By RNZ Complaints have been made about doctors around the country on Covid-19 vaccine exemptions after the case of a Kaiapoi GP came to light.Several investigations are underway into Dr Jonie Girouard who was caught on camera…

A Covid-19 vaccine adviser is warning people not to get multiple Pfizer doses in a day.The Ministry of Health is investigating reports of a man seeking 10 jabs in a day, for money.University of Otago Professor Peter McIntyre calls…

Real estate agents are hoping for a record breaking 2021 as they pocket more than a billion dollars in commission fees on the back of skyrocketing house prices.A Herald calculation estimates agents earned $2 billion in commission…

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Over 90 memorials were destroyed by alleged vandals at the Northern Memorial Park in Glenroy, Victoria.

Angel figurines were smashed, statues beheaded and plaques were ripped from graves, when the vandals allegedly struck sometime between Thursday night and Friday morning.

When John Blaszak visited the cemetery, he found the headstones of his uncle and aunt damaged.

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"[It] makes me want to cry," Mr Blaszak told 9News.

"It's disgusting. I think that they should crucify them you know," Wayne Warway, another visitor, told 9News.

Teresa Oliver said her Dad had passed away recently and was buried at the cemetery.

While relieved to find her Dad's grave hadn't been damaged, she still found the scene heartbreaking.

"To anyone who thinks this is acceptable behaviour, has never had a heart ripped out by losing a loved one and how hard that is," Ms Oliver told 9News.

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Last month the nearby Fawkner Cemetery was also attacked, with dozens of plots desecrated and some were graffitied in July.

The grave of Krystal Browitt, who was killed in the White Island volcano disaster, was also damaged.

The Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust said it shared in the distress of the families and was committing to doing what it could to prevent anymore criminal acts from happening in the future.

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"They said the insurance claim will cover it [the damage], but it doesn't help," Mr Blaszak said.

Temporary CCTV cameras have now been installed at the Northern Memorial Park and is equipped with motion detection.

It's hoped that the cameras will help deter any further vandalism.

Prosecutors completed presenting their case against Ghislaine Maxwell on Friday, after a key accuser at the British socialite's sex-abuse trial testified Ms Maxwell and her companion, Jeffrey Epstein, forced themselves on her when she was just 16.

Annie Farmer told jurors she accepted an invitation to the financier’s sprawling New Mexico ranch in 1996 hoping Ms Maxwell and Mr Epstein would help her with academic endeavours.

Instead, she said, Ms Maxwell ended up massaging her breasts and Epstein climbed into bed without her permission.

READ MORE: Teens left Jeffrey Epstein's home with '$100 bills', ex-boyfriend testifies at Ghislaine Maxwell trial

Three others have asserted at the trial that began two weeks ago that Ms Maxwell recruited them to give Mr Epstein massages meant as a ruse for sexual abuse.

Ms Maxwell, 59, has denied charges she groomed underage girls for Mr Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019.

Her lawyers say the government is making her a scapegoat for alleged sex crimes committed by her one-time boyfriend and moved immediately for a judgement of acquittal after prosecutors rested Friday afternoon.

READ MORE: Who is the real Ghislaine Maxwell: Epstein enabler or pawn?

US District Judge Alison J. Nathan heard brief arguments and rejected the request that she acquit Maxwell without the jury ever getting the case.

The judge told the jury they will return Thursday to hear the defence case, which an attorney estimated would likely last two to three days.

The judge has suggested that closing arguments, at a trial originally projected to last six weeks, might occur as early as December 20 if the defence presentation next week only lasts a day or two.

In her testimony, Ms Farmer recalled the unwanted physical contact making her feel like she "just wanted the weekend to be over. … I wanted to be done with it.”

She added: “All these experiences made me feel like they had a very different interest in me."

Asked by a prosecutor at the start of her testimony if she saw anyone in the courtroom who had ever given her a massage, Ms Farmer identified Ms Maxwell, who was sitting at the defence table looking at Ms Farmer.

Ms Farmer, now 42, took the stand using her true identity, a departure from the decision by three other accusers with similar stories who testified under pseudonyms or first names only to protect their privacy.

Two of the others who testified said they were just 14 when the abuse started and that Ms Maxwell sometimes participated in the encounters.

Ms Farmer testified that she met Mr Epstein at age 16 on a 1996 trip to New York City to visit her older sister, who was working for him at his Manhattan mansion.

When they visited him at the home, he “seemed very friendly and down to earth,” and even offered to mentor her, she said.

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She said that during an outing to the movies with Mr Epstein, he reached over to hold her hand and caress her leg.

“I felt sick to my stomach,” she said. “It was not something I was expecting at all.”

When Ms Farmer returned home, she stayed in touch with the wealthy financier and accepted an invitation to travel to New Mexico with a plane ticket he paid for even though, she said, “after what happened in the movie theatre, I didn’t want to be alone with him".

She said she initially felt more comfortable because Ms Maxwell was there.

But when they took her to the movies, he “right away began to hold my hand” and rub her foot and arm throughout the film with no effort to hide the behaviour from Ms Maxwell, she said.

Once home, Ms Maxwell insisted on giving Ms Farmer a massage and told her to take off her clothes, Ms Farmer testified. Ms Maxwell “pulled down the sheet and exposed my breasts and starting rubbing on my breasts,” Farmer said.

READ MORE: Accuser testifies Ghislaine Maxwell told her she 'had great body for Epstein and friends'

“It didn’t make sense to me that would happen,” she said. “I so badly wanted to get off the table and have the massage be done.”

Ms Farmer accepted $1.5 million from a fund set up to compensate Mr Epstein victims, she testified.

The encounters occurred in New Mexico, which did not have a specific age of consent statute, although its laws criminalised all sexual contact of a minor under the age of 13 when coercion or force is involved.

On cross-examination, a defence lawyer repeatedly emphasised through her questions that Ms Maxwell was not involved in the most egregious behaviour described by Ms Farmer and elicited that Ms Farmer was not sure she was naked during her massage, although she was certain that her breasts were exposed.

Prosecutors also called Ms Farmer's former boyfriend and her mother as witnesses to support her testimony.

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David James Mulligan, 42, testified that Ms Farmer told him that she was “touched on the breast” when she was massaged in New Mexico.

“She told me that she felt fearful and awkward and helpless,” he said.

Janice Swain, 71, Ms Farmer's mother, testified that Mr Epstein told her before the New Mexico trip that her daughter would be joined by 20 to 25 other students there.

Ms Swain said when Ms Farmer arrived home from the trip, she was “quiet and withdrawn".

When Ms Farmer finally did say something at a later date, she said: “I don't want to talk about it and I'm not going to let it ruin my life,” the mother recalled.

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they were victims of sexual abuse unless they come forward publicly.

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Although Ms Farmer was not identified by name in court documents, the practising psychologist has been outspoken in describing her experiences in interviews with the US ABC and The New York Times.

Ms Maxwell has been jailed since she was arrested in New Hampshire in July 2020.

When she sought bail, Ms Farmer asked the judge to deny it, calling her a “psychopath".

Some residents in Adelaide are not pleased with the changing quarantine arrangements as state health officials fear a possible emergence of Omicron cases.

Bakery on O'Connell in North Adelaide is the latest exposure site believed to have been visited by a suspected Omicron case.

Under new rules, any and all close contacts of the new variant of concern are required to quarantine for two weeks irrespective of their vaccination status.

READ MORE: Spike in COVID-19 cases in NSW

"I think it's overkill and with Christmas only a few weeks away I think it will destroy Christmas for a lot of people," a local said.

For other variants of COVID-19, vaccinated South Australians are only required to quarantine for seven days.

"We've been encouraged to get vaccinated and now we've been put back in the same class as [the] unvaccinated," another local said.

One Adelaide resident said the rules can't keep changing.

"We're always going to get new variants coming out and we can't keep changing the goalposts every time."

Premier Steven Marshall has defended the quarantine rules, saying it was based on advice provided to the government by medical experts.

"The issue is at the AHPPC [Australian Health Protection Principal Committee]. There was a general discussion about the early days of Omicron. The recommendation for us is we need to be super careful especially in the lead up to Christmas," Mr Marshall said.

But only around 24 hours into the introduction of the new quarantine rule, the Premier might be changing it again.

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"We hope that we can reduce that [14-day quarantine] down in the coming days, but at this point in time we are being cautious. We don't want a big Omicron outbreak in South Australia," Mr Marshall said.

Ian Horne from the Australian Hotels Association South Australia (AHASA) said the changing rules is sending mixed messages.

"That sends a message to interstate visitors, domestic travellers [to] be weary. Don't even come to South Australia. We've become a difficult destination, an unreliable destination," Mr Horne said.

It comes as South Australia recorded seven new COVID-19 cases, three of which have unidentified sources of infection.

By Sam Olley of RNZ It has taken 23 days for a New Zealander in the US who has not been home since before the pandemic to receive his Covid-19 vaccine pass.Grounded Kiwis spokesman Sam Drew is flying home from the US this summer.He…

Concerns over a potential COVID-19 superspreader event at Wednesday night's AACTA Awards have been eased by NSW Health, who said they are investigating the event as a "low-risk" exposure site.

Concerns about potential transmission at the awards ceremony at the Opera House were raised after it was revealed a food and beverage worker who tested positive for the virus worked at the event while infectious.

However, while all attendees have been directed to monitor for symptoms, NSW Health does not consider them to be close or casual contacts.

READ MORE: Case numbers continue to grow in NSW, Queensland records new infection

"South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD) has been notified of one case of COVID-19 in an employee who worked at the Sydney Opera House while infectious," a SESLHD spokesperson said.

"NSW Health has identified the venue as low risk and the SESLHD Public Health Unit is currently investigating this matter."

The employee does not have the Omicron variant of concern, and is currently in isolation.

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All guests and workers were required to be vaccinated in order to attend, while AACTA has said the awards were a COVID-safe event.

NSW on Saturday recorded 560 new COVID-19 infections, the highest number since October 8. However, the number of hospitalisations decreased to 150, a drop of eight compared to the previous day.