Backup is over two hours away, increasing risk for tall building residents.

Ryan Woodford was shot in front of his partner and children in Taupō.

The former chief executive of The Wiggles claims he was undermined by the blue Wiggle in front of staff after raising concerns about friends and family members being employed by the children's entertainment group.

Luke O'Neill says he was denied bonuses and excluded from meetings before being dismissed with no reasonable basis in documents filed with the Federal Court.

He has launched legal action against The Wiggles, as well as Blue Wiggle Anthony Field and the group's general counsel Matthew Salgo.

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Field questioned O'Neill's competence and "undermined him" in front of more than a dozen staff at a meeting in February, the documents claim.

O'Neill then complained to Luke Field, the Blue Wiggle's nephew and the group's general manager commercial, about his uncle's behaviour in the meeting.

It came months after the chief executive complained about a different nephew being hired to work on the production of upcoming album The Tree of Wisdom.

O'Neill also took issue with Field implementing a bonus scheme for a friend and his daughter's boyfriend "without approval and in contrast with the usual employee bonus scheme," according to the documents.

Field then allegedly took steps to reduce O'Neill's roles and responsibilities.

That included excluding him from meetings with department store Kmart about selling branded toys, and emailing all staff about an intention to remove a tour promoter without prior consultation.

O'Neill made multiple other complaints about staffing and other decisions allegedly made by Field without approval.

He eventually complained to the group's director, Red Wiggle Simon Pryce, in April that the decisions were creating budget overruns, endangering his bonus.

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Pryce agreed his performance justified a raise after the three-decade-old group's earnings increased from $2 million in the 2023 financial year to a forecast $6.5 million to $7 million in 2025.

But O'Neill was dismissed in May.

He alleges the dismissal was unlawful and an adverse action for him exercising his workplace rights and came with no reasonable basis, prior warning, adverse feedback or performance management.

A bonus payment of more than $86,000, made in July, was less than what he alleges he was owed.

Field, Salgo and The Wiggles are yet to file their defence.

The case is due in court for its first hearing on September 8.

O'Neill began working for The Wiggles in a consultancy role in April 2023 before becoming chief executive in January 2024, tasked with implementing strategies to grow the group's revenue, maintain the budget and oversee hiring decisions.

The Wiggles formed in 1991 and are among Australia's top-earning and most widely beloved entertainment groups, winning multiple ARIA awards and being inducted in its hall of fame in 2011.

Field is the last remaining member of the original line-up, which has expanded over time.

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Millions of small business workers now have the right to legally disconnect from work after a federal government legislation change officially kicked in.

The right to disconnect employment law will capture small businesses with 14 employees and under from today.

Under the new rules, staff can't be punished for reasonably ignoring after hours calls, text messages or emails from the boss.

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Work-related contact under this law applies to employers as well as third parties such as clients or business partners.

Employees also can't be disciplined or let go for refusing contact outside of work hours.

The same rule has applied to big businesses for the past year.

According to the ABS, over five million people were employed by a small business in Australia in 2022.

The ABS Counts of Australian Business reported 97.2 per cent of total businesses in the country had under 20 employees.

There are some exceptions to the right to disconnect.

While employees can refuse contact from employers where reasonable, what counts as reasonable is up to interpretation.

Several factors must be taken into consideration when deciding what is reasonable, including but not limited to the reason for the contact, whether an employee is compensated for after-hours work and an employee's personal circumstances.

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Workers with a reasonable additional hours clause already in their employment contract may not be able to invoke the new protections.

If an employee feels these rights have been violated they should raise it first with their employer, then with the Fair Work Commission if internal mediation doesn't work.

Employers found to be in violation of the new laws can be fined up to $18,000.

Since the legislation came into effect for bigger businesses last year, research recently found more than half of all employers have been approached by staff exercising their right to disconnect.

Recruitment agency Robert Half found 56 per cent of surveyed employers reported formal complaints from staff wanting to use their right, while 15 per cent reported informal feedback or comments.

Small to medium businesses were found to have received 11 per cent more concerns from staff than large businesses.

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Australia has broken a tragic record over the past year.

The National Drowning Report released today has found the country had its highest number of drowning deaths since records began.

Over the last 12 months, a staggering 357 people have died from drowning.

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This is 27 per cent higher than the 10-year average, according to Royal Life Saving and Surf Life Saving.

The drowning rate for people aged between 15 and 24 recorded the biggest spike, with 44 people in this age group drowning – an increase of 38 per cent against the 10-year average.

The lowest rate of drowning was for children aged between five and 14 years.

And one third of all drowning deaths were adults aged over 65.

"This is a wake-up call," Royal Life Saving Australia chief executive Justin Scarr said.

"Drowning deaths have surged to unprecedented levels.

"The decline in swimming skills, an ageing population, and more people heading to remote and unfamiliar locations away from lifesaving services are causing concern."

Royal Life Saving Australia and Surf Life Saving Australia blamed the surge on more tourism in national parks and regional areas, along with climate and lifestyle shifts.

It noted gaps in swimming ability are widening for regional, remote, and migrant communities, creating "lifelong vulnerabilities to drowning".

"Rip currents remain Australia's number one coastal hazard, responsible for more than 1one in three beach drowning deaths – claiming more lives than sharks, floods, or cyclones combined," Surf Live Saving chief executive Adam Weir said.

"Never have our surf lifesavers and lifeguards worked harder to keep people safe at beaches, with almost 2.2 million preventative actions and over 8000 rescues.

"More is being asked of surf lifesavers and lifeguards, as beach usage continues to grow and people explore a wider range of coastal locations."

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Coastal locations accounted for 154 of the deaths, with beaches claiming 82 lives.

Another 122 people died while drowning at inland waterways, including 99 in rivers.

The report found drowning rates doubled for people living in disadvantaged areas and nearly tripled in regional and remote areas compared to major cities.

Drownings increased in every state and territory except Tasmania and in the Northern Territory.

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There was only one drowning death in the ACT in the past year.

The biggest increase was in South Australia, where drowning deaths were a 71 per cent increase on the 10-year average.

Federal Minister for Communications and Minister for Sport Anika Wells said the government has poured $34 million into addressing water safety.

"The messages are simple; supervise children, learn to swim, prioritise water safety and lifesaving skills, wear a lifejacket when boating, and always swim between the red and yellow flags," Wells said.

In 2024, the same report recorded 323 drowning deaths, 14 per cent higher than the previous year's figures

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The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has approved Australia's first ever treatment for nicotine vaping dependence.

Nicorette announced this morning their QuickMist product had been approved by the agency to be used as a treatment option for nicotine addiction brought about by vaping.

Around 1.7 million people in Australia are estimated vape regularly, with the number having been on the rise since 2018.

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However, three in four Aussies said they were planning to stop vaping or cut back in the next three months, in a Quit and Cancer Council survey in May 2024.

Nicorette QuickMist delivers small doses of nicotine to the mouth and is designed to help reduce withdrawal symptoms and reliance on nicotine for users.

Nadine Saraceno, Head of Regulatory Affairs ANZ at Kenvue claimed clinical trials showed highly promising results which prompted the TGA's decision.

"Our clinical trial demonstrated that Nicorette QuickMist, our fastest acting NRT format, helped reduce nicotine cravings by at least 50 per cent in eight out of 10 nicotine vape users after just one dose," she said.

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"Quitting nicotine vaping can be a challenging journey, particularly without the option of an approved pharmacotherapy."

Saraceno welcomed the TGA's decision, believing it would allow treatment options to be more widely available to those in need of support as they try to relieve their nicotine addiction.

"We are proud to offer the first approved option for the relief of nicotine vaping cravings," she said.

"[It has] the potential to support thousands of Australians in overcoming their dependence on nicotine vaping."

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President Donald Trump took to social media before meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to threaten not to do business with Seoul because of a “Purge or Revolution” that he claimed was taking place in the country.

But any prospect of a hostile Oval Office meeting evaporated after Lee heaped praise onto the US president — lauding the decor, beseeching Trump to continue to help with Korean peace efforts and even suggesting a Trump Tower in North Korea.

“We've known each other and gotten along very well,” Trump said, before adding: “It's a great honour to be with you and congratulations on your election. That was a big one, and we're with you 100 per cent.”

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The cordial display showed how world leaders are taking notes from previous meetings between Trump and heads of state, who've largely chosen the route of praise and adulation rather than confrontation as they seek favourable trade terms and continued military aid from Washington.

It was one of the first big foreign policy tests for Lee, who took over a country in a state of political turmoil since its former leader, Yoon Suk Yeol, was ousted from office after imposing martial law.

Lee, elected in June, began by praising one of Trump's pet projects: presidential interior design.

“I heard that you recently redecorated the Oval Office, and I would like to say that it looks very bright and beautiful,” Lee said through an interpreter. “It has the dignity of America, and it symbolises the new future and prosperity of America.”

He noted that the Dow Jones index has reached record highs (although Lee made sure to add the caveat that “it went down a bit”) and asked Trump, who has been on a mission to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, to reunify the two Koreas and even perhaps see the construction of a Trump Tower in North Korea accompanied by a round of golf.

Lee also agreed with Trump's assertion that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would not have continued to enhance his nuclear capabilities the last few years had Trump remained in office.

Noting a “renaissance” that is taking place, Lee said, “I believe you are the only leader who has made such accomplishments.”

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What happened in South Korea

The tone was a far cry from Trump's confrontational social media post earlier on Monday.

He later elaborated that he was referring to raids on churches and on a US military base by the new South Korean government, which they “probably shouldn't have done."

“I heard bad things,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday morning. “I don't know if it's true or not. I'll be finding out.”

Trump did not identify specific raids. But earlier this month, South Korean police raided a church led by a conservative activist pastor who authorities allege is connected to a riot by Yoon’s supporters at a Seoul court in January, after it issued an arrest warrant for him.

A special prosecutor’s team that is investigating corruption allegations against Yoon’s arrested wife, former first lady Kim Keon Hee, also raided the facilities of the Unification Church over allegations that one of its officials gave her luxury goods.

Meanwhile, Osan Air Base, which is jointly operated by the United States and South Korea, was also the target of a raid last month by investigators looking into how Yoon’s activation of martial law transpired. South Korean investigators stressed the search was limited to areas controlled by Seoul and did not involve US military operations.

Asked about his assertions by a reporter in front of Lee, Trump declined to confront the South Korean president and instead said the two will discuss it later.

“It didn't sound to me like South Korea,” Trump said.

Lee explained that the special prosecutor was tapped by the country's National Assembly to investigate the actions of Yoon, who Lee said staged a “self-coup.”

At that point, Trump interjected, “Is his name Deranged Jack Smith, by any chance?” He was referring to the special prosecutor who led two criminal cases against Trump before the Republican president was reelected to a second term.

Yoon, who was elected to a five-year term in 2022, was considered more ideologically aligned with Trump and had even taken up golfing again after the U.S. president was reelected last November to try to forge a bond with him.

Lee led the South Korean parliament's efforts to overturn Yoon's martial law decree while impeaching him. The nation's Constitutional Court formally dismissed Yoon in April.

The new president

Elected in June, Lee was a former child laborer with an arm deformity who rose his way through South Korea’s political ranks to lead the liberal Democratic Party and win the presidency after multiple attempts.

At a subsequent remarks in Washington on Monday night, Lee suggested that Trump's post had been “threatening” and said it had him worried he might face a “Zelenksyy moment" — similar to when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was hounded out of the Oval Office by Trump and Vice President JD Vance following a contentious meeting in February.

But Lee also said the South Korean-US relationship was strong enough that he was confident Trump wouldn't work to undermine it. Instead, he said the pair had “very good conversations” that went “beyond my expectations" and took longer than originally scheduled.

“Everybody gave me the advice to have patience,” Lee said of his meeting with Trump.

He said he also told Trump that South Korea would increase its defence spending, even as it works to ease tensions between his country and North Korea.

“We will increase our defence budget, which will be used to transform the Korean military into a smart military that will prevail in future,” Lee said.

Lee said he and Trump also discussed modernising their countries' trade relations, which follows a July deal that has Seoul investing hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S. That agreement set tariffs on South Korean goods at 15 per cent after Trump threatened rates as high as 25 per cent.

Seoul has one of the largest trade surpluses among Washington’s NATO and Indo-Pacific allies, and countries where the US holds a trade deficit has drawn particular ire from Trump, who wants to eliminate such trade imbalances.

Trump also said Monday that he’d like to scrap the US lease with South Korea that covers Osan Air Base and instead get ownership of the land.

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A genetically modified pig lung has functioned in a human recipient for nine days in a major world first.

Research published in Nature Medicine may represent the first documented instance of cross-species lung transplants, the authors said.

In previous, similar studies, organs such as kidneys, livers, and hearts from gene-edited pigs have been feasibly transplanted into humans.

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However, lung transplantation brought new challenges due to the complexity of the organ.

The research team, from China's National Clinical Research Centre for Respiratory Disease, transplanted the left lung of a gene-edited pig into a 39-year-old human recipient.

The recipient had previously been declared brain dead in four clinical assessments.

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The pig had undergone gene editing to remove the antigens that could otherwise activate the human immune system and prompt a rejection.

The study authors found the lung was accepted, and maintained "viability and functionality" for nine days.

However, the researchers did observe signs of lung damage at 24 hours after the transplant, and signs of antibody-mediated rejection of the organ on day three and day six.

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They terminated the experiment on day nine.

"The findings represent a first step for pig-to-human lung transplantation," the authors said in a release.

"However, improvements are needed to optimise both the genetic modifications made in the donor pig and the immunosuppressive drugs needed to avoid immune-mediated rejection of the lung and to maintain long-term function."

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Tropical Storm Kajiki left at least one person dead in Vietnam after it made landfall as a powerful typhoon yesterday, unleashing dangerous winds and prompting authorities to evacuate tens of thousands of residents as it surged through the country's central provinces.

In Ha Tinh province, one person died, 144 houses were flooded and 621 roofs were blown off, Viet Nam News reported, citing the Directorate of Dikes and Disaster Prevention. Eight other people were injured in Quang Tri and Ha Tinh.

Kajiki barrelled into Vietnam's Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces at around 3pm local time (6pm AEST) with wind speeds of 133km/h, according to Vietnam's national weather forecast agency. It has since weakened into a tropical storm.

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Powerful gusts ripped through properties, uprooted trees from the ground and knocked down lampposts, according to state media.

The provinces are around 350km south of the capital, Hanoi. Earlier, residents and business owners along the coast had boarded up windows and stacked sandbags outside homes, restaurants and hotels.

Authorities shut down schools, two provincial airports, and organised mass evacuations from coastal provinces as Kajiki – the fifth named storm to hit Vietnam this year – churned toward the Southeast Asian nation.

More than 40,000 people had been evacuated in low-lying coastal communities as of Monday morning, according to the state-run VN Express.

Huge waves pound central provinces

Eyewitnesses described huge waves gushing through streets in the coastal regions, according to Reuters, as roofs collapsed and homes were flooded.

"It's terrifying," said Dang Xuan Phuong, 48, who lives in Cua Lao, a tourism town in Nghe An.

"When I look down from the higher floors, I could see waves as tall as two meters, and the water has flooded the roads around us."

Areas in Ha Tinh were left without power and unstable phone networks after torrential rain forced residents to seek shelter, according to state media reports, which also said that the storm triggered tidal surges, flooding coastal areas in Thanh Hoa province.

The storm was moving slowly and "gradually weakening," according to an update from the country's weather forecast agency yesterday evening, but added that the risk of strong winds remained.

It came after the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre previously forecast that Kajiki would drop to tropical depression strength by early Tuesday.

Authorities in the country's central provinces activated emergency measures on Sunday, which included a plan to evacuate around 587,000 people from Thanh Hoa, Quang Tri, Hue and Danang provinces, banning fishing vessels from leaving shore and securing dams and flood walls, according to VNA.

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More than 300,000 military personnel were mobilised with the Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force on standby for rescue operations, the news agency reported.

Vietnamese government officials had compared the storm to Typhoon Yagi, the most powerful storm to hit the region last year, which devastated Vietnam's north, killing about 300 people and causing widespread damage to infrastructure, factories and farmland.

Yagi made landfall as the equivalent of a category 4 hurricane, and while Kajiki is weaker, it has brought destructive winds and flooding.

Climate projections 'materialising'

The storm is expected to move inland towards Laos and Thailand, China's Meteorological Centre reported, with the risk for flash flooding and mudslides increasing. Between 200-400 millimetres of rain is forecast in some regions in Vietnam, with isolated areas exceeding 600mm.

Kajiki had brushed past the southern coast of China's Hainan island and parts of Guangdong province on Sunday evening.

Known for its sandy beaches, luxury resorts and duty-free shopping, the city of Sanya on Hainan island closed tourist attractions, shuttered businesses and suspended public transport.

Sanya downgraded its typhoon alert yesterday morning but cautioned that heavy rain and storms in southern Hainan were expected to continue, Reuters reported.

Scientists have long warned the human-induced climate crisis – for which developed nations bear greater historical responsibility – has only exacerbated the scale and intensity of regional storms, with countries in the Global South facing the worst impacts.

"It's frightening to see our projections from just last year already materialising," Benjamin Horton, a professor of earth science at City University, Hong Kong, told the Associated Press.

"We are no longer predicting the future — we are living it."

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‘I often get the blame from some people for the duck.’