Slips closed the road for hours on Thursday after more than 100mm of rain fell in parts.

US President Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into Biden's actions as president, alleging aides masked his predecessor's "cognitive decline".

It is unclear how the investigation will run or who will head it.

The order, made as a Presidential Memorandum, "mandates an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Biden's purported execution of the numerous executive actions during his final years in office".

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More to come… 

US President Donald Trump is resurrecting the travel ban policy from his first term, signing a proclamation preventing people from a dozen countries from entering the United States.

The countries include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

In addition to the ban, which takes effect at 12.01am on Monday (US time), there will be heightened restrictions on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

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“I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people,” Trump said in his proclamation.

Ten of the 19 countries under the bans and restrictions are in Africa, nine of those from majority Black African countries.

Several of those, including Sierra Leone, Togo, and Equatorial Guinea, are not known for hosting armed groups that pose a major threat to the West.

The list results from a January 20 executive order Trump issued requiring the departments of State and Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence to compile a report on “hostile attitudes” toward the US and whether entry from certain countries represented a national security risk.

During his first term, Trump issued an executive order in January 2017 banning travel to the US by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries — Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

It was one of the most chaotic and confusing moments of his young presidency.

Travellers from those nations were either barred from getting on their flights to the US or detained at US airports after they landed.

They included students and faculty as well as businesspeople, tourists and people visiting friends and family.

The order, often referred to as the “Muslim ban” or the “travel ban,” was retooled amid legal challenges, until a version was upheld by the US Supreme Court in 2018.

The ban affected various categories of travellers and immigrants from Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Syria and Libya, plus North Koreans and some Venezuelan government officials and their families.

Trump and others have defended the initial ban on national security grounds, arguing it was aimed at protecting the country and not founded on anti-Muslim bias.

However, the president had called for an explicit ban on Muslims during his first campaign for the White House.

More to come.

Donald Trump's big bill in Congress would unleash trillions in tax cuts and slash spending, but also spike deficits by $US2.4 trillion ($3.7 trillion) over the decade and leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance, raising the political stakes for the GOP's signature domestic priority.

Republican leaders in Congress, determined to muscle the sweeping package forward, had little to say after the analysis released today by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

GOP senators spent time at the White House for what one called a robust afternoon discussion with Trump.

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"We're committed to making a law that will make the lives of the American people better," Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said afterwards.

"We will get this done one way or another."

But Democrats labouring to halt the package, called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act after the president's own catchphrase, piled on with relentless opposition.

"In the words of Elon Musk, this bill is a 'disgusting abomination,'" Representative Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said, reviving the billionaire former Trump aide's criticism of the package.

The analysis comes at a crucial moment as Trump is pushing Congress, where Republicans have majority control, to send the final product to his desk to become law by the Fourth of July.

The House passed the bill last month by a single vote, but it's now slogging through the Senate, where Republicans want a number of significant changes.

The politics are only intensifying

After Musk blindsided Congress with an all-out assault against the bill this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson rushed to do damage control.

The GOP speaker said he called Musk to discuss the criticism, but had not heard back.

Musk has threatened to use his political apparatus to go after Republicans in the midterm elections.

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"I hope he comes around," Johnson told reporters.

Hours later, Musk, whose business interests could be impacted by green energy rollbacks in the bill, implored voters to call their representatives and senators: "Bankrupting America is NOT ok!" he wrote on social media, "KILL the BILL".

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1930336497208832059https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1930338434415243739

Tax breaks, but also cuts to health care

The work of the Congressional Budget Office, which for decades has served as the official scorekeeper of legislation in Congress, is closely watched by lawmakers and others seeking to understand the budgetary impacts of the sprawling 1000-page-plus package.

The bill includes roughly $5.8 trillion in tax cuts — extending the expiring 2017 individual income tax breaks and temporarily adding new ones that Trump campaigned on, including no taxes on tips.

The revenue loss would be partially offset by nearly $2 trillion in reduced federal spending elsewhere, namely through Medicaid and food assistance.

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As a result, some 7.8 million people would no longer have health insurance with changes to Medicaid, including 5.2 million from the proposed new work requirements on those non-disabled adults up to age 65, with some exceptions, the analysis said.

With the Medicaid changes, some 1.4 million people who are in the United States without legal status in state-funded health programs would no longer have coverage.

Also, some 400,000 would lose coverage from the termination of a medical provider tax that key Republicans, including Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, want to keep in place to ensure rural hospitals can keep paying their bills.

Republicans argue that their proposals are intended to strengthen Medicaid and other programs by rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.

They want the federal funding to go to those who most need health care and other services, often citing women and children.

But Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said those claims are bogus and are simply part of long-running GOP efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as most states have expanded Medicaid to serve more people under the program.

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"They just want to strangle health care," Schumer said.

Additionally, the Congressional Budget Office had previously estimated that nearly 4 million fewer people would have food stamps each month due to the legislation's proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, including new work requirements for some older Americans and parents of school-age children.

Some would see their benefits reduced by about $15 by 2034, the Congressional Budget Office has said.

Republicans criticise the Congressional Budget Office

Ahead of the Congressional Budget Office's release, the White House and Republican leaders criticised the budget office in a pre-emptive campaign designed to sow doubt in its findings.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the Congressional Budget Office was "flat wrong" because it underestimated the potential revenue growth from Trump's first round of tax breaks in 2017.

The Congressional Budget Office last year said receipts were $2.3 trillion, or 5.6 per cent greater than predicted, in large part because of the "burst of high inflation" during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

White House Budget Director Russ Vought said when you adjust for "current policy," which means not counting some $6.9 trillion in existing tax breaks that are simply being extended for the next decade, the overall package actually doesn't pile onto the deficit.

He argued that the spending cuts alone, in fact, help reduce deficits by $2.2 trillion over the decade.

But Democrats and even some Republicans call that "current policy" accounting move a gimmick.

Still, it's the approach Senate Republicans intend to use during their consideration of the package to try to show it does not add to the nation's deficits.

Vought argued that the Congressional Budget Office is the one using a "gimmick" by tallying the costs of continuing those tax breaks that would otherwise expire.

"Russ is right," Johnson, the House speaker, posted on social media.

"Our One Big Beautiful Bill will REDUCE the deficit WHILE delivering on the mandate given to us by the American people. Let's get it done!"

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has also suggested that the Congressional Budget Office's employees are biased, even though certain budget office workers face strict ethical rules — including restrictions on campaign donations and political activity — to ensure objectivity and impartiality.

What's at stake

The individual income tax breaks that had been approved during Trump's first term in the White House will expire in December if Congress fails to act, in what Republicans warn would be a massive tax hike on many American households.

The package also includes a massive buildup of $539 billion for border security, deportations and national security that is central to the GOP agenda, as well as a $6.16 trillion increase to the nation's $36 trillion debt limit, which the Treasury Department says is needed by this summer to pay the nation's bills.

Congressional Budget Office aims for impartiality

More than 50 years ago, the Congressional Budget Office was established by law after Congress sought to assert its control, as outlined in the Constitution, over the budget process.

Staffed by some 275 economists, analysts and other employees, the Congressional Budget Office says it seeks to provide Congress with objective, impartial information about budgetary and economic issues.

Its current director, Phillip Swagel, a former Treasury official in Republican President George W. Bush's administration, was reappointed to a four-year term in 2023.

Walkers face a 20km trek between Mangatepopo and Waihohonu huts.

Posties across Australia will carry citronella spray to combat an explosion in the number of dog attacks.

Australia Post announced the measure today as figures showed during the past six months, there were 44 dog attacks every week on its workers delivering mail – equivalent to nine daily.

The corporation says it has appealed to dog owners to secure their animals during deliveries, but needed to equip posties with a deterrent.

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The non-harmful, water-based citronella spray has been introduced as a last line of defence to protect workers from imminent attack.

Australia Post says in trials the spray was 80 per cent effective in distracting a dog, giving posties enough time to escape unharmed.

Australia Post's general manager of safety, Russell Munro, said keeping frontline staff free from physical and psychological injury was a top priority.

"Despite public awareness efforts and rigorous safety protocols, we continue to see alarming rates of dog-related incidents," he said.

"The best way to avoid dog attacks is to ensure your dog is safely secured behind a locked door or gate when your postie arrives with your parcel."

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Nearly 40 per cent of dog attacks on posties took place on a person's property – half of those when a front door is opened for a parcel delivery.

Among the dog attack hotspots was the northern NSW town of Moree, where high numbers of roaming and unrestrained dogs has created dangerous conditions.

The deployment of citronella spray will prioritise high-risk regions first, with all posties to be equipped with the spray by late July.

Parcel delivery drivers will then be trained how to use the spray safely and only as a last resort.

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Some Northland farms experienced flooding five times in recent weeks.

Terri Irwin has condemned a push by Katter's Australian Party to permit crocodile culls and hunting trips in Queensland as the state parliament considers the new legislation.

The bill, put forward by Hill MP Shane Knuth, would establish a new "Queensland Crocodile Authority" in the northern city of Cairns, expand the circumstances in which crocodiles could be removed or killed from waterways, and even allow for safari-style hunts under Indigenous supervision.

"The Crocodile Control and Conservation Bill is necessary because North Queenslanders are angry about losing more of our recreational waterways to the increasing crocodile population," Knuth said in his speech introducing the bill.

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"The constant threat of attacks, recent deaths and near-death experiences are dramatically affecting North Queensland's outdoor lifestyle."

He said human deaths from crocodile attacks had risen sharply, from 10 in the 33 years from 1971 to 2004, compared to 14 in nine years between 2005 and 2014.

The bill would allow for crocodiles to be removed or euthanised if they were found in a "populated waterway" – the definition of which would be established by the Queensland Crocodile Authority.

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Crocodiles would also be removed in recreational areas or on landowners' property.

Egg harvesting limits would also be increased from the current annual limit of 5000, with Knuth citing the Northern Territory's limit of 90,000 as a comparison.

And Indigenous landowners will be able to elect to have a crocodile on their property either removed or killed professionally – or they would be able to hunt it themselves, or offer the opportunity to "high end clients".

"This bill will allow a tangible economic opportunity to Indigenous landowners to benefit from the fast-growing crocodile industry, which is estimated to be worth more than $100 million a year in the Northern Territory," Knuth said.

"Indigenous landowners have a connection with and an understanding of the land. They should be empowered to manage that land as they see fit."

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The bill has received 175 submissions since it was tabled in parliament.

Among them was one from Irwin, in her capacity as director of Australia Zoo.

She did not hold back, calling the legislation "lazy and sloppy" and criticising the figures cited.

"All the current research shows that the limited availability of crocodile nesting sites in Queensland severely restricts the annual increase and spread of crocodile populations," she said.

She said "inflated" numbers of increasing crocodile sightings mentioned by Knuth neglected to consider that often, they included multiple sightings of a single animal.

Irwin also warned that the bill would increase the probability of crocodile attacks.

"Through our research of crocodile movements and the probability of crocodile-human interactions, the removal of crocodiles, either through trapping or culling, will instead increase the likelihood of crocodile attacks as people believe the lie that once a crocodile is removed from a waterway then there will be no crocodiles," she said.

"Research has consistently shown that when a crocodile dies or is removed, then another crocodile immediately comes in to take over that territory.

"Because of this reality, the bill will not eliminate or even greatly reduce the risk of crocodile attacks."

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