Aussies are being urged to support cash use by withdrawing money from their nearest ATM next Tuesday, as data shows cash use is rising across Australia.

Recent data released by the Reserve Bank of Australia showed that after years of decline, the rate of cash use had stabilised across the country in 2025, with around 15 per cent of all payments using cash, and half of all Aussies still using cash at least once a week.

Their study showed that older Australians and lower-income households were more likely to use cash, but that most Aussies keep a little bit of cash on hand – around $65 on average – for emergencies.

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"The ability to use cash remains highly valued by many Australians," the RBA study said.

While cash may no longer be king, millions of Aussies still rely on it, and in January, the federal government passed a mandate that required businesses to accept cash for essential transactions.

To further boost support for cash, next Tuesday, April 28th, Aussies are urged to withdraw money from their nearest ATM on Cash Out Day.

This is designed to show cash still enjoys support from the community, but also highlights bank closures in parts of the country, especially in regional areas.

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National Seniors Association CEO Chris Grice claimed Cash Out Day would show how important the ability to easily access cash was for older Australians and regional communities.

The RBA survey showed cash has the highest share of payments among people aged over 65, on lower incomes, and in regional areas," he said.

"Our mantra… has been to 'use it or lose it'.

"Cash users across the country should feel validated by the news that proves cash still has a solid place in the economy."

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Scandal-plagued US Secretary of Labour Lori Chavez-DeRemer has resigned, the third woman to leave Trump's cabinet in the past two months.

Chavez-DeRemer's resignation was not announced by herself but by White House spokesperson Steven Cheung.

"Labour Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector," he said.

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"She has done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labour practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives."

Soon afterwards, she issued her own statement.

"It has been an honour and a privilege to serve in this historic Administration and work for the greatest President of my lifetime," she said.

"While my time serving in the Administration comes to a conclusion, it doesn't mean I will stop fighting for American workers. 

"I am looking forward to what the future has in store as I depart for the private sector."

Chavez-DeRemer's tenure in the position has been beset by scandal and rumour about the behaviour of herself and her family.

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In January, the New York Post reported she was being investigated for allegedly having an affair with a subordinate, drinking on the job and taking personal trips with taxpayer money.

Staff told the Inspector-General that they were sent out to buy alcohol for the secretary.

She also allegedly asked staff to organise "work trips" so she could attend events such as UFC fights or concerts.

The New York Times reported that her husband had been banned from the Department of Labour headquarters after several women there reported he was making unwanted advances.

Her husband and father also reportedly sent personal text messages to young staffers at the department.

Before being nominated to the cabinet, Chavez-DeRemer served as a member of Congress before her election defeat in 2024.

Chavez-DeRemer is the third person to leave Trump's cabinet in his second term.

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Kristi Noem was ousted as Secretary of Homeland Security at the start of March.

And three weeks ago Attorney-General Pam Bondi was fired from her position.

All three cabinet members have been replaced by men. There are now just two women in the cabinet.

Trump has not commented on Chavez-DeRemer's departure despite a prolific afternoon on Truth Social.

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FBI Director Kash Patel is suing magazine The Atlantic for $US250 million (A$348 million) over reports of his alleged drunkenness.

The article published last week referenced instances of Patel's excessive alcohol consumption impacting his job.

But in a lawsuit filed today against the magazine and journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick, Patel described the article as a "sweeping, malicious and defamatory hit piece".

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"Fitzpatrick could not get a single person to go on the record in defence of these outrageous allegations, instead relying entirely on anonymous sources she knew to be both highly partisan with an axe to grind and also not in a position to know the facts," the lawsuit read. 

"Defendants published the Article with actual malice, despite being expressly warned, hours before publication, that the central allegations were categorically false."

The Atlantic reported that unnamed officials in the Trump administration were concerned alcohol was behind Patel sharing false information about investigations, including the alleged murder of Charlie Kirk.

Patel had falsely claimed in the hours after Kirk's death that the suspect was in custody.

He had also announced a "person of interest" was in custody after a shooting at Brown University. That person was quickly released when it was determined they were innocent.

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The Atlantic also reported Patel's security detail had difficulty waking him "because he was seemingly intoxicated" on multiple occasions.

When he was asked for comment by The Atlantic, he responded: "Print it, all false, I'll see you in court—bring your chequebook".

His lawsuit also detailed "historic law enforcement achievements" of the FBI during his tenure as director.

Patel was also criticised after footage emerged of him skolling a beer in the locker room with the gold-medal winning USA ice hockey team at the Olympics in February.

The footage also shows him spraying the beer around the room as he celebrated with the team.

Questions were asked about why Patel was at the Olympics on what was officially a work trip.

President Donald Trump, who appointed Patel to the position, was reportedly upset with the footage.

Trump himself does not drink.

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The president has been prolific in suing major media outlets in his second term for publishing unflattering articles about him.

He sued the Wall Street Journal for $14 billion over their reporting of his friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The lawsuit was dismissed last week.

The newspaper reported that Trump wrote a letter to Epstein for his 50th birthday.

The letter was framed by a sketch of what appeared to be a naked woman with Trump's signature in place of pubic hair.

The letter was written in the form of a dialogue between "Donald" and "Jeffrey".

"Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?" Donald says in the script.

"A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret."

The birthday book had been compiled by Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, and featured contributions from other powerful friends of the paedophile.

Trump had denied to the Wall Street Journal that he had written the letter, and insisted that it never existed.

A $22 billion lawsuit against the New York Times was tossed by a different Florida judge in September last year.

Lawsuits against ABC News and the CBS show 60 Minutes were both settled out of court.

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Exclusive: The search for employment, in a painful kind of irony, can feel like a full-time job.

NSW man Jacques Bergh is reluctantly familiar with this "demoralising" task.

He was made redundant for the second time in his career this year and has spent nearly five months tailoring resumes and cover letters for over 100 jobs.

In that time, Bergh has only heard back twice.

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The phrase 'kitty flipping' might conjure up playful furballs or racy sex acts, depending on your turn of mind, but the reality is far more perilous.

The term refers to combining the party drugs ketamine and MDMA (ecstasy) – and new research shows it's on the rise in Australia.

A new Australia-wide study of our wastewater has revealed that ketamine use has more than doubled in just four-and-a-half years.

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So exactly what is 'kitty flipping', why are more people doing it? And just what exactly is so dangerous about it?

The rise of ketamine as a party drug

Independently of ecstasy, the use of ketamine as a party drug has risen steeply in Australia in recent years, mirroring its growing popularity in the US, including amongst Hollywood celebrities.

It's a trend that drew headlines with former 'Friends' actor Matthew Perry's ketamine overdose in October 2023, which led authorities to uncover a widespread network of illegal trade catering to Hollywood's elite.

Ketamine is a pharmaceutical drug used as an anaesthetic which has become popular to treat severe pain and depression, due to its dissociative effects.

When used correctly in a hospital setting, it's considered very safe and effective.

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In 2020, detections of ketamine in Australia's wastewater were largely consistent with those kinds of prescribed uses, according to today's research by a team from Adelaide University.

But that soon changed.

"Patterns started emerging of substantially elevated excretion on weekends, suggesting an increase in recreational, or non-medical use of the substance," explained Professor Cobus Gerber from the university's School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences.

Gerber and his team have studied the wastewater of Australia's major cities and regional centres in every state and territory from 2020 through to 2025.

In December 2020, ketamine use averaged 2.7mg per day for every 1000 people but by April 2025, that had risen to 5.8mg per day – more than double.

The largest doses were found in affluent areas and inner city locations.

But why are people mixing it with MDMA?

Combining ketamine with other drugs isn't new.

"The drug is often consumed alongside other illicit substances to heighten feelings of euphoria and dissociation," explained Gerber.

'Pink cocaine', the concoction found in One Direction star Liam Payne's system following his fatal balcony fall in 2024, is actually most commonly a mix of ketamine and other drugs such as methamphetamine and caffeine.

However, online search data in Australia shows a recent rise in searches for the term 'kitty flipping'.

This specifically refers to combining ketamine with MDMA, ususually by taking MDMA first and then snorting or ingesting ketamine although sometimes combined pills or drinks are used.

Why is 'kitty flipping' so dangerous?

Any unprescribed use of ketamine comes with risks, but the typical harm reduction strategies for using single drugs (start low, stay hydrated, test your drugs) cannot account for the way the drugs interact.

For example, MDMA raises body temperature and heart rate, while ketamine impairs the body's ability to regulate its temperature.

When combined, this can result in an extremely high and unstable body temperature.

The combination of the two illicit drugs can also cause a potentially deadly build up of serotinon in the body, as well as place enormous strain on the heart.

To make things worse, MDMA slows digestion, so the high can hit later or harder than expected.

In the US, the popularity of 'kitty flipping' has already been associated with a significant rise in ketamine-related drug overdoses.

In Miami alone, 68 people died from an overdose with ketamine in their system in 2023. Prior to 2017, that number was fewer than 10.

Experts are now urging more research be done in Australia to track down where these drugs are originating from.

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Singer D4vd has been charged with murder over the death of a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered and decomposed body was found in September in his apparently abandoned Tesla, prosecutors say.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office on Monday (early Tuesday AEST) said the 21-year-old D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, was charged with first-degree murder; lewd and lascivious acts with an individual under 14; and mutilating a body over the killing of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

She was reported missing by her family in 2024, when she was 13. Authorities say she was 14 when she died.

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The murder charges included special circumstances — lying in wait, committing crime for financial gain and murdering the witness in an investigation — that could carry the death penalty. Prosecutors haven't announced whether they will seek it.

Attorneys for the Houston-born alt-pop singer said he was innocent in a statement released after homicide detectives arrested him on Thursday at a home in Hollywood.

"Let us be clear — the actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death," the lawyers said.

The long-dead body of Rivas Hernandez was found inside a Tesla that was towed from the Hollywood Hills on September 8, one day after she would have turned 15. Her family had reported her missing from her hometown of Lake Elsinore, about 110 kilometres south-east of Los Angeles.

Authorities did not publicly name Burke as a suspect until his arrest. His lawyers' statement last week, in which said they "will vigorously defend David's innocence", was the first time they weighed in publicly.

The singer had been under investigation by an LA County grand jury looking into the death. The probe was officially secret, but its existence — and his designation as its target — was revealed in February when his mother, father and brother objected in a Texas court to subpoenas demanding they testify.

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The 2023 Tesla Model Y was registered in the singer's name at the Texas address of his subpoenaed family members, according to court filings from prosecutors. It had been towed from an upscale Hollywood Hills neighbourhood where it had been sitting as though it was abandoned.

Police investigators searching the Tesla in a tow yard found a cadaver bag "covered with insects and a strong odour of decay", court documents said. Detectives partially unzipped a bag and found a head and torso.

Investigators from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office removed the bag and "discovered the arms and legs had been severed from the body", according to court documents.

A second black bag was found under the first, and dismembered body parts were inside it. No cause of death has been publicly revealed, and police got a judge to block the release details of the autopsy.

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On Friday, the medical examiner told The Associated Press the court order remained in place after Burke's arrest, and suggested to ask the police whether they would ask to lift it.

The family of Rivas Hernandez has remained private and has not made any public statements on her death or the case.

D4vd, pronounced "David", gained popularity among Gen Z for his blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He went viral on TikTok in 2022 with the hit Romantic Homicide, which peaked at No.4 four on Billboard's Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart.

He then signed with Darkroom and Interscope Records and released his debut EP Petals to Thorns and a follow-up, The Lost Petals, in 2023.

When the body was discovered, the singer continued his North American tour, but when reports of his possible involvement spread widely, he cancelled the final two shows and a European tour that was to follow.

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Former champion footballer Barry Cable has been found not guilty of a slew of historical child sexual abuse accusations.

The 82-year-old faced a judge-only criminal trial over allegations he abused a girl aged about eight or nine at his family home in the late 1960s.

The former Australian Rules player returned to the Western Australian District Court in Perth today for Judge Michael Bowden's verdict more than a month after the trial ended.

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Prosecutors alleged Cable abused the girl at his family home when she was staying with him and his wife, Helen, for about a month.

The alleged victim told the trial Cable treated her well at first.

"He was loving towards me like an uncle … then things changed," she said while giving evidence in March.

"He started touching my body."

The abuse allegedly involved penetrative sex on multiple occasions when the former North Melbourne player's wife was asleep.

The woman reported the alleged abuse to police in 2023 when she spotted Cable on television, telling the court during the trial that it had "brought back memories of what he had done to me".

All told, Cable denied five counts of indecent dealing with a girl aged under 13 and two counts of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 13 between December 31, 1966 and December 31, 1969.

A civil trial in the same court in 2023 found Cable abused a girl over five years from 1968 when she was aged 12.

The victim was awarded $818,700 in damages.

The civil trial judge said there was compelling evidence the former footballer had violated other children.

Cable, who repeatedly attempted to have the civil case proceedings permanently thrown out and did not attend the trial, denied the abuse.

He was later stripped of his Australian Football Hall of Fame honours following an illustrious playing career in the 1960s and '70s for Perth and East Perth in the WAFL and North Melbourne in the VFL, going on to coach in both leagues.

He has been dumped from the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, and the West Australian Football Commission revoked the former champion's Hall of Fame membership, including his Legend status.

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A bus driver has been fired after a Melbourne schoolboy became trapped in the doors of a public bus and was dragged down the road for several hundred metres.

The 12-year-old was on his way to school in Wheelers Hill in the city's south-east about 8am on March 16 when his bag appeared to become caught in the automatic bus doors.

Phone camera footage, released today by the boy's mother, shows the schoolboy being carried down the road, as he lifted his knees to avoid being scraped along the bitumen.

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A spokesperson for Ventura Bus Lines said the bus driver involved had been terminated.

"This is a very distressing incident, and we will continue to support the passenger and family at this time," a spokesperson said.

"The safety of our passengers is our priority. We have emphasised our safety protocols with all drivers and will implement a review to enhance driver training programs.

"Following a full investigation into this incident, and internal disciplinary procedures, the driver's employment has been terminated."

The boy's mother Grace shared the confronting footage on Instagram and said another school mum saw her son hanging off the bus and honked to warn the driver.

It is understood the boy was dragged for about 350 metres down Brandon Park Drive before the bus driver noticed.

"It still gives me anxiety every time I see the footage, it's just horrible," Grace told Today.

"When the bus took off he knew that he couldn't keep running at its side so he just had to lift his legs off the ground.

"And honestly, if he was a taller student, or a weaker student, there is no way he would be able to hang on to the side of a moving bus, at that speed, for that distance."

Grace earlier told 3AW that her son, who had just started year seven this year, was mostly uninjured.

He was left with some bruising on his shoulder from the strap of his schoolbag.

"We're very, very thankful that he is physically unhurt," she said.

"I don't know how it happened.

"He could have died… he could have clipped the side [of the] cars."

Grace said her son is now "traumatised" and does not like to catch the bus to school alone.

"[He] is still seeing a psychologist, but he can't travel on the bus alone anymore and he gets panic attacks when he sees a bus on the road," she told Today.

Grace called for safety improvements to ensure a similar incident does not occur.

"The bus door only has one sensor in the middle of the door and Nathaniel was caught under that sensor, so it didn't set off any alarms for the driver," she said.

"However, the door wasn't fully closed, his arm was caught in it, you would think there would be another safety feature on the bus to alert the driver of that."

"Ventura [the bus operator] are not being accountable, the responses I have received from them so far have been very dismissive and just very disappointing.

"We need our children to be safe. This should not have happened to [my son] or anybody else, it's just horrible."

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Victoria Police said it is aware of the incident but that it was not reported to police.

Police are now making enquiries.

A Victorian government spokesperson said it was "disturbing vision".

"We expect our bus operators to uphold the highest safety standards for passengers," the spokesperson said.

"Following an investigation by Ventura, which included reviewing CCTV and speaking with the impacted family, the driver no longer works at Ventura.

"The Department of Transport and Planning is continuing an investigation to ensure safety processes are adhered to by the bus operator."

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A pedestrian killed by an out-of-control car outside a Melbourne comic convention has been remembered as a "kind and compassionate young man" who was looking forward to an overseas trip with his best friends later this year.

Volkan Aksoy, 20, was killed when a Toyota Echo swerved across Langs Road in Ascot Vale and mounted a kerb outside the Melbourne Showgrounds about 5pm on Saturday.

Aksoy, who had spent most of the day with his friends at the Supanova Comic Con and Gaming event, died at the scene.

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His best friend, also 20, suffered a cracked skull and fractured leg and was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Another friend has been discharged after he was taken to hospital for shock.

Aksoy's heartbroken mother described her son as "a kind and compassionate young man who cherished time with his friends and family, whom he loved deeply".

"He had a beautiful spirit, he was very much loved and will be profoundly missed by all who knew him," she told 9News.

The family is struggling to come to terms with the tragedy, his mother said.

"His life was taken far too soon – there's no other way to describe it."

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Aksoy's colleagues at the Keysborough fast-food restaurant where he worked for several years remembered the young man as a "well-mannered, easy-going, social gentleman".

"He had big dreams, he was very intellectual, that's what I'm going to miss the most about him," friend and coworker Hasha Kong said.

"I remembered he was so excited to go to Japan at the end of the year with his high school best friends, until this happened.

"But I am so grateful to have met him. I believe that anyone would love to have a person just like Volkan in their life."

Police allege the Werribee man who was allegedly behind the wheel was on bail at the time and was unlicensed.

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Amer Dau, 33, fronted court today charged with dangerous driving causing death, culpable driving and committing an indictable offence whilst on bail.

He made no further application for bail and will remain behind bars until his next court appearance in September.

Investigations remain ongoing as to whether it was a deliberate act, but detectives have ruled out terrorism.

Further charges could be laid, police said.

He'll face court again in September.

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A powerful earthquake has struck off the northern Japanese coast, and the Japan Meteorological Agency has issued a tsunami alert in the region.

The quake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 occurred off the coast of Sanriku in northern Japan about 4.53pm (5.53pm AEST), at a depth of about 10 kilometres below the sea surface, the agency said.

Japan's NHK public television said a tsunami of up to 3 metres could hit the area shortly.

It's 15 years since a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, ravaged parts of northern Japan, caused more than 22,000 deaths and forced nearly half a million people to flee their homes, most of them due to tsunami damage.

Some 160,000 people fled their homes in Fukushima because of the radiation spewed from the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. About 26,000 of them haven't returned because they resettled elsewhere, their hometowns remain off-limits or they have lingering concerns about radiation.

More to come