The mayor of one of New Zealand’s least vaccinated towns has backed a council decision not to require vaccine passes at its pool, libraries, and other public facilities – for now. A post on the Kawerau District Council website said…

Sydney has lost a dining institution, with Marigold in Chinatown serving its final yum cha.

There were long queues and plenty of happy customers at the much-loved Cantonese restaurant opened for the last time.

As reported by 9News, after 39 years, it has fallen victim to COVID-19 — with lockdowns and a lack of tourists and international students hitting the business hard.

READ MORE: Teen rushed to hospital after Sydney dog attack

"With a heavy heart, we announce the closing of Marigold Restaurant," a message on the restaurant's website reads.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we live, work and travel.

"Sadly, it has also hit Marigold's function business and weekday trading. As there are plans to extend the Citymark Building, it is time to say goodbye."

The restaurant's management team brought the first Hong Kong-style Chinese restaurant to Sydney 39 years ago, beginning with the Old Marigold restaurant at 299 Sussex Street in 1982.

READ MORE: Man charged after Western Sydney mayor 'assaulted at polling booth'

They then opened the Regal Restaurant at the corner of Sussex and Liverpool streets in 1986 before opening Marigold Restaurant.

Another nearby restaurant was also almost lost forever due to the pandemic.

But the Golden Century will now reopen after being saved.

Police have launched a homicide investigation after an 18-year-old died following an assault in the early hours of Saturday morning. Police were called to the Countdown carpark on Moorhouse Avenue, Sydenham at about 2am on Saturday…

Some areas in the Lakes are lagging behind in their vaccination rates. Figures from the Ministry of Health show in the Lakes District Health Board as of December 1 seven suburbs were still under the 70 per cent fully vaccinated rate….

Analysis: Back in March, a car fitted out with a loudspeaker was doing laps around Whangārei announcing Covid-19 was fake; a big lie made up by the Government to control people.The pre-recorded message was loud and clear and…

Scores of people have gathered outside New Lynn’s Lone Star restaurant after a social media post asked people to “help businesses say no to segregation”.Lone Star New Lynn had featured in a job advertisement on a “No Jab Jobs” website…

Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will speak in a video call on Tuesday, the White House and Kremlin said, as tensions between the United States and Russia escalate over a Russian troop build-up on the Ukrainian border that's seen as a sign of a potential invasion.

Mr Biden will press US concerns about Russian military activities on the border and "reaffirm the United States' support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Saturday, confirming the planned call after first word came from Moscow.

READ MORE: Vladimir Putin to seek guarantees on Ukraine as invasion fears grow

Mr Putin will come to the call with concerns of his own and intends to express Russia's opposition to any move to admit Ukraine into the NATO military alliance. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "the presidents will decide themselves" how long their talk will last.

The last known call between the leaders was in July, when Mr Biden pressed Mr Putin to rein in Russia-based criminal hacking gangs launching ransomware attacks against the United States.

Mr Biden said the US would take any necessary steps to protect critical infrastructure from such attacks.

Ransomware attacks have continued since then, though perhaps none has been as alarming as the one from May that targeted a major fuel pipeline and resulted in days of gas shortages in parts of the US.

Russia is more adamant than ever that the US guarantees that Ukraine will not be admitted to the NATO military alliance.

But NATO's secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, said this past week that Russia has no say in expansion plans by other countries or the alliance.

READ MORE: Russian navy test-fires hypersonic missile in the White Sea

Numerous former US and NATO diplomats say any such Russian demand to Biden would be a nonstarter.

US intelligence officials, meanwhile, have determined that Russia has massed about 70,000 troops near its border with Ukraine and has begun planning for a possible invasion as soon as early next year, according to a Biden administration official who was not authorized to discuss that finding publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The risks for Mr Putin of going through with such an invasion would be enormous.

US officials and former American diplomats say while the Russian president is clearly laying the groundwork for a possible invasion, Ukraine's military is better armed and prepared today than in the past, and that sanctions threatened by the West would do serious damage to the Russian economy.

"What I am doing is putting together what I believe to be, will be, the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he may do," Biden said on Friday.

Ukrainian officials have said Russia could invade next month.

Ukraine's defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said the number of Russian troops near Ukraine and in Russia-annexed Crimea is estimated at 94,300, and warned that a "large-scale escalation" is possible in January.

Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, recently charged that a group of Russians and Ukrainians planned to attempt a coup in his country and that the plotters tried to enlist the help of Ukraine's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov.

Russia and Akhmetov have denied that any plot is underway, but the Russians have become more explicit recently in their warnings to Ukraine and the United States.

Biden is also expected to speak with Zelenskyy in the coming week, according to a person close to the Ukrainian leader.

This person was not authorised to comment publicly before the announcement of the call and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Kremlin said Friday that Putin, during his call with Biden, would seek binding guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine.

Biden tried to head off the demand in comments to reporters Friday before leaving for a weekend stay at Camp David.

"I don't accept anyone's red line," Biden said.

Psaki said in a brief statement Saturday that Biden and Putin will discuss a range of topics in the U.S.-Russia relationship, "including strategic stability, cyber, and regional issues."

She said Friday that the administration would coordinate with European allies if it moved forward with sanctions.

She alluded to Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that had been under Ukraine's control since 1954. Russia has also backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in a 7-year conflict that has cost over 14,000 lives.

"We know what President Putin has done in the past," Psaki said. "We see that he is putting in place the capacity to take action in short order."

U.S.-Russia relations have been rocky since Biden took office.

His administration has imposed sanctions against Russian targets and called out Putin for the Kremlin's interference in U.S. elections, cyberactivity against American companies and the treatment of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who was poisoned last year and later imprisoned.

When Putin and Biden met in Geneva in June, Biden warned that if Russia crossed certain red lines — including going after major American infrastructure — his administration would respond and "the consequences of that would be devastating."

A thirteen-year-old boy has been rushed to hospital after a dog attack in Sydney.

The teen was bitten at a playground on Hampstead Rd in Homebush West, with officials seizing two dogs after police were called at 3.20pm.

After being treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics, he was taken to Westmead Children's Hospital.

Police have seized a Saint Bernard and Rottweiler and are investigating the incident.

"Officers from Auburn Police Area Command attended and secured two dogs at the scene," NSW Police, said.

"Council rangers have taken possession of the dogs as inquiries into the incident continue."

A 29-year old man has been charged after a Western Sydney mayor was allegedly assaulted at a polling booth.

Police were called to a polling booth at Merrylands Public School on Fowler Road at 5pm yesterday amidst voting for the New South Wales council elections.

Officers were told a 43-year-old man had allegedly been assaulted and threatened by a man.

READ MORE: Full-time lifeguards demanded in NSW national parks amid high drowning rates

The 43-year-old man was Mayor of Cumberland City Council Steve Christou.

"I want to thank all the people concerned about my welfare after I was assaulted outside a polling booth at Merrylands Public School yesterday. I am recovering at home and doing well," he said in a statement.

"As this incident is under police investigation, I am unable to comment further on this matter, however, I will say that yesterday, we saw the ugly side of politics."

Cr Christou said he did not know the alleged attacker and said had done nothing to antagonise him.

"There is never any justification for violence and people should respect each other's views," he said.

Police said a man was arrested at a Merrylands business at 10pm yesterday, and he was charged with common assault.

He was given conditional bail to appear at Fairfield Local Court on Wednesday, January 12.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore claimed an historic fifth straight victory in the election.

First elected in 2004, Clover Moore won around 44 percent of the vote – despite battling a strong field of candidates.

While only 30 percent of the vote has been counted – she and her team are taking it.

Meanwhile, a major crash in an online voting system is being blamed for disenfranchising voters in the local government elections.

The NSW Electoral Commission will waive the fines for eligible voters who tried to use iiVote and couldn't.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has provisionally approved the Pfizer vaccine as safe and effective for use among Australian children aged five to 11-years-old.

Subject to final approvals, the Australian Government expects to start rolling out the vaccine to children from January 10 next year.

The vaccine dose approved by the TGA for children aged 5 to 11 is the same safe and effective vaccine used for other age cohorts, however is one-third the dose approved for those aged 12 and over.

READ MORE: Queensland records seven new COVID-19 infections including one potential Omicron case

Health Minister Greg Hunt said a batch testing team and a TGA team "will be working right through Christmas, right through the New Year" ahead of the provisional rollout date.

"The message for Australians is very clear… Australian children will have access to Pfizer vaccines and it is recommended for children right across Australia," Mr Hunt said.

"It is about keeping our kids safe, keeping our families safe, keeping all Australians safe."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there was plenty of supply and that distribution plans had already been arranged with the states and territories.

"There's plenty of vaccines, there's plenty of opportunities to go and have them," he said.

Mr Morrison said state-run vaccination clinics would continue to operate and that "lots of engagement" with state and territory agencies had occurred to get the roll out "ready to go".

He said parents would have the choice to get their children vaccinated before they returned to school in 2022.

The government expects to receive ATAGI's recommendations on how to incorporate this safe and effective vaccine into the nation's COVID-19 vaccination program over the coming weeks.

Subject to advice from ATAGI, vaccinating the approximately 2.3 million children aged five to 11 in Australia will build on the rapid uptake of vaccination among children aged 12 to 15.

In just 11 weeks, more than 76.6 per cent of this group have had at least one dose of vaccine, with 67.5 per cent having completed their two-dose course of vaccination.

Across the country, 87.9 per cent of Australians aged 16 or over are fully vaccinated. More than 92.8 per cent have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

READ MORE: Australian Parliament House closed after positive COVID-19 case

The TGA's provisional approval of the Pfizer vaccine for five to 11-year-olds was based on a careful evaluation of available data to support its safety and efficacy among this age group.

The vaccine dose approved by the TGA for children aged 5 to 11 is the same safe and effective vaccine used for other age cohorts, however is one-third the dose approved for those aged 12 and over.

The Pfizer vaccine for 5 to 11-year-olds will be distributed to vaccine providers in different packaging to the vaccine approved for people 12 and over, and will be clearly differentiated by being dispensed from orange-capped vials instead of grey or purple capped vials.

As with other age groups, the use of this vaccine in children aged 5-11 years should be given in two doses at least three weeks apart.

TGA Deputy Secretary Professor John Skerritt said the vaccine has been extensively clinically tested.

"It was tested in a trial of almost 2500 children aged five to 11, and in that trial over 1500 received a vaccine," he said.

"The response of the body, the immune response, was identical to that in young adults."

Professor Skerritt said health authorities are confident in the safety of the vaccine.

"More recently, there's actually been results published in one of the world's top three medical journals, the top American medical journal, the New England Journal of Medicine.

"In that journal, the result showed that 91 per cent vaccine efficacy.

"The efficacy is essentially the same in adults as it is in this group, so we're confident in the performance.

"There were no safety signals, as we call them, no safety problems identified in those trials.

"The children had some of the same things that adults get – tiredness, sore arms, headache and so forth – but these tended to be brief and fairly short-lived."

Planning underway

The government said significant planning work has already been undertaken involving the COVID-19 Vaccines Taskforce, the states and territories primary health professionals in relation to how the vaccination rollout will be extended to children in this age group.

It is expected the vaccines would initially be made available through general practices Aboriginal Health Services, community pharmacies and state and territory clinics.

READ MORE: Belgian zoo says its two very runny-nosed hippos have COVID-19

"The Commonwealth government will continue to work closely with vaccine providers and states and territories as a priority to provide the opportunity for children aged five to 11 to receive a first dose of this COVID-19 vaccine in the lead up to and in parallel with school returning in 2022," a government spokesperson said.

"The government has an agreement in place with Pfizer to receive sufficient supply of the paediatric vaccine for the entire population of children aged five to 11 in Australia.

"The first shipment of children's doses are due to arrive in Australia by early January and will undergo the same rigorous batch testing processes in the TGA laboratories as other batches of COVID-19 vaccines."

The TGA is also currently evaluating an application from Moderna for its COVID-19 vaccine to be used in Australia for children aged six to 11 and the government already has supply deals in place to make it available should it be approved by the TGA and recommended by ATAGI.

This two-step TGA and ATAGI assessment and approval process is the same rigorous process followed for all COVID-19 vaccine approvals in Australia.