By RNZ Due to the current Delta outbreak the Government has introduced a $1 million fund aimed at community projects to support youth mental health in Auckland and Northland, Health Minister Andrew Little announced today.”We…

The Australian Capital Territory has recorded 13 new local cases of COVID-19.

Of those, eight were in isolation throughout their infectious period and all have been linked to existing cases or clusters.

A total of 3650 tests were conducted on Saturday.

READ MORE: NSW records 1218 COVID-19 cases, six further deaths

"We again note there are low wait times across our many testing clinics in the ACT, so please come forward for testing if you have any symptoms," ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said.

There are currently 250 cases linked to the territory's outbreak, 20 of whom have since recovered, bringing the active case tally to 230.

More than 223,000 ACT residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine as of yesterday afternoon.

That equates to 65 per cent of the population aged 16 years plus and 61.5 per cent of the population aged 12 and over.

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There are more than 141,000 ACT residents fully vaccinated, representing 41.2 per cent of the population aged over 16, and 39 per cent of the population aged over 12.

Mr Barr said that overall compliance with public health orders had been high.

He said that ACT police have conducted 526 traffic stops and issued 17 directions to leave the territory. Police have received 88 compliance complaints and issued two cautions following investigating those complaints.

There are currently 10 people were in hospital with COVID-19, four are under 14-years-old and all are unvaccinated.

READ MORE: Victoria extends lockdown beyond September 2 as state records 92 new local COVID-19 cases

ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said the number of people identified as close contacts has dramatically reduced in the last week.

"Since our last update, we have had just over 800 self identified close contacts," Dr Coleman said.

"So, this number has dramatically come down from a peak last week of somewhere over 18,000.

"There are now over 3000 casual contacts. We have 191 current exposure locations dispersed across the ACT."

There are now five cases linked to the Merchant Indian Restaurant, which has been upgraded to a close contact site.

Dr Coleman said that testing numbers had been high on Saturday, while thanking residents for continually coming forward.

The US State Department is urging all Americans in the vicinity of the Afghanistan's Kabul airport to leave the area immediately because of a specific, credible threat.

The warning early on Sunday morning (local time) says US citizens should avoid travelling to the airport and avoid all airport gates at this time.

It specifically noted the South (Airport Circle) gate, the new Ministry of the Interior, and the gate near the Panjshir Petrol station on the northwest side of the airport.

READ MORE: What is ISIS-K? Behind the group suspected of Kabul attack

A suicide bombing at the airport on Thursday killed at least 169 Afghans and 13 US service members.

It comes as US President Joe Biden vowed to keep up airstrikes against the Islamic extremist group responsible for the attack.

He warned another attack was "highly likely" and the State Department called the threat "specific" and "credible."

The Pentagon said the remaining contingent of US forces at the airport, now numbering fewer than 4000, had begun their final withdrawal ahead of Mr Biden's deadline for ending the evacuation on Tuesday.

After getting briefed on a US drone mission in eastern Afghanistan that the Pentagon said killed two members of the Islamic State group's Afghanistan affiliate early Saturday, Mr Biden said the extremists can expect more.

READ MORE: US drone strike kills two Islamic State members in Afghanistan

"This strike was not the last," Mr Biden said in a statement. "We will continue to hunt down any person involved in that heinous attack and make them pay." He paid tribute to the "bravery and selflessness" of the American troops executing the hurried airlift of tens of thousands from Kabul airport, including the 13 US service members who were killed in Thursday's suicide bombing at an airport gate.

The evacuation proceeded as tensions rose over the prospect of another IS attack. The State Department issued a new security alert early on Sunday morning Kabul time instructing people to leave the airport area immediately "due to a specific, credible threat."

"Our commanders informed me that an attack is highly likely in the next 24-36 hours," Mr Biden said, adding that he has instructed them to take all possible measures to protect their troops, who are securing the airport and helping bring onto the airfield Americans and others desperate to escape Taliban rule.

The remains of the 13 American troops were on their way to the United States, the Pentagon said. Their voyage marked a painful moment in a nearly 20-year American war that cost more than 2,400 US military lives and is ending with the return to power of a Taliban movement that was ousted when US forces invaded in October 2001.

The Pentagon released the names of those killed — 11 Marines, one Navy sailor and one Army soldier. Twelve of them were in the 20s; some were born in 2001, the year America's longest war began. The oldest was 31.

They were the first US service members killed in Afghanistan since February 2020, the month the Trump administration struck an agreement with the Taliban in which the militant group halted attacks on Americans in exchange for a US agreement to remove all troops and contractors by May 2021. Mr Biden announced in April that the 2500 to 3000 troops who remained would be out by September, ending what he has called America's forever war.

Australian bushrangers have a habit of conjuring romantic reputations after their desperate careers.

From Ned Kelly to Captain Thunderbolt, the English tradition of the dashing highwayman was transplanted to the Australian scrub with the colonists, posthumously polishing a number of truly violent criminals to a folk-hero shine.

But as large as Ned's helmeted shadow looms over colonial folklore, even he was hard-pressed to match a character largely forgotten now, whose execution was accompanied by tears and pleas for leniency, and who spent his last days in a jail cell surrounded by gifts of food and wine.

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"Gentleman" Brady, they say, died more like a martyr than a killer. But he was certainly the latter.

Matthew Brady and his gang were one of colonial Tasmania's early outlaw scourges, roaming the countryside of what was then still called Van Diemen's Land from 1824-1826, some 60 years before Kelly's execution placed an emphatic full-stop on the bushranger era.

Brady's reputation gave rise to his nickname. He was supposedly a courteous man, unfailingly polite to women and swiftly retributive towards any of his gang who behaved otherwise.

Though it has been speculated that Brady was nobly born or at least well-educated, the Australian Dictionary of Biography, as published by Australian National University, reports a more prosaic origin story. Matthew Brady was born in 1799 in England and in 1820, was sentenced to seven years' transportation for stealing a basket, some butter, bacon, sugar and rice.

Brady spent four years as a convict, first in New South Wales and then in Van Diemen's Land. In this time he suffered a total of 350 lashes for repeated escape attempts and other misdemeanours.

It's reported that at the same time, he developed a perhaps unsurprising dislike of "redcoats", or soldiers.

In 1823, with a reputation as a troublesome individual, Brady was sent to the new penal station of Macquarie Harbour in Van Diemen's Land, a destination for repeat offenders.

Finding the conditions here even less to his liking, Brady and a group of fellow inmates contrived to escape their bondage in 1824, taking a boat and fleeing around the south coast to the Derwent River.

Prospects being slim for escaped convicts, Brady and his followers spent the next two years as bushrangers, fighting a number of battles with soldiers and robbing homesteads. Their most famous exploit was the capture of the town of Sorrell, when they disarmed the garrison (one soldier was wounded and later had to have his arm amputated) and took control of the settlement for the night.

It was this incident that prompted Lieutenant Governor George Arthur to post a reward for Brady's capture. Initially £25, it grew to £100 – or 300 acres of land. In turn, Brady posted a bounty on Sir George, promising "20 gallons of rum" to anybody who could bring him to the Gentleman.

Audacity aside, Brady remained a criminal. The only known murder of his career – outside of gun battles with troopers – came in March, 1826. Reports at the time stated that Brady had previously been lured into a trap by settler Tom Kenton and even briefly captured, before escaping. Kenton paid for that with his life when Brady paid him another visit.

Days after that killing, Brady, perhaps thinking the island had become too hot for him, captured a boat the gang intended to sail to the Australian mainland. Clement weather might have meant a new start for the bushrangers, but Bass Strait was stormy, and the gang was forced to turn back – thereby sealing their doom.

Part of the longstanding reward for Brady's capture had been a pardon for any convict who effected it, and authorities even induced "escaped" convicts to join the gang with a view to betraying the renegade later. Ultimately it was a gang member named Cowan who saw which way the wind was blowing, and he elected to turn on his boss.

READ MORE: Moment burial place of explorer Matthew Flinders, was found in London

Thanks to Cowan's secret information, a troop of 14 soldiers and four armed prisoners were able to bring Brady's gang to bay south of Launceston. It was the gang's last battle – the outlaws broke and fled, while Brady was wounded in the leg.

He nonetheless managed to escape with four compatriots, before he was caught by none other than Batman.

Well, John Batman, anyway – a grazier, bushranger hunter and founder of Batmania on the Victorian coast, a settlement that would become Melbourne.

Batman caught up with the injured Brady, now alone, on April 1, 1826. Calling on him to surrender, Batman identified himself.

The exact words of Brady's response are disputed but they appear to be well-in keeping with his reputation.

"My time is come," he is reported to have said. "I yield to you because you're a brave man."

Batman delivered Brady to jail in Launceston on April 27. Brady and another captured member of his gang, Patrick Bryant, pleaded guilty to horse theft and to the murder of Thomas Kenton.

Brady and Bryant were transferred to Hobart to await execution. Brady's reputation preceded him, and there was a flood of gifts to him in his cell – wine, flowers, and other treats, supposedly chiefly from the women of the colony.

Petitions to avert Brady's execution were unsuccessful, and he went to the gallows alongside four other bushrangers, including Bryant, on May 4, 1826, just 26 or 27 years old.

The crowds who gathered to watch refused to cheer at Brady's execution, while he – perhaps determined not to depart without some final gesture – made it known he was not happy to be hanged alongside one of his gallows-mates, Thomas Jeffries.

Jeffries was a killer, a cannibal, and a violent sexual offender. Brady had good reason to be well-acquainted with Jeffries' crimes – the latter had run with Brady's gang for a while before the Gentleman kicked him out due to his loathsome behaviour towards women.

Additionally, Jeffries – also apprehended by Batman, though some months before Brady's capture – had turned informant in custody, news of which supposedly enraged Brady so much that he had to be talked out of breaking Jeffries out of jail purely to kill him.

Brady's public distaste for the man notwithstanding, they were hanged together. Brady was buried in the Old Roman Catholic Cemetery in Hobart.

Gentleman Brady's renown has diminished, but in his time he was recognised as the most notorious bushranger among the hundreds that plagued Tasmania in the 1820s. A popular picnic spot overlooking the Tamar River, Brady's Lookout, still bears his name.

According to the World Health Organisation, there are 13 destinations across the world that have reported zero cases of COVID-19.

New Zealand has recorded 83 new cases of COVID-19 in the community, the worst day of the Delta Outbreak yet.

And Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has hinted that level 4 could get even stronger to stamp Delta out.

All but one of the new cases is in Auckland. One case was in Wellington, but was a close contact of an existing case, who was already isolating.

READ MORE: NSW records 1218 COVID-19 cases, six further deaths

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This followed 82 new cases recorded on Saturday, one of the worst days of New Zealand's pandemic so far.

The outbreak is now at 511 cases, easily New Zealand's largest yet.

Around 32,000 contacts of existing cases have been identified across 475 locations of interest.

New case numbers have continued to stay high well over a week after the level 4 lockdown was brought into effect.

These new cases were identified through around 29,000 tests taken on Saturday.

Ms Ardern said the Government was seeking more information on how many of the infections were happening outside of households under level 4.

She said over half of the 82 new cases reported on Saturday were household contacts of existing cases.

She said four essential workplaces had seen some level of transmission.

"If we need to tighten up our restrictions further we will," Ms Ardern said.

The outbreak appears to be contained within Auckland, with Sunday's case the first in Wellington in several days. All but one of those Wellington cases were either infected in Auckland or in their own household.

New Zealand south of Auckland is set to go into level 3 on Tuesday at 11.59pm, with Auckland possibly remaining in a level 4 lockdown for another two weeks.

This story originally appeared on Stuff.co.nz and has been republished with permission

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is urging students and staff at AUT to be “especially mindful” of locations of interest as the sub-cluster grows to 20 cases.Ardern and director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield revealed 83 new…

Victoria has recorded 92 new local cases of COVID-19 in the last day, 61 of whom have been linked to existing infections.

More than 51,000 tests were conducted on top of 31,000 vaccinations administered.

Premier Daniel Andrews thanked Victorians who had come forward for a jab, however, he said that there are still far too many cases to be able to leave lockdown on time as planned on September 2nd.

READ MORE: Victoria calls for more vaccines as demand outstrips supply

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Mr Andrews stopped short on announcing for how long exactly the lockdown will be extended, but said another update will come later in the week.

"Essentially we see far too many cases today for us to be able to seriously consider opening up later on this week," he said.

"Obviously, with almost 100 cases today where many of them remain mysteries, many of them were out in the community during their infectious period, it is not going to be possible for us to be able to open up our Victorian community in just a couple of day's time.

"We will, however, look at all the different options. We don't have advice yet from the Chief Health Officer as to what is possible, what is safe. Later on this week, as soon as we get that advice an decisions are made we will announce them."

Mr Andrews implored residents not to attend work if they feel ill, saying that they will be compensated by the government if they require time off.

READ MORE: NSW records 1218 COVID-19 cases, six further deaths

"If you have symptoms for days and days and you convince yourself that it is not coronavirus and that you can safely ignore those symptoms, only to then go and get tested, the chances are it is almost certain you will have infected everybody in your household," he said.

"Now, if getting tested and then isolating for 24 hours while you get the results – and something like 97-98 per cent of test results are back the following day.

"If you are going to miss a shift, if you are not going to be able to work because you are doing the right thing by all of us and you don't have sick leave or annual leave to fall back on, if you are a casual worker, then we will give you $450 no questions asked. We will make those payments very quickly."

There are currently 773 active cases of COVID-19 across the state and of those, 300 are under 20-years-old.

COVID-19 Commander Jeroen said that 171 of the state's active cases are under the age of 10, 131 in their teens and there are roughly 300 between the ages of 20 and 39.

"So the vast majority of cases continue to be amongst the younger members of the society and I particularly appeal to those people in their 20s and 30s, this virus is very active in your age group at this point in time, permitted workers, authorised workers, please be mindful of any symptoms you have and any contact to exposure sites you may have," he said.

"In terms of key clusters of activity, in Shepparton, we now have 94 cases in total, and we have across 37 different households."

Today's update comes after Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley yesterday called on the federal government to send more coronavirus vaccines to the state.

"What we really need is the supply to meet demand now," Mr Foley said.

"We will continue to ask the Commonwealth for more supply because we know that, with every dose of Pfizer, with every dose of AstraZeneca, that we will end up with more Victorians doing their part sooner to get us out of this pandemic."

READ MORE: The real origin of COVID: did it leak from a lab?

Sixty percent of cases currently active in Victoria are under the age of 30, and there almost 150 cases in children younger than 10.

More than half of the Victorians in hospital with coronavirus are under the age of 50, including one infant.

Yesterday the state recorded 64 new local COVID-19 cases and a record 35,753 jabs.

The Prime Minister has acknowledged the “hugely unsettling” impact positive Covid cases and the lockdown are having on people’s mental health.It was okay to feel frustrated, and there were places to go for help, Jacinda Ardern said…

NSW has recorded 1218 new COVID-19 cases overnight and six further deaths.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the majority of these cases are in Sydney's south-west and west.

She said vaccination rates, however, are continuing to climb, and in one week, health officials administered 834,000 jabs.

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"It is an outstanding result. It has broken all our records," Ms Berejiklian said.

"And I can't thank everybody enough for coming forward to get vaccinated. As a result, 65 per cent of our population have had at least one dose and 35 per cent of our population is fully vaccinated.

"So we are halfway to that magic 70 per cent number across the state in order to have those extra freedoms."

Ms Berejiklian said that number is looking likely to "land" during October.

"But the next big target but I want us to achieve as a status to that 70 per cent single dose vaccination, because then we will have confidence as to when we are going to learn that double dose."

Yesterday NSW recorded 1035 new locally-acquired cases, so this makes today's case the highest in the state since the pandemic began.

The deaths included three people in their 80s and three people in their 70s.

Ms Berejiklian said four of them were unvaccinated and two of them had had one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"So again, we extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of those six individuals," she said.

NSW Health's Dr Jeremy McAnulty said there are large numbers of people in the state's hospitals with COVID-19.

"There are 813 people admitted at the moment with COVID in NSW hospitals, including 126 in intensive care and 54 who required ventilation," Dr McAnulty said.

"The vaccine is great, we know it is around 90 per cent if you are fully vaccinated, of protecting from severe disease, hospitalisation and death. But it is not perfect, it is not 100 per cent.

"So unfortunately we do get breakthrough infection sometimes, even in people who have had to doses. But it is uncommon and we are seeing most people having had no vaccine, or perhaps just one."

Earlier this week, Ms Berejiklian signalled increased freedoms for fully-vaccinated residents on September 13.

READ MORE: More freedoms for fully vaccinated in NSW: What you need to know

From September 13, households living in the NSW government's LGAs of concern will be allowed to spend an additional hour of recreation outdoors, as long as all adults in the household are fully vaccinated.

This is on top of the already-permitted hour of exercise, meaning households will be able to visit a park.

However, people must take this hour within the current and ongoing curfew hours, which will continue.

Outside the LGAs of concern, through the rest of Greater Sydney and regional NSW, five people will be allowed to gather outdoors, as long as all adults are fully vaccinated.

READ MORE: 'Diabolically low': Grave concerns over vaccination rates among Indigenous

It comes as the government tries several strategies to boost vaccination rates across the state as residents await another month in lockdown.

Dubbed "Super Sunday", Sydney's main vaccination hub at Homebush has begun offering sporting merchandise to residents who arrive to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.

Weddings to recommence

Health Minister Brad Hazzard yesterday announced that weddings will be allowed in NSW once again.

READ MORE: Victoria records 92 new local COVID-19 cases

From 12.01am this coming Friday, weddings will be permitted provided that they are limited to no more than five guests.

"Obviously, the circumstances in New South Wales are such that while we are seeing massive vaccination numbers, we are also seeing substantial cases, and for a number of weeks now, we have had no capacity for people to get married," Mr Hazzard said.

"A decision has been taken that in a balanced sense, we have to be able to allow people who want to get married to get married.

"So as from 12.01am Friday this coming week, couples who wish to marry will be able to marry, but with minimal guests in attendance, so there will be five guests allowed in addition to those who obviously will be necessary for the actual service, so those officiating and perhaps a photographer to record the event, we will work through that during the course of the week."