Flooding has spread across four states after a rare weather system brought days of heavy rain to central Australia.

An extremely slow-moving tropical low has loomed over Munga-Thirri, or the Simpson Desert, all week so far, with 24-hour falls over 100mm experienced on some days.

A Weatherzone animation showed the system had barely moved between Sunday morning and Wednesday morning.

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"Rain and thunderstorms associated with this low pressure system have inundated parts of the Northern Territory, South Australia, Queensland and NSW over the last few days," Weatherzone reported.

"Moisture from this low has also extended south and fuelled showers and thunderstorms in (Victoria), where flooding also occurred on Tuesday."

The heavy falls are rare for the area, in some cases coming close to the annual average.

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For example, Weatherzone reported 169mm had falled at Nappa Merrie, in Queensland's central west, in 24 hours to 9am yesterday.

Nappa Merrie normally receives 100mm to 200mm a year, Weatherzone said.

And there could be more to come.

"While it has already been odd to see the low pressure system lingering over central Australia during the last three to four days, it could stay in a similar position until at least Saturday," Weatherzone said.

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"This would make a whole week where the same tropical low has hovered above the Simpson Desert region, which is a remarkable and highly unusual meteorological event."

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned that roads could be cut and communities isolated amid flooding.

Warnings are in place for the NT, Queensland, NSW and South Australia.

Weatherzone has forecast rain and storms are likely to extend further south in NSW, Victoria, and South Australia over the weekend.

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Samsung's flagship smartphone for 2026 will launch with an industry-first privacy feature aimed at stopping those prying eyes around you from glimpsing what you're looking at on your screen.

It's called Privacy Display, and while the ability to block angled glances using a third-party screen protector has been around for some years, the ability to firstly do this at a hardware level and secondly do it on an as-needed basis is revolutionary.

This feature is achieved by controlling how each pixel disperses light, essentially using fewer pixels and blockage between them to ensure the angled view is restricted. While it's not pitch black and a sense of what's on screen is possible – and of course, the closer your angle to front-on the more you'll see – this feature is a huge leap forward in privacy.

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Critically too, the feature can be enabled on an app-by-app basis and on specific areas of the screen, meaning notifications can be private, and whenever you launch your banking or email apps, they can be locked in privacy mode should you choose.

Today's launch from Samsung did highlight new artificial intelligence features in the Samsung phones, but the company appears to have pivoted away from being "all about AI" and just making AI an everyday feature.

Samsung global chief executive TM Roh said, "We believe AI should be something people can depend on every day, designed to work consistently for everyone and without the need for expertise.

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"With the Galaxy S26 series, we focused on making AI feel effortless, working quietly in the background so people can focus on what matters."

There will be three S26 phones this year; last year's fourth device, the Edge, which was the ultra-thin model, has been dropped, perhaps thanks to a lack of demand in the market. Instead, the company is focussed on its core, the S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra, with the premium Ultra model likely to make up far more than 50 per cent of their sales.

It's only the S26 Ultra model which features the new privacy screen, while across all three models there are many tweaks and improvements, not least the horizontal lock feature, which allows your video recording to stay stable and level even if the phone is twisted upside down.

In a time of rising interest rates and cost of living pressures, both Samsung and their telco partners will be hoping for some forgiveness from buyers with outright prices rising year on year.

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The entry-level S26 is $1549, up from $1399 for the S25. The S26+ is also $150 more than its predecessor while the S26 Ultra is just $50 more than last year's model.

All three go on sale on March 11, with pre-orders starting today. Samsung will also be hoping their subscription program "New Galaxy Club" might appeal to those who upgrade frequently, offering a $14 per month program to get device repair guarantees, and a guaranteed 50 per cent value back when you upgrade a year later.

Trevor Long travelled to San Francisco as a guest of Samsung.

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Testosterone cream is being tested on dozens of women in their later reproductive years to help boost their low libido as part of a world-first Australian study.

There are currently no treatments available for women in their 30s and 40s who feel distressed about the issue.

"It's a taboo subject, so you sort of suffer in silence a little bit," said Sarah Eglinton, 52, who participated in a similar testosterone trial.

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Sarah said in her mid-30s she thought it was a normal part of feeling exhausted while raising young kids.

"Not really knowing that during that phase, my testosterone starts to drop and continues to drop," she said.

Experts say about 10 per cent of women who are premenopausal in their later reproductive years experience a loss of sexual desire.

That number doubles to nearly 20 per cent in perimenopause.

"In Australia, right now, there is no specific treatment for low libido that has been approved for premenopausal and perimenopausal women," said Professor Susan Davis, head of the Women's Health Research Program at Monash University.

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Previous work by the Monash University team was pivotal in having testosterone cream approved in 2022 for women after menopause.

"This really has been a game changer for a lot of women," Davis said.

That same formulation, which involves rubbing a small amount on the thigh so it can dissolve into the skin, will be used for the new study.

It's currently enrolling 260 women who live in Victoria, aged between 35 and 50, who are not yet in menopause.

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Friends and teammates, including Anton Lienert-Brown, shared warm wishes.

Students at three Adelaide schools have been forced to hide in cupboards and on the floor as they were plunged into lockdown.

Gleeson College, Golden Grove High School, and Pedare Christian College in the city's north-east were forced to abandon their lessons just after midday today when police asked Golden Grove High School to enter lockdown as a precaution.

Police were searching for a "suspicious man", so the other schools also locked themselves down due to their close proximity to the presumed danger zone.

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Photos and videos sent to 9News show students being forced to hide in cupboards in some cases, with alarms going off and police walking through Golden Grove High School.

Some parents like Adreena Axisa said their children sent them messages, unsure and afraid of what might happen.

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"He said, 'Hey mum, I love you so much, we are in lockdown and I am hiding in a closet, I have no idea what's going on'," she said.

"[It] absolutely scared the hell out of me.

Kate Nash received a similar message from her daughter.

"I just got a message from my daughter saying, 'We are in lockdown mum. Don't know what's going on, there's cops everywhere'," she said.

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After dozens of officers combed the area, the true cause of the panic was revealed.

9News understands the "suspicious man" was actually a staff member innocently carrying a toy gun.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of the staff member.

Police conducted a final search of the area, before allowing the schools to reopen and classes to resume as normal in the afternoon.

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There are investigations into whether the international dance troupe Shen Yun was the target of a bomb threat that forced the evacuation of the prime minister's Canberra residence.

Anthony Albanese was evacuated from The Lodge yesterday following an "alleged security incident" that may have stemmed from the Chinese Communist Party's escalating campaign against a banned religious group.

The classical dance group Shen Yun is not the most obvious fomenter of political dissent but it's a prime target of the party because of its links to the the long-persecuted Falun Gong.

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Albanese was caught up in China's harassment via threatening emails to the dance group.

"Large quantities of nitroglycerin explosives have been placed around the Australian Prime Minister's residence in Canberra," one email read.

"If you proceed with the performance, the Lodge will be blown into ruins and blood will flow like a river."

An Australian Federal Police search of The Lodge and its surrounds found it was a hoax, however, Anthony Albanese was evacuated as a precaution.

"We shouldn't allow such hate crimes and foreign interference continue in Australia by the Chinese Communist Party," Lucy Zhao from the Falun Dafa Association of Australia said.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the threats "will be taken seriously by the police".

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Threats to Australian politicians are on the rise, with almost 1000 last year, as security authorities fear that authoritarian nations, including China, are increasingly projecting their own internal political hostilities onto our shores.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor labelled the incident "unacceptable" as he called for "a united front".

Shen Yun's performance tonight in the Gold Coast will go ahead with extra security.

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A police dog team tracked and arrested him near Fraser’s Gully.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced he wants to extend a touted east-coast high-speed rail project to Melbourne.

The PM raised the pie-in-the-sky concept while speaking in Melbourne today, after his government yesterday announced $230 million in preliminary funding for a high-speed rail project linking Sydney and Newcastle.

The massive infrastructure development would connect Newcastle to the Sydney CBD in one hour, link the Central Coast to the capital in half an hour and add billions to the economy, according to a business case spruiked by the government.

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Albanese wants the project to be "shovel ready" in two years.

Today, the PM revealed he wants the train line extended all the way to Brisbane and Melbourne – with superfast travel between the two biggest cities.

"Yesterday, we announced that we would be taking the first stage of this project, Newcastle to Sydney, into design and development," Albanese said in his address to the Future Victoria Summit.

"But let me be clear: for high-speed rail to deliver its full economic and national benefits, it cannot terminate at Sydney.

"Australia is the only inhabited continent on earth that doesn't already have high-speed rail. And Melbourne to Sydney is one of the busiest flight corridors in the world."

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Albanese accepted he "will not be the Prime Minister when High Speed Rail is finished"

But he said he was "determined to be the Prime Minister who starts it".

The government has not revealed how much it would cost, nor how long it would take, to extend the network to Melbourne.

The current leader is not the only PM to pitch the idea, with the concept floated several times over the last couple of decades.

John Howard first gave legs to the idea back in 1998 following a strong community push.

But the sod has never been turned on a high-speed rail network, with some think tanks and experts, including the Grattan Institute, believing such a project is not suitable for Australia.

"While a bullet train may be a captivating idea, it's not realistic for Australia," Marion Terrill from the Grattan Institute wrote in a 2020 report, suggesting rail renovations to improve speed more modestly as a better alternative.

"Our population is small and spread over vast distances; the countries most like us – Canada and the US – don't have bullet trains either."

Albanese used his first term as prime minister to establish the High Speed Rail Authority to plan to build a network connecting Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, as well as Newcastle and Central Coast regional lines.

An evaluated business case has proposed construction start by 2027 and completion by 2042.

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Former Victorian CFMEU boss John Setka has been arrested for the second time in months over allegedly harassing messages sent to a CFMEU administration official.

Setka was arrested at his home today and charged with using a carriage service to harass and committing an indictable offence whilst on bail.

Investigators will allege the 61-year-old sent a harassing message to a CFMEU Administration staff member on Christmas Day last year.

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The additional charges come months after Setka was initially charged with seven counts of using a telecom communications device to menace, harass and offend, on November 12, 2025.

On December 5 he was further charged with two counts of using a telecom communications device to offend.

The ex-union boss quit the CFMEU in July 2024 following explosive allegations of criminal conduct made in a joint investigation by 60 Minutes and The Age.

He has always denied all allegations of misconduct.

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The CFMEU was plunged into administration by the federal government one month after Setka's resignation following claims of bikie and organised crime figures infiltrating the union.

Barrister Mark Irving KC was appointed as the union's administrator to oversee its financial, legal and business affairs.

The union could remain under administration for up to five years.

Setka has been bailed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on June 3, 2026. 

Speaking to The Age in relation to today's charges, Setka denied sending a harassing message on Christmas Day.

"People should just toughen up and drink a bit of concrete and harden up a bit…it is the building industry," Setka said.

Anyone with information about these incidents is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit an online confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au

Carl Philipp, in a rage over disputed child support payments, set a car and house on fire.