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The Hope Diamond is one of the most valuable diamonds in the world and the curse has only added to its worth.

The 45-carat blue diamond is said to possess a curse where anyone who owns the stone or even touches it will befall bad luck and even death.

However, to the dismay of anyone who is interested in the curse, historians said it is simply a story to add to the intrigue and value of the diamond.

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"The story is a lot of fun, it is a lot of playfulness among the extraordinarily wealthy people who have owned it," Louise Burnet, co-owner of the French Jewel Box, said.

The distinctive diamond is about two-thirds of the size of a matchbox and is a phenomenal "dark greyish blue".

"It's very mysterious and magnificent," Ms Burnet said.

The diamond has been sold to many wealthy historical figures however the story of the curse started when it was sold to Pierre Cartier, one of the famed Cartier jewellers, in 1910.

Cartier wanted to sell it to Evalyn Walsh McLean, the daughter of a successful gold miner, and told her a wild story about a curse to convince her to buy it.

According to Cartier's story, a French merchant traveller, Jean Baptiste Tavernier, stole the blue diamond from the eye of a statue of the Hindu goddess Situ in India.

Tavernier was apparently torn apart by wild dogs in Russia after he sold the diamond.

Cartier went on to say there were many deaths for anyone who owned the diamond, including French officials, it even caused the beheading of Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette.

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From French royalty to Russian counts and actresses, Cartier said bad fates befell them all due to the diamond.

Cartier's story convinced Ms McLean to buy the diamond where she kept it until her death in 1947.

Harry Winston Inc. of New York City purchased Ms McLean's entire jewellery collection, including the Hope Diamond, where it was then donated to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington where it is on display today.

Ms Burnet said, "everybody loves a story" but the truth about where the diamond came from does not hold such "wild intrigue".

Tavernier most likely obtained the diamond from Golconda in India, Ms Burnet said.

"It came from Golconda where all the amazing diamonds that you see the incredible royal families through the Georgian era," she said.

He purchased it uncut then sold it to King Louis XIV of France in 1668 where it was cut to 67 carats.

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"It disappeared from the French turned up to London being cut to what it is now at 45 carats," Ms Burnet said.

"The embellishment of the story comes from Cartier."

Trevor Hancock, from the Australian Antique & Art Dealers Association, said the curse of the hope diamond is just a story that made the stone more valuable and desirable.

"What is really valuable about diamonds is the story behind them," he said.

"Anything like the curse gives it an ambience and a history and people love to buy that."

Many other jewels like the Hope Diamond possess romantic stories to add to their value however the Hope Diamond is unique as its story is a deathly curse.

The diamond is one of the premier attractions at the Smithsonian Institute.

Hundreds of Novak Djokovic's supporters gathered at a rally in downtown Belgrade on Friday to protest his confinement in Australia after his entry was denied by border authorities because of COVID-19 vaccination regulations.

The top-ranked Serb, who hopes to defend his title at the Australian Open and win a men's record 21st Grand Slam singles title, was denied entry when he arrived at Melbourne's airport on Wednesday and was still in an immigration detention hotel awaiting a court hearing scheduled for Monday to challenge his deportation.

The detention has triggered anger among Djokovic's fans in his native Serbia, with his family calling for protests until he is released.

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Speaking at the rally, Srdjan Djokovic described his son's struggle to play at the Australian Open as a fight against "globalists who want to ruin everything."

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"He is fighting for himself, his people and all freedom-loving nations in the world," said Srdjan Djokovic, an outspoken critic of the West and supporter of Serbia's traditional Slavic ally Russia.

"They hate him because Australian politicians have put pressure on people to hate him because he thinks with his own brain."

Djokovic's father also said Australians "have been in captivity for two years" in reference to the strict lockdown coronavirus measures that have been in place in Melbourne.

"He (Djokovic) is in prison, not in custody, not in a hotel. They took away all his things, took away his wallet, and returned it to him after a few hours," Srdjan Djokovic said as the crowd chanted "Monsters, Monsters."

He said the Australian authorities "wanted to humiliate and throw him to his knees."

Australian officials initially said Djokovic, a vocal sceptic of vaccines who has refused to say if he has gotten the COVID-19 shot, would be given an exemption to stringent vaccine rules by state authorities and be able to participate in the Australian Open.

But when he landed, his visa was cancelled by federal border officials and he is now in an immigration detention hotel while he fights the decision.

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A car came flying off the road and into the front of a shop in Sydney's Inner West overnight, leaving a woman seriously injured.

Video shows the Toyota Corolla careering into the air before lodging into a pet store on Parramatta Road in Leichhardt about 2am.

The male driver escaped injury but his female passenger, aged in her 20s, had to be cut free from the twisted mess of metal.

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Detective Acting Inspector Sarah Dunn from NSW Police said today officers are investigating whether speed, alcohol or drugs were a factor.

The owners of the pet shop, the Wambeek family, said the damage to their store is another blow in what's been a tough year for their business.

"We've just come out of COVID, and we're just trying to get back into the groove of things, and this happens now, it's devastating," Stefan Wambeek said.

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"It's a family business and I love this shop.

"It is heartbreaking… it is heartbreaking," Deepika Wambeek added.

Detective Acting Inspector Dunn said it's lucky the shops were not open during the crash.

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"It's just incredibly fortunate that there were no shops open that time of the morning and there were no pedestrians around, this could have been very serious and a lot more injuries," she said.

The driver was taken to the RPA Hospital under police guard. The 35-year-old is facing the very serious charge, of dangerous driving, occasioning in grievous bodily harm.

Heavy rain has caused a shopping centre roof to cave in as thunderstorms, damaging winds and large hailstones hit parts of Melbourne.

The Bureau of Meteorology also issued a warning for Melbourne, Victoria's South West, and South and East Gippsland districts, which included the popular holiday destinations along the Bellarine Peninsula and Mornington Peninsula.

The roof of Sanctuary Lakes Shopping Centre in Point Cook in Melbourne's west collapsed under heavy rainfall, causing a loud noise as debris crashed to the ground and shoppers screamed in fear.

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Water then seeped into nearby shops.

Down the road in Laverton, water seeped into a BP service station through a skylight.

Across Port Phillip Bay in Frankston shoppers also had to be evacuated from Karingal Hub, where part of the roof also collapsed.

https://twitter.com/vicemergency/status/1479285183702519810

The downpour also led to flash flooding in Melbourne's western suburbs, with roads in Laverton Drivers have been forced to pull over and halt their travels amid the wild weather.

According to Weatherzone, a storm cell that impacted Point Cook just after 1.10pm brought destructive winds of 150km/h and more than 16mm of rain three minutes.

Nearly 19mm and 10mm were recorded in 10 minutes nearby at Weribee and Tullamarine.

More than 45,000 lightning strikes were registered within 100km of Melbourne by 3.15pm, nearly 4,000 of which reached the ground. completely inundated.

Certain COVID-19 restrictions are being eased in Western Australia as the state recorded no new local cases.

From 6pm (local time) mask wearing will no longer be required in indoor venues or at major outdoor events in WA.

Masks will only be needed in locations such as education, disability care, on public transport, and in rideshare vehicles.

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"Please keep the mask at hand just in case," Acting Premier Roger Cook said.

"We are able to cautiously ease these mass mandates because of the proof of vaccination requirements."

In addition to the change in mask mandates, a change to hotel quarantine is also being introduced.

Double dosed vaccinated arrivals in hotel quarantine that return a negative result on day 11 will now be released on day 12 to complete their final two days of quarantine at another suitable premises.

"This will slightly reduce the burden on our quarantine system without any public health risk," Mr Cook said.

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Mr Cook added that a Hyatt Hotel quarantine security guard, who tested positive to the virus this week, genomic sequencing confirmed he had the Omicron variant.

Three close contacts have been identified related to the guard and his household contact.

"The majority have tested negative and inclusively all their work colleagues have tested," he said.

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