A serving NSW police officer has been accused of secretly recording himself having sex with a woman while she was wearing a collar and lead before sharing the video with his colleagues.

Constable Alexander James Cox, 30, appeared at Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday, facing one count of recording intimate images without consent and two counts of distributing intimate images without consent.

He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

READ MORE: Police declare stabbing of Bishop at Western Sydney church a 'terrorist act'

The court heard Cox was in a sexual relationship with the woman for about four months but that she had never given him permission to film them having sex and did not recall him making any such recordings.

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said she was told Cox had shown a video of the couple having sex to colleagues in the police force, who she referred to as "the boys".

"He said he could see my tattoos. He said I was wearing a collar and a leash," the woman told the court.

Cox and the woman had sex on several occasions at his apartment at Engadine, in southern Sydney, during which they had sometimes used a collar and lead that she owned and brought with her, the court was told.

A photograph of the woman having sex with Cox that displayed her "distinctive tattoo" was also allegedly shown by him to another police colleague.

READ MORE: Sixteen-year-old boy in custody after Sydney church attack

But Cox's lawyer, Paul McGirr, described the police investigation into the allegations as "extremely poor" and no such photos or videos had been retrieved from his client's phone after it was seized.

He also noted the two witnesses who reported being shown the alleged sex video did not initially report seeing the woman's tattoos.

McGirr suggested that any pornographic video Cox showed his colleagues was not of the woman.

"People can't take tattoos on and off," he told the court.

"You cannot see her face and you cannot see Mr Cox.

"One would have to be satisfied … it's not the complainant."

The woman told the court she was not aware of Cox ever taking intimate images of her and the pair had ended their brief relationship on good terms.

"I thought trust was involved," the woman told the court.

The hearing continues.

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Assyrian Orthodox Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed on Monday night in what's being investigated as a terrorist attack by the NSW Government.

Police were called to Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, near Fairfield, at 7pm after reports of a stabbing.

Four people were injured with non-life-threatening injuries, including the Bishop.

READ MORE: Sydney church stabbing was 'religiously motivated', ASIO boss says

A 16-year-old teenager was arrested at the scene and taken to an undisclosed location by Police.

The NSW Government confirmed the incident was being treated as a terror attack on Tuesday morning.

Who is Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel?

The bishop immigrated from Iraq to Fairfield in Sydney, Australia as a child in the 1970s.

He was ordained as a priest in 2009 and became the bishop of Christ the Good Sheperd Chruch in Wakeley, in 2011.

Emmanuel is extremely well-known in his sect of the Assyrian Church, which is considered a conservative branch of Orthodoxy.

The Bishop runs youth groups and international religious talks, as well as being heavily involved in the Assyrian community.

READ MORE: Police declare stabbing of Bishop at Western Sydney church a 'terrorist act'

The bishop has gained a mass following on social media, including 158,000 followers on Instagram and 203k subscribers on YouTube, where the church posts videos and live stream his sermons.

He gained media attention during the COVID-19 pandemic after sharing controversial views on the vaccine, as well as the state's lockdown laws.

In a personal message on the Church's website, Emmanual says his mission is to tell the truth.

"In our time and age, we believe the most important and fundamental insight is coming into the truth," it reads.

"The world bombards the human race with so much information, quite often we lose our orientation in discerning the lie from the truth."

The bishop is in a stable condition, the church announced in a statement this morning. 

It's understood the religious leader had been receiving threats for two weeks leading up to the attack. 

READ MORE: Bishop and priest stabbed, 15-year-old boy in custody after Sydney church attack

What is Assyrian Orthodox?

Assyrian Orthodox is a denomination of Christianity, however, it has a long and complicated history.

It can be traced back to Mid-Second Century Mesopotamia, known today as Iraq, Syria and southern Turkey.

Its followers have faced persecution a number of times, most notably in the 7th and 14th centuries.

READ MORE: Timeline: How the Bondi Junction Westfield stabbing attack unfolded

The church was nearly made extinct again by the Turkish Government during the First World War.

In 2024, the Assyrian church is a minority community within the Christian church.

Other Orthodox denominations include Eastern Orothdox, Copic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Eritrean Orthodox.

A global coral bleaching event has been declared as reefs around the world, including the Great Barrier Reef, suffer from the impact of the warming climate.

Scientists from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coral Reef Watch declared the mass event on Monday (US time, Tuesday AEST).

It's only the fourth global bleaching ever recorded, but the second in the past ten years.

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"From February 2023 to April 2024, significant coral bleaching has been documented in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres of each major ocean basin," NOAA Coral Reef Watch coordinator Derek Manzello said.

The organisation said mass coral bleaching had been detected all across the globe since early last year, including in reefs off the coasts of Mexico, US, Brazil, the Middle East, Fiji, Vanuatu and much of Africa.

It also pointed to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, 75 per cent of which has been bleached, the Marine Park Authority said earlier this month.

The University of Queensland said the situation was "devastating" and "dire and developing rapidly".

"Recent visits to sites in the southern and northern sections of the Great Barrier Reef reveal a common story: the reef is now experiencing its fifth mass bleaching and mortality event in just nine years," the university's Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg.

"Reports are coming in thick and fast, making it clear that this is no 'ordinary event'. It was the most widespread event on the Great Barrier Reef ever."

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The NOAA warned that the bleaching would have major economic impacts as well as the more obvious environmental consequences.

"As the world's oceans continue to warm, coral bleaching is becoming more frequent and severe," Manzello said.

"When these events are sufficiently severe or prolonged, they can cause coral mortality, which hurts the people who depend on the coral reefs for their livelihoods."

An extensive range of investigative powers will be deployed by Australian authorities after the attack on a Sydney priest was declared an attack of terrorism.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb overnight designated the stabbing a "terror incident" and then informed the Premier Chris Minns.

A 16-year-old boy is in custody after Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed during a service at the Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm overnight.

READ MORE: Police declare stabbing of Bishop at Western Sydney church a 'terrorist act'

Under NSW law, the definition of a terrorist act includes when an "action is done with the intention of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause".

Terrorism expert and security analyst Greg Barton told Today this morning why "intent" was key.

"The critical thing about definition with terror is, is motivation and intent," he said.

"So it's not just personal anger … It's believing you're part of a system and you're going to bring about change … Often by provoking more violence."

In a joint press conference with the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the heads of ASIO and the AFP said they supported the declaration of a terrorist event.

Albanese said he had "every faith" in the country's law enforcement and security agencies, but understood people felt uneasy in the wake of the the mass stabbing at Bondi Junction in Sydney last Saturday.

READ MORE: Bishop and priest stabbed, 15-year-old boy in custody after Sydney church attack

"I understand that people are feeling uneasy. And that's understandable," he said.

"Given the atrocity that occurred on Saturday and then this incident last night." 

AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said the attack would have an impact on Australian communities.

"This attack will have a significant impact on the Australian community, and I would like to reassure the Australian community that the AFP, together with its law enforcement partners, particularly under the joint counterterrorism team, is working to investigate this incident from all angles," he said.

"The AFP, together with ASIO and New South Wales police, will continue to investigate how this incident occurred, and the individual involved."

Director-general of domestic intelligence agency ASIO Mike Burgess explained why the church attack has been determined a terrorist attack compared with Saturday's attack.

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"Simple answer is to call it a terrorist act you need indications of, well, information or evidence that suggest actually the motivation was religiously motivated or ideologically motivated," Burgess said.

"In the case of Saturday, that was not the case.

"In this case, the information we have and the police have before us, indicates that is strongly the case.

"That is why it was called an act of terrorism."

Neil Fergus, chief executive of the Sydney-based consultancy Intelligent Risks, told Today this morning authorities would be trying to establish whether the alleged church attacker was part of a wider network.

"What we need to determine and what the public needs to know is was this a lone actor?" Fergus said.

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"Was this a person who may have been radicalised by somebody else, but was he operating alone, or are there other people out there who are effectively accomplices?"

The AFP and ASIO have the powers to obtain warrants for monitoring communications between the alleged attacker and his circle of friends.

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told a French national he is "welcome" to stay in Australia after he fought off the Bondi Westfield attacker with a bollard.

Video emerged of construction workers Damien Guerot and Silas Despreaux stopping Joel Cauchi on a stationary escalator in an attempt to end his murderous rampage on Saturday afternoon.

Guerot was standing at the top of the escalator with the bollard and later wielded a metal cafe chair as he and other bystanders sprinted after Inspector Amy Scott towards Cauchi, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

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Guerot is dealing with an Australian visa application but Albanese told reporters this morning that he was welcome here.

"You are welcome to stay for as long as you like," Albanese said.

"This is someone who we would welcome becoming an Australian citizen, although that would of course be a loss for France.

READ MORE: Bondi Junction killer had 'long history' of mental health issues, interest in weapons

"We thank him for his extraordinary bravery.

"It says a lot about the nature of humanity at a time when we are facing difficult issues that someone who is not a citizen of this country stood bravely at the top of those escalators and stopped this perpetrator from getting onto another floor and potentially inflicting further carnage on citizens."

He thanked Guerot for his "extraordinary efforts".

Five women and one man were killed in the attack, which also left a dozen injured.

Those victims have been identified as Yixuan Cheng, Pikria Darchia, Faraz Tahir, Ashlee Good, Dawn Singleton and Jade Young.

Cauchi was shot dead by NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott.

Two visitors at Lake Mead National Recreation Area were captured on video destroying ancient rock formations and park rangers are seeking the public's help in identifying the suspects.

Video shows two visitors who scaled towering russet-colored rock formations along the park's Redstone Dune Trail and were shoving wide slabs of sandstone to the ground.

A young girl screams as the stone topples and crumbles to dust.

READ MORE: Police declare stabbing of Bishop at Western Sydney church a 'terrorist act'

Damage to the federally-protected formations, which were shaped over time out of 140 million-year-old sand dunes, is irreversible. Recreation area spokesperson John Haynes called the destruction "appalling."

"Why on earth would you do this to this area that's so beautiful? It's one of my favorite places in the park and they're up there just destroying it. I don't understand that," Haynes told CNN affiliate KVVU.

The video was taken the evening of April 7, according to KVVU. Park rangers urged anyone who was on the trail at the time or who may have information to submit a tip.

The men are suspected of vandalism, the recreation area said in a social media post. If caught, the suspects could face federal charges, jail time or large fines, Haynes told KVVU.

The vast recreation area covers 1.5 million acres of breathtaking mountain views, canyon trails and two vital reservoirs that extend across the Nevada and Arizona border.

Water sports at the Lake Mead reservoir are a major draw for the park's six million annual visitors, but extreme drought in the West has caused the lake's water levels to plummet in recent years, exposing sunken boats and several sets of human remains.

Due to the park's vast size, visitors play a large part in helping rangers monitor the area. Haynes encouraged visitors to take videos of any unusual activity and report it to park authorities.

"It's really important for you to just let us know," Haynes said.