A police officer facing court over the alleged assault of former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas has been hit with a fresh charge.

Thomas was facing partial vision loss and underwent several surgeries after suffering facial injuries during an arrest at a demonstration outside SEC Plating in Belmore in Sydney's south-west in June.

A 33-year-old senior constable attached to a specialist command in the South West Metropolitan Region was charged with assault causing bodily harm about a month ago.

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He was today additionally charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm and issued a notice to appear at Bankstown Local Court on November 18. 

The senior constable is being managed in the workplace, and his employment status is under review.

The NSW Police Professional Standards Command is investigating the incident.

A critical incident investigation, with oversight by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, is also ongoing.

Thomas, who challenged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for his seat of Grayndler at the federal election this year, was one of five people arrested and charged after police tried to move on protesters.

Police, however, dropped their charges against her in court last month.

She has launched legal action against NSW Police, alleging assault and battery, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, misfeasance in public office and collateral abuse of process.

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A woman has been taken to hospital after her car collided with an army truck north-west of Brisbane this afternoon.

Emergency services were called to reports that a car had collided with a military vehicle on Samford Road near Baden Lane in Ferny Hills just before 3.30pm.

A woman in her 60s was taken to hospital with minor chest injuries.

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The force of the smash caused the army truck to roll onto its roof. All defence personnel escaped without physical injury.

The collision closed Samford Road in both directions for multiple hours, causing serious traffic delays for motorists travelling through the major thoroughfare.

Traffic was slowly beginning to trickle through the road as of 6pm (AEST).

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The woman was found dead at her address in the Manawatū town last week.

Two men have drowned in fierce swell at a Melbourne beach as a severe weather system wreaks havoc across Australia's southern states.

Emergency services were called Frankston Beach this afternoon following reports two men were in trouble in the water.

Police Air Wing conducted a search of the water, where the pair were found unresponsive just after 5pm. 

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The men, who are yet to be formally identified, were winched back to shore but could not be revived. 

Police will prepare reports for the coroner.

Wind gusts peaked at 120km/h in parts of Victoria this afternoon as a severe low pressure system brought down trees and cut power to thousands across the state.

The weather system is expected to continue to sweep across Victoria towards NSW overnight, with conditions expected to stabilise tomorrow.

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Dozens of guests and staff were evacuated from the Symonds St building.

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Australians using certain Samsung phones have been told to urgently update or replace their devices because they may not be able to make triple zero calls.

Both Telstra and Optus have issued separate statements this afternoon, warning that dozens of older Samsung models are not properly connecting to the Vodafone network in order to contact emergency services.

A Vodafone spokesperson said its network was not to blame for the issue and instead the fault was due to a "limitation in how certain devices were originally configured to search for emergency connectivity". Samsung said it was working on the issue.

See the full list of devices that need to be replaced in the table below.

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If a customer is unable to get phone service with their telco, the device is meant to automatically connect to one of the other networks in order to be able to make triple-zero calls.

However, Telstra and Optus both said there is an issue where the impacted devices aren't properly connecting to Vodafone when their networks are unavailable, leaving those customers unable to make an emergency call in those situations.

"We immediately notified Samsung and the other network operators when we discovered the issue," Telstra head of networks and technology Shailin Sehgal said.

"Given the nature of the issue, we're legally obligated to inform customers impacted and block devices from our network that are not fixed.

See the full list of devices that need a software update in the table below.

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"To be clear, this issue does not relate to the Telstra network, and it does not impact your ability to call triple zero when you're using the Telstra network or the Optus network.

"It also does not impact your ability to use voice over Wi-Fi to place a triple-zero call when no other mobile network is available."

Optus also said the issue did not relate to its network.

Telstra said 71 Samsung models, most of them from the popular Galaxy range, are affected by the issue.

While some of the impacted models came out a decade ago, others were released in the 2020s.

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Of the 71 models, 11 need to be replaced, while Telstra said the remaining 60 require an update to fix the issue.

Telstra and Optus are reaching out to impacted customers by email and SMS to let them know what to do.

Due to legal requirements, the impacted devices will be blocked from accessing any local mobile network from 28 days after the notifications are issued.

More information on the issue can be found on both Telstra's and Optus' websites.

In a statement, Samsung said it is working on the issue with the telcos.

"Samsung and its carrier partners are working together to ensure all devices operate reliably in every emergency situation," a spokesperson said.

"If your device is impacted, your carrier will notify you to provide specific instructions. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your carrier or reach out to Samsung on 1300 362 603."

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Vodafone, meanwhile, said it had also "identified a small number of devices that either need a software update or need to be replaced to ensure emergency call compatibility".

It also said it would block incompatible devices that aren't replaced or updated as needed.

"We understand that some customers may need extra support, and we are committed to helping them through this process, including offering $0 and subsidised handsets where needed," a spokesperson said.

"Our teams are available in-store and via customer care to assist with updates and upgrades."

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He was hit by a branch that had been blown off a tree besides a walking track.

The store owner feared his wife might be harmed and she no longer liked working late.

It was a day of extreme weather across multiple cities in Australia after ferocious winds lashed most of Victoria and the coast of South Australia, while sweltering temperatures threatened to break records in Sydney.

Cyclonic winds reaching up to 110km/h were recorded in parts of Victoria, bringing down hundreds of trees, triggering a mass power outage and even cancelling legacy race event the Geelong Cup.

The windy chaos only became worse in the afternoon as a severe weather warning by the Bureau of Meterology (BoM) urged residents to avoid unnecessary travel.

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A low pressure system which developed off the southern coast of SA is now moving east and brought with it damaging wind gusts this afternoon.

The windy conditions are expected to ease by tomorrow morning, the BoM said.

Mass power outages as trees fall in Melbourne

Power outages have surged across the city as the wild winds blow a hefty afternoon gale.

Over 17,000 people are without power across Melbourne as of 5pm.

Victoria's State Emergency Service (SES) earlier warned that gale-force winds could down power poles and trigger mass outages.

The SES said it has fielded over 500 calls for assistance across the state today.

There have been 401 trees which have fallen and 109 reports of damage in the city.

The busiest area for incidents has been north-west Melbourne, the SES said.

The winds also caused some trouble on the roads in Melbourne.

An unlucky truck driver on Western Ring Road in Derrimut in the city's west had a traffic light pole topple onto his vehicle earlier today, causing traffic mayhem in the area.

Geelong Cup cancelled

Officials decided to postpone the Geelong Cup after wild winds caused punters to evacuate.

Following advice from emergency services, the remainder of today's meeting was cancelled.

The strong winds made it dangerous for racegoers on the field to be around the marquees.

According to the BoM, wind gusts reached around 80km/h about 3pm in Geelong.

The rest of the Geelong Cup event could take place tomorrow after the weather conditions ease.

Conditions may ease tomorrow

The wild weather is set to ease tomorrow, with only moderate winds forecast for south-east Victoria.

A frontal system connected to a deep low in the Bass Strait will continue tracking east over NSW into the Tasman Sea, the BoM said.

This will result in a "vigorous westerly flow" across the south-east into this evening and early tomorrow morning.

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Destructive weather also batters SA

Similar wet and windy conditions also faced residents in South Australia today.

The BoM issued severe weather warnings for damaging and locally destructive winds, marine wind warnings, and a sheep graziers warning across the state.

The most destructive winds were expected in the Mount Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island, Upper South East, Lower South East and parts of the Mid North and Murraylands districts.

There was also a risk of locally destructive gusts along the coast south-east of Robe.

Adelaide was forecast to be drenched with around 30mm of rain today.

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https://x.com/BOM_SA/status/1980720552626020618

Bushfire warning in NSW as millions face catastrophic heat

Multiple fire bans are in place in NSW, including for Sydney, as the state braces for more soaring temperatures after its hottest October day on record.

The Bureau of Meteorology has cancelled a heatwave warning for NSW but Sydney reached a top of 39 degrees today.

And fire bans have been imposed on the greater metro region, as well as other areas including the Illawarra and Hunter.

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