A balloon caused hundreds to lose power in Rotorua this afternoon.According to Unison, nearly 1600 customers lost without power in Pomare, Sunnybrook, Fordlands, Pukehangi and Utuhina around 1.23pm.Union spokesman Danny Gough…

The stresses of being restrained triggered an abnormal heart rhythm that caused a prison inmate’s death, a coroner has found. Coroner Peter Ryan said that Kolby Heta would not have died had he been left in his cell to calm down…

Queensland Police have launched a homicide investigation following the death of a man in Logan, south of Brisbane, overnight.

Police said a 48-year-old man was located with significant head injuries in the garage of an Augustus Street home in Kingston, around 7pm last night.

The man died at scene. Police believe the man was residing at that address.

READ MORE: Locals give up work to search for man missing in Victoria's alpine region since Friday

A crime scene has been declared and investigations are ongoing.

A 35-year-old man is assisting police with their inquiries.

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has outlined four key areas it will target this financial year, with gains made on cryptocurrency, property and shares high on the agenda.

As tax time looms, the ATO said this year it will be focusing on record-keeping, work-related expenses, rental property income and deductions and capital gains made from crypto assets.

Assistant Commissioner Tim Loh said the ATO would be targeting areas where people commonly made "mistakes" and urged all Australians to rethink their claims.

READ MORE: Man attacked by crocodile while swimming in gorge

Of particular note would be the way Australians invest – and deduct – costs associated with cryptocurrency. 

If Australians disposed of an asset such as property, shares, cryptocurrency or even a non-fungible token (NFT), they will need to calculate a capital gain or capital loss and record it in their return.

"Crypto is a popular type of asset and we expect to see more capital gains or capital losses reported in tax returns this year. Remember you can't offset your crypto losses against your salary and wages" Loh said.

"Through our data collection processes, we know that many Aussies are buying, selling or exchanging digital coins and assets so it's important people understand what this means for their tax obligations."

READ MORE: Two new countries set to join NATO

He advised Australians to start thinking about their tax now to avoid the stress – or financial penalty – of a late or incorrect return.

"We know there is still some weeks left until tax time, but if you start organising the income and deductions records you've kept throughout the year, this will guarantee you a smoother tax time and ensure you claim the deductions you are entitled to," Loh said.

The assistant commissioner said every claim must satisfy the "three golden rules" of tax, meaning you must have spent the money yourself and not been reimbursed, you can only claim the work portion of an expense and you must have a record to prove it.

READ MORE: Queensland man describes how he tried to save Andrew Symonds

The slow wind down of COVID-19 restrictions means the ATO is also expecting work-from-home deductions to fall this year.

"Some people have changed to a hybrid working environment since the start of the pandemic, which saw one in three Aussies claiming working from home expenses in their tax return last year," Loh said.

"If you have continued to work from home, we would expect to see a corresponding reduction in car, clothing and other work-related expenses such as parking and tolls.

"Each individual's work-related expenses are unique to their circumstances.

"If your working arrangements have changed, don't just copy and paste your prior year's claims. 

"If your expense was used for both work-related and private use, you can only claim the work-related portion of the expense. 

"For example, you can't claim 100 per cent of mobile phone expenses if you use your mobile phone to ring mum and dad."

FULL COVERAGE: Federal Election 2022

Those chomping at the bit to have their tax return in their bank account are also being urged to wait until the pre-fill has been done on their account, which is generally complete by the end of July.

Pre-fill information – which includes interest from banks, dividend income, private health insurers and more – generally avoids mistakes or missed deductions from manually inputting all income.

"You can check if your employer has marked your income statement as 'tax ready' as well as if your pre-fill is available in myTax before you lodge. That way, an amendment doesn't need to be made later, which could result in delays to your refund," Loh said.

"While we receive and match a lot of information on rental income, foreign sourced income and capital gains events involving shares, crypto assets or property, we don't pre-fill all of that information for you."

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.

The 18-year-old man suspected of opening fire at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket on Saturday told authorities he was targeting the Black community.

The alleged gunman made disturbing statements describing his motive and state of mind following his arrest, an official familiar with the investigation said.

The statements were clear and filled with hate toward the Black community.

READ MORE: Man attacked by crocodile while swimming in gorge

Investigators also uncovered other information from search warrants and other methods indicating the alleged shooter was "studying" previous hate attacks and shootings, the official said.

The revelation comes a day after a gunman killed 10 people and wounded three others at the Tops Friendly Markets store in a predominantly Black neighbourhood in Buffalo.

Eleven of the people who were shot were Black, officials said.

The suspect was identified as a rifle-toting 18-year-old from Conklin, New York, who allegedly wrote a White supremacist manifesto online, travelled about 320km to the store and livestreamed the attack, authorities said.

Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said the attack was a racist hate crime and will be prosecuted as such.

"The evidence that we have uncovered so far makes no mistake that this is an absolute racist hate crime. It will be prosecuted as a hate crime," he said.

"This is someone who has hate in their heart, soul and mind."

Investigators believe the suspect acted on his own in the shooting, Gramaglia said.

The suspect was in Buffalo a day before the shooting and did some reconnaissance at the Tops Friendly Markets store, the commissioner said.

The victims included a former Buffalo police lieutenant working as a security guard and the 86-year-old mother of Buffalo's retired fire commissioner, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said.

Two people remain hospitalised in stable condition, a spokesman for Erie County Medical Centre said.

The suspect, Payton S. Gendron, surrendered to police and was taken into custody.

He was charged with first-degree murder, prosecutors said, and pleaded not guilty in court Saturday night, Buffalo City Court Chief Judge Craig Hannah told CNN.

Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said Gendron is currently under suicide watch.

The attack bears similarities to a number of mass shootings in recent years that were motivated by hate and intended to be seen online, including the shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019.

The Buffalo attack was the deadliest US mass shooting of the year.

There have been at least 198 mass shootings so far in 2022, per the Gun Violence Archive, which like CNN defines a mass shooting as four or more people shot, not including the shooter.

The owner of a firearms shop in New York told The New York Times that the suspect recently bought a Bushmaster assault weapon.

A background check on the suspect at the time showed nothing, Donald told the Times.

"I knew nothing about it until I got the call from them. I couldn't believe it," Robert Donald, whose shop is in Endicott, about 320km from Buffalo.

"I just can't believe it. I don't understand why an 18-year-old would even do this," he added.

"I know I didn't do anything wrong, but I feel terrible about it."

Suspect targeted predominantly Black area

Investigators are reviewing a 180-page purported manifesto posted online in connection with the shooting.

The author of the document, who claims to be Payton Gendron, confesses to the attack and describes himself as a fascist, a White supremacist and an anti-Semite.

"We are obviously going through that with a fine-toothed comb and reviewing that for all evidence that may lead us to besides the manifesto itself," Erie County District Attorney John Flynn told CNN's Victor Blackwell.

The manifesto's author says he bought ammo for some time but didn't get serious about planning the attack until January.

The author writes about his perceptions of the dwindling size of the White population and claims White people are being replaced by non-Whites in a "White genocide."

This "replacement theory," once a fringe idea, has recently become a talking point for Fox News' host Tucker Carlson as well as other prominent conservatives.

"We continue to investigate this case as a hate crime, a federal hate crime and as a crime perpetrated by a racially motivated, violent extremist," said Stephen Belongia, special agent in charge of the FBI's Buffalo field office.

In the manifesto, the author says the supermarket in Buffalo is in a ZIP code that "has the highest black percentage that is close enough to where I live."

New York Governor Kathy Hochul told CNN investigators believe the suspect targeted the busiest place in that area at the busiest time.

"This was targeted by ZIP code," Hochul said.

"This was the highest concentration of African Americans within hours."

The ZIP code that includes the store, 14208, is 78 per cent Black, according to the US Census Bureau's 2020 American Community Survey.

That is the highest percentage of Black population of any ZIP code in upstate New York.

Hochul said an AR-15 used in the shooting was purchased legally in a gun store in New York state but was modified with a high-capacity magazine, which is not legal in the state.

The suspected gunman had previously been on the radar of police, officials said.

As a student at Susquehanna Valley Central High School, he made a "generalised threat" in June 2021, Gramaglia said.

The student was brought in for a mental health evaluation and was released after a day and a half, according to Gramaglia.

The threat was not racially motivated, he added.

A spokesman for the New York State Police confirmed to CNN it investigated and responded to a report that a 17-year-old student had made "a threatening statement" in June 2021 at the same high school.

The student was taken into custody and transported to a hospital in June 2021 for a mental health evaluation.

State police were unable to confirm how long the individual was in the hospital or the findings of the evaluation.

They also refused to name the 17-year-old.

Earlier, Hochul said the suspect had previously been under surveillance with medical authorities related to "something he wrote in high school."

In his hometown, the suspect worked at the local Conklin Reliable Market for about four months and left about three months ago, according to the store's owner.

The owner described him as very quiet, while a neighbour similarly said "you wouldn't get more than a word or two" from him.

How the shooting unfolded

At around 2.30pm, the suspect drove to Tops Friendly Markets near the areas of Masten Park and Kingsley.

Wearing tactical gear and armed with an assault weapon, the suspect allegedly shot and killed three people in the parking lot and wounded a fourth, according to a statement from Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn.

The suspect then entered the store and exchanged gunfire with an armed security guard who was a retired member of the Buffalo Police Department, the district attorney said.

The guard was identified as Aaron Salter, Brown said.

Because the suspect wore heavy tactical gear, however, the guard's bullets did not have any effect, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said Saturday.

"He was very heavily armed," the police commissioner said.

"He had tactical gear, he had a tactical helmet on, he had a camera that he was livestreaming what he was doing."

Inside the store, nine people were shot before the suspect was apprehended by police, according to the district attorney's statement.

In a statement sent to CNN, livestreaming service Twitch confirmed the shooting was streamed and said the user "has been indefinitely suspended from our service, and we are taking all appropriate action, including monitoring for any accounts rebroadcasting this content."

CNN obtained a portion of the livestream which showed the suspect arriving at the supermarket in his vehicle.

Grady Lewis said he was outside the supermarket when he heard seven or eight gunshots and saw a White man dressed in tactical gear spraying gunfire at the entry of the store.

Law enforcement arrived within two minutes after the shooting began, Lewis told CNN affiliate WKBW.

He "heard at least 20 or so shots" before the suspect exited the store.

"He came out, he put the gun to his head, to his chin.

Then he dropped it and took off his bulletproof vest, then got on his hands and knees and put his hands behind his back," Lewis said, describing the moments the suspect was arrested by police.

"I thought they were going to shoot him but they didn't shoot him."

"I still don't even believe it happened … that a person would go into a supermarket full of people," he said.

"It was horrible, it was really horrible."

The Tops Friendly Markets store released a statement saying it was heartbroken over the violence.

"Tops has been committed to this community and to the city of Buffalo for decades and this tragedy will not change that commitment," the company said.

Several experts have criticised the Coalition's proposed policy to allow first home buyers to access their superannuation to purchase property, warning that it would cause a "housing price explosion".

The policy, announced yesterday, would allow first home buyers to withdraw up to 40 per cent or $50,000 of their super early in order to allow them to enter the market sooner.

But several experts, including the McKell Institute's executive director Michael Buckland, say unleashing thousands of new buyers on the market would only supercharge demand and cause prices to drive up again.

READ MORE: Man attacked by crocodile while swimming in gorge

"Homes are already unaffordable for millions of Australians and Scott Morrison's proposal would pour fuel on the fire," Buckland said.

"What first home buyers desperately need is a little calm in the overheated housing market. 

"This proposal would kickstart yet another house price spiral, stripping young people of their super savings and doing virtually nothing to improve real affordability."

Five months ago the McKell Institute, along with researchers from the Centre for Housing, Urban and Regional Planning at the University of South Australia, compiled a report that looked at what affect allowing buyers to dip into their super early would have on the market.

READ MORE: Two new countries set to join NATO

The report, titled Mortgaging our Future, found in most scenarios the median house price in Sydney would increase by $40,000 while in Brisbane it would increase by almost $100,000.

Additionally, it found buyers who used super to purchase a property would be worse off in retirement because the average returns in a super fund were greater than those found in house prices over the long term.

"Super-for-housing would basically mean first-home buyers handing their hard-earned retirement savings to existing property owners, when they would be much better off investing that money in super," Buckland said. 

"Young Australians need their retirement savings quarantined and compounding.

"Using these savings to fuel yet another house price frenzy would be policy madness." 

READ MORE: Queensland man describes how he tried to save Andrew Symonds

CEO of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees Ava Scheerlinck says the proposed policy does little to address the supply side of housing affordability, and puts at risk the "dignity" of many Australians retirement.

"Accessing your super early won't get you closer to your dream home or fix Australia's housing crisis," Scheerlinck said. 

"Using super as a deposit will drive up property prices, leaving Australians with higher debt and depleted retirement savings.

"First home buyers are being asked to choose between a home and saving for their retirement, they should be able to have both. 

"The Australian Government must address this modern-day inequity by addressing supply issues rather than raiding super.

"A first home should not come at the expense of dignity in retirement."

FULL COVERAGE: Federal Election 2022

Eliza Owen, head of research at property data firm CoreLogic, said that while the policy could increase the cost of housing it was important to remember that many first home buyers do not substantial super funds to draw from.

"The actual value that could be accessed through this scheme is relatively low for the typical young first homebuyer," Owen said. 

"According to ABS data, the median superannuation balance in Australia was around $55,000 at June 2020.

"First home buyers are typically younger, and the median super balance was just $25,000 for those aged between 25 and 34 years of age. 

"At 40 per cent, the scheme would offer just $10,000 at the median level, or the equivalent of some state-based first homeowner grants."

The greatest barrier to first home buyers is frequently cited as saving for a deposit large enough to avoid Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) while simultaneously dealing with life expenses such as housing and food.

A recent report by ANZ found that on a median weekly household income of $1665, it would now take first-timers 11.4 years to save for the 20 per cent deposit required to avoid paying LMI.

Across Australia's combined capital cities that figure falls slightly to 11.2 years, while across the nation's combined regional centres it falls to 10.5 years.

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.

A man swimming in a gorge in Queensland suffered "significant injuries" when a freshwater crocodile launched from the deep yesterday.

Rescue crews said they believe the man startled the crocodile when he attempted to get to a small waterfall in a remote national park, 230km north of Mount Isa.

The man, aged in his 40s, told rescuers he put up a fight, wrestling the two-to-three-metre crocodile until it released him.

READ MORE: Local man tried to save cricket star Andrew Symonds after car crash

"As you can imagine, a two to three-metre croc grabbing you by the arm is going to create some pretty significant injuries, which is what he had," RACQ Lifeflight Rescue Aircrew Officer Greig Allan told Today.

Allan told Today the man's colleagues made the rescue team's job easier performing first aid and getting the man to a nearby airstrip so he could quickly be flown out of the area.

Breaking free may have saved his life, but it did not happen without creating further injuries.

"He had lacerations to his arm and he managed to wrestle himself free with his one good hand but in doing so created a whole lot of other injuries, puncture wounds to both his hands," he said.

"As he left, the croc had a little nip at his leg, just for good measure."

The man was flown to hospital where Allan said he remains in a stable but serious condition.

Allan said this was one of the more unusual rescues he has encountered in his time with RACQ Lifeflight.

"I think since I've been in Australia, everything is pretty unusual when it comes to wildlife," the Scottish native said.

READ MORE: Car slams into Perth shop, pinning customers against wall

Keen observers of the night sky may have noticed the perfectly full moon last night. In May, the full moon is known as the flower moon.

More than a month after the Ukrainian army retook Irpin from the Russians, Volodymyr Klimashevskyi is still finding the little nail-like projectiles scattered around his garden and embedded deep in the walls of his house.

"You can't take them out with your hands, you need to use pliers," Klimashevskyi said, pointing to the wall dotted with the dark darts.

Called flechettes — French for "little arrows" — these razor-sharp, inch-long projectiles are a brutal invention of World War I when the Allies used them to strike as many enemy soldiers as possible.

READ MORE: Russian neighbour Finland announces it wants to join NATO

They are packed into shells that are fired by tanks. When the shell detonates, several thousands of the projectiles are sprayed over a large area.

Flechette shells are not banned, but their use in civilian areas is prohibited under humanitarian law, because of their indiscriminate nature. They cause severe damage as they rip through the body, twisting and bending — and can be lethal.

The United States used them during the Vietnam War and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs accused the Israeli military of using them against civilians in 2010 in Gaza, according to a report by the US State Department. But other than that, they have been rarely used in modern warfare.

After Russian forces retreated from the towns and villages north of Kyiv that they had occupied in March, evidence emerged that they had been using them during their assault.

READ MORE: Local man tried to save Andrew Symonds after car crash on remote road

Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv, isn't the only place where that evidence emerged.

In the village of Andriivka, about 20km west of Irpin, farmer Vadim Bozhko told CNN that he found flechettes scattered along the road leading to his house. Bozhko and his wife hid in the basement as his home was shelled. It has been almost completely destroyed by a shell.

The darts were also found in the bodies of people who were killed in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, according to Liudmila Denisova, Ukraine's ombudsman for human rights.

Denisova said last month that after "the liberation of cities in the Kyiv region, new atrocities of Russian troops are revealed".

"Forensic experts found flechettes in the bodies of residents of Bucha and Irpin. The [Russians] launched shells with them, and used them to bomb residential buildings in cities and suburbs," Denisova said in a statement. It is unclear whether the flechettes were what killed the victims.

READ MORE: Why NATO military alliance has Russia worried

Klimashevskyi, 57, still clearly remembers the day the flechettes started raining down on him. It was March 5 and he was lying on the floor in his house, away from the window, taking cover. A shell hit the house next door, but failed to explode.

The darts covered the area and destroyed the window in his car, he said.

His neighbours Anzhelika Kolomiec, 53, and Ihor Novohatniy, 64, fled Irpin amid the worst fighting in March. When they came back after several weeks away, they said they found numerous flechettes scattered around their garden and on top of their roof.

They keep them in a glass jar on the patio. Every now and then, they add another one.

"We're finding them all over," Novohatniy said, pointing to the darts that are still lodged in the patio roof.

"These are sticking out [of the roof], but usually, they are spread around."

When they were finally able to return home, Kolomiec did what she does every spring. She took care of her garden, planting salad leaves, onion and other plants.

Digging around, she kept finding the little metal darts that the Russian soldiers were firing at her and her home. But the reminder of those terrifying days hasn't stopped her from doing what she loves.

"I love gardening. I don't have much space, but last year, I had hundreds of tomatoes, I was giving them to all my friends," she said.

"This year, we couldn't get tomatoes, but I have rucola and onion and some flowers."

A car has slammed into a Perth shopfront, pinning customers against a wall.

It's the second time this week an older driver has lost control behind the wheel in the city.

The 87-year-old accidentally hit the wrong pedal.

READ MORE: Local man tried to save cricket star Andrew Symonds after car crash

The Ford Futura approached the Willagee shop, in the city's south-west, slowly at first before hurtling into people queueing.

Three women were pinned to a wall in the accident at 4pm on Saturday.

The women, aged 50, 53 and 69 were freed and taken to hospital, with minor injuries.

Witness Nathaniel said the couple in the car didn't know what to do.

"They were in so much shock, they wouldn't come out of the car," he said.

Another man who saw what happened, Brendon Lobo said the impact also caused a lot of damage.

"There was pretty decent damage because the bricks on the floor on the lower part of that shop were actually broken, the car was half into the shop," he said.

Police said they would investigate whether the elderly driver should continue to hold a licence.

READ MORE: Teammates tributes after Symonds crash

On Wednesday a driver aged in his 70s ploughed into a radiological clinic in the suburb of Balcatta.

A pregnant woman was hit but both her and baby are okay.