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On the weekend that Auckland businesswoman Elizabeth Zhong was stabbed to death her estranged business partner Fang Sun was supposed to be in the middle of a 10-day respite at a Waikato beach house. But when the manager of the Bookabach…

Police are calling for the person believed to be responsible for a hit and run death in Masterton to “unburden” themselves and come forward.Masterton Police are investigating the death of Lawziah Karaitiana, who was killed in the…

The battle over Labor leader Anthony Albanese's "absolute" backing to a minimum wage increase is heating up.

The contrast between flat wages and growing cost of living is growing ever more central to the current campaign, with unions calling for a 5.5 per cent increase in the minimum.

"I believe that the minimum wage should at least keep up with the cost of living," Albanese said yesterday.

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Asked directly if he would support a 5.1 per cent minimum wage increase, the same as the rate of inflation, Albanese said: "Absolutely."

He backed that up today, while clarifying he did not endorse it as an ongoing policy – only a measure of support for those currently doing it tough on minimum wage.

The business community has criticised the move, saying it will only put further pressure on inflation.

"What we're talking about here is the lowest-paid workers in Australia," Albanese said.

"Those people who are really struggling with cost of living increases."

He said the increase amounted to an extra $1 an hour for people earning $20.33 an hour.

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Additionally, Labor's plan was not to continue increasing minimum wage in line with potential inflation rates of seven per cent or more.

"To grow productivity the way that you can have wages increase and profits increase whilst not putting inflationary pressure there, is productivity growth," Albanese said.

"And that was the centre of my speech to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry last Thursday, that's my position."

But critics – most prominently Prime Minister Scott Morrison – said increasing wages would only increase hip pocket pain.

Morrison called Albanese's decision "incredibly reckless".

"We all want to see wages go up and indeed the Reserve Bank governor has made it very clear that we are seeing wages starting to go up," he said.

"But the way you engage in economic policy is not in the loose way we saw from Anthony Albanese yesterday."

Morrison said Fair Work Australia was the appropriate body to determine wage increases.

"The risk is, if you add to the cost of doing business, you'll add to the cost of inflation," Andrew McKellar from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said.

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"That's going to push the cost of living higher."

Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie yesterday accused both major parties of essentially ignoring cost of living pressures, especially on pensioners.

She said power prices hikes had already seen people forgoing lunch or dinner to pay their bills, and that any increase in rent prices could see pensioners forced out of their homes altogether.

Parts of Queensland have been hit with major flooding as more torrential rain threatens to inundate already soaked catchments.

Areas in North and Far North Queensland as well as regions further west have been the worst affected by the floods and a woman has lost her life after driving into floodwaters near Mackay.

Several regions have seen up to a months worth of rain in just 24 hours, with May rainfall records broken in the North Queensland town of Charters Towers, parts of which have been soaked by a torrent of water.

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Locals were spotted pulling their kids on boards pulled by tractors through the rarely seen wet conditions.

In the community of Giru, south of Townsville, flood-water inundated the town as the Haughton River reached major flood levels.

Parts of Townsville recorded over 100mm of rain within an hour.

Between Cairns and Mackay, totals of 100 to 250 mm were recorded in most areas.

Innisfail, south of Cairns received some of the most rain with falls between 180 to 240 mm and Mourilyan on the Cassowary Coast recorded the highest rainfall with 244 mm of rain.

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Andrew Preece from the Bureau of Meteorology said the weather system would continue to move south, dumping more rain on already soaked communities in south-east Queensland.

"Overnight we've seen major flood levels in areas in the north tropical coast," he said.

"Most significant have been in the Bohle River catchment at Mount Bohle. That peaked at major flood level overnight.

"We're expecting that rain band to move off the coast and then move further south over the next couple of days."

Minor flooding is expected to impact the Mary River catchment in Gympie, south-east Queensland and minor flooding is also expected in Brisbane's north and the Sunshine Coast.

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Queenslanders warned to follow safety warnings

Queenslanders have been warned never to enter floodwaters at any cost and to prepare for the incoming wet weather.

Authorities warn "if it's flooded forget it" after February's floods claimed the life of 13 people, the majority of whom drove through flooded roads.

"You can't see what's underneath, you can't see how deep the water is, very… very treacherous conditions," Mark Burgess from Queensland Police said.

https://twitter.com/QldFES/status/1524249383382192128

QFES State Operations Centre Coordinator James Haig has implored people in affected areas to plan their trips "carefully" as the deluge continues.

"Pay attention to what the Bureau advice is in the local area. Also pay attention to the road closures," he said.

"Don't put yourself in a position where you will be under pressure to make a decision to enter floodwaters.

"It is never worth it."

Sandbags will be available from local council's and SES crews in a bid to reduce impacts on buildings and homes.

Woman dead, two lucky to be alive after car found in floodwaters

A woman was found dead in her submerged vehicle after becoming swept into floodwaters north of Mackay around 5am this morning.

The 31-year-old woman, who has not been formally identified, is a local from the town of Calen, police confirmed.

Swiftwater rescues crews were called to Surprise Creek Road at Mount Ossa around 5am after a car carrying three people was swept off a causeway in floodwaters.

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Two passengers, a 50-year-old man and 30-year-old woman, managed to free themselves from the car, but the driver could not.

Her body was located during a search and rescue mission.

"The driver was located in the vehicle as it was able to be recovered and in fact the seat belt still remained on the driver," Acting Superintendent Mark Burgess said.

"(The other passengers) were able to get themselves obviously to a position to be able to make a call or otherwise attend for help."

The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating the circumstances of the incident.

"Police will prepare a report for the coroner," police said in a statement.

Queensland Ambulance said the man was treated for a head laceration, while the other passenger was uninjured.

Both are in a stable condition.

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Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said "100mm over a couple hours" put low-lying areas at risk.

"(There's) a forecast of 10 inches (25 centimetres) over the next couple of days," he said.

"We're ready, as ready as we can be as a community. We are used to this sort of thing, probably not in May but we are used to it," he said.

"We've had up to 10 inches in May before, but the prolonged period and this massive cell that's moving down the coast, yeah, it's pretty weird."

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Heavy rain, rough swells in south-east Queensland

Heavy rains hit south-east Queensland last night and continued into today, with the Sunshine Coast bearing the brunt of wet weather.

Several roads have been closed due to flash flooding.

The weather system has also seen massive swell develop off the coast, with the Sunshine Coast recording one six metre wave.

On the Gold Coast, lifeguards have confirmed all beaches will be closed today as the coast is battered with waves between four and five metres.

On the city's coast, rough winds and ocean conditions swept a boat off its mooring and into a pier on The Broadwater, in Labrador.

Winds of 60 -70km/h "howled" through the Gold Coast.

"It's making the proximate temperature here on the Gold Coast feel about seven degrees cooler," 9News reporter Mia Glover said this morning.

'Anxious, traumatised' NSW communities on edge

As the system makes its way down the coast, the BoM said showers will be felt across most of New South Wales.

The heaviest falls are expected in the northwest before moving inland on Thursday.

NSW State Emergency Service (SES) said they are on standby, preparing for possible rain and flooding should rain extend into northern NSW; an area which has flooded twice this year.

It explained recent weather events and high soil moisture levels increases the risk of flooding and landslips remains for northern NSW "in the coming days".

NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York acknowledges the news of more potential rain may be extremely unsettling for the Northern NSW communities.

"We understand that the current weather system may be causing concern for many people in the Northern Rivers. Recent events have left our communities, not only devastated but also traumatised and anxious," she said.

"It is important to acknowledge that this anxiety exists, especially considering recent events. It is normal to be feeling this way. You are not over-reacting or being silly.

"We are hoping that the rainfall predictions are accurate and that the rain coming is not significant. But please know our NSW SES volunteers are prepared, and stand ready to work with their communities once again."

However, the La Niña weather event which has caused the wet weather across Australia could come to an end by early winter, BoM said yesterday.

The prediction comes as waters are warming to neutral El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) levels. ENSO has little influence on rainfall meaning Australia could soon see an end to the unprecedented downpours.

Residents are advised to stay across BoM forecasts and NSW SES updates in the meantime.

It's official – Apple has rung the death bell for the iPod, the MP3 player that changed the way the world listened to music.

A Sydney-based photographer had a "mind-blowing" encounter with a great white shark off the NSW coast this weekend.

The photographer, who is known as Carved Banks, was exploring Jervis Bay on a jet ski on Sunday when he came across a juvenile great white around two to three metres in length.

The beast was "calm and curious" and circled the jet ski.

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In video shared to Instagram, the shark moves towards the watercraft at one point.

Speaking to 9news.com.au, Carved Banks said he's still in awe.

"It was amazing to see it that close," he said.

"It was so curious and calm. It was mind-blowing.

"It was very healthy for a young shark — got a bit of girth on it."

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While the shark was placid, Carved Banks said smaller great whites still pose a danger.

"They are so curious at that age and they learn by biting," he said.

"So it is not advisable to jump into them."

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The CSIRO, Australia's leading scientific research body, has identified two great white populations in Australia – an eastern population and a southern-western population.

The eastern population is estimated at 5460, but CSIRO has admitted there could be more than 12,802 great white cruising the waters.

The size of the south-western population is "not yet determined", but estimates suggest there are about 1460 adults cruising the waters from western Victoria to north-west Western Australia.

A blinding flash of light and a bang rang across an Adelaide inner-city suburb after two Molotov cocktails were launched at a home last month.

But at the time of the incident residents thought the loud bang was due to weather.

They woke to find two Molotov cocktails burnt out on the lawn of the home.

The reality of the scene, which occurred in the early hours of 28 April in Novar Gardens, has been revealed in CCTV released today.

READ MORE: Anxious, traumatised' communities on edge as torrential rain continues

South Australia Police have shared the video in a bid to illicit further information about the incident.

In the moments before the chaos, a car is seen pulling into the home's driveway and two people are seen getting out.

They light the incendiary weapons before flinging them into the air.

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Police said investigations show the car is a mid 2000's Mitsubishi Outlander with a front nudge bar and roof rails.

"There was no damage to the home or injuries to the occupants," police said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online here.

The seasonal version of the H1N1 flu virus circulating today may have a far more sinister origin than first thought, with researchers saying it could be a direct descendant of the 1918 Spanish Flu strain that killed up to 100 million people.

Tiny lung fragments from people who died in the catastrophic 1918 pandemic, which wiped out millions, provided the crucial scientific clues, they said in a study.

Genes taken from the lungs of those killed more than 100 years ago, when mapped against the current H1N1 strain, suggested a genomic ancestor to our now-yearly flu, the team of international researchers found.

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Scientists analysed 13 lung specimens collected from different people between 1901 and 1931 and carefully stored in historical archives of museums in Germany and Austria.

The century-old specimens included six samples taken from Spanish Flu victims in 1918 and 1919, during the peak of the killer pandemic.

In the peer-reviewed study published on Wednesday in Nature Communications, researchers conducted molecular clock modelling, a method which allows evolutionary timescales to be estimated, and suggested that all genomic segments of the seasonal H1N1 flu could be directly descended from the initial 1918 pandemic strain.

This finding, scientists said, contradicted earlier thinking that H1N1 emerged through a process of reassortment, a phenomenon which involves the exchange of genomic segments between different viruses.

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The H1N1 virus, once commonly referred to as swine flu, caused a flu pandemic in 2009.

In 2009, the global population had little immunity to H1N1 because it was new, with the World Health Organisation estimating 100,000 to 400,000 died from the pandemic that year.

As the virus continued to circulate in people in Australia and around the world, it became a seasonal human flu virus.

The 1918 Spanish Flu caused the largest global pandemic catastrophe in the last century.

It had similarities to COVID-19, in that the virus spread worldwide, but the 1918 flu strain was far more deadly than the coronavirus, which emerged from Wuhan in China.

Spanish Flu peaked in the northern hemisphere autumn of 1918 and continued through the winter of 1919.

It is believed the virus reached Australia in 1919, causing up to 15,000 deaths, and infecting between between one-quarter and one-third of all Australians.

Australia's population at the time was about five million.

While young children and the elderly were severely affected, the 1918 pandemic caused exceptionally high mortality in healthy people aged 20-40.

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Australia's dramatic two-year drop in influenza cases is well and truly over, with cases roaring back in April, particularly in the eastern states.

"We've had an eight-fold increase from March to April," Professor Ian Barr, Deputy Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, told 9news.com.au.

Lab-confirmed cases, which generally under-represent the reality, rose from 512 in March to 4663 in April.

"It's quite a lot of influenza for this time of year," Barr said.

"Normally, we don't see start to see these sort of rises for another month or so."

New South Wales, which leads Victoria and Queensland on April cases, should brace for a significant epidemic outbreak to hit this winter, he said.

The death of an Alabama jailer found shot in the head with a gun in her hand after a week-long manhunt has only deepened the mystery of why a trusted official would help free a hulking murder suspect with a violent and frightening history.

Vicky White, 56, was pronounced dead at a hospital after Casey White, 38, gave up without a fight in Evansville, Indiana. The fugitives had spent more than a week on the run.

NBC's Today show reported federal marshals said Casey White told officers at the scene, "Please help my wife. She just shot herself in the head and I didn't do it."

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The two Whites were not related, let alone married, officials said.

Before Vanderburgh County Coroner Steve Lockyear announced her death, the sheriff in Alabama had said he hoped to get answers from his once trusted jail employee.

"I had every bit of trust in Vicky Whit. She has been an exemplary employee," Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said.

"What in the world provoked her, prompted her to pull a stunt like this?

"I don't know. I don't know if we'll ever know."

Authorities closed in after receiving a tip on Sunday that a man closely resembling Casey White had been recorded by a surveillance camera at a car wash getting out of a 2006 Ford F-150 utility, the Marshals Service said.

He stands 2.06 metres tall and weighs about 118 kilograms.

A local police officer then spotted a vehicle they were looking for on Monday, and members of a US Marshals task force went to investigate, leading to a brief chase, Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding said on Today.

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"The pursuit was very short. It went up a major artery here in Vanderburgh County and they cut across a parking lot at a large factory," Wedding said.

"They were in a grassy area so three of our task force members actually rammed the vehicle, pushed it into a ditch so it ended up on its side.

"As they approached the vehicle it was obvious that the female driver was unconscious and still had a weapon in her hand. And they removed the murderer from the vehicle simultaneously."

Wedding said it has not been officially determined yet that Vicky White had in fact taken her own life.

"The coroner's office will do an investigation and they will determine if it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound," he said.

"The initial indication is that it was, but we won't rule anything out until we have a thorough investigation by the coroner."

The manhunt began April 29 after Vicky White, the assistant director of corrections for the jail in Lauderdale County, told co-workers she was taking Casey White, who was awaiting trial in a capital murder case, from the jail for a mental health evaluation. There was no such appointment.

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"We got a dangerous man off the street today. He is never going to see the light of day again," Singleton said.

"That is a good thing, for not just our community. That's a good thing for our country."

Casey White was serving a 75-year prison sentence for attempted murder and other charges at the time of his escape.

He was awaiting trial in the stabbing of a 58-year-old woman during a burglary in 2015. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Federal and local law enforcement officials also learned Casey White threatened to kill his former girlfriend and his sister in 2015 and said "that he wanted police to kill him", the Marshals Service said.

A warrant was issued on May 2 for Vicky White charging her with permitting or facilitating escape in the first degree.

Her family members and co-workers said they were stunned. Singleton said it appeared the plan had been in the works for some time. Jail inmates said the two had a special relationship and she gave Casey White better treatment than other inmates.

In the past several months, she bought a rifle and a shotgun and also was known to have a handgun, US Marshal Marty Keely said.

She also sold her house — for about half of market value — and bought a 2007 orange Ford Edge that she stashed at a shopping centre without license plates.

"This escape was obviously well-planned and calculated. A lot of preparation went into this. They had plenty of resources, had cash, had vehicles," Singleton said.

On what Vicky White said would be her last day at work, video showed the pair went from the jail to the shopping centre, where they picked up the Ford and left, Singleton said. Their flight was not discovered for much of the day.