More than a million Australians were looking for a job in 2024-2025, with work flexibility a key factor for many.

New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that 1.2 million people were looking for a paid job in that financial year.

"Almost half of the 1.2 million people who wanted a paid job in 2024-25 were unemployed. The rest were either not actively looking for work or not immediately available for work," ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick said.

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"Almost 1.1 million of this group were available to start work immediately or within the next four weeks, with a further 130,000 not available to start work within the next four weeks."

The difficulties with finding a suitable job differed in some ways between women and men.

The most important factors for women were being able to work part-time hours, and finding a job that matches skills and experience, with 33 per cent of women stating these factors as very important.

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Almost a third of men (32 per cent) reported that the most important factor to get them to work was finding a job that matches skills and experience, followed by support for training or study to improve skills (24 per cent) and ability to work part-time hours (23 per cent).

Women made up the majority of those people not available for work within four weeks, at 65 per cent.

Almost half (43 per cent) of women who wanted to work but were not available within four weeks reported caring for children as the main reason they were unavailable.

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There were also 800,000 people who worked part time and wanted more hours, with 89 per cent of these people available to start working more hours within four weeks.

Of the 5.1 million parents in the past financial year with children under 15, almost 700,000 didn't have a job, of which 16 per cent were looking.

There were about 700,000 people who had a long-term health condition and wanted a job.

While long-term health conditions were a common reason people were unavailable to start work, not all people with a long-term health condition were unable to work.

Long-term health condition or disability was the main reason for 39 per cent of men who were not available for work.

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A giant cargo plane's left wing caught fire and an engine fell off just before it crashed and exploded after take-off in the south-eastern US, as the death toll from the disaster jumped to 11 people, including a child.

Emergency workers, meanwhile, searched for more victims on Wednesday, (Thursday AEST), a day after the crash at UPS Worldport, the company's global aviation hub in Louisville, though Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said finding survivors seemed unlikely.

The inferno consumed the enormous UPS aircraft and spread to nearby businesses.

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After being cleared for take-off, a large fire developed in the left wing, said Todd Inman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation.

The plane gained enough altitude to clear the fence at the end of the runway before crashing just outside Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, Inman said.

Airport security video "shows the left engine detaching from the wing during the take-off roll," he said.

The cockpit voice recorder and data recorder were recovered, and the engine was discovered on the airfield, Inman said.

"There are a lot of different parts of this airplane in a lot of different places," he said, describing a debris field that stretched for about one kilometre.

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Earlier, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear predicted the death toll would grow, noting that 16 families had gathered at a reunification centre for news of loved ones.

"Our fatality count is now up to 11, expected to reach 12, possibly by the end of the day, and there are a handful of other people that we're still searching for, that we hope weren't on site and that we hope were somewhere else," Beshear said.

Among those killed, at least one person is believed to be a child, "and a young child at that, which makes it all the harder," Beshear said.

The crash was captured in horrifying video taken from a truck parked about one kilometre from the impact site.

It showed the driver sitting calmly in the vehicle's cab moments before he's startled as the plane smashes into the ground.

The stunned man then jumps out and runs, shouting "oh, my God".

The plane with three people aboard crashed about 5.15pm on Tuesday (US Eastern Standard Time) as it was departing for Honolulu from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. Video showed flames on the plane's left wing and a trail of smoke.

The crash had a ripple effect, striking and causing smaller explosions at Kentucky Petroleum Recycling and hitting Grade A Auto Parts, though it could have been worse, Beshear said.

"Thankfully, a local restaurant that is right there … was missed and now is helping the search and rescue," Beshear said.

"Another blessing is this plane could have potentially hit the major Ford factory or the convention centre, those are all close by, and did not."

University of Louisville Hospital said two people were in critical condition in the burn unit Wednesday and that 13 others had been treated and discharged. Five people were treated at other hospitals.

Beshear declared a state of emergency and mobilised the National Guard in an effort to quickly free up resources.

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– With AP, CNN

A new podcast investigating the disappearance of two teenage girls from the NSW Sutherland Shire more than 40 years ago has revealed striking similarities in the cold case to other unsolved murders in the region.

When good friends Elaine Johnson, 16, and Kerry Anne Joel, 17, vanished in January 1980, the police cast the pair as runaways.

The girls were seen as rebellious because Elaine left home shortly after arguing with her parents over a party held at their house, and Kerry Anne had a minor accident in her mother's car.

However, Elaine's family has maintained she wasn't the type to run away and never gave up searching for answers.

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Key police shortcomings in their case have been examined in the investigative podcast Out from the Cold: Searching for Elaine.

The girls' friends weren't interviewed until more than three decades later, in 2014, and, at an inquest in 2016, it was revealed Elaine's original police file had been lost.

Elaine and Kerry Anne weren't the only teenage girls to go missing from the NSW south coast around that time, and for the subsequent police investigation to be riddled with incompetence. 

Just seven months earlier, in July 1979, 16-year-old Kay Docherty and 15-year-old Toni Kavanagh went missing from Warilla, a suburb on the outskirts of Wollongong.

The high school students were last seen at a Warilla bus stop. They had planned to hitchhike to Wollongong to go to a disco.

An inquest in 2013 found the girls had likely died shortly after they went missing and aired suspicions of detectives that they may have been murdered by notorious Australian serial killer Ivan Milat.

"They went without telling anyone. Kay told her parents she was staying at Toni's house for the night, and Toni told her family she and Kay were going to the movies," Jeff Dakers, a retired NSW police officer who was one of the first to investigate Kay and Toni's disappearances, told the podcast.

With very few leads to go on, the girls just became missing people, Dakers said.

About a decade ago, Dakers was contacted by local police officers who wanted to chat about the case.

To his shock, Dakers was told the files on Kay and Toni's disappearance had been misplaced and police had no evidence to go on.

Dakers also told of a chilling conversation he had with a Warilla local man who used to ride his bike in the sand dunes as a boy in 1980.

In the podcast the local man is referred to as Liam. Liam recalled seeing a man with two girls in the sand dunes in 1980, who told him the man was trying to kill them.

Dakers said Liam told him the girls he saw that day managed to escape the man and run to a local house.

Not long after, Liam went back to the sand dunes and saw the same man with a shovel and a ute.

The retired copper said Liam told him he believed the man he saw those two times out riding his bike was notorious Milat.

Liam says he had only recognised the man as Milat years later after seeing him in a documentary.

Milat was convicted in 1996 of the murders of seven backpackers whose bodies were found in the Belanglo State Forest, in the NSW southern highlands.

He was sentenced to life in prison and died in jail in 2019.

Milat's victims were all killed between 1989 and 1992 after he picked them up hitchhiking.

Police have long suspected that more victims of Milat are yet to be uncovered.

In 1993, Task Force Air reviewed nationwide unsolved cases of murdered and missing young people who could be possible Milat victims and the list ran to 58 people.

Last month, a NSW parliamentary inquiry into missing person cases and unsolved murders was announced.

The inquiry will focus on cases from 1965 to 2010, and investigate possible links between unsolved murders and long-term missing people around the Southern Highlands, Inner Sydney, Newcastle and the North Coast.

Toni and Kay's disappearance will be one of several case studies examined for possible systematic failings in the criminal justice system, and with a view to how new technology can assist police.

The push for the inquiry came from NSW upper house member Jeremy Buckingham, who gained support from Premier Chris Minns. 

Buckingham told the Illawarra Mercury there were often failings by the police during the era when Toni and Kay went missing.

In the 1970s and 80s, Buckingham said, women and girls who went missing or were murdered were often considered runaways or at fault for being out at night and "making themselves vulnerable" by catching a bus alone or hitchhiking.

"Now, it's utterly egregious to think like that," he said.

A lack of urgency led cases to go cold quickly, Buckingham added.

"Key people weren't interviewed, and I don't think it's an isolated incident," he said.

"How it is that two young women, two girls can just disappear off a suburban street, and key family members are not interviewed for years, if not decades, later."

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Zohran Mamdani has wasted little time after becoming mayor-elect of New York City before addressing the man who threatened to not only defund the city — but also to arrest and deport him — if he won.

"Donald Trump, since I know you're watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up," Mamdani, a Democrat, told the Republican president from the stage of his Brooklyn victory party on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEDT).

He issued a direct challenge to the president. "If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him," he said.

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The proclamation was an illustration of how both men have seized on one another as politically advantageous foils as Mamdani has risen from obscure state lawmaker to national Democratic star and as Trump has cast today's Democratic Party as radical and out of touch with everyday voters.

Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and became a naturalised American citizen after graduating from college, went on to cast himself as the embodiment of the resistance against the president, who has pursued an aggressive, anti-immigrant agenda during his second term.

"New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant," he said.

"So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us."

Trump, who has spent months insulting Mamdani and warning that the city would be ruined if he won, seemed to be watching.

"…AND SO IT BEGINS!" he posted on social media as Mamdani spoke.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist who campaigned on a slate of far-left progressive policies and a cheery optimism that stands in stark contrast to Trump's darker and more hardline tactics, is expected to continue to face the president's persistent political bashing — along with a federal government that may try to thwart his agenda. It remains unclear however exactly how Trump plans to respond and if the courts will stop him.

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'Mayor Trump'

New York has remained relatively unscathed by Trump's administration, as he has targeted cities including Los Angeles and Washington, dispatching the National Guard. The current mayor, Eric Adams, enjoyed an unusual alliance with the Republican president, whose administration dropped a federal corruption case against the mayor so he could better assist with the president's immigration agenda.

But Trump for months has threatened to slash federal funding to the city and mount an outright takeover if Mamdani won — threats that became a cornerstone of Mamdani's rivals' campaigns against him.

Meanwhile, Trump and others in his party gleefully seized on Mamdani's most controversial policy proposals and past statements, including those criticising the city's police department, trying to cast Mamdani as dangerous — and representative of the Democratic Party at large.

"The Democrat Party has surrendered to radical socialist Zohran Mamdani and the far-left mob who are now running the show," said National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella in a statement Tuesday night.

"They've proudly embraced defunding the police, abolishing ICE, taxing hard-working Americans to death, and replacing common sense with chaos. Every House Democrat is foolishly complicit in their party's collapse, and voters will make them pay in 2026."

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Mamdani says he will try to 'Trump-proof' the city

In his first news conference as mayor-elect on Wednesday (early Thursday AEDT), Mamdani made it clear that the city's most powerful former resident is one of the chief challenges he'll face in his new job.

"New Yorkers are facing twin crises in this moment: an authoritarian administration and an affordability crisis," he said. "And it will be my job to deliver on both."

Mamdani spoke about "Trump-proofing" New York City, which he said involves "protecting those with the least from the consequences of a man with the most power in this country."

But Mamdani said several times that he was willing to work with anyone, including Trump, if they can help New Yorkers. He said he has not heard from the White House or the president following his win.

Echoes of Trump

Nearly a decade ago, Trump was the bold yet untested candidate who notched a remarkable political victory of his own after building a populist coalition, harnessing social media, commanding the media spotlight and promising a wave of change.

Those same qualities that propelled the Republican into the White House in 2016 have helped Mamdani rise to become the soon-to-be mayor of Trump's hometown and the biggest city in the nation.

Mamdani on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) offered an early glimpse into the way he'll try to reflect those populist messages back against the president. He decried the high cost of groceries, something Trump raised as he campaigned for the White House last year, and said the president's decision to stop administering federal food aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is "literally making it harder to afford those same groceries whose price he was decrying not that long ago".

But rather than see Mamdani as a Democratic analogue for his own path to power, Trump has cast him as a prime foil and a reason he may seek to punish or overpower the city.

Though most presidents don't devote time to tangling with local elected officials, Trump is not most presidents, and New York City holds special significance for him.

The Queens-born former reality star made his fame in Manhattan, where he became a TV star from his gilded penthouse and later launched his improbable presidential campaign after descending his golden escalator.

Trump has kept a particular focus on the city, trying to block its congestion pricing program, cancel construction on new tunnels under the Hudson River and insisting during his comeback presidential campaign last year on holding a mega-rally at Madison Square Garden despite his unpopularity in the city.

As the city prepared to pick its next mayor, Trump got unusually involved. He attacked him on social media, falsely labelling Mamdani a communist and eventually endorsing Cuomo.

And in the fall, intermediaries for the Trump administration approached Adams to try to persuade him to abandon his reelection campaign in an attempt to block Mamdani's path to victory.

On the eve of the election, Trump said he would likely cut federal city funding if Mamdani won, writing on social media that "it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required".

The White House and Office of Management and Budget did not respond to a message on Wednesday about federal funds for the city Trump may seek to withhold.

But he had already sought to punish the city this year as part of a broader pattern of asserting power against Democratic elected officials who've criticised him, including suspending funding for some infrastructure projects during the government shutdown and trying to slash grants aimed at addressing the costs of migrants.

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The threats also resonated with some voters.

Amy Snyder, an art adviser who voted for Cuomo, said she feared Mamdani "would not be able to stand up to Trump".

Ariel Kohane, a registered Republican who voted for Cuomo but has voted for Trump multiple times, said he expected the president would do everything in his power to prevent Mamdani from accomplishing his agenda — and hoped it would work.

"Trump will probably have to send in the National Guard and ICE agents, too," Kohane said.

Wacef Chowdhury, a volunteer for the Mamdani campaign, said he fully anticipated Trump would attempt to punish the city in retaliation for the democratic socialist's victory.

"We know he's going to try, but we're ready," said Chowdhury, who works in finance.

"We fought back the establishment, and we're going to do the same to the president."

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Queensland's peak motoring body has joined the call for a crackdown on illegal ebikes after two children were recently killed in accidents within days of each other.

The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ) and four other major organisations have come together to call for all non-compliant devices to be immediately impounded before another young person is hurt.

The organisation also wants highway patrol police to conduct speed checks on e-bikes.

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"Our problem is not to do with e-bikes. E-bikes are great and are a great asset to the community. Our problem is illegal motorbikes," RACQ Head of Policy Michael Kane said.

It comes after 15-year-old Fudou Stovell was killed when he lost control of his e-bike on the Gold Coast on Saturday.

At the time, police revealed he was illegally riding the electric motorbike on the road.

Just days after, eight-year-old Zeke Hondow collided with another e-bike rider and died on the Sunshine Coast.

RACQ was joined by the Royal Australian College of Surgeons, Motor Trades Association of Queensland, Bicycle Queensland and Queensland Walks in a desperate call for action.

"We're the only state that allows these children to ride e-scooters under the age of 16. It's very clear that supervision doesn't work because the average age of injury is around 12 years old," Royal Australian College of Surgeons Professor Bhavesh Patel said.

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"There are dangers to the community, people are being hurt, people are being killed. We need these things out of our parks and off our footpaths," Motor Trades Association of Queensland General Manager Brad Flanagan said. 

Queensland Police on Monday launched a new operation to crack down on e-mobility devices across the board, which will run until the end of January.

"What we do know is that people can modify these bikes illegally, are riding them above speed limits and are riding them without safety gear," Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Adam Guild said.

Parents are being urged to make sure their children are riding legal e-bikes.

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Police have closed the city-bound Lincoln Rd on-ramp to the Northwestern Motorway.

A 63-year-old retiree says she was saved from a brutal Adelaide dog attack by her 13-year-old poodle, but her brave pet is now fighting for his own life.

Mandy Lumb claims her poodle, Dougal, sustained critical injuries while protecting her from two staffies that entered her yard on Saturday night.

"The most horrific experience of my life," Lumb said. 

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"It was so traumatic and it's something I will never recover from… these dogs are like a pair of velociraptors." 

Lumb said she tripped over, leaving her powerless and too shocked to move as Dougal stood protecting her. 

The 13-year-old poodle's life has been left hanging by a thread.

Lumb has owned her house since 2005  and was thinking of renovating, but now says her peace of mind here may never return.

She told 9News she saw the two dogs run down her neighbour's driveway, but Rebecca Sullivan, who lives next door, denies it was her dogs.

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Security video footage shows Sullivan's staffies in her backyard approximately 30 minutes before the alleged attack. 

"We were only home for 25 minutes, the dogs did not get out in 25 minutes," Sullivan said. 

It remains unclear which dogs were involved.

Tee Tree Gully Council says it is investigating the incident, and that it highlights the need for dogs to be kept under effective control at all times.

This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.

A residential street named after the former Prince Andrew could be changed after the disgraced British royal was stripped of his titles amid the growing scandal over his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Melbourne's Whittlesea Council said it had received enquiries from locals on Prince Andrew Avenue in Lalor questioning whether a new name would be found for the street.

Whittlesea Council confirmed it had engaged the authoritative body Geographic Names Victoria (GNV) about the issue.

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"In accordance with the Naming Rules for Places in Victoria, road names should be enduring and changed only when necessary," a Whittlesea Council spokesperson said.

The council said it needed "demonstrated support from a majority of affected residents" to apply to change the thoroughfare's name.

"Should there be clear support from residents of the street for a name change, Council will undertake a formal consultation process and, if appropriate, submit a re-naming proposal to GNV for assessment," the council said.

"Council is currently liaising with the residents who enquired about a name change to discuss next steps."

The move comes after King Charles stripped his brother, now known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, of his titles of Prince and Duke of York in the wake of controversy surrounding his relationship with Epstein.

Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019, weeks after his arrest on sex trafficking charges. 

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Late sexual abuse advocate Virginia Giuffre alleges she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three separate occasions around 2001.

Mountbatten Windsor has strongly denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

In 2022, he paid Giuffre millions in a civil sexual assault lawsuit settlement.

While he didn't admit to any of Giuffre's allegations, he acknowledged that she had suffered as a sexual abuse victim.

Giuffre died by suicide at her home in Neergabby, Western Australia, in April.

Her posthumous memoir detailing her interactions with Andrew and Epstein was released last month.

Lifeline 13 11 14

Beyond Blue  1300 22 4636.

National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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Seven people have died and another 11 have been injured after a United Parcel Services (UPS) MD-11 plane crashed shortly after takeoff near the international airport in Louisville, Kentucky.

UPS Flight 2976 crashed just after 5pm local time and was headed to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the crash along with the National Transportation Safety Board.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg confirmed on X there have been seven fatalities and 11 people injured.

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"But we are still actively searching the scene," Mayor Greenberg said.

"There are more than 100 firefighters from across the region still on the scene working to make it safe for everyone in our community."

He added: "I'd like to send my prayers to the families of the victims in this tragic crash."

At least 11 people who were injured have been taken to local hospitals.

The wounded have "very significant" injuries, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear told media.

https://x.com/LouisvilleMayor/status/1985909104959717648

In an update posted to X, Beshear said the death toll was "expected to rise".

"First responders are onsite and working hard to extinguish the fire and continue the investigation," he said.

"Air monitoring assets have been deployed, and we are working to keep the public informed and keep folks in the area safe. We will share more information as it's available.

"Please, pray for the families affected, Louisville and all of Kentucky.

"We are hurting right now after a heartbreaking day."

Mayor Greenberg said the airport would remain closed for the rest of the evening.

He urged anyone worried their loved one has been impacted to visit a family assistance centre set up at the Louisville Metro Police Training Academy.

Three crew members were on the plane, UPS said in an earlier statement.

The status of the flight crew on board UPS Flight 2976 remains unknown.

"We do not – at the moment – have the status of the crew," Beshear said.

"I think we're all very, very worried about them."

Authorities at Louisville Metro Police Department said the crash scene will be an "active" one for several days.

"We don't know how long it's going to take to render that scene safe for the investigation to take place," police chief Paul Humphrey said.

The fully-fueled plane crashed into the ground in an industrial area less than 1.6 kilometres from the end of the runway.

In a statement, UPS said it was "terribly saddened" by the accident.

"UPS is committed to the safety of our employees, our customers and the communities we serve," it said.

"This is particularly true in Louisville, home to our airline and thousands of UPSers.

https://x.com/UPS/status/1985911449957400832

"We are engaged with the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation of the accident and are staying in close contact with the Federal Aviation Administration. We will work tirelessly with state and local authorities on response efforts.

"As a result of the accident, we are halting package sorting operations tonight at Worldport."

A large fire spread to a recycling centre nearby the airport.

Billowing black smoke and flames were seen spreading over a field of debris as scores of first responders arrived at the scene.

https://x.com/LouisvilleMayor/status/1985855377590636904?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

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The sound of an "explosion" was heard near Grade Lane and Fern Valley Road near the international airport, according to local media reports.

A massive plume of black smoke was seen rising not far from the tarmac at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, videos from CNN affiliate WAVE show.

Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport is the worldwide air hub for UPS.

The company's Worldport is more than five million square feet where more than 12,000 UPS employees process more than two million packages a day, according to the company.

A shelter-in-place was issued for all locations within eight kilometres of the airport, police added, and it was later downgraded to a 1.6 kilometre radius.

"LMPD and multiple other agencies are responding to reports of a plane crash near Fern Valley and Grade Lane," the post said.

"Grade lane will be closed indefinitely between Stooges and Crittenden."

Witnesses report seeing debris 'fall from sky'

A man and his son told CNN affiliate WAVE they saw debris falling from the sky after the plane crash.

Justin Dunn said he noticed white paper falling to the ground.

"My son was like, 'Hey, look in the sky,' and it was coming down out of the sky and he picked it up," Dunn said.

"There's definitely debris all through here, probably within 10 miles (16 kilometres)."

Other residents in the local area said they saw a "massive black cloud" of smoke billowing from the crash site.

"My jaw dropped when I heard minutes later that it was a plane crash," Louisville woman Amanda Rhye told CNN.

"Everyone else around me realised it too, a couple of dozen people all stopped what they were doing and stared as the cloud quickly grew and expanded miles in every direction.

"Within 20 minutes, the massive black cloud was over us in the sky."

What is the McDonnell Douglas MD-11F?

The McDonnell Douglas MD-11F is a freight transport aircraft manufactured originally by McDonnell Douglas and later by Boeing.

The aircraft is primarily flown by FedEx Express, Lufthansa Cargo and UPS Airlines for cargo.

The plane also served as a popular wide-bodied passenger airplane after it was first flown in 1990.

As fuel costs increased for the three engine jets many of them were converted to freighters.

The plane can take off weighing in at a maximum 633,000 pounds and carrying more than 38,000 gallons of fuel, according to Boeing, which bought McDonnell Douglass.

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