Police are urging Aucklanders to avoid the temptation of water sports, which would breach lockdown restrictions, as warmer weather starts to set in.It comes after police said they are considering enforcement action against a fisherman…

Victoria's giant observation wheel has become another casualty of COVID-19, with the Melbourne tourist attraction set to be closed permanently.

The directors of Melbourne Star have announced the wheel's operating company, MB Star Properties Pty Ltd, will go into liquidation this week.

Travel restrictions and shutdowns imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic are said to have been the final straw for the company.

READ MORE: Victoria records 246 new COVID-19 cases

"The global COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent travel restrictions and sustained shutdowns, adding to pre-existing challenges of operating amid increased high-rise development and changes in the Docklands area, has made it impossible to sustain the business," the statement from the company reveals.

However, COVID-19 wasn't nearly the first of problems faced by the Docklands tourist attraction.

The 120 metre high structure has been part of Melbourne's skyline for more than 15 years.

But it hasn't been operating for nearly that long, with the wheel only officially opening for business in December 2008 – two years behind schedule.

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It then only ran for 40 days before it had to be closed after cracks appeared in the steel frame.

Melbourne Star was torn down, re-designed and rebuilt and only re-opened close to five years later.

The tourist attraction then left dozens stranded mid-air in 2018 when it came to a sudden halt.

The ride was then brought to a series of stops when Melbourne's COVID-19 lockdowns began in early 2020.

The company has said that prior to the pandemic, Melbourne Star had more than 300,000 visitors every year it was running, with international and interstate tourists making up about 45 per cent of business.

Nearly 10 days after a deadly suicide bombing outside the Kabul airport that left them injured and tore their family apart, 13-year-old Ahmad Faisal and seven-year-old Mina made it to the United States.

Their aunt Ferishta – the family's last name is being withheld to protect their safety – told CNN that the moment she saw the two children, who are being treated at the Walter Reed medical centre outside of Washington, DC, "it was like the best, best day of my life, not only for me, for them as well, because they've been through so much from Kabul to here."

But it was a bittersweet reunion.

READ MORE: Missing toddler AJ found alive on day four of search

Ahmad Faisal and Mina are the only members of their immediate family who have been able to make it to the US.

They, their parents, and their older brother had joined the crowds at the airport in a desperate attempt to leave Afghanistan after the capital fell to the Taliban.

Then there was the explosion – an ISIS-K suicide attack. The family was separated in the chaos.

In the aftermath of the blast, the older brother called his aunt.

"He was very scared," Ferishta recalled.

"And he said, 'Aunt, please tell me what to do. I don't know where I am. And there are guns firing.'"

She instructed him to stay where he was, telling him, "I will find a way to get you out."

The older brother eventually found his father.

But the other two children – Ahmad Faisal and Mina – were unaccounted for.

READ MORE: Afghans who made it out, and those who didn't

Their father spent all night "going from hospital to hospital, searching for them," Ferishta said.

They called everyone they could think of, giving them pictures of the children to help with the search.

Mina and Ahmad Faisal were not in Kabul.

They had been injured, and in the aftermath of the blast they had made it into the airport and onto a plane to Germany with a neighbour, where they were treated at Landstuhl hospital before coming to the US.

Their mother was one of the nearly 200 people who died as a result of the terrorist attack.

The children still don't know that she is dead.

Ferishta, a US citizen, said she is waiting until they are home with her and their grandparents to tell them, but she still doesn't know when that will be.

"I should have my niece and nephew as soon as possible, because they lost their mother, their father and other brother is not with them," she told CNN.

"They are still in shock. They need their families, they need to be around their families."

She is joined in her effort by retired Air Force Lieutenant General John Bradley, who runs the Lamia Afghan Foundation and has worked with Ferishta.

Mr Bradley said he feels "responsible" for what happened to the family, telling CNN last week that "Ferishta asked me to help get them out, so I feel responsible because they were at the airport with documents I had sent."

The family had not been called for a flight, but they were hopeful that the documents would help them get through the airport's Abbey Gate that Thursday.

Just hours before the deadly bombing, the US Embassy in Kabul had warned about security threats outside the gates and that those at Abbey Gate should leave "immediately."

"This mother is dead because I sent documents to try to get this family out of, out of Kabul," Mr Bradley said.

Ferishta, Mr Bradley and his family members had reached out to the White House, State Department and lawmakers in their efforts to get the children from Germany to the US and are now working to get all of the family together with Ferishta in Virginia.

"I will not take any break until I will have them with me and we are reunited, not just only my niece and nephew, but all family, my brother and other nephew as well," she told CNN.

Test your brains with the Herald’s afternoon quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz for the morning quiz tomorrow. To challenge yourself with more quizzes, CLICK HERE.

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A former US Marine outfitted in body armour has fatally shot four people, including a baby, mother and grandmother, at a property outside Lakeland, Florida, early on Sunday morning in what the local sheriff called an "active shooter rampage".

The suspect, identified as Brian Riley, 33, then engaged in a firefight with law enforcement officers before surrendering to authorities, but he later attempted to take a gun from an officer at a hospital, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.

Afterward, deputies found four people dead: a 40-year-old man, a three-month-old baby and the baby's 33-year-old mother inside the home, and the baby's 62-year-old grandmother in a second house on the property, Mr Judd said. The family's dog, Diogi, was also fatally shot, he added.

LIVE UPDATES: Victoria records spike in new infections, most aged under 50

An 11-year-old girl had been shot multiple times and was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital for surgery. She is expected to recover. Another child who had earlier been missing was located alive and well, Mr Judd said.

"This man killed four people this morning, tried to kill our deputies and then gave up," he said.

In an interview with deputies, the suspect described himself as "a survivalist" and confessed to being on methamphetamine, Mr Judd said.

The suspect's girlfriend told authorities that he had been diagnosed with PTSD and had been acting erratically in the past week, saying that he was receiving visions from God, according to the sheriff.

"She said he had PTSD. I've seen him depressed. I've never seen him violent, she said," Mr Judd said. "But a week ago today, meaning last Sunday, he did security at a church in Orlando. And he came home and he said, you know, God spoke to him and now he can talk directly to God. And she said I've never seen that kind of behaviour."

The suspect lives in Brandon, Florida, about 32 kilometres from where the shooting took place. At a press conference on Sunday afternoon, Mr Judd said there did not appear to be any connection between the suspect and the victims, and he struggled to explain why the suspect chose that particular family and property.

"We just know we had a madman with a lot of guns that shot and killed innocent people," he said.

How the shooting unfolded

The quadruple murder began on Saturday evening when a woman called authorities about a suspicious vehicle and said that a man who was parked outside her house told her, "God sent me here to speak with one of your daughters," Mr Judd told reporters on Sunday.

A deputy responded within six minutes and did not find the suspect or the car at the residence, he said.

About nine hours later, at about 4:30am, a deputy three kilometres away heard two volleys of automatic gunfire. Deputies responded and calls reporting an active shooting began coming in as well, the sheriff said.

On arrival, deputies discovered a truck on fire and heard popping noises from the vehicle. A series of glow sticks were laid out on the yard forming a path, Mr Judd said. There, they saw a man wearing camo who quickly fled inside the home. Then they heard disturbing sounds.

"At that moment in time, we heard another volley and a woman scream and a baby whimper," Mr Judd said.

A lieutenant tried to make entry into the front of the house, but it was barricaded. The lieutenant then went to the back of the house and entered and came upon the same suspect, now outfitted in a bulletproof vest, camo, knee protection and head protection, according to the sheriff.

The suspect shot at the lieutenant, who returned fire and retreated out of the house, Mr Judd said. The suspect then started shooting at other deputies, who also returned fire, he said.

There was a period of silence, and then the suspect came out with his hands up, Mr Judd said. The suspect, who had been shot once, was taken into custody.

The suspect was taken to Lakeland Regional Hospital where, at one point, he jumped up and tried to grab an officer's gun, Mr Judd said. He was eventually subdued and is being treated. Mr Judd said the suspect will be booked upon release.

Mr Judd said there were "at least dozens if not hundreds" of rounds fired between the suspect and deputies.

"It was a tough situation and it entailed at least two shootouts in close quarter with the suspect," he said.

Photos posted by the Polk County Sheriff showed the extent of the damage to the home on Sunday morning. A glass door appears completely shattered, two windows and a wall are riddled with bullet holes and a burnt truck sits outside the home.

What we know about the suspect

Riley served four years in the Marines and was honourably discharged, and then he did another three years in the reserve, Mr Judd said. He was deployed to Iraq in 2008 and Afghanistan in 2009-2010 as a designated sharpshooter, the sheriff said.

Riley was employed by ESS Global Corp as a body guard and to provide security, Mr Judd said. He has a concealed weapon's license and virtually no criminal history.

"We're not dealing with a traditional criminal here. What we're dealing with is someone who obviously had mental health issues at least this last week, had PTSD," Mr Judd said.

While in custody, the suspect told deputies that he was a "survivalist," the sheriff said. The term generally refers to a person who proactively prepares for a post-apocalyptic world.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called on all Australians to do more to make women feel safe in the face of domestic violence and sexual assault in a keynote speech which was quick to be criticised by advocates.

Speaking at the Federal Government's National Summit on Women's Safety, Mr Morrison said there had not been enough progress when it came to attitudes towards women.

"Right now, too many Australian women do not feel safe and too often, they are not safe, and that is not okay. There is no excuse, and sorry does not cut it," Mr Morrison told the women's safety summit.

READ MORE: Man to be charged over alleged sexual assault of Brittany Higgins

"As Prime Minister, I have a responsibility. Every Australian has a responsibility. Parents, schools, sports clubs, the media, every government, has a responsibility. And we have to do better and strive to be better."

The women's safety summit was announced earlier this year after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins went public with allegations she was raped in Parliament House in 2019.

Reacting to the prime minister's speech, Ms Higgins accused Mr Morrison of resorting to "platitudes".

https://twitter.com/BrittHiggins_/status/1434680531652780036?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

READ MORE: Former Liberal MP Julia Banks launches scathing attack on Scott Morrison

Ms Higgins said the only reason she was able to be a delegate at the summit was because the ACT Government and the Victims of Crime Commission stepped in to have her invited.

The summit is aimed at helping shape the next national plan to address violence against women and families.

Hundreds of experts, women's advocates and business leaders were expected to gather in Canberra for the summit but the event is now being streamed online because of lockdown.

Mr Morrison said had felt the rage, dread and frustration from women that our culture was not changing in the letters and emails they had sent him.

"We have to talk about the way some men think they own women, about the way some women are subject to disrespect, coercion and violence. This must continue to change. Because if not now, when?"

Criticism of the summit has also come from Australian of the Year and sexual assault survivor Grace Tame who told The Sydney Morning Herald the event was "poorly organised, incredibly secretive, and also very exclusionary".

Ms Tame also took to Twitter to criticise Mr Morrison's speech.

https://twitter.com/TamePunk/status/1434678579485298689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

New South Wales has recorded 1281 new COVID-19 cases and five new deaths in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she has received modelling from health experts that charts the state's path out of lockdown.

Ms Berejiklian said that modelling has shown that the state's intensive care units are likely to experience the peak of COVID-19 patients in early to mid October.

READ MORE: Missing toddler AJ found alive on day four of search

The modelling, which focuses on virus loads across the state's health system, charts how case numbers will affect hospitals and health workers such as paramedics.

NSW has a "surge capacity" of 1550 beds in intensive care units designed to ease the load on the health system.

Dr Nhi Nguyen, who works in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Nepean Hospital, has detailed the preparations ICUs have been making for the Delta strain of the virus.

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https://twitter.com/cokeefe9/status/1434687410772733952

"Earlier this year, we heard about the pandemic coming through India as the Delta wave," Dr Nguyen said.

"And although there was this lull over Christmas, there was all this work being done in the background and since about March or April we have started to ramp that up again.

"And we have been fortunate that none of those plans that we spend working on in 2020 had time to gather dust."

In the past week more than 750,000 NSW residents received a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Ms Berejiklian has said that more than 40 per cent of NSW residents are now double dose vaccinated, while more than 73 per cent have received a single dose. 

She said once the state reaches a 70 per cent double dose vaccination rate, those who are fully vaccinated will likely only interact with others who are also fully vaccinated. 

This will reduce the number of hospitalisations as a result of COVID-19. 

READ MORE: McGowan says Western Australia hard border could extend into 2022

Five more deaths

Ms Berejiklian also extended her sympathies to the families of the five people who died in the past 24 hours.

Among the deaths was a man in his 90s from south-east Sydney, who died at St George Hospital.

He was a resident of St George Aged Care Facility in Bexley and acquired his infection there.

The other deaths include:

• A woman in her 80s from northern Sydney died at Ryde Hospital.
• A woman in her 50s from western Sydney died at Westmead Hospital.
• A woman in her 80s from western Sydney died at Westmead Hospital.
• A man in his 60s from Southern Highlands died at home.

NSW Health said in a statement it extended its deepest sympathies to their loved ones.

There have been 131 COVID-19 related deaths in NSW since 16 June 2021, and 187 in total since the start of the pandemic.

Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan has flagged his state's hard border with the rest of Australia will not be lifted until early next year.

Mr McGowan told Today his goal was for his state to reach full-vaccination levels of 80 to 90 per cent before he'd set a date for the state's reopening.

"That may be two months from then. That would allow everyone who wanted to get vaccinated to get vaccinated," Mr McGowan said.

READ MORE: Missing toddler AJ found alive on day four of search

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WA's vaccination rate is currently one of the lowest in Australia. It is on track to reach 80 per cent double-dose vaccination in early December for people aged 16 and over.

Mr McGowan said the state government's priority was to ensure vulnerable WA residents were fully vaccinated over the coming months.

"We have got to get into some of those communities that have low levels of vaccination, Aboriginal communities, poorer parts of the state."

He said COVID-free states had slower vaccination rates due to not receiving advanced supplies of the jab.

"We supported New South Wales and indeed Victoria and Queensland getting extra supply above their per capita share because they had outbreaks and so vaccinating people more quickly was the right thing to do, but we are going up by about 0.7 percent each and every day," he said.

"As more supply comes on, we will put in place more measures to get more people vaccinated as quickly as we possibly can."

READ MORE: COVID-19 vaccines compulsory for WA health workers

Mr McGowan defended his decision to maintain the hard border, saying that the focus should be on managing outbreaks in states with COVID-19.

"Imagine if it was the other way around and Western Australia was the infected place with thousands of cases and New South Wales or Victoria had none, would they really want to open to us?" he said.

"The answer I think would be no. So we're just doing what is required to keep our people safe."