Australia has voted to recognise Palestinians' "permanent sovereignty" over their natural resources in a significant foreign policy shift that breaks with the US and Israel.

Votes in favour of two United Nations draft resolutions on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) are the latest in a series of more pro-Palestinian votes Australia has taken at the global body, angering local pro-Israel groups but draw praise from Palestinian advocates.

The draft resolution in the UN's Second Committee recognised the "permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources".

The resolution passed with 159 votes in favour and seven against – including the US, Canada and Israel, with 11 abstentions.

The vote breaks a 20-year streak of Australia voting no or abstaining on the issue, according to the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council. 

Canberra last abstained on the issue in November last year, a month after Hamas launched its October 7 attacks, killing 1200 people, mostly civilians, and dragged some 250 into Gaza as hostages and sparking Israel's war in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of 43,000 Palestians, according to the local health authority, and spread into neighbouring countries.

A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the vote reflected international concern for Israel's actions, including its "ongoing settlement activity, land dispossession, demolitions and settler violence against Palestinians".

"We have been clear that such acts undermine stability and prospects for a two-state solution," they said.

"This resolution importantly recalls UN security council resolutions that reaffirm the importance of a two-state solution that has had bipartisan support."

Before the vote, Israel's representative to the committee decried the resolution as "rooted in biased political motives".

"Tragically every resource meant to benefit the Palestinians has been co-opted for Hamas war machinery," he said. 

The Palestinian representative on the committee said the vote was a strong reaffirmation "of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to self determination and freedom".

"It also sends a strong message that all the atrocities Israel is committing in the besieged Gaza Strip, as well as the measures and policies that is carrying out across the rest of occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, are illegal and must be halted, and that the occupying power must be held accountable without delay," she said, after the vote.

US political adviser to the UN Nicholas Koval said his country was disappointed the committee criticised the resolution as "unbalanced" and "unfairly critical of Israel, demonstrating a clear and persistent institutional bias".

"One-sided resolutions will not help advance peace. Not when they ignore the facts on the ground," he said.

"One-sided resolutions are purely rhetorical documents that seek to divide us at a time when we should be coming together. And one we must not cling to longstanding lines of division."

Locally, the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network welcomed what it called Australia's "long-overdue recognition of Palestinians' inalienable rights".

"Australia's support marks an acknowledgment of the catastrophic impact of Israel's relentless appropriation and destruction of Palestinian resources and sends a clear signal that the world is demanding accountability for these injustices," APAN president Nasser Mashni said, in a statement.

"This vote should be a turning point for the Australian government – it must recognise and act upon its legal obligation to use all economic, political and diplomatic tools at its disposal to help end Israel's genocide, illegal occupation, and apartheid in Palestine."

But the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council said it was deeply concerned by votes that made "no sense, either in terms of the objectives of the resolutions, or Australia's historical voting record".

"All Australian governments have voted no on the oil slick resolution since it was introduced in 2006, including, until now, the Albanese Government," executive director Dr Colin Rubenstein said. 

"This is because the resolution does nothing to build momentum toward peace, is completely decontextualised and ignores the substantial environmental destruction caused by Hezbollah in Israel during the 2006 war."

Australia also voted in favour of a resolution calling for Israel to assume responsibility for an oil slick caused by the Israeli Air Force's destruction of oil storage tanks near a Lebanese power plant, which Australia voted against in 2023.

Votes on both resolutions will now go to the UN's General Assembly.

Australia earlier this year voted with the vast majority of the United Nations General Assembly on a resolution to grant "rights and privileges" to Palestine and a separate vote calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Older drivers should be coming forward to test their own skills to make Australian roads safer, research shows.

A new website launched by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and neuroscience institute NeuRA aims to help drivers aged in their 50s and above stay safe and remain on the roads longer.

Cognitive aging expert and UNSW professor Kaarin Anstey told 9news.com.au later-in-life driving lessons were crucial as our population grows and ages.

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"We obviously want people to stay on the road as long as it's safe for them to do so. And that's the issue: they have to be safe on the road," Anstey explained.

"That's the point of the website, to empower older drivers, family members and health professionals.

"We've been working on this issue of older drivers for over 20 years because the second biggest cause of injury in older adults is motor vehicle accidents or crashes (after falls)."

Road safety has been front of mind after a series of devastating crashes across Australia, including a crash in Victoria's Riddells Creek which killed teacher's aide Eleanor Bryant and one in Melbourne's Hawthorn East which killed 11–year-old Jack Davey.

Anstey said her accompanying research The Better Drive Study looked at if older drivers were less likely to cause road accidents or put themselves in harm if they had a refresher course. 

It followed motorists aged over 65 over 12 months to see if driving improved.

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"A lot of people got their licence in an era where the cars were different, the roads were different, the road rules were different," she said.

"We just feel there's a certain amount of improvement that probably all of us, not just the older age group but lots of people, could benefit in refreshing their driving skills."

Anstey's pilot study found older people were likely to develop bad habits such as not checking blind spots or not keeping up to date with key road rules.

She said people who did the driving lessons had a "big improvement" in their safety on the road.

Later-in-life lessons could also identify if a person should be looking at giving up their licence.

"Sometimes there's people who we find who are not very safe drivers, or who have an impairment that they may not have been aware of," Anstey added.

9News asked several older drivers in Victoria if they supported the idea of lessons.

"I think it's a good idea, there are some older people who definitely need a refresher but there are some that are still quite good," one woman said.

"I'd rather not go through those grills but I guess for everyone's safety it's a very good thing," another added.

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The website Aging Well on the Road, launched this week, has information and advice for older drivers.

It also helps people navigate the different rules and regulations across states.

The rules to asses drivers' abilities are different all over the country.

In Victoria, drivers must self-report medical conditions while in NSW drivers must undergo annual medical assessments from a GP and practical driving tests over the age of 85.

"People don't naturally ask themselves 'do I need to update my driving skills'," Anstey said.

"The website is really designed for the general public.

"The medical fitness to drive manual from Austroads provides guidance to health practitioners about the requirements for driving medical conditions [too]."

Results from the Better Drive Study are set to be released in 2025.

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A 33-year-old man has been charged a day after he's alleged to have caused a multi-vehicle smash in Sydney's south-west.

Police said they tried to stop a Renault SUV about 10.40am on Wednesday, along Waminda Avenue in Campbelltown.

The driver allegedly failed to stop and a pursuit was initiated, which authorities claim ended before the crash.

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"The original pursuit was terminated a short time later along Moore Oxley Bypass and a police operation involving PolAir continued to monitor the vehicle," NSW Police said in a statement.

Police allege the driver ran a red light about 11.15am, causing the crash at the intersection of Camden Valley Way and Denham Court Road in Denham Court.

It's claimed the Renault SUV collided with a black ute before crashing into a traffic light pole.

The 33-year-old driver of the Renault was thrown from the car in the collision, and the car was split in two.

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He was taken to hospital with serious injuries and kept under police guard.

The driver of the ute, a 49-year-old man, suffered minor injuries after he had to be cut from his vehicle and was taken to Liverpool Hospital as a precaution.

Police allege the same Renault was involved in the earlier theft of a Mercedes in Middleton Grange at 8.30am.

A 39-year-old mother was allegedly dragged from the blue coupe and pushed onto the road at Thomas Hassall Anglican College. She was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

The Mercedes was found abandoned in Campbelltown just over an hour later and was later seized for forensic examination. A critical incident investigation has been launched.

On Thursday, the 33-year-old man was hit with multiple charges including aggravated robbery and inflict actual bodily harm, police pursuit not stop drive dangerously and drive furiously in motor vehicle cause bodily harm.

He appeared via a video link before Liverpool Local Court where he was refused bail to face court again in January.

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Australia leads the world in skin cancer rates but a new star-studded documentary is hoping to shake that title.

Conquering Skin Cancer features the likes of Hollywood star Hugh Jackman and Olympian Cate Campbell, as well as survivors, each with powerful messages of prevention.

Australia's love affair with the sun has caused heartache and trauma for millions.

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"Australia is the world champion of skin cancer. This is not a title that we want," Cate Campbell says in a clip from the film.

A world leader in skin cancer rates, the disease claims a life every four minutes in Australia and we hold 10 per cent of the world's melanoma population.

Filmmaker Mike Hill has captured stories from around the country, speaking to survivors, experts and advocates, hoping to change our relationship with the sun.

"Two in every three Australians will get skin cancers in their lifetime and that is such an alarming statistic," Hill told 9News.

The documentary director's call to arms also called on some big names.

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Media personality Deborah Hutton and Hollywood heavyweight Hugh Jackman both speak about their own skin cancer ordeals.

"I remember feeling pretty scared," Jackman says in the film.

A skin cancer diagnosis came as a big shock for Cancer Council WA's Ashley Reid. He opens up in the film about having a melanoma cut from his calf three years ago.

"This is from someone who talks about it all day long, but then it's you. It's you, a friend a family, a colleague, it's every family affected," Reid says in the documentary.

Sun-loving Surfing WA chief executive Mark Lane, who also features in the film, has ridden the wave of remission four times over.

"I'm six years into this journey, I've still got a bit to go," he tells 9News.

"Getting a half-hour skin check-up is far easier than what I've had to deal with the last six years."

Conquering Skin Cancer will debut in cinemas from November 20.

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Severe thunderstorms and torrential rain have again battered coastal Spain, causing thousands of people to be evacuated just two weeks after the country experienced deadly flooding in Valencia and other nearby communities.

More than 4000 people and a thousand homes have been evacuated in the Malaga area, according to a Thursday update from Antonio Sanz, the director of the Emergency Plan for the Risk of Flooding in Andalucia.

Five areas near the Guadalhorce riverbank were preemptively evacuated due to the risk of overflowing.

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In just one hour, nearly a month's worth of rainfall inundated the city of Malaga, in Spain's Andalusia region, according to the country's meteorological agency AEMet.

The southern Spanish province picked up roughly 100 millimetres of rain, 78 millimetres of which fell within an hour. Malaga normally averages 100.5 millimetres in the month of November.

The Spanish meteorological agency has issued red warnings in the Andalusia and Catalonia regions for extreme rainfall with reports of impassable roads and flooded basements in several towns.

Video from the scene shows streets in Malaga submerged in water.

The Malaga City Council issued evacuation orders near the Campanillas River due to the risk of overflowing.

The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility also announced it had suspended the Málaga-Madrid rail service due to the accumulation of water on the tracks.

The severe weather alert in Malaga led to the postponement of the opening round tie of the Billie Jean King Cup, which was due to take place Wednesday evening between Spain and Poland.

More rain on the way

Heavy rain was set to continue through the evening from the provinces of Malaga and Granada up to Valencia and Tarragona where up to 180 millimetres wass possible.

Authorities announced schools would be closed on Thursday across the entire province of Malaga, as well as areas issued with an orange warning for rain, including the municipalities of Seville, Cádiz, and Huelva.

The coastal area of Valencia province was also issued a red weather warning for Thursday. Spain's Minister for Transport Óscar Puente announced the closure of all non-essential movement on Valencia's roads at 6pm on Wednesday (9am Thursday AEDT).

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The City Council of Valencia announced that school activities were suspended throughout Valencia city and its districts on Wednesday and Thursday to avoid risks.

The country is still reeling from historic floods that killed more than 220 people just two weeks ago, its worst deluge in decades.

Last weekend, protesters marched in Valencia demanding the regional president Carlos Mazón's resignation for the slow response to the deadly natural disaster.

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Three air systems colliding sparked lightning and torrential rain over south-east Queensland yesterday, but the region will continue to see lashing as a wet system moves over Australia.

Severe thunderstorms built out west yesterday, before travelling east and smashing the city.

More than 50 millimetres of rain was felt over parts during peak hour while lightning hit areas like Teneriffe, Regents Park and Boonah.

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Pam Gill is lucky she wasn't home as the bolts struck near her property.

"I actually saw the video and thought by the time we get there, our house will be gone. I thought it'd be gone up in flames," she said.

"They said the bang was just absolutely enormous."

But luckily for her, the extent of the damage wasn't too bad.

It was a very lightning-active storm season.

From September this year to today, south-east Queensland felt 2.1 million lightning bolts, up from 780,000 in the same time last year.

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"It certainly was a very lightning-active storm that came through last evening," Bureau of Meteorology's Kimba Wong said.

About 36,000 homes lost power overnight with most of them restored by midday today.

"It has been a very active storm season and a number of years where we've had very active storm conditions," Wong said.

"But what I must say is that we really must maintain vigilance."

The next few weeks will see a rainy and stormy climate driver known as the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) which will make for a wet second half of November and even early December.

It will bring strong winds, cold fronts and a low pressure system. 

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Rainfall and heavy thunderstorms are headed towards south-east Queensland over the next few days including damaging winds and hail.

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Christie Johnson said a trough lying from the state's north-west down to the south-east could bring dangerous conditions. 

"There's actually even a slight risk that we could see giant hail, which is over 5cm, particularly areas around the Sunshine Coast Hinterland and the South Burnett," she said.

Thunderstorms will also hit Western Australia with severe weather travelling through inland areas over the next 24 hours.

Jonson said the most impacted areas will be inland such as the Pilbara, Gascoyne and Goldfields regions.

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"The severe phenomenon we're most likely to see with storms over WA today is damaging wind gusts with gusts in excess of 90km/h," she added.

"All the thunderstorm activity today will be closely monitored and warnings will be issued as soon as any storms show signs of producing this sort of severe weather."

WA is set to be hit the hardest in tomorrow's forecast and storms will also roll in across the Northern Territory, parts of New South Wales and Queensland.

There is also an expected cold front set to bring a risk of storms in South Australia and Victoria on Saturday.

Wild weather hit south-east Queensland yesterday, with damaging winds, torrential rain and some hail battering areas along Ipswich, Logan and Brisbane City.

What is SAM?

A Southern Annual Mode (SAM) is a climate driver that influences weather patterns in weeks-long periods.

The SAM in Australia has shifted into a "positive phase" and is set to bring a lot of wet weather across the country for the rest of November, Weatherzone reports.

SAMs in a positive phase can bring westerly winds, cold fonts and a low-pressure system in southern areas.

Forecast models have predicted this weather system may linger even into December.

Queenslander Natalie Carroll was excited to celebrate her birthday when she touched down for a holiday in Bali, Indonesia last week.

Instead, her trip was derailed by an insect the size of a fingernail that left her leg covered in "excruciating" blisters and welts.

WARNING: This article contains images some readers may find graphic.

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The 24-year-old was asleep in her open-air villa when what she believed was a harmless beetle landed on her leg. Not thinking, she brushed it away.

The very next morning she spotted a red mark blooming on her thigh.

"I started to do some Googling and did come across the Tomcat [beetle] at that point," she told 9news.com.au, but didn't realise it was the culprit.

The mark on her leg worsened in the hours that followed, blooming into angry welts that felt almost like burns.

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An elderly woman Tasered by police displayed a number of concerning medical signs as she was stretchered out of her aged-care facility, a paramedic has told the court.

Senior Constable Kristian James Samuel White shot his stun gun at great-grandmother Clare Nowland at Yallambee Lodge in the southern NSW town of Cooma in the early hours of May 17, 2023.

Paramedics Anna Hofner and Kingsley Newman were called to the scene around 4am after the on-duty registered nurse informed triple-zero that the 95-year-old was acting aggressively while holding two knives.

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They were present when Nowland, who had symptoms of dementia, was tasered by White and collapsed in the facility's treatment room.

The pair then stretchered her to the ambulance, taking her under lights and sirens to Cooma Hospital, where she died a week later.

At a manslaughter trial for the 34-year-old police officer in the NSW Supreme Court today, one of the paramedics Newman told the jury that Nowland showed concerning and unusual medical signs even when loaded into the ambulance.

These included a large bruise-like mark called a haematoma which was around five or six centimetres, he said.

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Her face also indicated there was something wrong internally.

"She had some facial droop on the opposite side to the injury indicating a pretty significant brain bleed," he told the court.

After the incident, White's partner Acting Sergeant Jessica Pank radioed into Cooma police station that Nowland had a "small lump" on her head but that the paramedics were managing it.

Sergeant Pank has not been charged over the incident but is expected to give evidence at White's trial.

Hofner took the stand, telling the court she had stepped back from Nowland when the 95-year-old stood up and walked towards the door of the treatment room holding the knife.

"I believe she was close enough that if she decided to strike out with the knife I could have potentially been hit," she told the jury.

However, she backtracked from this under questioning by crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC, admitting she was at a safe distance and was not close enough to be stabbed.

"I suggest to you there was no danger of any of you being struck by her, do you agree or disagree?" Hatfield asked.

"I agree," said Hofner.

The paramedic said she did not see how the situation could have been resolved peacefully given Nowland's refusal to relinquish the knife.

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In response, Hatfield suggested they could have simply given her time.

"Possibly but how long would we have to wait?" Hofner asked.

The jury previously heard that it was only around three minutes after the group found Nowland in the treatment room that White shot her with the taser.

The 34-year-old has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, claiming he acted lawfully under his duties as a police officer.

The court also heard evidence from two assistant nurses Mamta Rai and Geeta Phuyal who were working that night about their dealings with the 95-year-old in the two hours before she was tasered.

Both tried unsuccessfully to get her to give up the weapons, with Rai saying the great-grandmother had thrown one of the knives at her.

"It landed on the floor, it didn't hit me directly," she said.

The trial continues.

A consumer protection law firm has launched a class action against Coles and Woolworths, saying their allegedly misleading discount claims mean the average customer could be entitled to a refund of up to $1300.

Gerard Malouf and Partners (GMP Law) has lodged class action lawsuits against the two supermarket giants in Federal Court today over allegations they promoted misleading discount claims on hundreds of everyday products.

The action hopes to win back the difference between the alleged illusory discounted pricing and the original undiscounted price for items purchased at Coles between February 2022 and May 2023 and at Woolworths between September 2021 and May 2023.

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"We estimate that the average Australian consumer could be eligible for a refund ranging between $200 and $1300-plus, depending on their shopping habits and purchases at these retailers," GMP Law chairman Gerard Malouf said.

"We believe this class action is an essential move toward safeguarding consumer rights and demanding transparency in retail practices Australia-wide."

It comes after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in September announced it was taking Coles and Woolworths to court over their "Prices Dropped" and "Down Down" discounts.

The watchdog alleged the everyday items had been subjected to price hikes and the discounts were actually higher than or the same as the price before the increase.

GMP Law said its class action was unique to the ACCC proceedings as it is offering consumers refunds.

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In September, the ACCC released its supermarket inquiry interim report that found Australia's supermarket retailing is an oligopoly, with Coles and Woolworths together accounting for more than 67 per cent of sales.

The report detailed what the commission heard from consumers, suppliers and others at the halfway mark of a 12-month inquiry into the major supermarkets.

Australian shoppers said they were losing faith in the supermarkets and were untrusting of price claims.

The final report is due on February 28 and will hand down findings and any recommendations to address potential harms if required.

Australians can join the class action at PriceDropClassAction.com.au.

A 4.0 magnitude earthquake hit off of the coast of Western Australia about 1.45pm AEST (10.45am AWST time) today.

Geoscience Australia has received six reports so far of people who felt the earthquake, which hit a 10km ocean depth about 260km from Albany.

Locals near Mandurah, Augusta, Manjimup and Margaret River reported feeling the tremors.

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It follows another 4.1 earthquake that hit regional NSW in the Upper Hunter region on Tuesday.

Victoria's south-west was also rattled by a 5.0 magnitude earthquake in October.

More to come.