A White House reporter has posted a video showing the moment gunfire began to ring out near the presidential residence.

Selina Wang, of ABC US, said she was recording a video for social media from the White House North Lawn when the disturbance began.

"It sounded like dozens of gunshots. We were told to sprint to the press briefing room where we are holding now," she wrote on X.

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https://x.com/selinawangtv/status/2058312115098697760

Wang and other White House reporters were filing copy and video after US President Donald Trump announced a peace deal with Iran was nearly complete.

"President Trump has said a deal is close only for the two sides to remain far apart," Wang says in the partially captured sentence she posted online, as loud gunshots are heard toward the end of her speech.

Midway through saying "apart", Wang drops to the ground, as does the person holding the camera.

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Another voice is heard yelling "No, no," in the background.

Reporters were all rushed to the briefing room and told to shelter in place as armed Secret Service uniform agents rushed to investigate.

The White House was briefly locked down, but has since returned to normal. Trump, who was at the premises, did not immediately respond to the shooting.

CNN has since reported two people were shot and wounded after Secret Service agents confronted somebody firing a weapon.

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An Irish carpenter living in Sydney has shared a health warning for other expats after he was diagnosed with a deadly skin cancer.

Noel Quinn told nine.com.au he came to Australia from Ireland two-and-a-half years ago on a working holiday visa, keen for a new experience.

He has since been sponsored by his employer for a skilled visa, and was hoping to be granted permanent residency in Australia.

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However, last month, Quinn received some devastating news, which threw all of his plans out the window.

Quinn was diagnosed with an aggressive melanoma, with doctors believing the skin cancer was triggered by his high exposure to UV in Australia.

The tradie said the diagnosis came as a terrible shock, as there were no suspicious moles to alert him to the cancer.

"I didn't have any marks on my skin or anything," he said. 

"I went to bed one night and, when I woke up, I couldn't move my leg."

Alarmed, Quinn went to the doctor, who ordered some scans and tests.

The scans detected a tumour on Quinn's brain, which was later confirmed as a BRAF-positive melanoma.

Cancerous growths were also found on Quinn's kidney and tailbone.

Although most melanomas appear as a distinct mole or spot, in rare cases there can be no outward marking on the skin at all.

One Australian study, published in the National Library of Medicine in 2018, found around 3.2 percent of all melanomas have no known primary site.

There are also some melanomas, called amelanotic melanomas, which don't have any pigment and do not appear dark. These lesions may be pink, red, or flesh-toned.

Doctors told Quinn the growing tumour on the left side of his brain was pressing down on his nerves and blocking the signals that allowed him to use his left leg.

Quinn said he was not aware that Australia had among the highest levels of UV radiation in the world, however, he said he had been reasonably careful about his sun exposure during his time here.

"I always cover myself up with clothes and suncream. I wasn't even at the beach much, I prefer to go camping," he said.

It was perhaps his fair Irish skin that had left him vulnerable, Quinn said. 

He urged all expats, and Australians to be careful in the sun.

"You've just got to look after yourself and cover up and wear suncream," he said.

Quinn has already undergone one round of radiation and has since regained the use of his left leg.

He is now receiving immunotherapy, with the medication targeted to his specific cancer mutation.

As a temporary resident, Quinn is not eligible for Medicare, and each cycle of immunotherapy can cost up to $15,000.

Quinn's sister and friend have started a GoFundMe, which has already raised more than $50,000 towards his treatment costs.

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Authorities in Southern California are racing to figure out how to prevent the explosion of a storage tank that has been leaking a hazardous chemical used to make plastic parts, as some 40,000 people are under evacuation orders in the area.

A storage tank holding between 22,700 and 26,500 litres of methyl methacrylate overheated on Thursday and began venting vapors into the air at an aerospace plastics facility in Garden Grove, a city in Orange County, the local fire authority said.

The tank could fail and crack, releasing the chemical onto the ground, or it could explode, Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig Covey said on Friday.

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"This thing is going to fail, and we don't know when," Covey said. "We're doing our best to figure out when or how we can prevent it."

Officials ordered residents in Garden Grove to leave and expanded evacuation orders on Friday to some residents of five other Orange County cities — Cypress, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park and Westminster — after being unable to stop the leak overnight on the tank at GKN Aerospace, which makes parts for commercial and military aircraft.

No injuries or deaths have been reported, authorities said.

In an update later on Friday, Covey said authorities have been able to maintain the tank's temperature, buying time to figure out how to fix it.

Garden Grove is about 61 kilometres south of downtown Los Angeles and less than a mile from Disneyland's two theme parks, which were not under evacuation orders on Friday. The city is known for its vibrant Vietnamese community, one of the largest of any US city.

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Danny Pham said he was deep in a dream when his roommate banged on his door about 7am on Friday and told him he needed to leave immediately. Pham had been working late the night before at a Vietnamese restaurant and had not seen the news.

"It was shocking to me," said Pham, who lives only a couple blocks from the plastics plant. "I didn't know how serious it would be. I never knew that a thing like this could happen."

He left minutes later, grabbing only his wallet and passport, and took shelter at a friend's restaurant in a neighboring city.

By late Friday afternoon, Pham was still trying to figure out where he would stay the night and worrying that he had only the clothes on his back, possibly for days to come.

Covey said crews have created containment barriers with sandbags in case there is a chemical spill from the tank to prevent the toxic chemical from getting into storm drains or reaching creeks or the nearby ocean.

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Dr Regina Chinsio-Kwong, the county health officer, said if the chemical heats up, it can release a vapor that is harmful to people's health. It can cause respiratory issues, itching and burning eyes, nausea and headaches.

Crews were initially successful and were able to neutralize one of two damaged tanks, but Covey said they determined on Friday morning that the remaining tank was "in the biggest crisis".

GKN Aerospace said specialised hazardous material teams are assessing the situation.

"There are no reports of injuries at this time and our priority remains the safety of our employees, responders, and the surrounding community," a spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "We will provide verified updates as soon as more information becomes available."

Kim Yen, a retiree in Garden Grove, was settling in for the night on Thursday when she heard a siren-like sound coming from her phone. An alert told her she needed to leave her home, which was just two blocks from the chemical leak.

As Yen drove to her daughter's house in Seal Beach, she worried that others in the local Vietnamese community might ignore or not understand the evacuation alert because it was in English.

"They are family," she said. "I'm hoping they stay alert and listen to the news and the authorities. This is scary."

Yen, who is originally from Vietnam and has lived in Orange County since 1980, quickly stopped by her house on Friday morning to grab important documents and medications. By then her neighborhood was "a ghost town," and she was comforted to see police officers going door to door to make sure everyone had evacuated.

"We understand that this is frightening," Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein said. "But the evacuation orders are in place for your safety."

Local Vietnamese television stations translated updates from officials and urged residents to take the situation seriously.

A snake catcher has issued a warning to pet owners after a heartbreaking call-out in Queensland.

Susan Wehmeier was called after a carpet python ate a family's beloved kitten at a home in Norman Gardens in Rockhampton at 9.30am yesterday.

"I love cats, this was just as heartbreaking for me as it was for them," Wehmeier said.

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"I don't want to see any animal taken like that."

It took Wehmeier about 10 minutes to bag the snake before she was able to relocate the reptile to a creek in the area.

"They're super defensive when full because they can't move," she said.

"I had to assess where he was, where his head was and try to avoid the bites.

"They don't want to be disturbed."

She posted a video of the process to Facebook to educate her followers about the presence of pythons in the area.

When Wehmeier released the snake at the creek, she said it took about 20 minutes to get the reptile out of the bag.

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Wehmeier, who services central Queensland, said pythons have been particularly prominent in the Yeppoon area recently.

"There's one spot that gets heaps of carpet pythons," she said.

She urged pet owners to be aware pythons were out and about at all hours.

"They're cruising around, if you do have little animals, lock them up for the night," she said.

"It would've happened in the early hours of the morning."

The snake catcher was also called to another job where a carpet python tragically ate a pet duck recently.

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New footage has emerged of the events surrounding the assassination of Coconut Cartel boss Lorenzo Lemalu in Vietnam.

Australian authorities are on high alert for retaliatory attacks after the execution, which saw Sydney's gang war spill onto the streets of Ho Chi Minh, 7000 kilometres away.

The 24 year-old was shot dead outside a restaurant.

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Lemalu was a senior figure in that group after cutting ties with a gang linked with Sydney's Alameddine family.

It's their wrestle for the drugs trade which has seen escalating violence across the city.

In the Vietnam footage, a hooded hitman in a hat exits a restaurant circling behind Lemalu and his associates before unleashing several shots from a pistol.

Lemalu ran inside and crashed onto the floor.

Police are investigating if the shooting is linked to the ongoing feud.

A second member was also reportedly shot.

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Photos show men lying covered in blood on the floor of a restaurant in the aftermath of the shooting.

Trang Bang Ward Police in Tay Ninh have released images and names of two Australian men they want to speak to in connection with the shooting.

Retired NSW Police sergeant Glenn Gorick said the assassination was a "warning".

"If they can find you in Vietnam they can find you anywhere," he said.

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The rescue came just a day after a missing diver was found dead in the area.

Federal Labor would be returned to power, the Coalition wiped from the map in four states and One Nation the official opposition party.

That's the change coming to Canberra according to new opinion polling that shows a dramatic change in the right of politics.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor both received warm receptions at party faithful events today.

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Albanese, at Victoria Labor's annual conference, mounted an impassioned defence of the federal budget, declaring it "aspiration for all".

"Our changes are pro-aspiration, and pro-supply," he said.

Meanwhile, Taylor continued his criticisms of a prime minister he said was "a liar and he is a fraud".

Amid fears of small business backlash to capital gains tax changes, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said it was the consequence of a bold approach.

"That will sometimes be controversial, but big reforms are controversial and they're worthwhile," he said.

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Liberal Senator Paul Scarr told Today that Taylor was "doing a great job in terms of demonstrating how bad this budget is".

But voters may not be agreeing.

If elections were held today, new polling by Ascent Research and RedBridge Group predicts a returned Labor government, the Liberals with just 12 seats, the Nationals with none, and One Nation would likely win 53, which would make it the official opposition.

That polling forecasts the Coalition facing eradication from four states, wiped from the map in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia.

"We now are witnessing a complete restructure of politics on the right side in this country," pollster and former Labor strategist Kos Samaras said.

A woman and a toddler have been killed in a crash on a highway in Queensland's north.

Emergency crews were called to a head-on collision at Oak Beach on the Captain Cook Highway, south of Port Douglas, about 4pm yesterday.

Police said a white Mitsubishi ute smashed into a red Mazda before crashing into a white MG hatchback.

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The driver of the hatchback, a 34-year-old woman, and a two-year-old toddler died at the scene.

A 22-year-old woman, who was a passenger in the same car, suffered life-threatening injuries and remained in hospital.

The driver of the utility, a 62-year-old man, was also taken to Cairns Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. 

Two people in the Mazda, including a a 54-year-old man and a 57-year-old woman, were not physically injured.

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Two Division One winners each take home $500,000, though.