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Despite flooding rains across parts of southeastern Australia this week, there are worrying signs that large parts of the nation are edging towards drought.

The Bureau of Meteorology this week issued its latest drought statement, which showed that areas of rainfall deficiency have developed in parts of all states and territories in the five months from September to May 2023.

You can see the rainfall deficiency areas marked in various shades of red on the map below – the darker the shade, the worse the deficiency.

READ MORE: Fires to floods: Wild weather hits Australia's east-coast

While large parts of the nation are unaffected (the white areas), many of the severe deficiencies are in key food-growing areas, which is a concern for everyone from farmers to customers at the supermarket checkout.

Another worrying pattern in the map is that deficiencies exist in the immediate vicinity of almost all state or territory capitals, which means water storage reservoirs may soon feel the pinch.

"Storage levels remain low in some parts of southern and central Queensland, south-eastern parts of New South Wales, central Tasmania, and urban areas of Perth," the BoM said in its statement.

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The map above shows the amount of rain that fell in the week up until 9am Saturday.

As you'd expect, there was very heavy rainfall (the dark green, blue and purple blobs) in the flood-affected areas of in Victoria and southern NSW.

But only moderate amounts of rain fell in most of the long-term rain-deficient areas visible in the first map, meaning that this week's event has done little to prevent drought developing further afield as spring turns to summer.

The BoM said in its drought statement that below median rainfall is "likely to very likely" for much of western, northern and southern Australia for November 2023 through to January 2024.

Only small areas of northern New South Wales have a slightly increased chance of above median rainfall in that period, the BoM said.

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A Brisbane man who was attempting to become the youngest person to row across the Pacific Ocean has been rescued near Vanuatu.

Tom Robinson was rescued by a P&O cruise ship, who took a detour from their usual route to pick him up, after his boat capsized when he was rowing from Peru to Australia.

Australian Maritime Safety Authority told the 24-year-old's dad his EPIRB had been activated about 7am on Thursday.

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A blog post on Robinson's website said he was spotted by a French plane in the dark that took off from Noumea to find him about 100 nautical miles from Luganville.

Subsequently, he was able to be picked up by the cruise ship.

Robinson was naked when he was picked up and climbed up a rope ladder to reach the deck of the ship.

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"Soon after, and some 13 hours since his EPIRB was activated, he rang his family at home," the post to his website said.

"He was being checked in the sick bay, and sounded well after a precarious night."

Robinson told his family an unexpectedly large wave came through the main hatch and flooded the cabin, causing his boat to capsize.

"Our sincere thanks go to the Australian, New Caledonian and Vanuatuan authorities who all had important roles to play in his rescue; and to the captain and crew of Pacific Explorer who literally went out of their way to pick up Tom."

Companies don't get a ballot to fill out when Australia heads to the polls on referendum day in a week, but that hasn't stopped many brands from having a say on the Voice to parliament proposal.

The early stages of the campaign, in particular, were dotted with corporate announcements, often in support of the Yes cause.

All the major sporting codes, including the AFL and NRL, backed the constitutional change, as did the likes of the big four banks, Rio Tinto, Telstra and, somewhat infamously, Qantas.

EXPLAINED: Voice to parliament referendum: When, how and where do I vote?

It's hardly a new phenomenon. It's not unusual for brands to support social initiatives – many did just that in the lead-up to the marriage equality plebiscite in 2017.

Adam Ferrier, consumer psychologist at creative advertising agency Thinkerbell, says the referendum is another opportunity for brands to demonstrate their values.

"There's several benefits to a brand backing a cause such as the referendum," he told 9news.com.au

"There's a consumer perspective. People buy brands from companies and people want to buy brands from companies whose values are aligned with theirs, and so it's an opportunity for businesses to tell consumers a bit about the company – what it stands for, its values and so on.

READ MORE: What is the Voice to parliament and what will the referendum entail?

"The second benefit is obviously for its employees and corporate reputation. If someone works for a company, they might want to know where that company's values stand and what its beliefs are."

That's not to say all brands are publicly backing the Yes vote. Some, like resources giant Fortescue Metals, have opted for neutrality.

"We acknowledge and respect the Australian Government's commitment to establishing a First Nations Voice," Fortescue said in its sustainability report.

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"Importantly, this will be a matter for the Australian people to decide at a referendum."

In the ASX 20 – Australia's top 20 companies – Oil and gas business Santos, insurer QBE, biotech firm CSL, property group Goodman and gaming provider Aristocrat Leisure are among those who haven't campaigned for the Voice. Nine, the publisher of this website, has not made any public statement about its position.

That means while corporate sentiment appears to be leaning more towards Yes than No, there hasn't been the same overwhelming support for the referendum as there was during the plebiscite.

Ferrier says that's reflective of the public opinion and discourse around the Voice.

"It's complicated. With marriage equality, it was a very popular plebiscite. It was a very clear and simple plebiscite… and therefore many organisations found it easier to come out in favour and support it," he said.

"With the current referendum, polling shows the opinion is not as one-sided, and so it's arguably not as popular, and it's also debatably not quite as clear as well…

"As the debate has continued, we've seen less committed commercial support for the Yes vote.

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"I think it's because there's been more ambiguity or more nuanced conversation happening around the pros and cons of Yes versus No, which has made it a more complex issue to find alignment around for corporations to support our or otherwise."

What Ferrier doesn't expect is for brand backing to lead to more votes – and he doesn't think that's even the intent of companies.

"I think a corporation saying 'we're supporting this' or 'we're not supporting this' isn't telling Australians what to do," he said.

"It is just saying 'we're not telling you what to do, but this is what we're doing'. And so I think the impetus isn't telling Australians what to do, the impetus is just being transparent and saying 'this is what we believe'…

"Australians don't like being told what to do. And Australians, as soon as somebody in power says 'you should do this', there's no granter way to create a reactance."

Nearly 200,000 Queensland residents are missing out on millions of dollars in unclaimed Medicare benefits.

It has been revealed Services Australia is sitting on more than $200 million in unpaid benefits due to out-of-date details on the Medicare and MyGov accounts of Australians.

The agency said the pool of money is growing because people aren't updating their details, meaning refunds and payments can't be processed.

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Queensland has the third-highest amount of unclaimed money with around 198,000 residents owed a total of $44.1 million.

Contact and bank details can be easily updated through the myGov app.

For Australians without an online Medicare account, Services Australia recommends setting one up and linking it to MyGov.

Australians can also visit their nearest service centre to get their details updated.

Following this process, Services Australia will automatically identify if you are owed any money and will generally reimburse you within three days.

A Russian rocket struck a village cafe and store in eastern Ukraine on Thursday and killed at least 50 civilians in one of the deadliest attacks in months, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other top officials in Kyiv.

The attack came as Zelenskyy attended a summit of about 50 European leaders in Spain to drum up support from Ukraine's allies.

He denounced the attack in the village of Hroza as a "demonstrably brutal Russian crime" and "a completely deliberate act of terrorism."

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Presidential chief of staff Andrii Yermak and Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said a 6-year-old boy was among the dead, adding that seven other people were wounded. Hroza, which had a population of about 500 before the war, is located in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

About 60 people were in the cafe were attending a wake after a funeral, said Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko, speaking on national TV.

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According to preliminary information from Kyiv, the village was struck by an Iskander missile. Emergency crews were searching the rubble of damaged buildings.

Ukrainian prosecutors released pictures showing bloodied bodies and emergency workers combing through the building's smoldering debris.

Hroza and other parts of the eastern Kharkiv region were seized by Russia early in the war and recaptured by Ukraine in September 2022. The village is located only 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of Kupiansk. Zelenskyy had visited the area Tuesday to meet with troops and inspect equipment supplied by the West.

On Thursday, Zelenskyy was at a summit of the European Political Community in Granada, Spain, where he asked for more Western support, saying that "Russian terror must be stopped."

"Russia needs this and similar terrorist attacks for only one thing: to make its genocidal aggression the new norm for the whole world," he said in a statement posted on his Telegram channel.

"Now we are talking with European leaders, in particular, about strengthening our air defense, strengthening our soldiers, giving our country protection from terror. And we will respond to the terrorists."

"The key for us, especially before winter, is to strengthen air defense, and there is already a basis for new agreements with partners," he told the group, which was formed in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Last winter, Russia targeted Ukraine's energy system and other vital infrastructure in a steady barrage of missile and drone attacks, triggering continuous power outages across the country. Ukraine's power system has shown a high degree of resilience and flexibility, helping alleviate the damage, but there have been concerns that Russia will again ramp up its strikes on power facilities as winter draws nearer.

Zelenskyy noted the Granada summit will also focus on "joint work for global food security and protection of freedom of navigation" in the Black Sea, where the Russian military has targeted Ukrainian ports after Moscow's withdrawal from a UN-sponsored grain deal designed to ensure safe grain exports from the invaded country's ports.

The UK Foreign Office cited intelligence suggesting that Russia may lay sea mines in the approach to Ukrainian ports to target civilian shipping and blame it on Ukraine.

"Russia almost certainly wants to avoid openly sinking civilian ships, instead falsely laying blame on Ukraine for any attacks against civilian vessels in the Black Sea," it said, adding that the UK was working with Ukraine to help improve the safety of shipping.

Speaking in Granada, Zelenskyy emphasized the need to preserve the European unity in the face of Russian disinformation and to remain strong amid what he described as a "political storm" in the United States.

Asked if he was worried that support for Ukraine could falter in the US Congress, the Ukrainian president stressed that his visit to Washington last month made him confident of strong backing by both the Biden administration and Congress.

Zelenskyy called for "additional air defense system for Ukraine, additional artillery and shells, additional long-range missiles and drones for our soldiers, as well as additional formats of support and security guarantees for nations threatened by Russia" to help protect Europe from potential aggression by Moscow.

Earlier Thursday, Russia targeted Ukraine's southern regions with drones. Ukraine's air force said that the country's air defenses intercepted 24 out of 29 Iranian-made drones that Russia launched at the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kirovohrad regions.

Andriy Raykovych, head of the Kirovohrad regional administration, said that an infrastructure facility in the region was struck and emergency services were deployed to extinguish a fire. He said there were no casualties.

In other Russian attacks on Ukraine in the past day, two civilians were killed in shelling of the southern city of Kherson and another one died after a Russian strike on the city of Krasnohorivka in the eastern Donetsk region.

At least eight people were wounded by Russian shelling, according to Ukraine's presidential office.

A Russian strike on a hospital in the city of Beryslav in the Kherson region ravaged the building and wounded two medical workers, according to the regional administration chief, Oleksandr Prokudin.

Ukraine, in turn, has struck back at Russia with regular drone attacks across the border.

Roman Starovoit, the governor of Russia's Kursk region that borders Ukraine, said that Ukrainian drones attacked infrastructure facilities in several areas, resulting in power cuts.

Starovoit also said that Ukrainian forces fired artillery at the border town of Rylsk, wounding a local resident and damaging several houses.