Emergency services were called to the Taieri Aerodrome after a plane flipped this afternoon.A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said it was alerted at 12.47pm.It was unknown how the light aircraft flipped, and emergency…

Vice President Mike Pence won't invoke the 25^th amendment to remove Donald Trump from office.

Mr Pence penned a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi informing her of his decision.

Ms Pelosi had issued an ultimatum to Mr Pence yesterday to invoke the 25^th, or else she would move forward to impeach Mr Trump.

But Mr Pence rejected her demand.

"With just eight days left in the President's term, you and the Democratic Caucus are demanding that the Cabinet and I invoke the 25^th amendment," he wrote.

"I do not believe such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution.

"Last week I did not yield to pressure to exert power beyond my constitutional authority to determine the outcome of the election, and I will not now yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play political games at a time so serious in the life of our Nation."

Mr Pence said the 25^th amendment was designed for if a president was disabled or incapacitated.

"Under our Constitution, the 25^th amendment is not a means of punishment or usurpation," he wrote.

"Invoking the 25^th amendment in such a manner would set a terrible precedent."

His letter made no mention of Mr Trump by name, and offered no defence of his actions last week leading up to the deadly Capitol riot.

READ MORE: What is the 25th amendment and how does it work?

READ MORE: Top Republican Liz Cheney backs impeachment

In order to remove a president from office, a majority of the cabinet needs to agree that he is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office".

But it needs the final approval of the vice president, who would take over if the president is removed.

Ms Pelosi will likely now move forward with an impeachment vote. Already three Republicans in the House of Representatives have voiced their support for impeachment.

That includes one of the most senior Republicans in the House.

Liz Cheney, who as chair of the House Republican Conference, holds the third-highest position in the caucus, cited the president's role in inciting last week's deadly Capitol riot.

"There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution," Ms Cheney said in a statement.

Another, John Katko, said he would vote to impeach Mr Trump earlier today.

"By deliberately promoting baseless theories suggesting the election was somehow stolen, the president created a combustible environment of misinformation, disenfranchisement and division," Mr Katko said in his statement.

"When this manifested in violent acts on January 6, he refused to promptly and forcefully call it off, putting countless lives in danger."

Because Democrats control the House, impeachment is expected to pass on a simple majority vote.

But in order to remove Mr Trump from office, a two-thirds vote of the Senate is needed.

Half of the Senate are Republicans, and so far none have outright declared their support for impeachment – though some have called for his resignation.

Mr Trump is scheduled to leave office on January 20, as Mr Biden is sworn in.

The number of job vacancies in Australia rose 23 per cent over the November 2020 quarter, placing the total number higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020.

New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows there were 254,000 job vacancies in November, and on an annual basis job vacancies were 12 per cent higher than in November 2019.

The three industries that saw the biggest increases in job vacancies were retail, arts and recreation services and accommodation and food services.

READ MORE: Unemployment rate falls to 6.8 per cent as jobs surge in Victoria

The ABS tracks job vacancies – that is the number of jobs currently advertised – via online electronic collection and phone surveys.

Data is not recorded on jobs that are private households employing staff, or positions available in the defence force.

"Job vacancies rose by 48,000 in the November 2020 quarter, following the sharp rise of 77,000 in August, as COVID-related restrictions continued to be relaxed across Australia," said Bjorn Jarvis, head of Labour Statistics at the ABS.

READ MORE: Treasurer warns of 'long, hard road ahead' as recession ends

"There were 254,000 job vacancies in November, which was higher than the pre-COVID level in February.

"This reflected the pace of recovery in labour demand in the second half of the year and labour shortages in some industries."

Quarterly increases in vacancies were seen in all states and territories. Victoria was the only state with vacancies below its February level.

In December Australia's unemployment rate dropped to 6.8 per cent on the back of a strong jobs market recovery in Victoria.

READ MORE: 'Some businesses won't survive' but economic recovery on track

Seasonally adjusted figures showed the unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percent in November with 17,300 less people out of work, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said.

And 90,000 more people found work people between October and November, while the number of hours worked increased by 2.5 per cent, according to the ABS.

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.

Australia's Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has defended the roll-out of the AstraZeneca vaccine as he conceded he would not be trying to convince anti-vaxxers of its benefits.

Professor Kelly said Australians "have been great at taking up the offers of vaccination", both for children and the wider population.

"We know that confidence is absolutely key to that," Professor Kelly said.

LIVE UPDATES: Victoria records no new local COVID-19 cases

"There are some people that just don't believe in vaccination… we can't convince them.

"We know that the majority of Australians are in favour of vaccination generally and our surveys that we've done in relation to the COVID vaccine have been very positive in that regard."

Mr Kelly said the "trump card" in Australia's selection of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is that it can be made on shore.

"The choice is not whether one is better than the other," Professor Kelly said.

"It's which one is available to give the maximum roll-out of vaccine to save lives and to protect lives this year. The answer to that is the one we can make here."

Mr Kelly said he is "concerned" debate over the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine could undermine public trust in the country's vaccination plan.

His comments come in response to concerns from some Australian medical experts suggesting the AstraZeneca vaccine may not be effective enough to achieve herd immunity.

The Australia and New Zealand Society for Immunology says, based on current evidence, the AstraZeneca vaccine shouldn't be relied on for controlling the virus in Australia.

There are no questions about the safety of the vaccine.

Mr Kelly said concerns about the ability of the drug to create herd immunity was not justified at this stage of the process, and Australians should be guided by medical research findings from the TGA.

"Once controversy is opened up and people make comments based on interim results from trial that was published a month ago … of course people will be wondering whether it's the right decision," Mr Kelly told Today.

"Long- standing advice that stood us in good stead on vaccines. They are the ones that advised us all along."

READ MORE: What the super strain mutants mean for the world in 2021

Phase three clinical trials show the AstraZeneca is around 62 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19.

Mr Kelly urged people not to fixate on the singular finding, pointing out that some groups involved in the AstraZeneca trail recorded up to 90 per cent effectiveness.

"We'll have much more information than a five or six page article published in the Lancet once the TGA makes decision," he said.

"Once they made that decision we'll be guided by it. Minimum, it is an effective vaccine, it definitely exceeds the World Health Organisation's goal of over 50 per cent effectiveness."

Infectious diseases and general physician at Alfred Health, Associate Professor Michelle Ananda-Rajah, this morning told Today some experts are concerned the AstraZeneca vaccine may not be the most efficient option.

"The issue with the AstraZeneca vaccine is that we are relying heavily on this vaccine to immunise the population so the vast majority of Australian population will be getting the AstraZeneca vaccine," she said.

"Herd immunity is really important … it stops the virus from circulating and helps us return as normal a life as possible and the issue here is that we think that that target number should be around 70 or 80 per cent at least."

The Pfizer jab – currently being rolled out in the United Sates and the UK – is considered more than 90 per cent effective and thus more likely to achieve a her immunity result.

Finals results for the AstraZeneca trial are expected towards the end of this month or early February however Assoc. Prof. Ananda-Rajah said it seems "incredibly unlikely" those results will vary significantly.

"I want to make that absolutely clear, we have always maintained a vaccine is our strategy out of this. Like oxygen, when you're offered a vaccine, take the vaccine. It is incredibly important," she said.

"This is about finessing up our strategy and making sure we deliver for Australia the most effective vaccines."

READ MORE: Biden gets second dose of vaccine as team readies COVID-19 plan

Despite this, Associate Prof. Ananda-Rajah said if Australia should aim for the most effective option.

"We have a window of opportunity to get this right and make sure we roll out the most effective vaccines for Australians. Otherwise we're potentially living with rolling epidemics and ongoing outbreaks and restrictions and that is not the expectation of the community."

READ MORE: Why Australia is not rushing to approve a COVID-19 vaccine

Australia is on track to distribute the Pfizer vaccine in February, however, there are fewer doses on order compared with the AstraZeneca injection.

The FBI could charge hundreds of people over the Capitol riots, as investigators sift through more than 100,000 pieces of digital evidence.

Steven D'Antuono, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Washington DC office, said 70 people have so far been charged over the riots, with federal agents opening more than 160 case files.

But Mr D'Antuono warned that the FBI had only hit the "tip of the iceberg" and potentially hundreds of people would be charged for storming the Capitol.

EXPLAINED: What is QAnon? How a wild conspiracy theory led to the storming of the US Capitol

The FBI called on rioters to hand themselves in, even if they had escaped Washington DC in the aftermath of last week's rampage.

"Even if you left DC, agents from our local field offices will be knocking on your door," Mr D'Antuono said.

Michael Sherwin, the acting US Attorney for District of Washington, said two pipe bombs found near the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee on 6 January "were real devices" with explosive igniters and timers.

"We don't know exactly why they did not go off, that's being investigated," he said.

"What was the purpose of those devices being planted? Was it a diversionary type of a tactic used by some of these rioters?

"Or did it have some other type of nefarious purpose?"

READ MORE: Twitter blocks 70,000 QAnon accounts after US Capitol riot

READ MORE: Cops suspended for posing for selfies during US Capitol riots

Mr Sherwin said multiple US law enforcement agencies were trying to find out the answers to those questions.

Some rioters would face serious sedition and conspiracy felony charges, carrying prison terms of up to 20 years , Mr Sherwin said.

Last week hundreds of protesters stormed the US Capitol, after they were whipped into a frenzy at an event where outgoing President Donald Trump spoke, often in an incendiary tone.

READ MORE: Australian accused of running world's biggest darknet site

As protesters smashed their way inside the Capitol, some were heard calling for vice president Mike Pence to be executed and hung from a tree on Capitol hill.

Another protester was photographed carrying plastic zip-ties, prompting a theory some were ready to detain political hostages.

Lawmakers inside the building were forced to evacuate, and a police officer was one of five people killed.

Meanwhile, a seemingly unrepentant Mr Trump was south of Washington DC today, speaking near the US-Mexico border

"Free speech is under assault like never before," he said, referring to his de-platforming by big tech.

"The 25th amendment is of zero risk to me but will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden administration."

He said that "the impeachment hoax is a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in history".

READ MORE: What is the 25th amendment? The backdoor method for removing a president

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