By Steve Forbes, Local Democracy Reporter Auckland Transport has today rolled out new electric buses that will run on the AirportLink between Manuaku and the Auckland International Airport.The vehicles will be operated by Go Bus…

Warnings of violent political acts in the United States have prompted New Zealand authorities to deploy an online counter-terrorism team.The Department of Internal Affairs is assigning staff to monitor online platforms before, during…

Five people have been injured following a three-car crash on State Highway 2 in the Bay of Plenty, two of them critically.A section of the road will be closed for a few hours as a result of the crash.Police were called to the…

By Meriana Johnsen of RNZ The National Māori Pandemic group has said the protection of Māori will be at the centre of planning for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout.Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā has previously…

South Australia is set to become the first Australian state to launch a satellite into space, with the government and private sector investing $6.5 million into the project.

The small communications and data collection unit is expected to improve services like emergency management, environment and water quality monitoring as well as helping to reduce bushfire impact.

Premier Steven Marshall made the announcement today, saying the initiative will boost SA's space economy and establish them as Australia's "space state".

"South Australia is embarking on a bold mission with industry to design and build a satellite to deliver space-derived services to the state, a venture never undertaken before by any state government," Mr Marshall said.

"Not only will the satellite help us make better decisions for state services, it cements South Australia as the space state."

The mission will be led by SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre and Inovor Technologies, an Adelaide-based manufacturing company, will design and build it.

Planning and development is already underway and the satellite is expected to be ready for launch by around mid 2022.

Summer's hottest weather is set to strike just in time for Australia Day, with temperatures forecast to soar in the coming weekend ahead of January 26.

Weatherzone has reported the southern half of Australia, especially the south-east, will be the worst-affected, as a mass of hot air moves down from Central Australia.

Temperatures are expected to reach the mid-40C range in some areas.

New South Wales

Sydney's east is expected to reach a top range of between 30-33C during the long weekend, but temperatures will near 40C in the west, and Penrith could crack 41C.

Temperatures of 40C or higher are also expected in the west of the state and on the south coast.

Victoria

Melbourne will also dodge the 40C limit, with temperatures predicted to peak at 38C on Sunday.

However, further north, more intense and more extended heat is expected, with Mildura in the north-west forecast to reach 45C on Sunday, along with consecutive days of 40C-plus weather.

South Australia

Adelaide is set for its first 40C day of 2021, with a forecast of 41C on Sunday.

Regions in the north of the state are headed for at least five consecutive days of temperatures topping out in the low- to mid-40C range, Weatherzone reported.

READ MORE: Temperature records broken as Queensland heatwave peaks

Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory are unlikely to be affected by the heatwave.

Brisbane is forecast to reach 30C on Saturday and Sunday, while Darwin will top out at 33C.

In Perth temperatures will be higher with a maximum of 36C, but Eucla in the state's south-east will suffer a heatwave, peaking at 42C on Saturday.

Temperatures in Tasmania's north are expected to hit the mid-30C range.

The Biden administration should brace for a possible wave of domestic right-wing terror attacks, including bombs, drones and shooters, targeting Big Tech headquarters and media, a counter-terror expert has warned.

Dr Allan Orr, a counter-terrorism and insurgency specialist, believes the US may now be spinning dangerously towards insurgency.

If Mr Biden tried to rein in and clamp down on gun rights and the Second Amendment, Dr Orr said that would be a "fait accompli" which could trigger a violent backlash.

READ MORE: Full picture of deadly Capitol riot exposes true horror of rampage

"America at the moment is bordering between insurgency and civil war," Dr Orr told nine.com.au.

"I think over the next four years, you're going to see attacks on Twitter, you're going to see attacks on Facebook, you're going to see attacks on Google headquarters, and you're going to see attacks on CNN."

Big Tech has faced some criticism for de-platforming Donald Trump, who has increasingly drawn the support of far-right and white supremacist groups.

There is real potential, Dr Orr predicted, for the far-right and radical left to clash.

The far-right tended to be more "technically capable" with their attacks, Dr Orr said.

"So what you're going to see is more bombings and active shooters."

READ MORE: FBI urges Capitol rioters to surrender as hundreds face charges

EXPLAINED: What is QAnon? How conspiracy theory led to storming of US Capitol

Dr Orr said right-wing terrorists were well set up to employ "outside the box thinking" for attacks.

A growing distrust of media among the far-right, combined with a perceived attack on free speech, could motivate some individuals or groups to target news organisations, Dr Orr said.

"When you get that together, kind of battle lines are drawn, and these people may take it into their own hands."

Dr Orr said it was dangerously misguided to simply label people who rioted at the US Capitol as "Trump supporters" and that doing so would create counter-terror blind spots.

"They have been called Trump supporters, [but they're] not really Trump supporters. What they are is conservatives."

That "marginalised" group, Dr Orr said, "feel they can't trust the media, they feel they can't trust the incoming government.

"The problem is America has become so polarised."

Security in Washington DC is at an all-time high for Mr Biden's inauguration tomorrow.

Twelve Army National Guard members have been removed from inauguration duty as part of the security vetting process.

Two of the individuals were flagged due to "inappropriate" comments and texts and possible links to extremists.

Contact: ms******@******om.au

FOLLOW: Mark Saunokonoko on Twitter

Another two Australian Open tennis players have tested positive to COVID-19 inside hotel quarantine, Police Minister Lisa Neville has confirmed.

The new cases are in addition to the one infection linked to the tournament included in today's figures.

Ms Neville said she became aware of three positive cases linked to the tennis tournament this morning, which will be included in tomorrow's official figures.

READ MORE: Victoria marks two weeks of zero local coronavirus cases

"One of those is a player who we absolutely believe is shedding but has anyway been in hard lockdown because he came in on a flight where we had positives," she said.

"One is another player and one is a support person with that player."

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will examine the test results closely to determine whether the infections were cases of viral shedding, or active positives.

The players, the support person, as well as their 'bubble' will not be training until authorities confirm the status of the cases, Ms Neville said.

If the cases are active positives, they will be required to remain in hard quarantine in a medi-hotel, as well as their close contacts.

However, the others on the plane would not be forced into a hard lockdown as the cases would not have been infectious whilst onboard.

READ MORE: Tennis Australia CEO defends Novak Djokovic's quarantine wishlist

Two cases of COVID-19 associated with the tournament were reclassified as viral shedding yesterday.

"We had two new cases yesterday, and last night they were deemed both … players who were viral shedding, and recovered non-active cases," Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said.

Mr Tiley has appealed to the Australian Open players holed up in hotel quarantine to be mindful of the hardships the Victorian community have endured during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament director spoke with about 500 players earlier this week, where he worked to build a sense of understanding among the playing group about Victoria's coronavirus landscape, including the hard lockdown Victorians endured for months.

The peace-making attempt saw some players retract their comments and issue apologies for their complaints.

Mr Tiley admitted there had been some "ugly stuff" arise on social media, with a "vocal few" in the tournament group complaining, causing the Victorian community to erupt in outrage.

"I have appealed to the players to keep in mind that the Victorian community have been through a really tough time and we have to respect that," he told 3AW today.

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Ms Neville echoed the tennis chief's view on hotel quarantine, claiming there were no short-cuts or special privileges.

"I think the public are speaking loudly that there are no special entitlements here," she said.

"Quarantine is tough.

"We have had some other 'elite' (what you would call) people in hotel quarantine who you haven't heard from because they've gone on and done what they needed to and knew what was expected of them."

World No.187 Yulia Putintseva, from Kazakhstan, took to Twitter to share how she had mice in her room whilst in hard lockdown inside the five-star Pullman Hotel in Albert Park.

She was eventually permitted to change rooms, but unfortunately the new room had the same issue.

"Different room same story, wanted to go to sleep but noooope!" Putintseva said on Twitter yesterday.

"It's actually a lot of them! Not even 1 in my room now."

Ms Neville said she believed "there may have been some feeding going on with the mice".

"We are doing everything we can to ensure these rooms don't have mice," she said.

"Hopefully that pest control work we did earlier this week has fixed the problem."

President-elect Joe Biden is making a sober entrance to the nation's capital, ready to assume power as America reels from the coronavirus pandemic, soaring unemployment and grave concerns about more violence as he prepares to take the oath of office.

Biden, an avid fan of Amtrak, had planned to take a train into Washington ahead of Wednesday's Inauguration Day, but scratched that plan in the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.

He instead flew into a military airbase just outside the capital on Tuesday afternoon and was set to motorcade into fortress D.C. — a city that's been flooded by some 25,000 National Guard troops guarding a Capitol, White House and National Mall that are wrapped in a maze of barricades and tall fencing.

READ MORE: Joe Biden's inauguration explained including how to watch it in Australia

Shortly before Biden departed for Washington, the U.S. reached another grim milestone in the pandemic, surpassing 400,000 deaths from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University.

"These are dark times," Biden told dozens of supporters in an emotional send-off in Delaware before departing for Washington. "But there's always light."

Biden, who ran for the presidency as a cool head who could get things done, plans to issue a series of executive orders on Day One — including reversing President Donald Trump's effort to leave the Paris climate accord, cancelling his travel ban on visitors from several predominantly Muslim countries, and extending pandemic-era limits on evictions and student loan payments.

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Trump won't attend Biden's inauguration, the first outgoing president to skip the ceremony since Andrew Johnson more than a century and a half ago. Trump remained out of sight in the White House on Tuesday with a bare announced schedule. Aides said he had recorded a farewell message and was consulting with advisers on final-hour pardons and grants of clemency.

Trump plans to depart from Washington on Wednesday morning in a grand airbase ceremony that he helped plan himself.

Biden at his Delaware farewell, held at the National Guard/Reserve Centre named after his late son Beau Biden, paid tribute to his home state. After his remarks, he stopped and chatted with friends and well-wishers in the crowd, much like an Iowa rope line at the start of his long campaign journey.

"I'll always be a proud son of the state of Delaware," said Biden, who struggled to hold back tears as he delivered brief remarks.

https://twitter.com/LexiDaish/status/1351606947510968322

Aides say that Biden's first event in Washington, along with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, will be to take part in an evening ceremony at the Reflecting Pool near the Lincoln Memorial to honour the 400,000 American lives lost to COVID-19.

Inaugural organisers on Monday finished installing some 200,000 small U.S., state and territorial flags on the National Mall, a display to represent the American people who couldn't come to the inauguration, which is restricted under the tight security and Covid restrictions.

READ MORE: The awful tragedies that defined Joe Biden's life

It's also a reminder of all the president-elect faces as he looks to steer the nation through the pandemic with infections and deaths soaring.

Out of the starting gate, Biden and his team are intent on moving quickly to speed up the distribution of vaccinations to anxious Americans and pass his US$1.9 trillion virus relief package, which includes quick payments to many people and an increase in the minimum wage to US$15 an hour.

Biden also plans to unveil a sweeping immigration bill on the first day of his administration, hoping to provide an eight-year path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal status. That would be a major reversal from the Trump administration's tight immigration policies.

But Biden's legislative ambitions could be tempered by the hard truth he faces on Capitol Hill, where Democrats hold narrow majorities in both the Senate and House. His hopes to press forward with an avalanche of legislation in his first 100 days could also be slowed by an impeachment trial of Trump.

As Biden prepared to make his way to Washington, five of his Cabinet picks were appearing on Tuesday before Senate committees to begin confirmation hearings. Treasury nominee Janet Yellen, Defence nominee Lloyd Austin, Homeland Security nominee Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken and Director of National Intelligence nominee Avril Haines were being questioned.

Yellen at her confirmation hearing urged lawmakers to embrace Biden's virus relief package, arguing that "the smartest thing we can do is act big."

Aides say Biden will use Wednesday's inaugural address — one that will be delivered in front of an unusually small in-person group because of virus protocols and security concerns and is expected to run 20 to 30 minutes — to call for American unity and offer an optimistic message that Americans can get past the dark moment by working together. To that end, he extended invitations to Congress' top four Republican and Democratic leaders to attend Mass with him at St. Matthew's Cathedral ahead of the inauguration ceremony.

As Biden presses bipartisanship, he's also facing pressure from his left to go big right away, with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party calling on Senate Democrats to help by doing away with the chamber's filibuster.

"We are glad President-elect Biden is ready to start addressing the desperate needs of the American people and put forth a Covid aid proposal which begins to address the many issues we face," the progressive groups Justice Democrats, Sunrise Movement and New Deal Strategies wrote in a memo on Monday. "We hope ten Senate Republicans will support it, but are not holding our breath. The big question is, what happens when Republicans block Biden?"

Ahead of Biden's arrival, 12 U.S. Army National Guard members were removed from the presidential inauguration security mission after they were found to have ties with right-wing militia groups or posted extremist views online, according to two U.S. officials. There was no threat to President-elect Joe Biden, they said.

The officials, a senior intelligence official and an Army official briefed on the matter, did not say which fringe group the Guard members belonged to or what unit they served in. The officials were not authorised to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Warning: Distressing content The counsel for a Clinton man accused of sexually abusing three young girls has suggested to one that it was all in her head.The complainant told the jury at the Dunedin District Court trial yesterday…