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Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 26 October 2021; Hits: 112

Two people have been killed and six injured - including a police officer - in a shooting at a shopping mall in Boise, Idaho.

A suspect was taken into custody after the incident on Monday.

At a news conference authorities said they were working their way through each business at the mall.

Police are asking people to avoid the area. Police also said they were notifying the families of those involved.

The Boise Towne Square shopping mall is located in Idaho's largest city and is the city's largest mall.

Police were interviewing dozens of people outside the entrance to Macy's, one of five large department stores at the mall that has 153 stores.

Police are also investigating what appears to be another crime scene at a restaurant near the mall.

Cheri Gypin, of Boise, was in the mall with a friend where they walk for an hour three or four times a week. She said she heard several large bangs, but thought something had fallen from the ceiling.

Then about 60 people, including families pushing strollers, came running at them, some of them shouting that there was an active shooter.

"My friend was trying to process it," said Gypin, 60.

"I just looked at her and said, 'We've got to run.' So we just ran and kept running until we got to the outer perimeter of the parking lot."

They made their way back to their car, where police told the crowd of people who had fled the mall to leave the parking area.

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 26 October 2021; Hits: 104

Queensland authorities have listed a supermarket and a truckstop toilet in the state's southeast as COVID-19 exposure sites.

The state hasn't recorded a new locally-acquired virus case since Thursday when a Gold Coast man tested positive.

On Friday, authorities reported a truck driver who tested positive in Victoria had been infectious in southeast Queensland earlier last week.

Queensland Health has listed Fresh Fields FoodWorks Thabeban in Bundaberg and the male toilets Caboolture South Travel Centre as exposure sites for Saturday evening.

It's unknown whether the sites are linked to a new locally-acquired case, with the premier set to give state parliament a COVID-19 update later on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Queensland's vaccine coordinator has warned that regional centres and Indigenous communities will face COVID-19 restrictions if they don't reach an 80 per cent vaccination rate by the time the borders reopen.

The state will scrap quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers who test negative when 80 per cent of eligible Queenslanders have had both doses, or by December 17 at the latest.

Commonwealth figures on Monday showed 75.2 per cent of eligible Queenslanders had received one dose of a vaccine and 60.7 per cent were fully vaccinated.

Queensland Deputy Police Commissioner and Vaccine Coordinator Shane Chelepy believes the state will hit the 80 per cent target by December 17, but some areas are struggling to get there.

"I have high confidence that the state will meet the 80 per cent overall across the state," he told the Nine Network on Tuesday.

"I am concerned about some of our regional areas and some of our more remote communities, and we're doing a lot of work in those areas, but we really need to see those regional areas this week come out and get vaccinated."

Commonwealth vaccination figures show that only 31.7 per cent of eligible residents in the Isaac Region in central Queensland have been fully vaccinated and 48.2 per cent have had one dose.

In the Indigenous community of Cherbourg, in the southeast, 25.7 per cent of residents are fully vaccinated and 33.7 per cent have had one jab.

Mr Chelepy warned individual local government areas will face future COVID-19 restrictions, including lockdowns, if they don't get to 80 per cent before the Queensland borders open.

"The premier and the chief health officer has been clear on this: the areas that don't reach 80 per cent, if we have an outbreak in those areas, restrictions will need to be applied," he said.

Mr Chelepy warned the highly infectious Delta variant of COVID-19 will hit the state.

"Once the state opens, Delta will come in from NSW, it will come in from Victoria, and when it does come in it will go into every single regional town in the state, so we will see outbreaks in those areas," he said.

Queensland had managed to lift vaccination rates in some regional and remote towns and the government is working with councillors, mayors and Indigenous elders to get more people vaccinated.

But many people living in regional areas were complacent about getting the jab because they hadn't experienced COVID-19 outbreaks or restrictions, Mr Chelepy said.

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 26 October 2021; Hits: 129

Sonar scans of the sea floor off northwest Tasmania will get underway for a second day in the search for a missing man and a boat.

Thomas Courto hasn't been seen since October 18 when he set off from the town of Wynyard with friends Isaiah Dixon and Bree-Anna Thomas.

The bodies of Mr Dixon and Ms Thomas were found washed ashore at nearby Table Cape on Wednesday afternoon.

Air and sea efforts have been suspended and Tasmania Police will conduct an overview and assessment of the search on Tuesday.

A scan of the seabed, which on Monday failed to find any trace of the 17-foot yellow and white motorboat or Mr Courto, will resume on Tuesday.

Inspector Steve Jones has said it is unlikely Mr Courto is still alive.

Sonar scans have focused on an underwater area of some 340 hectares about three to four kilometres off the coast.

Police have asked members of the community not to join search efforts in the water due to rough conditions.

The trio, all from the northwest, were reported missing by family on the afternoon of October 18.

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 26 October 2021; Hits: 119

Queensland regional centres and Indigenous communities will face COVID-19 restrictions if they don't reach an 80 per cent vaccination rate by the time the borders reopen.

The state government will scrap quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers who test negative when 80 per cent of eligible Queenslanders have had both doses, or by December 17 at the latest.