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A man stabbed several people at a shopping centre in Milan, injuring at least five people, before the attacker was overpowered by passers-by.

Arsenal player and Spanish soccer professional Pablo Mari was reportedly among those attacked.

Three victims were taken to hospitals with serious injuries, the news agencies ANSA and Adnkronos reported on Thursday evening.

According to initial findings, investigators ruled out a terrorist motive for the 46-year-old Italian perpetrator, who was taken into custody by Carabinieri police.

© DPA 2022

Thousands of residents devastated by the catastrophic flooding in the NSW Northern Rivers will soon be able to have their homes on the floodplain bought back or repaired as part of a new $800 million program.

Extreme flooding the Northern Rivers and Hawkesbury-Nepean in February and March took emergency agencies by surprise, killing 13 people and destroying 4000 homes.

A $800 million Northern Rivers Resilient Homes Fund, co-funded by the NSW and federal governments, will offer up to 2000 flood-impacted residents the opportunity to raise, repair or retrofit their house to make it more flood resilient.

For homes in the most dangerous areas of the Northern Rivers, the governments will offer to buy the home and land from the owner.

"We know that disasters are expected to become more frequent, and more severe due to climate change," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

"This repeated, relentless flooding can be emotionally and financially draining and we want communities to know we will be there to support them now, and as they recover.

"That's why we're working with the NSW government to develop practical solutions to protect lives and livelihoods."

The scheme comes after ongoing talks between the prime minister and Premier Dominic Perrottet about how to best help communities reeling from natural disasters.

The pair will meet with residents impacted by the flooding in Lismore on Friday, where the project will be formally announced.

Funding will be open to residents impacted by February and March floods in the Ballina, Byron, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed local government areas.

The voluntary buyback scheme is on offer to homeowners in the most vulnerable parts of the Northern Rivers, where renewed flooding continues to pose a catastrophic risk to their lives.

Homeowners will be offered cash to either buy back, raise, repair or retrofit their property, based on expert assessments of how severely the flood hit the home, its safety risks and potential future flood levels.

Those eligible will be given a payment based on a valuation of the home and land.

Up to $100,000 will be available to raise homes, and up to $50,000 for retrofitting - where flood risk can be mitigated by better building standards.

The state government will also spend $100 million on buying new land in flood safe locations for new developments in partnership with the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation.

The premier said simply rebuilding devastated communities in the wake of natural disasters could not continue in the same way it had in the past.

"I saw first-hand the devastation extreme flooding caused across the Northern Rivers and I hope this program provides relief for so many residents who have suffered for too long," Mr Perrottet said.

"We are stepping up to provide options for residents to move out of harm's way and protect themselves and their families."

© AAP 2022

Prince Harry's memoir, an object of obsessive anticipation worldwide since first announced last year, is coming out on January 10.

The book will be called "Spare" and is being billed by Penguin Random House, as an account told with "raw, unflinching honesty" and filled with "insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief."

In a statement released on Thursday, Penguin Random House summoned memories of the stunning death in 1997 of Prince Harry's mother, Diana, and of Harry and his brother, William, "walking behind their mother's coffin as the world watched in sorrow -- and horror."

"As Diana, Princess of Wales, was laid to rest, billions wondered what the princes must be thinking and feeling -- and how their lives would play out from that point on," the statement reads in part.

"For Harry, this is his story at last."

The memoir's title is an apparent reference to Prince Harry's being a royal "spare," not the first in line to succession. William, Prince of Wales, is next in line.

The 416-page book will come out in 16 languages, from Dutch to Portuguese, and also will be released in an audio edition read by Prince Harry.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but Harry, the Duke of Sussex, will be using proceeds from "Spare" to donate to British charities.

He has already given $US1.5 million ($A2.3 million) to Sentebale, an organisation he co-founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to help children and young people in Lesotho and Botswana affected by HIV/AIDS.

Penguin Random House identifies Prince Harry as "a husband, father, humanitarian, military veteran, mental wellness advocate, and environmentalist."

Royals watchers and the public at large have speculated endlessly since the book was first announced in July 2021, billed as "intimate and heartfelt" and tentatively scheduled for this year.

The Duke of Sussex had already revealed a news-making willingness to discuss his private life when he and his American-born wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, were interviewed for a March 2021 broadcast by their neighbour in Santa Barbara, California, Oprah Winfrey.

The couple spoke of Meghan's deep unhappiness with her new life in England, the alleged racism within the royal family and Harry's fear that his wife's life might be endangered had they remained in his native country.

In 1992, Diana worked with author Andrew Morton on her explosive memoir "Diana: Her True Story," in which she described at length her unhappy marriage to the future King Charles, Harry's father.

Harry and Meghan stepped back from their royal duties in 2020 and moved to the US.

Harry told Winfrey that his family cut him off financially and that he helped pay for his security with money left to him by his mother. They have launched numerous initiatives, including a Netflix production deal and the "impact-driven non-profit" Archewell Foundation.

The book's delay led to rumours that Harry was hesitating to say too much about his family, or was perhaps revising the narrative after his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, died in September.

He has spoken of being estranged from his brother, William, although the siblings and their wives appeared in public together during the mourning period following the Queen's death.

"Penguin Random House is honoured to be publishing Prince Harry's candid and emotionally powerful story for readers everywhere," the global CEO of Penguin Random House, Markus Dohle, said in a statement.

"He shares a remarkably moving personal journey from trauma to healing, one that speaks to the power of love and will inspire and encourage millions of people around the world."

© AP 2022