Grammy-nominated chart topper Teddy Swims will headline this year's entertainment for the NRL and NRLW Grand Final Day, it has been announced.

US singer Swims, well-known and acclaimed for his I've Tried Everything But Therapy albums and hit single Lose Control, was announced as the main act for the entertainment roster at Accor Stadium on Sunday, October 5.

The performance will also kick off his tour of Australia and New Zealand.

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NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said Swims was one of the most exciting musicians in the world.

"Grand Final day is a special event on the sporting calendar, capturing moments that last forever," he said.

"Including a fresh superstar like Teddy Swims alongside some of the best male and female athletes in the world will take the entertainment experience for sports fans to a whole new level."

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Swims said he was "so excited" to be scheduled to play.

"Australia has always been a second home to me," he said.

"Every time I am there I am overwhelmed by how welcoming the people are, I fall more in love with the culture, and just everything about it.

"So, to be welcomed to perform one of the biggest nights in Australia is a huge honour."

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Is it art? An "epic fail?" Or a roadworks accident?

A photo of a road cone asphalted into a New Zealand footpath in New Plymouth, on the west coast of the North Island, has drawn derision on a Facebook community page, with one comment describing it as an "epic fail".

"OMG surely someone taking the piss," wrote another poster.

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"Some drunk person is gonna try to kick that," said another.

Yet another suggested it could be art that becomes a local landmark.

Melanie, who posted the photo, said she used the road daily.

She found the "bizarre" and she wasn't alone – screenshots of the post are doing the rounds on social media.

However, a New Plymouth District Council spokesperson said the cone was simply protecting an exposed pipe.

The pipe connects a water main to an adjacent house, and was left uncovered while crews installed a new main, he said.

A temporary asphalt patch was laid over the path as a safety measure, securing the cone in place over the pipe. Later this year, the connection will be finished and a permanent surface put down.

The council had not fielded any complaints over the cone, the spokesperson said.

Road cones have been in the spotlight this year, with the Government announcing a crackdown on their use.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said there were "hundreds of them doing very, very little", and his deputy, David Seymour, complained about too many "frickin' cones".

Even Transport Minister Chris Bishop calls their deployment "overzealous".

To tackle the tide of road cones, the Government launched a hotline for concerns about their use earlier this year. RNZ reported 650 reports in the hotline's first month of use. In Wellington, there were 115 complaints in two months.

This article was originally published by Stuff.co.nz and has been reproduced here with permission. 

A media conference in Sweden was abruptly brought to a halt after the country's newly appointed Health Minister collapsed.

Elisabet Lann was standing next to the country's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and other officials when she suddenly fell over and hit her head on Tuesday.

Video footage shows Kristersson and other people on the stage in Stockholm rushing to help her as she tumbled over.

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Lann was given first aid while an ambulance was called, local media reports.

She returned a short time later with no apparent injuries, saying her collapse was sparked by a blood sugar drop.

A government statement said her life was out of danger and her health was stable.

Lann had been appointed health minister on Monday after the sudden resignation of her predecessor.

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EXCLUSIVE: If you've caught yourself thinking the staff at your local Coles or Woolworths look particularly young these days, it's not just your imagination.

Australians are joining the workforce younger than ever, largely in response to the ongoing cost of living crisis.

New research from Employment Hero revealed that jobs among Aussies aged 14 to 17 surged by 30 per cent in the past year.

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Jobs among 18 to 24-year-olds also jumped by more than 16 per cent, signalling a prominent generational shift as young Aussies try to get ahead financially.

Casper Huisken, 17, is juggling a job at his local supermarket with his Year 12 studied in the hopes of building a financial safety net before he even finishes high school.

"I wanted to earn money earlier because it gets expensive [when you're] outside of school," he told 9news.com.au.

"It just feels good to have some money to rely on."

Working a few shifts a week also forces him to manage his time carefully around homework and assignments, which he said has helped him focus.

But he worries that it will be hard to keep up with the rising cost of living – even with a head start.

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Employment Hero's inaugural Annual Jobs Report found that Gen Z Aussies are entering the workforce in record numbers as the cost of living crisis continues.

More than half of those aged 18 to 24 also work more than one job.

By comparison, only 20 per cent of workers over the age of 55 hold multiple jobs and only one in three across the total working population.

"Teenagers are clocking shifts to save for a future they know is going to be expensive," Employment Hero chief executive Ben Thompson said.

Meanwhile, Millennials are most likely to use tools like Earned Wage Access (EWA) to withdraw cash before payday to foot everyday bills.

And the majority of Aussies are prioritising job stability over all else, especially young workers.

Cyber safety specialist Annabelle, 24, is among them.

"In the industry that I work in, which is tech, there's a lot of layoffs and they can happen quite suddenly," she told 9news.com.au.

"Everything's changing a lot so over the past few years, I've definitely valued job security."

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Annabelle got her first job at 14 and worked multiple jobs all through high school and uni, hoping to set herself up for the future.

But she couldn't have planned for the COVID-19 pandemic or cost of living crisis.

Now she's considering picking up a second job on top of her full-time role to help cover essentials like rent and groceries while she tries to keep saving for life's big moments.

Because if she doesn't put money away for a wedding, a house, and kids now, she might never afford them.

"I'd like to have a house and be comfortable, and also have the financial freedom if I want to travel to travel," she said.

"But it's hard … you can't really do everything, you definitely have to prioritize what you what you want most."

Annabelle is grateful her family encouraged her to develop financial skills from a young age.

About 8.5 million Aussie adults are considered financially illiterate according to 2020 stats, and only 28 per cent of teen boys and 15 per cent of teen girls demonstrate basic financial skills.

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Thankfully, a growing number of young people are starting work and saving young in the hopes of getting ahead of the curve.

Huisken plans to keep working through his final year of school and build up a little nest egg to see him through to his next chapter.

Many of his friends are starting work and saving up too.

"It seems like a great thing to get into early," he said.

"Because [the cost of licing] already is quite expensive, and if it keeps getting more expensive, then that would be very bad for us."

Have you got a story? Contact reporter Maddison Leach at Google Play.

Apple's September event, labelled Awe Dropping, is the biggest of the year for the tech giant, with all eyes on what's next for the popular iPhone series for 2025.

Today, the company made its big reveal at the Steve Jobs Theatre inside their headquarters in Cupertino, California.

While leaks and rumours have been consistent for several months now, Apple never acknowledges that narrative – but nonetheless, it revealed exactly what had been anticipated: the iPhone 17 range with an all-new super-thin device in the mix.

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Gone is the "Plus" model, which offered the larger screen without the performance and features of the "Pro" models, and in is the "iPhone Air', which does have a larger screen than the entry-level iPhone but has been engineered to have a total body thickness of just 5.6mm (not counting the camera lens and module).

This thickness puts it 0.2mm thinner than the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge device, which launched several months ago, just for Apple to get that one-up on their rival.

Despite its thin profile, Apple was at pains to point out that the iPhone Air is Apple's most durable smartphone ever.

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Twelve years ago, when Apple announced their first "Plus" sized phone, the iPhone 6 Plus, it was subject to viral internet videos of people trying and succeeding to bend the device – known at the time as "bend-gate." The questions today will be – does it bend?

Given modern materials and the learnings from the last decade, it's unlikely, thanks to the Titanium Frame and the Ceramic Shield glass front and back.

iPhone Air will come in four colours: "Space Black", "Cloud White", "Light Gold", and "Sky Blue".

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Despite being "Pro level," the iPhone Air has just a single camera lens. Apple claims this is a camera "system" which allows for various focal lengths and a 48-megapixel sensor for optimal quality.

Under the hood, Apple's latest processor for mobile, the A19 Pro, will be in the iPhone Air, something Apple claims as the "fastest CPU in any smartphone."

Say farewell to that little SIM card tray, though; the iPhone Air will be eSIM only worldwide, so users will need to convert to eSIM when they switch to iPhone Air.

Fortunately for Australians, the USA switched to eSIM only on iPhones several years ago, so Apple has made the process quite simple, and our telcos have been doing eSIM for a while.

Being so thin, the battery might be compromised, but Apple says it's still an "all-day" battery.

While the iPhone 17 Air will likely be the hero product for Apple in marketing terms, the bread and butter of the iPhone lineup sit above and below it on price.

The new iPhone 17 kicks off the range with a design no different to recent years; however, its capabilities are stepped up to "Pro" levels with a 120Hz display and a brighter screen.

It will be available in five colours: black, white, "Mist Blue", lavender, and sage.

Faster charging also comes to the iPhone 17, with a short 10-minute charge capable of delivering hours more use, and it comes in new colours and with improved camera and performance capabilities – including the ability to take a "landscape" selfie without even twisting the phone on its side.

Meanwhile, at the top end of the lineup, Apple's iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max have a distinct new look.

Apple has chosen quite vibrant colours to go alongside a traditional metal option. The dark blue and orange colours look set to stand out in Telco and retail stores, and will sure stand out when held by their owners walking down the street.

On the back of the device, the camera "island" or bump now spans the full width of the phone, with the cameras themselves separated from the flash and sensors.

Remarkably, after two years of marketing the titanium model iPhone Pro phones, Apple has gone back to aluminium with a new stronger alloy outperforming the titanium option. This is the first unibody aluminium phone, taking inspiration from the way Apple builds their laptops.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest battery in any iPhone.

Like the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro models are powered by the A19 Pro chip for optimal performance and comparability with Apple Intelligence.

A huge new "plateau" on the back houses more technology and camera capabilities for the user. All three cameras are now 48-megapixel sensors, and capable of up to eight times optical zoom.

iPhone 17 will start in Australia at $1399, iPhone Air will start at $1799 while the 17 Pro models start at $1999.

Despite the tariff woes, it seems Apple has been able to keep prices on par with the previous generation.

iPhone 17 goes on pre-order this Friday, and is available to buy from Friday, September 19.

Trevor Long travelled to Cupertino as a guest of Apple.

A landmark $500 million deal between Australia and Vanuatu has stalled and remained unsigned during Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's trip to the Pacific nation.

Albanese arrived in the capital of Port Vila today for talks on the Nakamal Agreement with local counterpart Jothan Napat, with both leaders confirming to the media that it is yet to be inked.

That comes amid reports China is proving to be a sticking point in negotiations.

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The agreement would see Canberra pour $500 million into Vanuatu for economic, security, and climate resilience plans, but would also cement Australia as the Pacific nation's security partner of choice.

That's despite China playing an increasing role in Vanuatu – Beijing is the country's largest external creditor, having funded a string of construction projects including a new president's office last year.

When asked whether the limit on Chinese influence was behind the agreement stalling, Napat confirmed this afternoon that there were concerns from within his coalition government about preventing Vanuatu from getting critical infrastructure funding from outside Australia.

"Some of my ministers and my MPs, they feel it requires more discussions, particularly on some of the specific wordings in the agreement," he said.

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The Nakamal Agreement was initialed by senior ministers from both nations – including Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong – last month, and a signing ceremony today seemed a mere formality after Napat had praised the deal as "win-win".

Despite the setback, Albanese said he was confident of the agreement still being signed off.

"There is agreement on the principles that have been agreed and initialled in the Nakamal Agreement, it's a matter of processes going through," he said. 

"I respect the processes that Prime Minister Napat needs to go through. 

"Both sides will go through our processes but we're very confident that the agreement can be reached, and I'm reassured by the discussion that I have had with the prime minister."

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Albanese and Napat will now fly to the Solomon Islands for the Pacific Islands Forum, where China's influence will continue to loom.

The Solomons, under previous prime minister Manasseh Sogavare, inked a security pact with Beijing in 2022 in a major diplomatic blow to Australian influence in the Pacific.

Current Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele decided to bar Taiwan, as well as China, the United States and other partner nations, from this year's forum, limiting it to the 18 members including Australia and New Zealand.

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The PGG Wrightson store in Piopio was taped off after a 3.30am burglary.

Maya Moore, who leased some land from him, is accused of lighting the fires.

Team hopes ‘future food’ will be ready to be sold by the end of the three-year project.

Dramatic vision has captured the moment police officers rescued an elderly couple, one of whom was in a wheelchair, and their grandson from flames that engulfed their home on the Gold Coast.

Officers were conducting routine patrols when they saw smoke billowing from Golden Four Drive in Tugun about 12.40am on Sunday.

When they got closer, they noticed a fire on the balcony of an upstairs unit.

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Police body-cam footage showed an officer grabbing an extinguisher from the car to put out the flames.

But when they opened the front door, they saw thick clouds of black smoke inside that one officer said had "completely engulfed" the home.

The officers, who were coughing from the smoke inhalation, grabbed some nearby towels and doused them in water before entering the home and locating the couple.

"There's a fire in your house. The washing machine is on fire," one officer could be heard saying.

"You jump into your wheelchair and I'll take you out."

The vision shows two officers helping 77-year-old Glenda Maskelyne in a wheelchair out of the home and carrying her down the stairs to safety.

"I've never gone down those steps so fast in my life," Maskelyne said.

"I honestly believe that somebody put that police car at the bottom of our steps at that particular time."

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Her 76-year-old husband, Ian, and their 14-year-old grandson also escaped safely. 

It was a startling way to kick off Ian's birthday. 

"Half past one, we're out there, and I said, 'by the way, happy birthday, darling,'" Maskelyne said.

"He says, 'I'm not gonna forget this one, am I?"

The officers were seen using small fire extinguishers to try to calm down the fire while they waited for firefighters to arrive.

"It's too big for fire extinguishers now. We've used three," one officer could be heard saying.

Firefighters contained the fire to the kitchen and extinguished it. Many of the couple's belongings have been saved.

The fire is not being treated as suspicious and is believed to have been caused by electrical equipment.

Paramedics were also called to the scene and assessed the officers, couple and their grandson for smoke inhalation.

No one was seriously injured.

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