The woman heard five or six shots before the armed offender overtook the car she was in.

A man allegedly wearing a clown mask and wielding an axe has left a Sydney family traumatised after he broke into their home.

Eric and Priyansha Field were watching a movie at their Glenfield home when they were allegedly attacked by the man about 8pm.

The incident started when the man allegedly followed Eric Field's mother and aunt through their front door last night.

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"All of a sudden I heard this screaming, thumping, things banging… all I heard was my name get called out," Eric Field said.

The 25-year-old was struck by the blunt-end of the axe while his family scrambled to save him.

"He managed to rip the mask off and thatsure's when he goes "do you remember me?"

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Field's mum and sister suffered minor injuries when they successfully fought off the attacker.

"Could have been a lot worse I guess, a lot more worse, could have end up dead," Field said.

NSW Police have charged the man and are currently investigating the incident.

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The search is being conducted about 25 nautical miles off the Gisborne coast.

The United States has released video of the moment it says a Russian fighter jet collided with a US Air Force unmanned drone, forcing it to ditch into the Black Sea.

In the newly declassified vision, released on Thursday night, the jet can be seen releasing fuel as it passes over the drone. In a second approach, the jet performs a similar manoeuvre and collides with the drone's propeller, the US European Command (EUCOM) said.

The camera feed, which is pointed backward towards the drone's tail, cuts out twice in the video, once due to the fuel dump and once after the collision, the command said.

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The damaged propeller can be seen when the camera feed comes back online, which EUCOM said took about 60 seconds.

The US forces said the incident lasted 30 to 40 minutes but the video had been edited for length. Nor does it show the events before or after the collision. Russia has denied there was any collision.

With the propeller damaged, the drone operators effectively flew the aircraft as a glider as it descended over the Black Sea, bringing it down in international waters south-west of Crimea.

On its way down, two US officials told CNN the operators remotely wiped the drone's sensitive software, mitigating the risk of secret materials falling into enemy hands before it crashed into the water.

Despite the release of the dramatic footage, and back and forth over who is to blame, the Biden administration has not said it will take action against Russia over the downing of the drone, perhaps indicating a desire to not further escalate tensions after the Kremlin said overnight that relations between Moscow and Washington are at their "lowest point".

A senior Biden administration official said the footage "absolutely confirms" that there was a physical collision and dumping of fuel, but it does not confirm the pilot's intent.

Two US officials familiar with the intelligence told CNN that senior officials at the Russian Ministry of Defence gave the order for the Russian fighter jets to harass a US drone over the Black Sea this week.

The high-level military officials' connection to the incident suggests that the fighter jet pilots were not taking rogue action when they interfered with the US drone.

But, at this time there is no indication that the highest of political leaders in Russia – particularly those in the Kremlin, including President Vladimir Putin – knew about the planned aggression in advance, one of the US officials said.

Questions remain on retrieving drone

National Security Council communications coordinator John Kirby said on CNN This Morning on Wednesday that the drone had not been recovered and that he was "not sure" the US would be able to recover it.

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Moscow had made clear it would attempt to retrieve the wreckage of the drone, and two officials told CNN that Russia had reached the MQ-9 crash site in the Black Sea.

Kirby would not confirm the reported development, but said the US had "made it impossible for them to be able to glean anything of intelligence value off the remnants of that drone, whatever remnants there might be on the surface of the water".

The Kremlin has said a decision on whether to retrieve the drone will come from Russia's Ministry of Defence.

"This is the prerogative of the military. If they believe that it is necessary for our interests and our security in the Black Sea, they will do it," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

Peskov said he did not know what the ministry had decided.

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In the wake of the incident, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley spoke to their Russian counterparts for the first time since October.

While intercept attempts are not uncommon, the incident amid the war in Ukraine has raised concerns it could bring the United States and Russia closer to direct conflict.

That the two countries' top defense and military leaders were talking so soon after the encounter over the Black Sea underscored its seriousness.

The Russian Defence Ministry said in its report of the call with Austin that Shoigu accused the US of provoking the incident by ignoring flight restrictions the Kremlin had imposed because of its military operations in Ukraine.

Russia also blamed "the intensification of intelligence activities against the interests of the Russian Federation".

Such US actions "are fraught with escalation of the situation in the Black Sea area", the Defence Ministry said, warning that Russia "will respond in kind to all provocations".

A pedestrian was hit by an apparently runaway truck in central Dunedin this morning.

A pilot is critical after being freed from the wreckage of a light plane after it crashed and flipped at Bankstown airport in South West Sydney this afternoon.

The single-engine, four-seater Cirrus aircraft came down at the airport around 3.40pm.

The plane flipped on impact and trapped the male pilot, and a large amount of fuel spilled from the plane, Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) said.

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Eight fire trucks responded to the crash and crews covered the aircraft in fire retardant foam while they worked to free the pilot.

The pilot, aged in his 60s, has been taken to Liverpool Hospital in a critical condition with chest, arm and spinal injuries.

It's not yet clear what caused the crash.

It's understood the aircraft had flown in from the Gold Coast, a nearly three-hour trip, and a gust of wind may have been to blame for the crash.

A pilot who witnessed the crash said it all happened very quickly.

"I saw three planes all coming in to land then one tipped violently to the left and before i knew it was on the ground," Adam, a fellow pilot, said.

"I didn't believe my eyes at first."

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An Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) spokesperson said the authority is investigating the crash.

"The ATSB is gathering further information about the circumstances of a landing accident at Bankstown airport involving a Cirrus light aircraft to inform a decision on any investigation," the spokesperson said.

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The Easter weekend provides many Australians with a rare four-day weekend thanks to Good Friday and Easter Monday.

However, while each state and territory does recognise the long weekend, there are some differences in what public holidays each jurisdiction grants.

Here's a state-by-state (and territory) guide to the Easter weekend public holidays in Australia.

READ MORE: What are Australia's public holidays for 2023 and 2024?

Do I get a public holiday for Easter?

Yes. Actually, to be more correct, you actually get more than one: every state and territory in Australia observes both Good Friday, which falls on Friday, April 7, and Easter Monday, which this year is on April 10.

With the Saturday and Sunday in between, that makes for a four-day weekend for many workers, however there are some slight variations from state to state about how the weekend days are treated.

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Is Easter Sunday a public holiday?

Most governments consider Easter Sunday – which falls on April 9 this year – to be a public holiday. This applies to the ACT, NSW, Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia.

The two exceptions are Tasmania and South Australia, which don't consider the Sunday an official public holiday.

Western Australia had, for a long time, taken the same approach as Tasmania, but it changed tack last year and adopted Easter Sunday as a public holiday in 2022. Queensland was also a slight latecomer, declaring it a public holiday in 2017.

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Is Easter Saturday a public holiday?

Again, for the most part the answer to this question is yes: Easter Saturday (or, if you're in Queensland, "the day after Good Friday") is an official public holiday in the ACT, NSW, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria.

In 2023, Easter Saturday falls on April 8.

Again, Tasmania is an exception, as is Western Australia; both treat it as a regular Saturday.

However, Tasmania is the one state that has a public holiday no one else does: in the Apple Isle, Easter Tuesday is observed (this year on April 11) – although it usually just applies to state government public servants.

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Are you ready for Auckland’s Pasifika Festival this weekend?

Police believe the man was critically injured somewhere other than the police station.

As the reporter sought to deliver the news, the rubber began to peel on the forecourt.