President Donald Trump is on the verge of being impeached for a second time in an unprecedented House vote Wednesday, a week after he encouraged a mob of loyalists to "fight like hell" against election results just before they stormed the US Capitol in a deadly siege.

The House chaplain opened the session with a prayer for "seizing the scales of justice from the jaws of mob-ocracy".

"We are debating this historic measure at a crime scene," said Democrat Jim McGovern.

Security is exceptionally tight, beefed up by armed National Guard troops, with secure perimeters set up around the Capitol complex and metal-detector screenings required for lawmakers entering the House chamber.

READ MORE: Malcolm Turnbull lashes Donald Trump over Capitol Building riot

While Trump's first impeachment in 2019 brought no Republican votes in the House, a small but significant number of leaders and lawmakers are breaking with the party to join Democrats, saying Trump violated his oath to protect and defend US democracy.

The stunning collapse of Trump's final days in office, against alarming warnings of more violence ahead by his followers, leaves the nation at an uneasy and unfamiliar juncture before Democrat Joe Biden is inaugurated January 20.

"If inviting a mob to insurrection against your own government is not an impeachable event, then what is?" said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a drafter of the article of impeachment.

Trump, who would become the only US president twice impeached, faces a single charge of "incitement of insurrection."

The four-page impeachment resolution relies on Trump's own incendiary rhetoric and the falsehoods he spread about Biden's election victory, including at a White House rally on the day of the January 6 attack on the Capitol, in building its case for high crimes and misdemeanours as demanded in the Constitution.

Trump took no responsibility for the riot, suggesting it was the drive to oust him rather than his actions around the bloody riot that was dividing the country.

"To continue on this path, I think it's causing tremendous danger to our country, and it's causing tremendous anger," Trump said Tuesday, his first remarks to reporters since last week's violence.

A Capitol police officer died from injuries suffered in the riot, and police shot and killed a woman during the siege. Three other people died in what authorities said were medical emergencies. Lawmakers had to scramble for safety and hide as rioters took control of the Capitol and delayed by hours the last step in finalising Biden's victory.

READ MORE: The reasons for and against impeaching Donald Trump

The outgoing president offered no condolences for those dead or injured, only saying, "I want no violence."

At least five Republican lawmakers, including third-ranking House GOP leader Liz Cheney of Wyoming, were unswayed by the president's logic. The Republicans announced they would vote to impeach Trump, cleaving the Republican leadership, and the party itself.

"The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack," said Cheney in a statement. "There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution."

Unlike a year ago, Trump faces impeachment as a weakened leader, having lost his own reelection as well as the Senate Republican majority.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is said to be angry at Trump, and it's unclear how an impeachment trial would play out. In the House, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California, a top Trump ally, scrambled to suggest a lighter censure instead, but that option crumbled.

So far, Republican Reps. John Katko of New York, a former federal prosecutor; Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, an Air Force veteran; Fred Upton of Michigan; and Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington state announced they, too, would join Cheney to vote to impeach.

READ MORE: Pence won't invoke 25th amendment to remove Trump

The House tried first to push Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to intervene, passing a resolution Tuesday night calling on them to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to remove Trump from office. The resolution urged Pence to "declare what is obvious to a horrified Nation: That the President is unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his office."

Pence made it clear he would not do so, saying in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, that it was "time to unite our country as we prepare to inaugurate President-elect Joe Biden."

Debate over the resolution was intense after lawmakers returned the Capitol for the first time since the siege.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, argued that Trump must go because, as she said in Spanish, he's "loco" — crazy.

In opposition, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said the "cancel culture" was just trying to cancel the president. He said the Democrats had been trying to reverse the 2016 election ever since Trump took office and were finishing his term the same way.

While House Republican leaders are allowing rank and file lawmakers to vote their conscience on impeachment, it's far from clear there would then be the two-thirds vote in the evenly divided Senate needed to convict and remove Trump. Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania joined Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska over the weekend in calling for Trump to "go away as soon as possible."

READ MORE: Investigation after manatee found with Trump on its back

With just over a week remaining in Trump's term, the FBI warned ominously of potential armed protests by Trump loyalists ahead of Biden's inauguration. Capitol Police urged lawmakers to be on alert.

With new security, lawmakers were required to pass through metal detectors to enter the House chamber, not far from where Capitol police, guns drawn, had barricaded the door against the rioters. Some Republican lawmakers complained about the screening.

Biden has said it's important to ensure that the "folks who engaged in sedition and threatening the lives, defacing public property, caused great damage — that they be held accountable."

Fending off concerns that an impeachment trial would bog down his first days in office, the president-elect is encouraging senators to divide their time between taking taking up his priorities of confirming his nominees and approving COVID-19 relief while also conducting the trial.

The impeachment bill draws from Trump's own false statements about his election defeat to Biden. Judges across the country, including some nominated by Trump, have repeatedly dismissed cases challenging the election results, and former Attorney General William Barr, a Trump ally, has said there was no sign of widespread fraud.

Like the resolution to invoke the 25th Amendment, the impeachment bill also details Trump's pressure on state officials in Georgia to "find" him more votes and his White House rally rant to "fight like hell" by heading to the Capitol.

While some have questioned impeaching the president so close to the end of his term, there is precedent. In 1876, during the Ulysses Grant administration, War Secretary William Belknap was impeached by the House the day he resigned, and the Senate convened a trial months later. He was acquitted.

Health authorities are baffled by how the highly contagious UK strain of coronavirus spread through a quarantine hotel in Brisbane, which led to more than 100 guests being urgently evacuated yesterday.

"Was it in the air conditioning? Was it movement? Was it picking up something? We just don't know those answers yet," Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said as she sounded the alarm yesterday.

Investigations into the transmission come after four guests and a cleaner at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, on the seventh floor at different times, all contracted the UK strain of the virus.

https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1349166716081770496?s=20

READ MORE: Interstate hotel visitors ordered to lock down after COVID-19 cases

More than 100 people in quarantine at the hotel were blindsided as a fleet of ambulances queued to transfer them to another facility yesterday.

"We don't know when we're going, where we're going, how we're going," Paul Atta, a quarantining traveller, told 9News.

"I don't know what's going on."

The infection fears meant the quarantine period restarts for all of those moved, meaning some people will now spend up to four weeks alone in a small room.

Mr Atta was due to end his quarantine on Friday before the restart button was hit yesterday.

"You've got a strain of the virus that miraculously, at the moment, seems to just float through walls," he said.

"And if that's the case then perhaps people need to start rethinking the value of hotel quarantining."

The Brisbane drama has put other states on high alert, raising concern of how the virus could breach hotel quarantine and fearing people may have returned interstate after completing a quarantine period at the hotel in question.

READ MORE: Urgent warning for NSW residents who quarantined in Brisbane hotel

Victorian and NSW authorities have both ordered anybody who has already completed 14 days of quarantine at the Grand Chancellor since December 30 to self-isolate and get tested immediately.

People affected have been asked to put up their hand and give NSW Health call urgently on 1300 066 055 or Queensland Health on 134 268 for further advice.

Queensland Local Government Areas of Greater Brisbane, Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Redlands, Logan, Ipswich remain in the red zone, meaning travel to Victoria is not permitted without an exemption or worker permit.

Three people drowned in three separate incidents in a tragic day in Victoria.

Lifesaving Victoria director Kane Treloar said the triple tragedy was heartbreaking for lifeguards and the families destroyed by the deaths.

"It breaks our hearts to have three tragic drownings in one day; three families that will never be the same again," Mr Treloar said on Twitter.

A woman in her 20s died last night while attempting to rescue a young teenage girl struggling in the water at Venus Bay, about 170km south of Melbourne, Victoria Police said.

https://twitter.com/9NewsMelb/status/1349250814745874434?s=20

The teenager was spotted struggling in the water about 7.30pm when a number of people went to assist her — including the woman, who was later pulled from the water by an off-duty lifeguard after she "got into difficulty", Victoria Police said in a statement.

The woman was given CPR but died at the scene.

The teenage girl made it safely to shore where she was checked by ambulance crews.

"A report will be prepared for the Coroner and the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident is ongoing," police said.

Two deaths 20km apart on Mornington Peninsular

A man in his 80s died after being pulled from the water at Rye front beach about 4pm in Tootgarook, about 100km south of Melbourne.

It came shortly after emergency services were called to Bushrangers Bay at Flinders, about 20km further south, after people were swept off the rocks and found themselves in distress in the ocean.

It is believed four people were swept off rocks about 3.30pm, police said. Two members of the public entered the water to assist.

https://twitter.com/KaneTreloar/status/1349321238401802247?s=20

One woman died at the scene. The five others were rescued and taken to hospital. Their condition is unknown.

Four helicopters were dispatched to the scene including two life-saving choppers and police air wing that scoured the ocean for any sign of the people.

A large contingent of police cars cars and ambulances were are at Bushrangers Bay this afternoon.

A report on both drownings will be prepared for the Coroner.

'Our team will be back'

There were other incidents on Wednesday.

A child is in a critical condition after being rescued at Lysterfield Lake in Narrewarren, 38km southeast of Melbourne, in the afternoon.

A young woman was resuscitated after being pulled from the water at Port Phillip Bay, at the eastern portion north of the Mornington Peninsula.

Mr Treloar said lifesavers would return to their duty today but called on the public to play their part.

https://twitter.com/VictoriaPolice/status/1349331047490719745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"We're committed to reducing drownings, and our team will be back out tomorrow; but we need you to do your part," he said.

He urged swimmers to "know your limitations, never underestimate the water, have a way to call for help, never swim alone."

"Don't drink and drown, learn how to identify a rip, speak to lifeguards and if unsure Swim between the flags."

https://twitter.com/9NewsMelb/status/1349260342866685952

A Sydney man who was seriously ill with advanced melanoma has made a remarkable recovery after receiving a drug reserved for breast and ovarian cancer.

Charles Hanna had exhausted all treatments for his cancer, but tumours in his upper abdomen have now vanished.

His world-first case has prompted the Melanoma Institute to run a new clinical trial.

READ MORE: Skin checks decrease by almost 50 percent in Victoria thanks to COVID

"I was getting sicker by the day," Mr Hanna said.

The 77-year-old required major surgery after melanoma spread to his brain and other parts of his body.

Life-saving immunotherapy drugs didn't work and his health quickly deteriorated.

Professor Anthony Joshua of the Kinghorn Cancer Centre said Mr Hanna had needed help walking.

"His memory was poor, and there were significant concerns about his health at that time," he said.

READ MORE: Cancer patient's 'Benjamin Button' recovery after new treatment

Molecular testing revealed Mr Hanna had a genetic mutation called PALB2, part of the family of mutations linked to breast and ovarian cancers.

So doctors tried Lynparza, a drug approved for those diseases.

"It's very pleasing to see how much the melanomas have shrunk and stayed shrunk for at least six months now," Professor Joshua said.

The drug exploits a weakness in the tumour's DNA, blocking the cancer's ability to repair any damage.

"As far as we know, Charles is one of the first five people in the world who's had their melanoma treated with these breast cancer and ovarian cancer drugs," Professor Joshua said.

The Melanoma Institute trial continues.

A $1 million reward is on offer for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the murder of a Victorian grandmother on New Year's Eve in 1987.

The cold case remains unresolved more than 30 years on, with Ballarat grandmother Kathleen Severino last seen alive on the front porch of her Drummond Street home about 7.55pm on December 31.

The next day, Ms Severino's daughter Glenda found the 70-year-old dead in her bedroom, savagely assaulted and suffering fatal head injuries.

The house appeared to be ransacked, leaving detectives scratching their heads as nothing seemed to be stolen.

Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper said investigators were confident the murder was a result of a burglary gone wrong.

"In all probability, Kathleen had heard that burglary occurring and was in the process of going to see what happened … and was unfortunately subjected to a horrendous bashing," he said.

Investigators believe Ms Severino was murdered sometime between the hours of 10.30pm and 11.30pm.

Heartbroken daughter Glenda told reporters today her mum was constantly on her mind and the family still grappled to come to terms with her death.

"It's still hard to believe that mum's gone," she said.

"It's broken us up as a family. She's missed out on so much in our family since she's been gone.

"There is no way mum can be at peace. I don't know that we could ever move on."

Detective Inspector Stamper said police would leave no stone unturned to get closure for Ms Severino's family, boosting the reward to $1 million.

"We know people who commit, or are part of, horrific crimes such as these will often disclose their actions to someone," he said.

"For that reason, detectives are putting a $1 million reward on the table for information that allows us to identify, arrest and convict those responsible for the murder of Kathleen Severino.

"While 34 years have passed since Kathleen's murder, that doesn't mean it's too late for her family to get the justice they deserve.

"We absolutely believe this case is solvable."

Glenda pleaded for anyone in the community with information to come forward so they could bring her mother's killer to justice.

"A person should be safe in their own home," she said.

"There is no way mum can be at peace. I don't know that we could ever move on."

A witness reported seeing a man and a woman in the vicinity of the woman's home around the time.

A 19-year-old man was charged with Ms Severino's murder in July 1990.

However, the charges were withdrawn before the matter went to trial after a witness revoked their evidence.

The man previously charged died in 2017 as a result of a medical incident.

But the man and one of his former associates remain persons of interest in the investigation, which the Homicide Squad have reviewed several times over the past 30 years.

Detectives also believe it is possible those responsible for the woman's death may be yet to be identified.

"Despite the decades that have passed there is every reason to believe someone out there today knows what happened to Kathleen and who is responsible," Detective Inspector Stamper said.

Anyone with information that could assist investigators is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

A woman in France has spent three years trying to prove she is, in fact, alive, after a court declared her dead in 2017.

Jeanne Pouchain hasn't been able to get a drivers license, open bank accounts or get health insurance because she has no official paperwork.

"I'm nothing," Mrs Pouchain told local media.

The 58-year-old from Saint-Joseph, near Lyon, blames a legal battle with a former employee at her cleaning company.

"I went to see a lawyer who told me it would be quickly resolved as I had been to my doctor who certified that I was very much still alive," Mrs Pouchain said.

"But because there had been a legal ruling this wasn't enough."

Mrs Pouchain claims the staffer told the court she had died to win damages from her beneficiaries, following two other failed lawsuits.

The first, in 2004 when an industrial tribunal ordered Mrs Pouchain pay the former employee €14,000 (A$24,700) in damages after her firm lost a major contract.

The ruling was never enforced as the contract was held by the company, not Mrs Pouchain herself.

The former employee attempted to sue again in 2009, but failed.

Surprisingly, the court ruled Mrs Pouchain's as deceased in 2017 without proof of a death certificate.

"I never thought that a judge would declare someone dead without a certificate," Mrs Pouchain's lawyer, Sylvain Cormier, told the AFP.

"But the plaintiff claimed Mrs Pouchain was dead, without providing any proof and everyone believed her.

"Nobody checked."

Mrs Pouchain remains scratched from official records.

The Victorian Government is standing firm on its strict border controls as the state marks a week of zero locally acquired coronavirus cases.

There were three cases detected in hotel quarantine.

Nearly 18,000 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours.

The state's total number of active cases has dropped to 35.

LIVE UPDATES: Concern over effectiveness of AstraZeneca vaccine

https://twitter.com/VicGovDHHS/status/1349099789582032897

More than 75,000 people have applied for permits since the state's new traffic light system went live, with travellers arriving at Melbourne airport from red and orange zones greeted by masked health officials.

Regional NSW and the Central Coast have been marked as orange zones under the new permit system based around coronavirus risk.

Greater Sydney and Brisbane remain in the 'red zone', which prevents all travel to Victoria unless an exemption is granted.

Disability Minister Luke Donnellan said opening the border to Greater Sydney and Brisbane was not worth the risk of COVID-19 seeping into the state.

"We need to ensure that people coming back are not going to be spreading coronavirus," he said.

"So that's what may appear to be brutal and uncaring and alike, is very much done in the interest of the Victorian public at heart to ensure we do not have another situation where we have to lock down."

Police Minister Lisa Neville yesterday apologised to thousands of interstate travellers for the technical glitch which saw the travel permit system delayed from its scheduled roll-out time of 5.59pm on Monday.

Several residents stranded in NSW found themselves stuck at the border, struggling to apply for permit to enter Victoria due to the delays.

"There were technical issues of trying to get this stood up properly, with Services Victoria working through some of the glitches to make sure it was working properly before going online," Ms Neville said.

READ MORE: Australian Grand Prix postponed until November 21

"Apologies to everyone who was frustrated, held up."

The Victorian Government has pledged to review the locations classed as hot spots every day.

A man accused of kidnapping an animal ranger at gunpoint and demanding to see shelter's cats, allegedly returned to the scene hours later, pretending to be a customer.

Tony Wittman was today charged with with kidnapping, false imprisonment, aggravated burglary, armed robbery and firearm offences, after he allegedly kidnapped the Lost Dogs' Home employee and threatened her with a gun, because he wanted to see where the cats were being stored at the rescue shelter.

Police allege the 44-year-old father-of-three returned to the scene of his crime to try and prove his innocence.

READ MORE: Truck driver escapes serious injury after veering off freeway in Victoria

On Monday the Langwarrin man had reportedly called the Lost Dogs' Home in Cranbourne West and asked to collect his lost feline.

Police said the 23-year-old victim parked her car in the carpark of The Lost Dogs Home animal shelter on Thompsons Road in Cranbourne West, when she was allegedly confronted by the armed Wittmann wearing military-style clothes about 10.45pm on Monday.

He is accused of then pointing the gun at her face, marching the woman back into the building and putting cable ties around her wrists.

Mr Wittmann appeared at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court today, pleading to be allowed to go home to his family.

Detective Senior Constable Jo MacDonald told the court Wittmann ordered the staff member to "get on your knees and put your hands behind your back" while the victim pleaded for him not to shoot her.

He then allegedly told the young mother to count to 100 before calling for help.

She fortunately was not injured, but the court heard she has been left traumatised by the experience.

READ MORE: One confirmed drowning and another emergency rescue on Mornington Peninsula

In court, Wittmann said the incident has been exaggerated by the media and that he fears for his safety behind bars.

He also said he has PTSD from 14 years in the military, but police claim this is untrue.

Official records show he served in the army for two years and was discharged for failing to render efficient service.

The magistrate denied the father-of-three bail with a warning that the case against him is strong.

A South Australian mother-of-two said the thought of her boys kept her alive after a strong current dragged her out to sea during a "terrifying" night dive.

Oksana Samkova was with a group of six on her first ever night scuba dive at Port Noarlunga Jetty on Monday night.

The 45-year-old and her group faced strong winds and giant swells as they descended into the dark waters.

READ MORE: Diver fights off hammerhead shark with camera on Queensland reef

"I was bobbing up and down and the surf was just taking me up again and I was trying to get down and it was taking me up again," Ms Samkova told 9News.

It was then that a strong rip pulled Ms Samkova away from her group and further into the abyss.

As she fought to stay afloat, Ms Samkova started to fatigue as the current got the better of her.

"I had to calm myself down and stop fighting the current because I was getting exhausted, I was getting so tired, I'm thinking 'I just can't go on anymore,'" she said.

The mother spent three agonising hours alone in the dark as search crews desperately tried to find her.

"It was scary because I wanted to see my children, I wanted to be alive for my children as well so that was quite emotional," she said.

READ MORE: Woman dies following diving accident in Sydney's east

Luckily Ms Samkova had a torch with her which, although running low on battery, was how she eventually alerted search crews of her whereabouts.

"I was waving this torch frantically for three hours literally and praying for the torch not too die, it was scary, it was really scary," she said.

"Let's say the most terrifying experience of my life, I would say."

Ms Samkova was rushed to hospital where she spent two nights with water in her lungs.

She says although the experience was terrifying, she does eventually want to go back in the water again, but the conditions will need to be better and a night dive won't be on the cards for a while.

"I'm so grateful I'm alive and I'm so happy for everyone involved in my rescue, it's huge gratitude," she said.

After detaining his victim, Kurt Tamati Winklemann beat him, told him he would shoot him in the back of the head, then put a beanie over his face and drove him to a rural roadside near Outram.The man was made to kneel, his hands…