A young girl has drowned at Lake Rotokawau in Rotorua this afternoon.A police media spokeswoman said police were alerted to the incident at around 4:35pm. DO YOU KNOW MORE? EMAIL US Her death will be referred to the Coroner.Meanwhile…

Cryptocurrency Bitcoin is currently trading at more than $43,000 per coin after a remarkable spike in price over the past four weeks.

The digital currency had been gaining slowly but steadily throughout much of the COVID-19 pandemic, as some investors theorised the coin would be unaffected by the virus as it was not tied to the economic management of a national government.

In early October, Bitcoin was trading around $15,000.

READ MORE: Skyrocketing Bitcoin hits new high of US$28,000

In just three months the cryptocurrency has added more than 185 per cent in value, causing many to say the coin is on track to gain legitimacy from web-based bubble investing to a genuine forex option.

Dan Petrie, chief information officer of financial charting app Grafa, said value in Bitcoin was being driven by younger investors.

"While volatility in Bitcoin has been widely reported on, the popularity of cryptocurrencies and subsequent applications of blockchain technologies within the wider digital economy have been growing at unprecedented levels," Mr Petrie said.

READ MORE: Bitcoin resists push to break new high of US$20,000

"The appreciation in the price of Bitcoin is arguably built on a greater acceptance of digital tokens as well as a burgeoning class of investors who are not wedded to a traditional view of what constitutes a good or bad asset class."

But investing in Bitcoin is not without risk.

In late 2017 the cryptocurrency spiked at more than $25,000 before dropping to $10,500 a month later – essentially wiping more than half its value in 30 days.

READ MORE: Bitcoin plummets just days after nearly reaching an all-time high

Explained: What is Bitcoin?

1. Bitcoin is a form of online cryptocurrency that allows money to be transferred electronically. It's decentralised, which means no-one regulates or controls it except for market demand.

2. It was created by a group (or a single person) of programmers under the pseudonym "Satoshi Nakamoto" in 2009.

3. Bitcoins are "mined" by computers that solve incredibly complex mathematical equations. Like coal or oil, there is a limited number of Bitcoins available to be mined, estimated to be in the ballpark of 21 million.

4. You cannot mine Bitcoin on your home computer, it requires specialised programs and hardware that have increased the difficulty of mining a Bitcoin.

5. Bitcoin experienced a dramatic explosion in value in late 2017, before it experienced one of the most catastrophic value crashes ever seen in currency.

The information provided on this website is general in nature only and does not constitute personal financial advice. The information has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information on this website you should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs.

Days after ordering a United States aircraft carrier out of the Middle East, the country's acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller has reversed that decision, instructing the USS Nimitz to remain in place due to purported Iranian threats "against President Trump and other US government officials".

Miller said in a statement Sunday night that he had "ordered the USS Nimitz to halt its routine redeployment."

The carrier will now "remain on station in the US Central Command area of operations," Miller added.

"No one should doubt the resolve of the United States of America."

READ MORE: Extraordinary warning to Trump by 10 former Pentagon chiefs

Last week, the acting Defense Secretary had decided against a push to extend the carrier's deployment in the Persian Gulf, a surprising move given rising tensions between Washington and Tehran around the anniversary of the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani last year.

In the last days of 2020, the US flew nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the Middle East, prompting a senior Iranian military adviser to tweet directly at Trump, warning him "not to turn the New Year into a mourning for Americans."

Iran appealed to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday to stop the US from conducting what it called heightened "military adventurism" in the Gulf and the Oman Sea, including dispatching nuclear-capable bombers to the region, declaring that it did not want conflict but would defend itself if necessary.

According to US sources, some Iranian military forces have ramped up their readiness levels in recent days, having moved short-range ballistic missiles into Iraq, where they could potentially strike at US bases, as Iran did in the days following Soleimani's killing last year.

Trump has taken a consistently hard line on Iran, with the two countries appearing close to war around the time of Soleimani's death, though tensions had relaxed considerably during the coronavirus pandemic.

With the President's time in office running out, some analysts in Washington speculate Trump could trigger a conflict with Iran to distract from his failing, baseless attempts to overturn his election loss and to complicate his successor's plans for the region.

"I'm genuinely concerned that the President could be thinking about saddling President-elect Biden with some kind of military operation on his way out the door," said Tom Nichols, an international affairs expert who teaches at the US Naval War College.

Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif himself charged Thursday that Trump is creating a pretext for war.

President-elect Joe Biden wants to ease Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran, resume engagement and return to the Iran nuclear deal, all steps that hawks in the Trump administration vehemently oppose — and all reasons, some analysts say, that if Iran conducts any kind of attack, it would be carefully calibrated.

"Iran represents a real threat to US national security, particularly during this period of heightened risk due to the upcoming anniversary of the Soleimani assassination," said Sam Vinograd, a former National Security Council official and CNN analyst.

However, Vinograd added, "I do think Iran will calibrate any attack associated with this anniversary because they do not want to box themselves in ahead of Biden coming into office and ostensibly restarting nuclear negotiations that would lead to the lifting of sanctions."

A man arrived at a Mount Wellington medical centre this afternoon with a gunshot wound.Police were alerted and the man was transferred to Auckland City Hospital.An investigation is now under way after a firearm was found at the…

Three South Australian residents are seeing in the New Year over $1.5 million richer – they just don't know it yet.

Each player held one of the 19 division one winning entries nationally in Saturday X Lotto Megadraw 4117, drawn on January 2.

Each entry takes home a division one prize worth $1,578,947.37.

READ MORE: Single ticket wins $9.8 million NYE Powerball

Two of the division one winning entries from Fullerton and Kilkenny are unregistered, while the third entry from Port Augusta is registered but the contact details are out of date.

This means officials from The Lott of no way of breaking the news to any of the three mystery millionaires.

The winning entries were sold at three outlets across the state:

• Arkaba Hotel Motel, 150 Glen Osmond Road, Fullerton.

• Lotteries Kiosk Arndale, Kiosk 3/Central Mall Centre Arndale, Torrens Road, Kilkenny

• Orana Lotto & Newsagency, Shops C&D Wharflands Plaza, 11 Tassie Street, Port Augusta.

READ MORE: NSW woman becomes instant millionaire after Christmas Eve lotto win

The winning numbers in Saturday X Lotto draw 4117 on 2 January 2021 were 7, 5, 16, 44, 14 and 17, while the supplementary numbers were 26 and 31.

The Lott spokesperson Bronwyn Spencer said she was eager to unite each millionaire with their prize.

"They could be heading back to work after the Christmas break not realising they could retire immediately or be extending their summer holidays indefinitely," she said.

READ MORE: Australia's top five luckiest postcodes revealed

"We encourage all players who purchased an entry into Saturday X Lotto's $30 million Megadraw to check their entries as soon as possible.

"If you discover you are holding one of the three winning entries, make sure you keep it safe and call us on 131 868 to begin the process of claiming your prize."

Concerns about water colour and substandard conditions raised by rioting prisoners who destroyed the top jail at Waikere Prison were flagged in an Ombudsman’s report last year.Yesterday, the 16 prisoners who ran rampant on the jail’s…

In an extraordinary rebuke of President Donald Trump, all 10 living former secretaries of defense cautioned Sunday against any move to involve the military in pursuing claims of election fraud, arguing that it would take the country into “dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory.”

The 10 men, both Democrats and Republicans, signed on to an opinion article published in The Washington Post that implicitly questioned Trump's willingness to follow his Constitutional duty to peacefully relinquish power on January 20.

Following the November 3 election and subsequent recounts in some states, as well as unsuccessful court challenges, the outcome is clear, they wrote, while not specifying Trump in the article.

READ MORE: Trump pushes Georgia officials to 'find' votes to tilt election in leaked call

“The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived,” they wrote.

The former Pentagon chiefs warned against use of the military in any effort to change the outcome.

“Efforts to involve the US armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory,” they wrote. “Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic.”

A number of senior military officers, including General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have said publicly in recent weeks that the military has no role in determining the outcome of US elections and that their loyalty is to the Constitution, not to an individual leader or a political party.

The 10 former Pentagon leaders also warned in their Post article of the dangers of impeding a full and smooth transition at Defense Department prior to Inauguration Day as part of a transfer to power to President-elect Joe Biden. Biden has complained of efforts by Trump-appointed Pentagon officials to obstruct the transition.

READ MORE: Nancy Pelosi re-elected as speaker of US House of Representatives, despite narrower majority

Without mentioning a specific example, the former defense secretaries wrote that transfers of power “often occur at times of international uncertainty about U.S. national security policy and posture,” adding, “They can be a moment when the nation is vulnerable to actions by adversaries seeking to take advantage of the situation.”

Tensions with Iran represent just such a moment. Sunday marked one year since the U.S. killing of Qassem Soleimani, the top Iranian general; Iran has vowed to avenge the killing, and US officials said in recent days that they are on heightened alert for potential Iranian attack on US forces or interests in the Middle East.

In a further sign of US-Iranian tension, the acting secretary of defense, Christopher Milller, announced Sunday evening that he has changed his mind about sending the Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, home from the Middle East and instead will keep the vessel on duty. Just last week, Miller announced that he was sending the Nimitz home, a decision that had been opposed by senior military officers.

In reversing himself, Miller cited “recent threats issued by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other US government officials.” He did not elaborate, and the Pentagon did not respond to questions.

The opinion article in the Post was signed by Dick Cheney, William Perry, Donald Rumsfeld, William Cohen, Robert Gates, Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel, Ash Carter, James Mattis and Mark Esper. Mattis was Trump's first defense secretary; he resigned in 2018 and was succeeded by Esper, who was fired just days after the Nov. 3 election.

The Post reported that the idea for writing the opinion piece began with a conversation between Cheney and Eric Edelman, a retired ambassador and former senior Pentagon official, about how Trump might seek to use the military in coming days.

Trump, on tape, presses official to 'find' him votes

President Trump pressured Georgia's Republican secretary of state to "find" enough votes to overturn Joe Biden's win in the state's presidential election, repeatedly citing disproven claims of fraud and raising the prospect of "criminal offense" if officials did not change the vote count, according to a recording of the conversation.

The phone call with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Saturday was the latest step in an unprecedented effort by a sitting president to pressure a state official to reverse the outcome of a free and fair election that he lost. The president, who has refused to accept his loss to Democratic president-elect Biden, repeatedly argued that Raffensperger could change the certified results.

"All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have," Trump said. "Because we won the state."

Georgia counted its votes three times before certifying Biden's win by a 11,779 margin, Raffensperger noted: "President Trump, we've had several lawsuits, and we've had to respond in court to the lawsuits and the contentions. We don't agree that you have won."

Audio snippets of the conversation were first posted online by The Washington Post.

A Malaysian coroner ruled the death of a French-Irish teen, whose body was found near a Malaysian jungle resort where she vanished while on holiday, was most likely a misadventure that didn't involve other people.

Coroner Maimoonah Aid ruled out homicide, natural death and suicide and said Nora Anne Quoirin likely got lost after leaving her family's cottage on her own.

The 15-year-old disappeared at the Dusun eco-resort in southern Negeri Sembilan state on August 4, 2019, a day after the family arrived for a vacation.

After a massive search, her naked body was found on August 13 beside a stream on a palm oil estate about 2.5 kilometers from the resort.

Police believed she climbed out of the cottage window on her own, with no evidence of any foul play.

But Nora’s parents said she was likely kidnapped because she had mental and physical disabilities and wouldn’t have wandered off on her own.

The coroner described that possibility as a theory and said it would be a breach of her duty to speculate on third-party involvement without any evidence.

A total of 49 witnesses have testified over 24 days since August last year via video-conferencing due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Five people have been taken into custody after a man was seen with a gun in Ōtara this afternoon. Police received multiple reports about a man in possession of a firearm in the Otara Mall area about 2.25pm, a spokeswoman said….

One of the men injured during a double shooting in the North Canterbury town of Kaiapoi this morning is the son of a local Mongrel Mob gang leader. Fairmont Joseph Wiringi is in Christchurch Hospital after being shot about 3.30am…