Pets perish as Palmerston home partially gutted.

The Australian killed in a shark attack in New Caledonia was a "beloved" Sydney father, husband and triathlete who competed in world championship events.

Chris Davis was swimming about 150 metres from shore at a tourist beach in Noumea when he was attacked by a shark local authorities believe they captured earlier today.

The 59-year-old's wife and three adult sons expressed their gratitude to those who treated him when he was pulled from the water onto the crowded beach as they paid homage to the athlete.

READ MORE: Australian tourist killed by shark in New Caledonia weeks after other attack

"Chris was a senior software programming consultant in the superannuation and funds management industry and a keen triathlete, having represented Australia several times in age group world championship events," the family said in a statement.

They said his body had been returned to Australia.

"We thank the media and the public during this difficult time for respecting the privacy of the family," they said.

A four-metre tiger shark was hooked in waters near where Davis was swimming when he was attacked on Sunday.

Authorities have shared a picture of the hulking shark on the deck of a boat and are continuing a cull in the area.

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CCTV from the resort showed Davis being attacked before lifesavers rushed out into the water on jet skis.

The triathlete was rushed to shore with severe arm and leg injuries and lifesavers and bystanders tried to resuscitate him for 20 minutes before the ambulance arrived, but he died at the scene.

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Public prosecutor Yves Dupas said the man suffered four major wounds on the thigh, hands and right arm, which corresponds to at least two shark bites.

"The bite on the major thigh, extending 37 centimetres from the hip to the knee, caused a deep lesion with the section of the femoral artery," Dupas said.

Dupas said the second bite was "also fatal, according to the medical examiner, given the extent of the lesions, concerns the upper limbs, the forearm and the hands".

Chateau Royal Beach and other nearby beaches have been closed indefinitely.

Second attack this year

The beach had only reopened last Thursday after a similar attack three weeks ago in the same spot.

Local Bridgette Do, 49, is currently recovering in Sydney's Westmead Hospital after she was bitten by a shark on her daily swim.

She lost one hand, four fingers from the other hand, and part of her leg.

Do's father, Owen Drew, said it was a miracle she was alive after suffering "unbelievable wounds".

"She is very lucky she had those people assist her on the beach," he said.

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A member of the public stood and opened the meeting with a karakia.

The couple claimed the skin colour was wrong and the hands and feet weren’t right.

More than 22,000 lightning strikes and a waterspout were detected during last night's storm in Sydney, according to Weatherzone.

Lightning struck across 100km of Sydney during the 12-hour storm, which ended at 3am on Wednesday. 

A waterspout – a large vortex of water spinning above a body of water – was spotted over Dee Why just before 7pm, which was most likely caused by the unusually warm ocean water, Weatherzone said.

READ MORE: Hundreds without power as Sydney braces for more rain

Grey skies are expected to gloom over Sydney following the storm, but the clouds are expected to head up the coast towards the Lower Hunter region – sparing Sydney from another lashing of more than 120mm of rain, flash flooding and damaging winds.

The storm blacked out more than 600 residential properties while the SES received 377 calls for assistance over 24 hours. Power outages continued until this morning when electricity was restored to Avoca Beach and its surrounding suburbs at 7.20am.

Sydney's southern suburbs were hit hard by the storm in the early morning, with trees and powerlines taken out.

The roof of one family's home in Yagoona, Bankstown was flattened by a tree.

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Severe storm warnings for the Lower Hunter have been revoked by the Bureau of Meteorology as the storm tracks north, but residents have been told to monitor storm conditions following 50-80mm of rain in Lake Macquarie and Newcastle.

Another big-name act has pulled out of the iconic Bluesfest music festival in NSW's Byron Bay amid controversy sparked by the addition of Sydney band Sticky Fingers to the line-up.

The April festival has been embroiled in a war of words after organisers announced Sticky Fingers would be performing.

Representatives for Sampa the Great – a Zambian-Australian singer, rapper and songwriter – gave a statement to the ABC's Double J confirming the performer had been pushing to pull out of the line-up since February 14.

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"We started contact with Bluesfest to inform them of our standpoint within half an hour of receiving the embargoed press release and seeing the remainder of the line-up," the statement said.

But the following day, the representatives claim Sampa the Great was still included in the line-up.

"We then delivered final confirmation to Bluesfest at 7.36pm AEDT on Tuesday 14 February that Sampa was coming off the line-up, in the hopes they would remove her from all materials before they announced the following day," the representatives said.

It comes after Melbourne band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard posted to Instagram that they wouldn't be performing at Bluesfest.

"As a band and as human beings, we stand against misogyny, racism, transphobia and violence," their statement read.

"Surprised and saddened to see Bluesfest commit to presenting content that is in complete opposition to these values.

"Given this decision by the festival, we have decided to cancel our appearance at Bluesfest.

"We are deeply disappointed to be in this position but sometimes you need to be willing to make sacrifices to stand up for your values.

"This is, unfortunately, one of those moments."

Sticky Fingers frontman Dylan Frost made headlines in 2016 when he was accused of being physically threatening to Indigenous singer-songwriter Thelma Plum.

He later apologised on Instagram, saying he was "ashamed" and that "violence against women is never OK".

Two years later, Frost allegedly became involved in a verbal altercation at a Sydney pub and was subsequently kicked out.

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Bluesfest director Peter Noble has defended the decision to include Sticky Fingers in the festival's line-up.

"Recently, a band decided to cancel a forthcoming appearance at Bluesfest because Sticky Fingers, particularly its lead singer (who are booked to play at Bluesfest), was involved in an incident with another artist offstage a long time ago," Noble said.

"I believe an attempt to victimise this man and his band in the circumstances is cruel and unforgiving.

"This cruelty and lack of compassion are foreign to my values, as is the attempt to suppress the band's artistic expression. I was and remain proud to give the band a chance at rehabilitation.

"Bluesfest hopes that the public will understand, respect, and hopefully, on reflection, agree with the position my company and I have taken.

"Forgiveness is critical to helping people with mental health challenges continue functioning in society."

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Noble insisted the festival's booking of Sticky Fingers was not an endorsement of Frost's actions.

"It has been suggested that because of the listing of Sticky Fingers, Bluesfest and I endorsed the lead singer's ancient troubled behaviour," Noble wrote.

"That suggestion is deplorable, untrue, and actionable as being defamatory."

9news.com.au has contacted Sticky Fingers' management for comment.

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In his highly anticipated – and much delayed – state of the nation speech, Vladimir Putin said Russia is suspending its participation in the New START treaty.

The agreement is significant in that it is the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia, and, as it expires in 2026, negotiations on its renewal would need to begin soon.

Here is a look at New START and what Putin's announcement means for keeping US and Russian nuclear weapons in check.

READ MORE: Russia suspends only remaining major nuclear treaty with US

What is the New START Russia-US nuclear arms control treaty?

New START, formally known as the Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, came into effect in 2011 and was extended for another five in 2021.

It commits both Russia and the US to regular communications on the status of their nuclear arsenals and to allow regular on-site inspections.

Crucially, it also sets out limits on the number of deployed and non-deployed nuclear warheads each can maintain.

Those caps include: 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), deployed submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and deployed nuclear bombers; 1550 nuclear warheads on deployed ICBMs, deployed SLBMs and deployed bombers; and 800 deployed and non-deployed ICBM launchers, SLBM launchers, and bombers.

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What does Putin's announcement mean for nuclear arms control?

Hours after Putin's address, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it would respect the caps on nuclear weapons and continue to exchange information with the US, even though its participation in the pact was suspended.

So in some ways, Putin's address is simply formalising its current position, as US officials have been frustrated for months over Russia's lack of cooperation with the agreement.

For example, in January the State Department said it couldn't be certain that Russia was following the treaty because of its refusal to allow on-site inspectors last year (inspections under the treaty haven't occurred since the onset of COVID-19).

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This comes in the context of Putin's nuclear sabre rattling during the war in Ukraine, which has alarmed the Western nations, though officials have repeatedly dismissed the moves as empty threats.

In December, Putin warned of the "increasing" threat of nuclear conflict, and this month, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council, threatened that Russia losing the war could "provoke the outbreak of a nuclear war".

Russia's Foreign Ministery did say the decision to suspend participation is "reversible" but also said unless the US follows its requests about the treaty, "any of our steps towards Washington in the context of START are absolutely out of the question", creating the risk of an arms buildup.

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"Both the US and Russia have meticulously planned their respective nuclear modernisation programs based on the assumption that neither country will exceed the force levels currently dictated by New START," the Federation of American Scientists said in a February report that looked at the risks if the two sides failed to renew the treaty.

"Without a deal after 2026, that assumption immediately disappears; both sides would likely default to mutual distrust amid fewer verifiable data points, and our discourse would be dominated by worst-case thinking about how both countries' arsenals would grow in the future."

A band from Perth will represent Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Voyager has been announced as the nation's hopefuls at the zany annual competition which this year is being held in the UK city of Liverpool.

It's the first time Australia has sent a band to the event since first joining the contest in 2015.

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The band, made up of Danny Estrin (vocals, keytar), Simone Dow (guitar), Scott Kay (guitar), Alex Vanion (bass) and Ash Doodkorte (drums) has been trying to land the spot since then.

Estrin called the news "the pinnacle" and said the event is "the greatest show on earth."

"Our song Promise is made for the Eurovision stage and collectively we feel it's one of our best yet," he said.

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"We filmed the music video in both the city of Perth and beautiful parts of Western Australia to showcase the majestic beauty of our home state."

Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra won the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy, with their song Stefania.

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The UK will host the competition on war-torn Ukraine's behalf with the theme United by Music.

The event is on 9-13 May and will be screened on SBS.