OPINION: Jarrod Gilbert on the future of policing.

Katikati town centre was the venue for Street Party.

A homicide investigation is underway in Victoria after a woman died of "serious injuries" in Shepparton in the state's north.

Emergency services were called to a home on McCubbin Drive at 6.10pm last night after receiving reports a woman had sustained "serious injuries".

A 27-year-old woman was declared dead at the scene after they arrived.

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A 28-year-old man is assisting police with enquiries and has since been released.

"Detectives are working to establish the exact circumstances of the incident and the investigation remains ongoing," police said.

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Four men have been charged over their alleged links to a drug supply ring on the New South Wales Central Coast.

After a search on a storage facility in Berkeley Vale earlier in the month allegedly uncovered over three kilograms of cocaine, three kilograms of cannabis and 500ml of GBL (gamma-butyrolactone), police simultaneously raided four properties on the Central Coast on Thursday.

Strike force police as well as National Anti-Gangs Squad (NAGS) officers conducted searches at homes in Ourimbah, Empire Bay, Berkeley Vale and Chittaway Bay in a pre-dawn raid.

READ MORE: Fears grow over potentially 'catastrophic flu season'

There, detectives allegedly found and seized seven firearms, two gel blaster pistols, 500 rounds of ammunition, steroids, illegal drugs including cocaine, heroin and cannabis as well as cash.

At one of the homes, in Berkeley Vale, police also allegedly uncovered a clandestine drug lab.

"Fire and Rescue HAZMAT crews deemed the site safe, before it was dismantled by specialist police from the State Crime Command's Chemical Operations Unit," NSW Police said in a statement.

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"Investigators seized items consistent with the manufacture of prohibited drugs, glassware and prohibited drugs.

"They will undergo forensic examination."

Four men – aged 38, 27, 39 and 38 – were arrested and charged with a number of offences including supply of a prohibited drug in large quantities and participating in a criminal group.

All four were refused bail and will appear at Wyong Local Court next month.

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Residents along Australia's east coast are in for an extremely soggy start to the week, after parts of New South Wales' copped a drenching overnight.

Some regions in the state's south recorded over 100mm of rain in the early hours of this morning, with "an unstable trough" wreaking havoc around the Jervis Bay region in particular.

Forecasters warn more rain is on the way.

READ MORE: Liberal Party 'in big trouble' after Labor's historic win in Aston

https://twitter.com/BOM_au/status/1642025624234491905

It comes after Point Perpendicular recorded a whopping 115.4mm between midnight and 9am this morning, including almost 60mm in under an hour.

Jervis Bay airfield recorded 67.4mm in the 24 hours to 9am, with over 67mm falling since midnight.

"The trough is a lingering by-product from the low-pressure system that developed east of Tasmania late in the week, retaining significant moisture as it crawled up the NSW coast, digging in against a building high pressure ridge moving across southeast Australia," Weatherzone said.

"The slow moving nature of this trough allowed rainfall to accumulate very rapidly.

"As the sun rose this morning, the cloud bank was brightly visible on the satellite image as it approached Sydney.

"It continued north and delivered more subdued rainfall totals across Sydney and the Central Coast during the afternoon, with 10.2mm falling in the Sydney cups, and 8.6mm over Gosford since 9am AEDT this morning."

The trough is set to continue moving up the coast, before "giving way to moist easterly winds along the northern NSW coast", bringing more dreary weather and potential thunderstorms into the early part of the week.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) issued a thunderstorm warning for parts of the NSW Central Coast.

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https://twitter.com/BOM_NSW/status/1642308093185863681?s=20

The BoM said flash flooding is possible with the Calga, Terrigal, Erina, Gosford, WoyWoy and Umina regions all likely to be affected.

Sydney's metro could see up to 20mm rain today, with temperatures expected to peak at just 21 degrees.

Elsewhere around the country, Melbourne will see partly cloudy conditions today with tops of 18 degrees and the chance of showers.

It'll be a sunny day in Adelaide with conditions set to peak at 19 degrees, 26 and cloudy in Brisbane, 19 degrees and cloudy in Canberra and 26 degrees in Perth.

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Experts are calling on Australians to prioritise their flu vaccines in the coming weeks ahead of a "significant" upcoming season.

After three years of COVID-19 dominating health warnings, officials now say that influenza cases are expected to "bounce back to where they were before the pandemic".

Case numbers have already started to creep up along the east coast, with 15,000 people in Australia already diagnosed this year.

READ MORE: Liberal Party 'in big trouble' after Labor's historic win in Aston

"What we're finding is that instead of flu case numbers taking off about June, we're already seeing the case numbers starting to rise," Dr Brad McKay said on Weekend Today.

"15,000 people in Australia have already been diagnosed with influenza.

"What we know is if the numbers are rising early, we often have a really high peak.

"That's often when we have these catastrophic flu seasons approaching."

Vaccine uptake wasn't high nor fast enough last year, doctors say, and the peak of the flu season came early in May instead of August when it historically hits.

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COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021 saw flu cases decline to "incredibly low levels", with concern that could lead to a sense of confidence in the community – but there is "still very much a risk".

"A lot of people are tired of getting the COVID vaccines, we're trying to dish them out at the moment," McKay said.

"The flu vaccines are already in pharmacies.

"They've had general practices this week as well, they're out there, low numbers at present.

"We are wanting people to remember to be vaccinated."

Last year there were some 225,000 cases nationally with 308 Aussies dying with the virus.

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Donald Trump has released a video message addressing his indictment by a grand jury, after previously branding the trial, and looming arrest, a "witch-hunt'.

The former US president was indicted by a New York grand jury, the district attorney confirmed on Thursday.

But a defiant Trump tackled the charges in a newly-released pre-recorded campaign fundraising video, hours before he was spotted unwinding with one of his favourite pastimes.

READ MORE: Can Trump still run for president? Your questions answered

"We are officially a third world country. No president in the history of our country has been subjected to such vicious and disgusting attacks," Trump said in the video message.

"But they only attack me because I fight for you.

"It's very simple. They can't buy me and they can't control me and that scares them beyond belief."

READ MORE: What will happen when Donald Trump is arrested?

The message came hours before Trump was spotted waving to supporters outside his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida on Saturday afternoon (GMT-4).

9News US Correspondent Jonathan Kearsley said Trump spent most of his day at the club.

"He drove out a out a short time ago sitting in the back of his car. He appeared to be waving and mouthing the words, 'thank you'," Kearsley said.

"Trump staff came out brandishing MAGA-related hats, merchandise, palming them out like they were lollies to supporters who had been gathered here.

"Clearly the former president trying to show he has plenty of support with him but this is going to be a long and legal bumpy road for him."

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The Manhattan district attorney's office has been investigating Trump in connection with his alleged role in a hush money payment scheme and cover-up involving adult film star Stormy Daniels that dates to the 2016 presidential election.

Though the indictment – which has been filed under seal – has yet to be unveiled, the investigation relates to hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

He is set to be arraigned on Tuesday.

The planned surrender will usher in the unprecedented scenario of a former US commander-in-chief being arrested and arraigned.

– WITH CNN

The total number of fatalities has risen to 21, after devastating storms and tornadoes scraped US' South and Midwest on Friday into early Saturday.

Four people died in structural collapses in Illinois during Friday's severe weather outbreak.

Seven weather-related deaths were also earlier confirmed in McNairy County, Tennessee, as the threat of more severe weather loomed into Saturday afternoon.

More than 50 preliminary tornado reports were recorded Friday in at least seven states, including in Arkansas, where storms killed five people, four in the small city of Wynne and another person in North Little Rock, local officials said.

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Three people were killed in Indiana by a storm Friday night that damaged homes and a volunteer fire department near Sullivan, a city about a 153-kilometre drive southwest of Indianapolis, State Police Sgt. Matt Ames said.

In Madison County, Alabama, one person died and five were injured overnight, officials said during a news conference Saturday morning.

In Pontotoc County, Mississippi, one person died and four others were injured, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

Allen Strickland, McNairy County director of emergency management, confirmed the seven deaths in the county, which is located in southern Tennessee between Nashville and Memphis, on Saturday afternoon.

At least 50 people were sent to hospitals in Arkansas' Pulaski County, where a tornado roared through the Little Rock area Friday, county spokesperson Madeline Roberts said. Five others were hospitalised after a tornado touched down Friday in Covington, Tennessee, according to a spokesperson for Baptist Memorial Health Care.

Roads were left impassable.

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In Little Rock, the "impact is devastating," Mayor Frank Scott told CNN on Saturday.

"Literally, in a matter of minutes, it went through the entire western portion of the city of Little Rock … It just came out of nowhere."

At least 2,100 residents in the pathway of the tornado were affected, he said.

Neighborhoods and commercial businesses were flattened.

More than 30,000 people are still without power, he said.

Preliminary information shows at least 22 tornadoes were reported in Illinois, eight in Iowa, four in Tennessee, five in Wisconsin and a couple in Mississippi.

In Arkansas, at least a dozen tornadoes were reported, including in the Little Rock area. Twisters in Arkansas left homes nearly leveled, and roads were covered with what once was the roofs and walls of buildings.

William Williams, who told CNN affiliate KATV he's an employee at a Kroger supermarket in Little Rock, said he's "thankful to be alive" after a tornado rolled near the area while he was working Friday afternoon.

He took shelter inside the store, and went outside afterward to see people injured, including a woman he said had a severe leg injury.

"Everything happened in like five seconds. It came – boom," Williams told KATV. "You could hear a lot of commotion and stuff. … I go outside, and it is crazy. People had blood all over their faces. … I'm just thankful that I'm alive."

About 160k kilometers east of Little Rock, the city of Wynne was "basically cut in half by damage from east to west," Mayor Jennifer Hobbs told CNN Friday evening.

"We are still in triage mode," Hobbs said, adding that crews were trying to determine the severity of the damage and any potential injuries.

Some houses in Wynne – home to about 8,000 residents – were completely crushed into piles of wood while others had their roofs ripped off, exposing the interiors of homes littered with storm debris, drone footage provided to CNN by Ray Sharp show. Many trees toppled, making what appears to be residential roads impassable and damaging structures.

Friday's severe storms came a week after severe weather walloped the Southeast and killed at least 26 people.

An overnight tornado, which makes people most prone to extensive damages, leveled much of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, where estimated maximum winds of 274km/hr roared.

Theater roof crumbles amid storms

In northern Illinois, more than 200 people were inside the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere for an event when its roof collapsed Friday night, leaving one person dead and dozens injured, the city fire chief said.

The collapse came as a line of storms packing 80km/hr winds and dumping hail moved through the area, according to officials and the National Weather Service. It wasn't immediately clear whether the storm caused the theater's roof to crumble.

Twenty-eight people were taken to hospitals because of the collapse, Belvidere Fire Chief Shawn Schadle said.

Meanwhile in Indiana, the storm ripped through Sullivan County, trapping a local official's wife inside their home until their son rescued her.

Jim Pirtle, the emergency management director for the county, told CNN his house and many others were destroyed Friday night.

"I called (my wife) 45 minutes before it hit. I told her, 'Robin, you need to go somewhere.' We don't have a basement," Pirtle said. "I was on the phone with her and she was crying, 'Jim, I love you' and it started tearing the house apart.

"We got hit bad," Pirtle said speaking by phone from Florida, adding he was working with emergency officials remotely.

"I'm not sure about fatalities yet," he added. "We still got people missing."

Houses in Sullivan, a city home to about 4,000 residents, multiple houses were severely damaged due to the storm, Mayor Clint Lamb said.

"We need all citizens to stay safe and stay put," Lamb said in a Facebook post overnight. "First responders need clear streets so they can tend to affected areas. Please pray for the Sullivan families and public safety personnel."

Howard, Johnson and Sullivan counties have been hit hard by storms, according to meteorologist Andrew White with the Indianapolis Office of the National Weather Service.

However, the damage in Howard County was minor and reported no injuries, according to emergency management director Janice Hart.

More severe weather could be on the way

Saturday morning, about 70 million people are under a slight risk of severe weather – a Level 2 of 5 – in parts of the Ohio Valley, the Northeast, including New York City and Philadelphia, and parts of the Southeast, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

Storms across the Southeast are expected to remain strong to severe through Saturday afternoon, but these storms should push offshore by the evening.

A round of severe storms including damaging winds is expected to ramp up across portions of the Northeast in the afternoon through the evening. These storms could affect some of the big Northeast cities, including Philadelphia, New York, and Boston in the evening.

On Friday, large hail proved to be dangerous when it bombarded northern Illinois, cracking and denting cars' windshields, according to a Facebook post from the Fulton County Emergency Services and Disaster Agency.

About 125 kilometres southeast of there, several businesses were "basically destroyed," Sheriff Jack Campbell told CNN, and up to 40 homes were damaged around Sherman, less than 16 kilometres north of Springfield.

More than 450,000 homes and businesses were in the dark early Saturday across Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas and Tennessee, with about one-third of the outages reported in Indiana, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us.

In Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency, noting the state will "spare no resource" in responding and recovering from the storm and activated the state's National Guard.

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Emergency services alerted after death occurs at Omiha on Waiheke Island.

A 16-year-old boy is dead and two others injured after a crash in Melbourne.

Three 16-year-old boys were travelling in a Ford Fiesta when the learner driver lost control at 2am this morning.

The car smashed into three parked vehicles on Edward Road in Chirnside Park and the impact was so severe the Fiesta burst into flames.

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Neighbours rushed out to try to pull the boys from the wreck.

"The gentleman that was driving who was originally passed out woke up halfway through when the car was on fire and was crying and asking for his mum and saying 'this hurts'," one neighbour said.

A 16-year-old Montrose boy in the back seat died at the scene.

The driver from Chirnside Park and his front seat passenger from Mooroolbark are in the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Victoria Police detective sergeant Daryll Out said several factors are under investigation.

"We'll be investigating to any extent if there's alcohol, whether high speed is a factor and the degree of inexperience," Out said.

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It is understood the driver had taken his parents car while they were holidaying overseas.

"I think they had a bit of a get together and they've just decided to go for a drive," Out said.

"Obviously just a bad decision and a catastrophe that didn't need to happen."

Detectives have spent Saturday morning trying to determine how fast the car was going at the time of impact.

That information will form part of the investigation.

"A young guy, 16, could be facing serious criminal charges that carry a significant jail sentence," Out said.

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