An "unusually strong" weather system which could even bring tornadoes is set to lash parts of Western Australia over the weekend.

The "once-in-five-year" storm is set to bring destructive winds of 125km/h, rainfall totals of about 50mm, up to 8-metre swells and even a chance of tornadoes.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for a large area from about Kalbarri in the north, down south to Margaret River, towards Esperance and out to the south-east coast of the state.

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The impacted area may expand over the weekend as it's an "evolving weather situation", according to the bureau.

The storm is set to lash Perth with areas of heavy rain arriving later today, which could cause flash flooding.

Meteorologist Ilana Cherny said today the system would bring damaging to destructive wind gusts, heavy falls, very large waves and potentially localised tornadoes.

"The risk of those hazards begins this evening as showers and thunderstorms start to move through," Cherny said.

"Starting from Kalbarri and the central west this evening, extending through the lower west and south-west through the early hours of tomorrow morning.

"The risk of damaging winds will extend further east throughout Sunday."

Cherny said there would be a second burst of "very strong winds" with a risk of locally destructive gusts from about Lancelin to Albany.

"That risk will be for Sunday evening into Monday morning," she said.

Severe thunderstorms could develop through the central west and extending through to the lower west.

"In addition to those winds and rain which we could see with the thunderstorms, we may also see some very localised tornadoes, which if they develop would be very fast-moving and short-lived."

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Residents are being advised by authorities to ensure loose objects are either moved inside or locked down to prevent them becoming airborne.

Western Power have cancelled all of their planned outages over the weekend and put crews on standby for potential weather-related outages from downed power lines.

Hillarys Yacht Club has cancelled its junior sailing event as a precaution.

"Our boatswains have their skipper's ticket, and they'll be patrolling the marina and the surrounding clubhouse, just to make sure that everything's secure and there's no damage," Rick Coate from Hillarys Yacht Club told 9News.

The warning for the west coast of Australia comes after the cancellation of a severe storm warning over on the east coast, where heavy rain and storms hammered parts of the country.

The Queensland and NSW coasts, as well as regions further inland, copped a soaking this week, driven by a low-pressure system off the coast.

Falls of up to 80mm were recorded in south-eastern Queensland, and up to 70mm in NSW down to the Central Coast, with the storm warning covering the Mid North Coast, Hunter, North West Slopes and Plains, and Northern Tablelands districts.

Another cold front will approach the south-east of the country today.

As a result, showers will increase for South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and inland parts of New South Wales, with colder southerly winds coming up behind that system.

Now Gabrielle Lores has lost her bar manager licence as a result.

Diphtheria numbers in the Northern Territory reportedly surged weeks before a public health alert was issued, according to leaked NT Health data.

Unlike some states which provide public online data about disease case numbers and locations, NT Health does not release specific details publicly.

But a document the department shared with service providers this week was leaked to the ABC, which revealed some of its contents to the public today.

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The data reportedly showed multiple cases of diphtheria were being recorded across Darwin, the Top End and the Katherine region from late February.

A public health alert about the outbreak, which is now Australia's worst on record, was not issued by NT Health until the end of March.

An NT Health spokesperson told nine.com.au the department "implemented a timely and proportionate public health response" to the ongoing outbreak.

"The response has included the identification and treatment of all cases and close contacts including vaccination where indicated," they said.

"In addition, NT Health has commenced a vaccination campaign aimed at preventing severe illness and reducing transmission within the community."

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Vaccination clinics have been set up across the NT and more than 10,000 diphtheria-containing vaccines have been administered over the past seven weeks.

Weekly case numbers have also been declining through the month of May.

"NT Health continues to closely monitor the situation and will adjust its public health response as required to protect the health of Territorians," the spokesperson said.

NT Chief Health Officer Dr Paul Burgess confirmed earlier this week that the outbreak had spread across all five regions of the NT.

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Diphtheria is highly contagious and can cause severe illness and death.

Even with treatment, one in 10 patients die, according to the CDC.

More than 250 diphtheria cases have been reported to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) already, about 60 per cent of them from the NT.

One death has been recorded so far.

Earlier this month, Federal Health Minister Mark Butler announced the federal government is throwing millions at controlling the outbreak.

A spokesperson told nine.com.au the outbreak is of deep concern to the Government.

"We are working closely with affected jurisdictions to ensure a coordinated and effective national response to the diphtheria outbreak," they said.

"Within a matter of days of receiving a request for help from the NT Government, we started sending additional doses of vaccines to the Territory.

"This package is focused on increasing vaccination coverage, strengthening the health workforce in the NT, and supporting community-led responses in affected regions."

Specialist cave divers scrambling to rescue a group of villagers trapped in a flooded cave in a remote part of Laos are cautiously optimistic that they may be able to start bringing out the stranded men soon.

Five of the seven missing villagers were located on Wednesday in a chamber deep underground in Xaisomboun, a central province of the landlocked South east Asian nation, a week after they became trapped when heavy rain triggered flash flooding, blocking their way out.

A Laotian rescue group, Rescue Volunteer for People, said that five of the men found were "alive and all safe."

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One of the men, named Mued from a village called Ban Pha Yai, praised officials and his relatives following his rescue.

"I'd like to thank everyone all my relatives, brothers and sisters," he told CNN.

"Thank you very much to the district and provincial authorities, and everyone who came to help."

Rescuers believe two men remain missing somewhere inside the cave complex.

Video released by the rescue group captured the moment divers reached the trapped villagers after emerging from the water.

The men could be seen sitting on a rocky ledge surrounded by floodwater and wearing headlamps.

Rescue teams working above ground were seen jumping for joy, hugging one another and crying when they learned that five people had been found alive, in scenes posted on social media.

For now, they remain stuck in an underground cavern, as rescuers continue to search for the two remaining people, and simultaneously formulate a plan to extract the survivors.

Echoes of Thai cave boys

The harrowing mission to retrieve the trapped men recalls the dramatic 2018 rescue of teenage soccer players in neighbouring Thailand.

Some of the international members on the current mission are themselves veterans of that operation.

"Five people have been found alive and are safe. They have already received basic medical checks and soft food following doctors' advice," Thai rescue diver Kengkard Bongkawong wrote on Facebook at 11.30pm (local time).

"If access can be opened further, rescuers believe the survivors are physically strong enough to help move themselves out with support from the teams."

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Finnish diver Mikko Paasi, who is part of the rescue operation, expressed his happiness at locating five of the trapped.

"The task so far has been far from easy and everybody involved has done amazing work," he wrote on Instagram.

However, he added it was "only a brief relief," as the survivors are still stuck in the cavern for now.

"All healthy and in good spirits, but the extraction is still ahead and it ain't going to be easy," he said.

Video footage taken by Paasi shows the villagers being asked for their names and whether they were suffering from any illnesses.

They responded that they are not ill but feel weak and very hungry.

Challenges ahead

Extraction will likely prove challenging.

Some areas of the pitch-black and partially flooded tunnel appear very narrow, with a width of roughly 58cm.

One of the rescuers said he was at one point forced to remove his equipment in order to squeeze through and reach the next area of the cave.

The villagers, who are understood to all be male, went into the cave last Wednesday in search of gold, but heavy rain triggered flash flooding which blocked the exit, Kengkard said.

The dangerous operation to rescue them was launched amid deteriorating conditions and unforeseen delays, including rescuers encountering toxic hydrogen sulfide gas and issues deploying a pump into the cave to supply fresh air.

Speaking to CNN on Thursday, Kengkard said the men are about 200 metres inside the cave system, which has several chambers and elevated ledges.

To reach them, rescuers need to navigate bends and crawl through narrow passages at different angles.

"Right now, going in and out each trip takes about an hour because oxygen levels are limited," he said.

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Complicating matters, the route is one-way and includes sections submerged in water, which means rescuers must keep in constant communication so as not to cross paths.

"Finding them was never enough. I immediately started planning how to transport them out afterward," Kengkard said.

Their best option now, he added, is to push ahead with pumping as much water as possible out of the cave to lower the water levels and allow the survivors to crawl out themselves.

But to complete the rescue, the team requires more oxygen and specially designed stretchers that can be used in the cramped, narrow caves.

"If the survivors become weak, dragging them alone won't work," Kengkard said.

"We also urgently need more oxygen tanks, 40-litre tanks, to place along the route because the air inside is insufficient."

To help speed up the rescue, teams are pumping water out from several downstream points, and searching for vertical shafts that could allow rescuers to descend directly toward the group, he added.

Rescue Volunteer for People, the Laos rescue group, said they are excavating an access route to the remote cave site so they can move a generator close to the cave's entrance and pump more water out faster.

If they succeed, the group's president Bounkham Luanglath, said the five survivors would be able to get out of the cave "without needing to dive out themselves, because it would be extremely difficult for them to do so."

Hindering their work has been "constant rain" and a four-kilometre trek through difficult terrain.

"We hope they will be able to exit naturally through the same passage they entered from," Bounkham said.

Efforts are also underway to locate the remaining two missing people and get more information about who they are.

They aren't known to the five survivors, and rescuers believe the two entered the cave earlier than the group found on Wednesday.

Rescuers earlier told CNN that more than 100 people had joined the operation, including 15 experienced divers and experts who helped in the dramatic 2018 cave rescue of a young soccer team in Thailand.

Professor Richard Scolyer's wife Dr Katie Nicholl has shared an update on his health as he continues to battle brain cancer.

The acclaimed melanoma expert and former Australian of the Year was diagnosed with a grade four glioblastoma in 2023 and was given months to live.

He has defied the odds for years now but wife Nicholl today confessed that his journey is growing more difficult.

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"Things are steadily getting harder for Rich, and time with family and friends continues to be so important for us all," she wrote on Scolyer's Instagram account.

"I know we're not alone in this journey and we appreciate everyone's continued love and support."

Nicholl signed off "Love Katie" and shared some recent photos of Scolyer smiling with friends and family.

The last picture showed him sharing a moment with his wife as they sat with their arms around one another.

Their daughter Emily Scolyer commented on the post, writing: "You and Dad are so strong! Love you Mum."

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Nicholl's comments today echo an update Scolyer shared in late April, when he revealed his cancer journey was "getting a bit tougher".

"Particularly with my energy levels and some memory problems," he wrote on Instagram at the time.

"But I'm still enjoying good times with family and friends.

"I've asked my family to continue to share my journey, even when I'm not able to do it well myself at times.

"Thanks for all the ongoing love and support."

The last two posts shared to Scolyer's Instagram page prior to Nicholl's message today were signed off by her and Richard both.

Today marks one of the first authored by Nicholl alone.

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In September 2025, the federal government committed $5.9 million to establish the Richard Scolyer Chair in Brain Cancer Research at Chris O'Brien Lifehouse.

The program was named in Scolyer's honour due to his contribution to brain cancer research and advocacy.

The funding will be used to support the salaries of the professorial chair as well as postdoctoral fellows, research assistants and PhD scholarships, along with research costs.

Cameras have caught the moment thieves rammed a ute through the doors of a shopping centre and stole an ATM in the dead of night.

The incident occurred at a shopping centre in Baldivis, south of Perth, on March 19.

CCTV footage shows a blue Nissan ute backing through the centre's glass doors and into an empty hallway at around 2am.

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The vehicle then continues to reverse, hitting an ATM which topples to the ground.

Two masked offenders can be seen entering the building through the broken doors and moving to the back of the ute.

Another offender is visible in the ute's drivers' seat.

The vehicle is then seen driving out of the shopping centre with a chain attached to the ATM, dragging it along behind the ute.

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Police found the vehicle burnt out three days later, on March 21.

It was located in East Rockingham, about a 15 minute drive from the shopping centre on Amazon Drive where the incident took place.

Detectives are now calling on anyone with any further CCTV, dash-cam, or mobile phone vision of the vehicle or other information relating to the incident to come forward.

Anyone with footage can upload it to them directly online.

Members of the public can also contact Crime Stoppers via the website or by calling 1800 333 000.

He died on Wednesday, devastating his family, which includes three children under age 10.

The White House released the results of President Donald Trump's May physical late on Friday evening (local time), sharing a memo from his physician recommending he lose weight and exercise more while noting he is in excellent health.

"President Trump remains in excellent health, demonstrating strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and overall physical function," White House physician Dr. Sean Barbabella wrote in a letter addressed to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

"Cognitive and physical performance are excellent. He is fully fit to carry out all duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State."

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Barbabella wrote, "Preventive counselling was provided," during the Tuesday exam, "including guidance on diet, recommendation to take a low-dose aspirin, increased physical activity, and continued weight loss."

Trump's visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre on Tuesday marked the third time he's visited the facility for a medical exam since becoming the oldest president ever inaugurated last year.

Meanwhile Senior Pentagon leaders are putting together lists of uniformed US service members who will be offered the chance to attend the UFC fight at the White House next month hosted by President Donald Trump

But tickets will only be given to those who meet military body composition standards, according to guidance memos reviewed by CNN and sources familiar with the process.

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"Ticket recipients are required to meet the DOW waist-to-height ratio standard of less than 0.55, as well as all service specific physical fitness test requirements," one of the memos sent to service members says, using the Pentagon's preferred acronym for the agency.

That figure is roughly in line with standards for service members that the Defence Department put in place earlier this year when it made waist-to-height ratio the new body composition standard for measuring a service member's "warfighting readiness."

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A cat rescuer knew buyers who paid $7000 for two ‘bengals’ which were just tabby cats.

The spill occurred on the ANL Kiwi Trader container ship.