunday AEDT), though that's not finalised.

It's still not clear whether senators will seek to make speeches to explain their votes once the legal teams conclude.

The outcome of the final vote was already telegraphed earlier in the week, when the Senate voted 56-44 that the impeachment trial was constitutional. The GOP senators who voted the trial of a former president was unconstitutional said that was what would determine their final vote, leaving the Senate well short of the two-thirds — or 17 GOP senators who would have to join all 50 Democrats — needed for conviction.

The six Republicans who voted the trial was constitutional are the GOP senators who have left open the possibility they could vote that Trump is guilty, after 10 House Republicans joined Democrats to impeach Trump in the House last month. Several of those Republican senators — Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana — pressed Trump's lawyers during the Senate's question-and-answer session Friday over the actions Trump took when he learned about the riots unfolding and tweeted that then-Vice President Mike Pence was lacking courage while he was being evacuated from the Senate.

The House managers have argued throughout the trial that Trump should be convicted and barred from holding future office because he was responsible for the rioters who attacked the US Capitol on January 6 and endangered the lives of lawmakers and Pence. They've made the case that Trump incited the rioters through months of false claims that the election was being stolen from him, then failed to take any action to stop the violence or condemn the rioters afterward.

The defence team offered its rebuttal on Friday in a brief presentation, in which they sought to equate Trump's rhetoric with that of Democrats, arguing that political rhetoric is protected by the First Amendment and Trump's language did not incite a riot that was pre-planned.

The University of Oxford plans to test its COVID-19 vaccine in children for the first time, becoming the latest vaccine developer to assess whether its coronavirus shot is effective in young people.

The trial announced Saturday seeks to recruit 300 volunteers between the ages of 6 and 17, with up to 240 receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and the remainder a control meningitis vaccine.

Andrew Pollard, chief researcher on the Oxford vaccine trial, says that while most children don't get severely ill from COVID-19, "it is important to establish the safety and immune response to the vaccine in children and young people as some children may benefit from vaccination.''

Regulators in more than 50 countries have authorised widespread use of the Oxford vaccine, which is being produced and distributed by AstraZeneca, for use in people over the age of 18.

Other drug companies are also testing the COVID-19 vaccines in children.

Pfizer, whose vaccine has already been authorised for use in people 16 and older, began testing its shot in children as young as 12 in October. Moderna in December began testing its vaccine on children as young as 12.

Pollard said the Oxford trial should help policymakers decide whether at some point in the future they want to extend mass vaccination programs to children as they seek to ensure schools are safe and combat the spread of the virus in the wider population.

"For most children, for themselves, COVID is really not a big problem…,'' Pollard told The Associated Press.

"However, it is certainly possible that wider use to try and curb the progress of the pandemic might be considered in the future, so here we're just trying to establish the data that would support that if indeed policymakers wanted to go in that direction."

Friends of a Queensland fisherman thought to have been killed by a crocodile have called him "a fine man", as wildlife officers confirmed they had killed a 4m croc after finding human remains.

Andrew Heard, 69, left for a fishing trip near Hinchinbrook Island near Townsville on Thursday afternoon.

He never returned and his boat was later found overturned and damaged.

Human remains have been found in the area.

Friend John Stewart, called what had happened, "shattering."

"Everyone's just feeling numb and lost that such a fine man has gone," he said.

Friends said Mr Heard had fought cancer.

Another friend, Andy Murray, said: "In many years of sailing, meeting many beautiful people, Andy was one of the best.

"He'd been through a lot and he was living the life that he absolutely needed and wanted to live.

"What he's left behind is a magnificent legacy."

Flags were lowered to half mast at Cairns Cruising Yacht Squadron where he went.

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Forensic testing is yet to be conducted, but it is believed the remains found are Mr Heard.

READ MORE: 'Highly likely' missing Queensland fisherman attacked by crocodile

The 69-year-old was last seen about 3pm on Thursday but the alarm was raised when he did not return from a fishing trip in Gayundah Creek.

When wife was unable to reach him via radio, she contacted police.

At 2.30am Friday, officials found his 2.5 metre dinghy – damaged and overturned – near the mouth of Gayundah Creek on the southwestern side of Hinchinbrook Island.

The boat has since been examined by experts from the Environment Department, who say it's highly likely a crocodile was involved in the man's disappearance.

Department of Environment and Science (DES) officers said on Saturday afternoon they had found and euthanised a 4m croc.

"A necropsy will be conducted in due course," they said in a statement.

"Our thoughts are with the family at this time," police said in a statement.

Seven townhouses costing almost $700,000 each will soon be built on the block where an icon of Kiwi TV once loomed. The well known two-storey house, where crime drama Outrageous Fortune and its prequel Westside have been set since…

The returned traveller blamed for Victoria's Holiday Inn outbreak says he has been made to "feel like a criminal" after using a nebuliser to treat his asthma while in hotel quarantine.

In an exclusive interview conducted from his bed in ICU with The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, the 38-year-old said he declared his nebuliser to staff who also offered to source more Ventolin for the device.

The man had not tested positive to coronavirus when he used the nebuliser at the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport.

READ MORE: Greater Melbourne declared COVID-19 hotspot as five-day lockdown begins

"If I was told that I couldn't use it, I never would have used it," he said.

"The way it has all come out in the news and through the government has made it sound like I was using it illegally or that I have snuck it in or something like that. It's been very distressing.

"You are left feeling like a criminal or that you've done the wrong thing. That has been the hardest thing in all this."

READ MORE: Anti-lockdown protesters arrested after hundreds gather in Melbourne CBD

When asked about the patient during today's COVID-19 update, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews insisted he would not comment on the patient directly and deferred questions to the state's hotel quarantine body.

However, Victoria's Quarantine Boss Emma Cassar later held a press conference, where she apologised to the man.

She admitted she had talked about the case but denied mentioning any "specifics".

She claimed the man had never told them he had the device despite people being asked at the airport as they land and at the initial health check at the hotel.

"I'm deeply sorry for his treatment, no-one wanted this to happen," she said.

"We have never accused him of doing the wrong thing, he hasn't done the wrong thing. I expect he had no understanding," she said

She said the use of the nebuliser in the hotel when it was not allowed, was not "deliberate" or "malicious" and said they were first notified of its use by the hospital where the man was being treated, despite him saying otherwise.

She said they're looking at if the rules are made clear enough, and called what had happened a "really regrettable incident."

"Had we known about this we would have taken steps earlier," she said.

Nebulisers are used to convert a liquid solution of a drug, used to treat respiratory illnesses, into a fine spray or vapour which is then breathed in.

It is thought the use of the device by the patient caused fine aerosolised particles carrying coronavirus to be suspended in the air and spread throughout the hotel.

In a position statement published by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care said nebulisers should not be used for patients with COVID-19 as they "pose a high risk" of aerosol infection.

There are now 14 confirmed cases linked with the Holiday Inn cluster, eight of which have tested positive to the highly infectious UK virus strain.

The cluster has triggered a five-day snap lockdown across Victoria with authorities concerned the virus coronavirus may have spread throughout the community.

The entire state is now under stage-four restrictions and must only leave their home for essential reasons.

A person with Covid-19 who returned to New Zealand and was in an Auckland hospital has died, the country's Ministry of Health says.

It comes as two new COVID-19 cases are reported in New Zealand. Both cases were found in managed isolation.

The patient who died was transferred to North Shore Hospital from a managed isolation facility for treatment of a non-COVID related illness on February 5.

READ MORE: New case in Melbourne friend of infected worker

While in hospital, they returned a positive COVID-19 result. They died on Friday evening.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the patient had spoken to their family every day via Zoom or on the phone.

"This is a time for us all to offer our deep sympathy, while also respecting the family's privacy."

The ministry originally announced the returnee had been taken to hospital on February 7.

They arrived from Zambia via the United Arab Emirates on February 2.

READ MORE: Post-quarantine cases not sign of anything sinister, expert says

While in hospital, their routine Covid-19 test came back positive.

The ministry said Covid-19 infection and prevention protocols were in place and followed to ensure the safety of health care workers and the public.

There was no risk to the public, and the ministry advised that hospitals were still safe to visit.

Waitematā District Health Board referred all queries to the Ministry of Health.

The ministry said the patient's death had not yet been included in its official Covid-related deaths at this time.

Further information would be provided about this on Monday.

New Zealand's official number of deaths from Covid-19 currently stands at 25.

The two new cases announced on Saturday both arrived from India via the United Arab Emirates on February 9.

They tested positive after having their first test and are in an Auckland facility.

One previously reported case has now recovered, bringing New Zealand's total active case numbers to 45.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases is 1972.

READ MORE: NZ workmates catch huge marlin from inflatable boat

On Friday morning, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the first batch of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine will arrive next week.

Vaccination of border workers is expected to start next Saturday.

Ardern said the Government expects to vaccinate the 12,000-strong workforce within two to three weeks.

Once they are vaccinated, household contacts of borders workers will be next.

The general population is expected to begin receiving vaccinations in the second half of the year.

A person has been airlifted to hospital after a fall on the Glacier Burn track in Kinloch, near Queenstown. Emergency services were alerted to the incident at 2.50pm. A police spokeswoman said the person was unable to walk out…