A settlement has been reached in a fresh civil claim by a former student against former principal and convicted abuser Malka Leifer and the Adass Israel School where she worked.

Leifer is in prison, awaiting sentence, after being convicted of sexually abusing two former students when she was principal and head of religion at the ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in the 2000s.

A jury found her guilty of sexual abuse of sisters Dassi Erlich and Elly Sapper.

READ MORE: Crown agrees to pay $450 million penalty over breaches

Leifer was acquitted of abusing their older sister Nichama Meyer.

Sapper and Meyer each received confidential settlements from the school, while Erlich was awarded damages by the Victorian Supreme Court in a civil suit.

The latest civil trial was due to begin in Victoria's Supreme Court on Tuesday but was called off when lawyers revealed the matter had resolved.

Justice Melinda Richards told them she appreciated it was a difficult thing for both sides to do.

Details still needed to be finalised, but Justice Richards agreed to sign off with orders once that was done.

Specifics of the settlement were not aired in open court.

The school has been contacted for comment.

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A teenager who allegedly fired multiple gunshots at a school, hitting a classroom as teachers and students scrambled for cover, is likely to face upgraded charges.

The 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, faced Perth Children's Court on Tuesday via video link from custody.

The court was told an application for bail could not be heard because the teenager was awaiting psychiatric assessment at the Banksia Hill youth detention centre.

READ MORE: Melbourne university lecturer jailed for 'savage' murder of wife

He is facing multiple charges in relation to the incident last week at Atlantis Beach Baptist College in Two Rocks, about 70km north of Perth.

They include discharging a firearm to cause fear, possessing a prohibited weapon and unlawful act with intent to harm.

Prosecutor Brad Hollingsworth on Tuesday said it was "very likely" the boy would also be charged with at least two counts of the more serious offence of endangering the life, health or safety of others.

READ MORE: Demolition of Sydney building gutted by fire begins

Flagging that any bail application was likely to be opposed, Hollingsworth said the prosecution case would include a transcript of a triple-zero call allegedly made by the former student.

Other material included communications between the boy and his friends, and statements provided by teachers involved in the incident.

Magistrate Alana Padmanabham remanded the teenager in custody.

He is set to undergo a psychiatric assessment on Wednesday morning and return to court later in the day for his bail application to be heard.

READ MORE: One-year-old among injured during Florida beach shooting

Police alleged that the boy used two rifles to shoot three rounds at the school from a car park while he was inside a vehicle.

The incident forced the school into lockdown as students and teachers hid in a storeroom.

Forensic officers were seen analysing two bullet holes about five metres apart on the side of a demountable classroom.

One was above an external doorway and the other was beside a window, in clear view across a 30-metre-wide grassed courtyard adjacent to the car park.

Body-worn camera footage showed officers called to the scene took the boy into custody without incident.

The shooting is understood to be the first of its kind in WA.

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Chris Dawson's first interaction with a student he's accused of having an unlawful sexual relationship with was to return a topless photo of her.

The photo was taken on a picnic when the former student, known in court only as AB, was 14 or 15, and had been circulating around her school.

Before he saw a picture of her in a "vulnerable position," she "went unnoticed" by Dawson.

"I really had very little to do with him," she told the NSW District Court on Tuesday.

READ MORE: Bruce Lerhmann drops defamation case over coverage of rape allegations

"There was no need, he wasn't my teacher. I was ensconced in my social group and trying to navigate that normal 15-year-old life," she said.

Dawson, 74, is on trial accused of engaging in sexual activity with AB between July and December 1980 while she was aged 16 and his student on Sydney's northern beaches.

The carnal knowledge charge, which Dawson denies, is a historical offence replaced in 1986.

Prosecutors will have to prove any alleged sexual activity occurred while he was her teacher, public defender Claire Wasley said.

Crown prosecutor Emma Blizard said it is not in dispute that sexual activity took place between the two.

"The central issue will be one of timing and when events commenced," Blizard said.

Dawson said he wanted AB in his class to get to know her, telling her that numerous times.

"Because it softened me," she said, giving evidence on Tuesday.

"I felt special, because he'd said that."

READ MORE: Melbourne university lecturer jailed for 'savage' murder of wife

He paid particular attention to her and she began confiding difficulties she was having at home, before he allegedly put his hand on her bare knee at a sports carnival.

"That was the first time he paid me that intimate – as I recall, as I see it – intimate attention," she said.

AB later started babysitting Dawson's children, almost every weekend, including times when Dawson and his wife were spending the night at home.

He began attending the licensed premises where AB and other students drank underage on Friday nights, allegedly telling her stories about "how fabulous he was" as "part of the grooming process".

"It just got out of control in terms of the amount of time I was spending with him," she told the court.

She was also brought along to exercise classes Dawson taught with his twin brother.

"When one twin was running the class the other was out the back with whichever student was their property at the time," AB said.

Wasley reminded Judge Sarah Huggett she is not required to judge Dawson by contemporary legal or moral standards, and what she knows about his conviction for murder should have no bearing on the trial.

Sexual activity commenced between Dawson and AB while she was under 18 and a student but not while he was her teacher, Wasley said.

Dawson was jailed in 2022 for murdering his wife Lynette in January 1982, with a judge finding he was motivated by a desire to pursue an unfettered relationship with a student.

Health issues in his old age mean Dawson will be given more frequent breaks during the judge-alone trial.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

Only 4 per cent of Aucklanders want higher rates, says Brown.

A Gold Coast man who narrowly avoided death after being attacked by a crocodile in Queensland's Far North has described the incredible moment he pulled his own head free from the animal's jaws.

Marcus McGowan, 51, was snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, about 28km east of Haggerstone Island, when he was attacked by what he thought was a shark.

He soon realised the animal was in fact a saltwater crocodile, which had tried to snap him up for lunch.

READ MORE: Man survives crocodile attack while snorkelling in Far North Queensland

Releasing a statement from his hospital bed, McGowan described the moment he was "attacked from behind".

"I was attacked from behind by a saltwater crocodile which got its jaws around my head," he said in a statement.

"I thought it was a shark but when I reached up, I realised it was a crocodile.

READ MORE: Six-metre saltwater croc seen eating juvenile during Aussie river cruise 

"I was able to lever its jaws open just far enough to get my head out.

"The crocodile then attempted to attack me a second time, but I managed to push it away with my right hand, which was then bitten by the croc."

A nearby tourist group full of Brisbane locals managed to get the man onto a boat and then to the mainland, where they managed to stop the bleeding.

He was airlifted to Thursday Island Hospital in a stable condition, where he was treated for superficial wounds.

Haggerstone Island is 600km away from Cairns.

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NZ’s defence minister is expected to have a meeting with one of China’s bit hitters.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported a drone attack on the Russian capital on Tuesday morning.

Sobyanin said in a Telegram post that the attack caused “insignificant damage” to several buildings and that “no one has been seriously hurt," without clarifying what it means.

Residents of two buildings damaged in the attack have been evacuated, Sobyanin said.

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The claims come after Russia launched a pre-dawn attack on Ukraine's capital Tuesday as its air defences worked to stop drones in what has been a relentless wave of daylight and nighttime bombardments targeting Kyiv.

The buzzing of drones and loud explosions were heard as Ukrainian air defence responded to the third Russia aerial attack on the capital in the last 24 hours.

According to preliminary data, more than 20 Shahed drones were destroyed by air defence forces in Kyiv's airspace, the Kyiv Military Administration says.

One person died, three were injured when a high-rise building in the Holosiiv district caught fire.

READ MORE: Ukraine claims Russia is plotting 'a provocation' at nuclear plant

The two upper floors are destroyed, and there may be people under the rubble, the Kiyv military administration said.

More than 20 people were evacuated.

Elsewhere in the capital, falling debris caused a fire in a private house in the Darnytskyi district and three cars were set alight in the Pechersky district, according to the military administration.

READ MORE: Russia moving tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus

The series of attacks that began Sunday included a rare daylight attack Monday that left puffs of white smoke in the blue skies.

Russian forces fired 11 ballistic and cruise missiles at Kyiv at about 11:30am, according to Ukraine's chief of staff, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

All of them were shot down, he said.

READ MORE: Melbourne university lecturer jailed for 'savage' murder of wife

Debris from the intercepted missiles fell in Kyiv's central and northern districts during the morning, landing in the middle of traffic on a city road and also starting a fire on the roof of a building, the Kyiv military administration said.

At least one civilian was reported hurt.

The Russian Defence Ministry said it launched a series of strikes early Monday targeting Ukrainian air bases with precision long-range air-launched missiles.

The strikes destroyed command posts, radars, aircraft and ammunition stockpiles, it claimed.

It didn't say anything about hitting cities or other civilian areas.

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Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann will not receive any damages after settling his defamation case over News Corp's coverage of Brittany Higgins' rape allegations.

The settlement was reached on Tuesday, and the Federal Court case dropped against News Life Media and national political editor Samantha Maiden.

The two articles at the heart of the lawsuit remain online with an updated editorial note.

READ MORE: Ten, News Corp seek to prove rape in Lehrmann defamation

"News.com.au notes that a criminal charge of sexual assault was brought against Mr Lehrmann and later dropped. News.com.au does not suggest that he was guilty of that charge," the note reads.

News has not made any apology or correction.

The media firm will not have to pay any damages to Lehrmann under the settlement but has agreed to pay some of his legal costs.

The law student's defamation cases against Ten, journalist Lisa Wilkinson and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation over their reports of Higgins' allegations remain on foot.

READ MORE: Stunning claims made by prosecutor at inquiry into Bruce Lehrmann trial

Higgins accused Lehrmann of raping her inside the Parliament House office of then minister Linda Reynolds, who they both worked for in March 2019.

He denies the allegation, maintaining the pair never had any sexual interaction.

A criminal trial brought against Lehrmann in the ACT Supreme Court was derailed in October because of juror misconduct.

In December, the prosecutor dropped the charges due to the impacts a second trial would have on Higgins' mental health.

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Nine people were shot, including a one-year-old child, during an altercation between two groups near a busy area of the beach in Hollywood, Florida on Monday night.

Police have detained one person of interest but are still searching for an additional suspect, who was described as a Black man with dreadlocks and wearing a black short-sleeve shirt and camo shorts, Hollywood Police Department spokesperson Deanna Bettineschi told reporters.

The injured range in age from one to 65, Bettineschi said.

READ MORE: Moment driver and passenger open fire on moving bus

Authorities say the shooting happened near Johnson Street and North Broadwalk, a bustling palm-tree lined pedestrian walkway that straddles the beach and features restaurants and shops.

The sound of gunfire sent people fleeing down the busy sidewalk and into the nearby sand, footage from the city's beach camera live feeds show.

When police responded to the area around 6:45 p.m. ET, they found nine people had sustained gunshot wounds, Bettineschi said.

The injured were transported to Memorial Regional Hospital and Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, according to Memorial Healthcare System spokesperson Yanet Obarrio-Sanchez.

Though the hospital spokesperson said all the victims were in stable condition, Bettineschi noted one person was undergoing surgery late Monday.

Authorities are asking people to avoid the area as the investigation continues.

A family assistance center has been set up near Johnson Street and North Ocean Drive, Bettineschi said.

"This is an area where families can go and they can talk to the detectives on scene and ask them questions about family members, and they can also get information about their vehicles that may be inside of the crime scene."

Hollywood is about 32 kilometres north of Miami and is home to Hollywood Beach, a popular tourist destination.

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The demolition of an inner-Sydney building that was gutted by fire last week has begun after specialist cadaver dogs were brought in to sweep the ruins.

Two homeless people remain unaccounted for, with police using cadaver dogs and forensic imaging to detect anyone who may have been killed in the blaze.

No discoveries have been made.

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The search was held alongside demolition works at the building on Randle Street in Surry Hills.

A fourth child has come forward to police over a monstrous inferno that tore through an empty building in Sydney, while two homeless people known to sleep in the building are still unaccounted for.

Clean-up crews have been able to access the Randall Street site in Surry Hills five days after the blaze, as they prepare the old heritage building for demolition.

READ MORE: Nine people shot at Florida beach as crowds scramble

A bobcat was brought in today to clear bricks and debris from the surrounding streets, while firefighters were tasked with smashing the windows of an adjacent office after they were damaged by heat.

NSW Fire and Rescue superintendent Adam Dewberry said initial preparation work is expected to start in the next few hours, which includes clearing the large rubble and large piles of bricks.

"We need to make sure that we don't make the situation worse by rupturing them or causing this building that's got unsafe walls for those parts to collapse onto other unaffected buildings."

Specialist equipment will be brought into the site before the structure will be pulled down in stages.

Arson detectives will search the rubble for remains with two people known to sleep rough in the area who are unaccounted for.

"They were frequented by homeless people in this area living rough (and) sleeping rough," NSW Police detective superintendent Gordon Arbinja said.

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"I don't have their identities, I just have a description of them but we need to do the best that we can do to account for these people."

Meanwhile, a fourth boy has come forward to police in relation to the fire.

All of the boys have been let go so far pending further enquiries.

Detectives have not said if any of the four will be charged.

"At this stage, we're not going to reveal what they've actually said," Arbinja said.

"We'll go through the whole investigation and then we'll work out what the best and most appropriate measure is to solve this matter."

It is unlikely any part of the heritage building will be saved.

The owners are said to be devastated a development application for a revamped five-star hotel will not go ahead.

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