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Police are today investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a woman in Melbourne last night.

Emergency services were called to an address in Patrick Avenue at Croydon North about 10.15pm after reports of an assault.

Paramedics worked on a woman found with critical injuries.

The woman who is yet to be formally identified, died at the scene.

A 40-year-old Croydon North man is assisting police with their inquiries.

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit its website.

A tornado that barrelled through parts of Kansas destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes and buildings, injured several people and left more than 15,000 people without power, officials said Saturday.

In addition to wreckage from the tornado itself, three University of Oklahoma meteorology students travelling back from storm chasing in Kansas were also killed in a crash on Friday, according to officials.

Nicholas Nair, 20, of Denton, Texas; Gavin Short, 19, of Grayslake, Illinois; and Drake Brooks, 22, of Evansville, Indiana, died in the crash, according to an Oklahoma Highway Patrol report.

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More than 1000 buildings were affected when a strong twister swept through Andover on Friday evening, according to authorities. In the daylight on Saturday, emergency crews found a more widespread path of destruction than was earlier estimated.

There were no reported fatalities or critical injuries from the tornado itself, despite the widespread destruction. Officials said only a few injuries had been reported.

Search and rescue operations continued on Saturday with more than 200 emergency responders from 30 agencies. Officials kept volunteers away from the damage until a secondary search of debris is done.

Andover Fire Chief Chad Russell said earlier that some neighbourhood homes "were completely blown away."

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There are homes knocked completely off their foundations and entire neighbourhoods wiped out, Mr Russell said.

Governor Laura Kelly declared a state of disaster emergency for the hardest-hit areas. The declaration makes state resources available to help local jurisdictions with response and recovery efforts in areas impacted statewide.

Energy company Evergy said about 15,000 customers lost power during the tornado and that work continued to restore electricity. Any broken gas and water lines were shut off and by noon there were no known active leaks.

The US National Weather Service sent teams on Saturday to conduct damage surveys.

In addition to the tornadoes, large hail was reported in several towns across the Kansas Plains. Hail the size of softballs was spotted near Holbrook, Nebraska, and Enterprise, Kansas, according to the National Weather Service and storm spotters.

Sweden has said a Russian military plane has violated Swedish airspace.

The incident happened late on Friday in the Baltic Sea near the island of Bornholm.

In a statement, the Swedish Armed Forces said a Russian AN-30 propeller plane flew toward Swedish airspace and briefly entered it before leaving the area.

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The Swedish Air Force scrambled fighter jets which photographed the Russian plane.

Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist told Swedish public radio that the violation was "unacceptable" and "unprofessional."

In a similar incident in early March, four Russian warplanes violated Swedish airspace over the Baltic Sea.

Sweden and neighbouring Finland are both considering NATO membership following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has warned that such a move would have consequences, without giving specifics.

NATO has also been forced to scramble fighter jets stationed near the Baltic and Black seas in recent days to "track and intercept" Russian aircraft near the alliance's airspace.

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NATO has tracked "a number of unidentified" aircraft over the Baltic and Black seas since Tuesday, and in response, it launched allied fighter aircraft from NATO's Combined Air Operations Centres at Uedem, Germany, and Torrejon, Spain, the organisation said in a statement on Friday.

Poland, Denmark, France, Spain, Romania, and Britain have scrambled fighters to investigate unknown aircraft approaching allied airspace.

NATO said Russian aircraft never entered alliance airspace, and the the interceptions were conducted in a "safe and routine manner".

When Jonathon was just a few months old, his mum Megan Beit was told her son wouldn't live until his first birthday.

Doctors had just discovered he had a devastating genetic condition, which robs children of their ability to walk, breathe and swallow – and eventually, usually takes their lives after just a few years.

But then, Jon had a dose of the world's most expensive drug.

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And he's not only alive, aged two-and-a-half, but learning to walk.

"When you're told your child will never walk and they're in a frame and moving their legs it's incredible," Mrs Beit said.

"If you looked at him 12 months ago you wouldn't think he was the same child."

Jon has a condition called spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

There are three types and type one, which he has, is the most severe.

It affects the nerves in the spinal cord, which control all the muscle movement of the body.

Shock diagnosis after worries

After he was born at the end of 2019, Mrs Beit, from Bywong near Canberra, said something was different compared to when she had her other children, Lily, 14, and Imogen, 12.

"He didn't lift his head, he had a weak cry and a little cough – we used to make fun of it not knowing," she said.

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"I could feel that something was wrong."

At first, Mrs Beit, a teacher, was brushed off by doctors, with one nurse telling her "all babies are different".

Jon's regular three month check-up was cancelled by the COVID-19 outbreak.

It wasn't until she insisted on seeing her GP in person and was referred to a paediatrician, that doctors realised something was wrong.

"I knew it was serious… my husband was waiting in the car with the girls, and she said, 'Is he here? You need to call him in,'" she said.

She was told her son had SMA, a type of motor neuron disease, and he had to be rushed to Randwick Children's Hospital in Sydney immediately.

"I think I just was crying," she said.

The family, including husband Andrew, 45, were warned not to Google search the disease – even though they'd never heard of it.

Doctors told Mrs Beit Jon's life would likely be very short if nothing was done.

"He said without treatment he will probably not make his first birthday," she said.

"I couldn't believe it. I just said, 'Do anything you can do'. It was horrible."

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Wonder drug costs $2.5m

There is no cure for the condition – but new drugs available over the past few years have offered dramatic improvements.

The latest drug, called Zolgensma, costs $2.5 million, making it the world's most expensive.

Doctors applied for the Beit family to have it as part of treatment overseas, which wouldn't have cost them anything.

But they were not allowed to travel to Chicago in the US because of the COVID-19 travel ban.

So instead, Mrs Beit said the Australian Government funded it in Sydney.

Jon had the valuable dose via an infusion in October 2020, aged nine months.

And while there were some side effects, once he'd recovered from those, he began to progress like never before.

"He's been hitting goals and excelling beyond what we thought was possible," Mrs Beit said.

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That includes taking his first steps in the past few weeks, with the help of a walker.

However, he still can't eat, as he cannot swallow properly, and he can't talk.

He uses an iPad to communicate – which he is great at, his mum says.

"Intellectually, he's very smart," she said.

"He loves animals – he'll come and feed the chickens.

"Aside from the physical disabilities, he's such a normal toddler – he'll even have tantrums."

His mum hopes he'll be able to go to a normal school in a few years.

Hope for a 'classroom' of children

Meanwhile, other families can now get the same drug for a little over $40, after it was put on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) at last month's budget.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the "wonder drug" will save a "classroom" of kids each year – around 30 babies are born with SMA annually in Australia.

"This is going to give life-changing and life-saving treatment to many Australians who don't even know they will need it yet," he said.

Julie Cini from charity SMA Australia, who campaigned for the drug after losing two children to the condition, said the funding was "transformational".

The Department of Health confirmed Zolgensma will be listed on the PBS from May 1 for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy.

"The listing is expected to benefit around 20 patients each year. Without PBS subsidy, the treatment may cost more than $2.5 million," a spokeswoman said.

"Under the PBS, the cost will be $42.50, or $6.80 for eligible patients with a concession card."

From November 1, the government will also fund pre-pregnancy genetic testing for SMA and two other genetic conditions.

Contact reporter Sarah Swain: ss****@******om.au

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Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers has today insisted Labor's policies will help reduce cost-of-living pressures but says the test will be if it can tackle falling wages.

Nine Network Political Editor Chris Uhlmann quizzed Mr Chalmers over Labor's policies to relieve soaring prices ahead of the party's campaign launch today.

He was asked whether wages under a Labor government could keep pace with inflation – currently at 5.1 per cent.

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"We are promising that wages will grow faster under Labor because we have a plan to get real wages growing again. First of all, train people for higher wage opportunities, secondly reform child care so people can earn more, work more and earn more if they'd like to."

Uhlmann put it to Mr Chalmers that if wages had not grown faster than inflation after "three years of a Labor government it would be a failure.

"The test is if we can make a real difference in wages growth, we have a plan to do it the government has washed its hand of the cost of living," Mr Chalmers said.

He also said Labor's plan to make housing more affordable by the government taking a major stake in private homes would help people get on the property ladder.

"It picks up the best ideas around the states and the world to make it easier for people to get a toe hold in the housing market. That's because deposits will be smaller. Mortgages will be smaller and repayments will be smaller."

Mr Chalmers admitted the plan would only help about 350,000 people hoping to buy a home but it would be a "good start" to solving the crisis.

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"We have to be responsible. We will be inheriting almost $1 trillion in debt with nothing to show for us it. So we have to make a meaningful difference."

But Mr Chalmers said a Labor government would not make changes to negative gearing in property – where the cost of owning a rental property outweighs the income it generates each year creating a taxable loss.

"We've made it really clear we are not going down that path. We found a better way to deal with some of these issues," he said.