National’s tax plan will give $10 in tax cuts to the top 5 per cent of income earners and landlords for every dollar of tax it cuts for the bottom half of earners, according to new calculations from the Council of Trade Unions. If…

Migos rapper Takeoff is dead after a shooting early on Tuesday outside a bowling alley in Houston, a representative confirmed. He was 28.

Takeoff — whose name was Kirsnick Khari Ball — was part of Migos along with Quavo and Offset.

A representative for Migos, who was not authorised to speak publicly, confirmed to The Associated Press that Takeoff had died.

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Police responded shortly after 2.30am (6.30pm AEDT) to reports of a shooting at 810 Billiards & Bowling, where dozens of people had gathered on a balcony outside of the bowling alley, which is on the third floor, police said.

Officers discovered one man dead when they arrived.

Security guards who were in the area heard the shooting but did not see who did it, a police spokesperson said.

Two other people were injured and taken to hospitals in private vehicles.

No arrests have been announced.

The Grammy-nominated rap trio from Georgia have had four Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including their multi-week No. 1 Bad and Boujee featuring Lil Uzi Vert.

They put out a trilogy of albums called Culture, Culture II and Culture III, with the first two albums hitting No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

They earned an ASCAP Vanguard Award in 2018, for their streaming success with multiplatinum songs like Motorsport (featuring Cardi B and Nicki Minaj), Stir Fry, and Walk It Talk It.

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They also played a fictional version of themselves on an episode of the hit TV show Atlanta.

Offset, who is married to Cardi B, released a solo album in 2019, while Takeoff and Quavo released a joint album Only Built for Infinity Links last month.

Celebrities and public figures have threatened to leave Twitter, as Elon Musk floats a monthly fee for verified users.

Twitter users who sport a "blue tick" could soon have to pay $US20 ($31) for the privilege, as the Elon Musk Twitter takeover continues. 

READ MORE: Instagram trying to reconnect users locked out of accounts

Profiles that have a blue checkmark next to their name usually represent a public figure, such as movie stars, celebrities, businesses, politicians and journalists. 

Author Stephen King tweeted on Monday he'd leave the social media platform if Musk implemented this change.

"$20 a month to keep my blue check? F— that, they should pay me," King tweeted, telling his near 7 million Twitter followers it was about the "principal", not the money.

Musk replied, defending the incoming subscription service – asking King if lowering the monthly amount from $20 to $8 would keep him. 

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1587312517679878144

"We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers," Musk said.

The new Twitter owner said he would explain more soon and described the measure as the "only way to defeat the bots and trolls". 

The original Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter, also took a swipe at Twitter with a photo of her before and after Twitter verification.

https://twitter.com/RealLyndaCarter/status/1587085996310642690

It's not yet confirmed when the change to the Twitter Blue subscription will come into force. 

Police are still searching for two men who were swept away by floodwaters after riding in a ute tray in the New South Wales southern tablelands.

Emergency services went to Rugby Road in Bevendale, 50 kilometres east of Boorowa, after reports a vehicle had been swept into flood waters at 11.15pm on Monday.

A ute attempted to cross a flooded causeway at Prestons Creek when it was swept off the road by water, police were told.

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Two men managed to free themselves from the cabin of the vehicle but another two men, who are believed to have been travelling in the tray, have not been found.

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Last night's search was suspended due to poor lighting and "adverse conditions".

Rescue crew resumed the search today.

Just over 48 hours after she landed back on Australian soil, the widow of an Islamic State (IS) fighter has been seen at a McDonald's in Punchbowl, enjoying a meal with her children.

Mariam Dabboussy landed in Sydney on Saturday morning.

The 31-year-old and her three children were among a planeload rescued by the Australian government from the Al-Roj refugee camp in Northern Syria, where they have been languishing for three years since the fall of IS-held Baghouz.

READ MORE: First IS families arrive in Sydney after repatriation

In a statement on Saturday, the government confirmed it had repatriated four Australian women and their 13 Australian children and that "allegations of unlawful activity will continue to be investigated… (and) any identified offences may lead to law enforcement action being taken".

But 9News understands criminal charges are unlikely.

Dabboussy is the subject of voluntary orders but she is not required to wear an ankle bracelet, is not under 24-hour police supervision, nor is she subject to strict terrorism control orders, because there is no legal basis for any of it.

On Saturday, 9News was told the rescued families were being held in a secure location to be interviewed by police.

But by Sunday afternoon, Dabboussy was at her family home near Blacktown, her three children enjoying a visit to a park, exploring flying foxes and play equipment.

The Dabboussys young son has been obsessed with the greenery of their western Sydney backyard, while their eight-year-old daughter is malnourished, currently the weight of a four-year-old.

All three children have dental issues and are now on the search for schools in the new year.

They are receiving medical and counselling support from the NSW government.

Daboussy left her Condell Park home with her husband Kaled Zahab in 2015.

She claims she thought she was going on holiday to Turkey.

Her husband died fighting for IS three months after they arrived.

In a 2019 interview, she told the ABC that she was tricked into coming to Syria by her husband.

Her father Kamalle maintains there is no evidence to say she joined IS.

Dabboussy's sister-in-law, 31-year-old Mariam Raad, was also on Saturday's plane home with her four children.

Raad, who may have been in Syria as early as 2013, is the widow of Muhammad Zahab, a former western Sydney maths teacher who became one of Australia's most senior IS leaders.

He is accused of luring at least a dozen of his extended family to Syria, including his brother Kaled.

READ MORE: Out of sight, Islamic State is rebuilding

Yazidi refugee Salam Qaro, now settled in Armidale, has told 9News the women are dangerous "for everyone that lives in Australia".

Qaro escaped northern Iraq in 2019, where he says IS committed horrible and brutal crimes against the Yazidi people.

He doesn't believe the IS widows' claim that they were all coerced to Syria and doesn't think they can be rehabilitated.

"They are very dangerous," he said.

"To be honest, if not today, next year, if not next year, in the future.

"They made their decision and they went to be part of (IS) and be part of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

"And they shouldn't be back anyway, in any case at all.

"Because they chose to go and be part of killing the people and the Yazidi community."

Qaro says the Australian government should instead be "locating more places for the Yazidis and for the people who make Australia better, not bringing those people who make Australia worried and (put us in) danger".

After being informed of the prime minister's rescue plans, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet wrote to Anthony Albanese seeking assurances the NSW cohort was assessed as presenting no risk to the community, intelligence agencies were monitoring the individuals and that resettlement and reintegration costs were subsidised by the federal government.

The state government has received no response.

The Morrison government refused to repatriate the women and children in 2019 due to security risks.

On Sunday, shadow minister for home affairs Karen Andrews said she was "concerned for the people of Australia".

"I am concerned about what will be put in place to make sure that these women and children are not in a position that they will cause any risk at all to Australian people," she said.

The families of the IS widows have been campaigning with advocacy group Save the Children to bring them home for years.

"They are victims of war," CEO Mat Tinkler told 9News.

"And first and foremost they're children.

"These kids are innocent and we have to get them the benefit of the doubt. They are Aussie citizens at the end of the day.

"Other countries around the world, the US, Germany, Denmark, have all made this choice.

"It's a difficult choice but at the end of the day a country has to take responsibility for its own citizens."

The prime minister yesterday said: "These are Australian citizens who are entitled to be in Australia … our one and only priority is to keep Australians safe.

"We're following national security advice on all of those matters and will continue to do so."

Another 43 Australian women and children are expected to be repatriated from the Syrian camp in the next few months.

A used tampon, knives, booze bottles, condoms and human faeces have all been dumped in a Christian school’s grounds by people in Rotorua emergency housing motels, school leaders say.The Seventh-day Adventist School students and…

An outback pub has lived up to the Northern Territory's reputation of doing things differently and Melbourne Cup celebrations proved to be no exception.

Berry Springs Tavern, which is 3700 kilometres from the iconic race in Flemington, celebrated Melbourne Cup by racing crocodiles.

The field consisted of hay bales lining the racecourse before organisers set six speedy young saltwater crocodiles down the track.

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The crocs raced down the verandah while punters watched on to see if they'd snapped up a winner.

The event draws a huge crowd to the rural town each year.

The population of the famous crabs of Christmas Island is booming wildlife bosses say, as the creature begin their famous migration again.

Parks Australia revealed numbers have more than doubled from 45 million to 100 million over the past few years.

Park bosses released a video of the scarlet creatures' slow sideways march towards the sea, which has begun in the past couple of weeks.

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Every year during the wet season, the creatures head out of their rainforest homes to the sea to spawn.

The males lead the way, followed by the females.

Remarkably, they're guided by the moon.

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After mating, male crabs will make the long journey back to the forest.

The females will release their eggs on the beach before also heading home.

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After that, the tiny red babies will make their very first journey home to the jungle.

Special roadblocks, and even bridges, are installed to protect the crabs.

Christmas Island is 2600 kilometres from Perth, and only 500 kilometres to Jakarta, Indonesia.

A publican has had the shock of his life after a dog knocked over his towering armful of glassware at a venue in the New South Wales northern rivers.

CCTV at the Rod n' Reel Hotel Motel in Woodburn showed the canine hurtling up to the man with excitement before knocking over multiple glasses in his hands, shattering all of them.

The dog did not stay to help with the clean up and the video showed it running back off into the distance.

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Publican Daniel Simpson who has been working at the venue for 16 years said the dog had been roaming freely before dropping into the pub and causing chaos.

He thought the canine was going to run past him but it jumped up and caused him to drop the glasses.

Simpson said "nothing surprises him on the job" although the incident did cause quite a mess.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has hiked interest rates for a seventh consecutive month, warning that it now expects inflation to peak at a far higher-than-expected 8 per cent by the end of 2022.

This afternoon the central bank lifted interest rates by 25 basis points or 0.25 per cent, taking the cash rate to 2.85 per cent.

It is the second time in 12 years the RBA has lifted rates on Melbourne Cup day, following a move of similar size in 2010 just before French raider Americain claimed the race.

Then the cash rate was 4.75 per cent.

READ MORE: Vandal pumps unknown substance onto Melbourne Cup track

Today's hike means the average Australian with a $500,000 mortgage would be paying around $74 more a month, after having seen their monthly repayments rise by a total of $760 since interest rates began lifting in May 2022.

Borrowers with larger loans – of around $1 million – are now dealing with a seven-month increase of more than $1500 extra on their monthly repayments.

The current level of 2.85 per cent is now the highest cash rate Australia has seen since April 2013.

EXPLAINED: What is inflation? And how does it make life more expensive?

Grim inflation forecast looming by Christmas

In his monetary statement, RBA Governor Philip Lowe issued a warning that it now expects inflation to peak at 8 per cent by the end of 2022 – higher than the Federal Budget forecast of 7.75 per cent.

Currently inflation in Australia, measured via the Consumer Price Index, is sitting at an annual level of 7.3 per cent.

"As is the case in most countries, inflation in Australia is too high. Over the year to September, the CPI inflation rate was 7.3 per cent, the highest it has been in more than three decades," Lowe said in a statement.

"A further increase in inflation is expected over the months ahead, with inflation now forecast to peak at around 8 per cent later this year.

"Inflation is then expected to decline next year due to the ongoing resolution of global supply-side problems, recent declines in some commodity prices and slower growth in demand."

READ MORE: Aussies need a $6600 pay rise to keep pace with inflation

Lowe also signalled that it was also likely that rates would be hiked further.

"The Board has increased interest rates materially since May. This has been necessary to establish a more sustainable balance of demand and supply in the Australian economy to help return inflation to target," he said.

"The Board expects to increase interest rates further over the period ahead. It is closely monitoring the global economy, household spending and wage and price-setting behaviour. The size and timing of future interest rate increases will continue to be determined by the incoming data and the Board's assessment of the outlook for inflation and the labour market.

"The Board remains resolute in its determination to return inflation to target and will do what is necessary to achieve that."

READ MORE: When life will actually get cheaper for Australians

The hard news for households already under mortgage stress is that the worst may not be over.

Economists at both Westpac and ANZ are now forecasting that the cash rate could increase to 3.85 per cent before levelling out.

According to RateCity.com.au, if that forecast is realised the same borrower with a $500,000 loan should see monthly repayments rise by almost $1100 in just 12 months.

"Australians are already facing the highest annual rise in the cost of goods since 1990. Throw in skyrocketing mortgage costs and it's a double whammy for families struggling to make ends meet," RateCity.com.au research director Sally Tindall said.

"While some families are doing it tough, many households still continue to have significant savings buffers at the ready for a rainy day, with the latest APRA data recording yet another increase in household deposits to a record $1.32 trillion.

"Households should remember that while we're six rate hikes in, many of them have only started paying the third or fourth hike."

Graham Cooke, head of consumer research at Finder, said the latest hike will be a "bitter pill to swallow" for many borrowers.

"Finder research is showing a significant increase in the number of households indicating housing, groceries and petrol as causes of financial stress," he said.

"According to the experts, the factors causing these price increases are likely to hang around for many months, meaning no relief on the horizon for households."

The information provided on this website is general in nature only and does not constitute personal financial advice. The information has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information on this website you should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs.