US President Donald Trump's takeover of the Washington, DC, police set off a scramble across the city, as the federal government made an unprecedented move to control local law enforcement operations in the nation's capital.

The decision to federalise the Metropolitan Police Department and activate hundreds of National Guard troops came as Trump painted a dystopian portrait of DC that allies say is shaped by the president's frustration with anecdotal reports of crime and homelessness.

The city's statistics show a sustained, multiyear decline in violent offences, though public perceptions of crime are often out of step with data.

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It marks a dramatic escalation in tensions between Trump and DC officials, who had sought for months to maintain a delicate peace with the White House.

And in the immediate aftermath, it appeared to set the stage for the city itself to once again become a major partisan flashpoint.

"This dire public safety crisis stems directly from the abject failures of the city's local leadership," Trump said during a press briefing announcing the takeover.

"We're going to do it right. We're going to get it done quickly."

The move represents the first time a president has exercised his authority to federalise the police for up to 30 days under DC's 1973 Home Rule Act, which says it can be done only under the "special conditions of an emergency".

Yet the decision to declare such an emergency came so abruptly that aides on Monday (Tuesday AEST) were still finalising how long they planned to control the police — and what exactly they would direct them to do.

The Trump administration had worked quietly alongside city officials for months to crack down on crime and promote "beautification" in DC, in keeping with an executive order that the president signed in March.

The two sides had carved out what aides to both Trump and Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser described as a productive relationship.

But in recent days, Trump was spurred to go further amid high-profile incidents of violent crime — most notably the assault last week of a former Department of Government Efficiency employee — and his own observations of homeless encampments and roadside debris, some photos of which he posted on Truth Social over the weekend.

The White House expects to keep control of the police force for all 30 days, though the official cautioned that could change.

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The National Guard troops will focus on protecting federal assets within the city, while also protecting law enforcement officers making arrests.

Trump has long focused on crime and cleanliness in DC and other cities, sparring periodically with Democratic mayors during his first term over law enforcement.

In the summer of 2020, he weighed a federal takeover of the DC police to quell demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd.

That has intensified since his return to office, in the wake of campaign trail vows to impose law and order — and, some allies said, as Trump plans for the city to host the US' 250th anniversary celebration next year.

Trump has repeatedly marveled that he'll get to preside over the landmark event.

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"Over and over again, he has said that this city is not ready for our 250th anniversary," said one person close to the White House, granted anonymity to characterise Trump's private remarks.

"If this city doesn't have a better reputation for safety and beauty and cleanliness, we're not going to get the visitors — we're just not."

Trump administration officials offered few specifics on what the law enforcement ramp-up would look like, with Attorney General Pam Bondi saying only that crime in DC would be "ending" on her watch.

And while other officials compared the effort to a previous partnership with Virginia state officials to crack down on crime, the administration in this case made clear it was stepping in with or without local leaders' consent.

Instead, city leaders including Bowser and Police Chief Pamela Smith were blindsided by Trump's announcement, the mayor acknowledged.

Brian Schwalb, the DC attorney general who is elected independently from the mayor, immediately slammed the takeover as "unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful."

"There is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia," he said in a statement that noted violent crime reached three-decade lows in 2024 and is trending downward again this year.

"We are considering all of our options and will do what's necessary to protect the rights and safety of District residents."

Bowser stopped short of directly criticising the White House during a press conference, but called the administration's move "unsettling and unprecedented."

The White House had left her with the impression over the weekend only that it planned to activate the National Guard, rather than taking the arguably more dramatic step of exerting control over the city's police force.

"You're familiar with the rhetoric about this city and how long it goes back," Bowser said of Trump's criticism of DC.

"We also know that we're not experiencing a spike in crime, but a decrease in crime."

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Trump officials were due to meet with Smith later in the day to discuss the specifics of the federal involvement in policing, which DC officials sought to portray more as closer co-operation rather than an outright seizure of power.

Bowser said she had pledged to work with Jeanine Pirro, the Trump-appointed US attorney for DC, on tightening certain laws in the wake of her complaints about juvenile crime in the city.

But other Democrats in DC and elsewhere cast the move as an extraordinary power grab, even as they debated how forcefully to respond to an action that some saw as an attempt to distract more from troublesome issues facing the White House.

Those include the blowback the administration is facing over its handling of the files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as well as fresh signs that the economy is slowing.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticised the takeover as "a political ploy and attempted distraction from Trump's other scandals."

California Governor Gavin Newsom, meanwhile, drew direct parallels to Trump's deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles in June.

"He was just getting warmed up in Los Angeles," Newsom wrote on X. "This is what dictators do."

Pressed on the broader implications of Trump's involvement in DC's policing, Bowser took a more circumspect approach.

"I'm going to work every day to make sure it's not a complete disaster," she said.

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A prolonged marine heatwave has caused the worst coral bleaching event on record for Western Australia, according to a new report.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science confirmed mass coral bleaching and deaths in up to 1500km of coastline across the entire state, from Ashmore to the Ningaloo Reef.

But scientists warned that it would still take months to understand the full extent of the event.

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"A bleached coral is not a dead coral — it can recover," coral scientist Nicole Ryan said.

"For some coral species, it can take time after bleaching for it to recover or die."

Scientists began monitoring a marine heatwave in September, which only continued to intensify for the next eight months.

Heat stress peaked in December and January, dipped slightly before peaking again in March and April.

Temperatures only began to drop in May.

During that period, all reefs experienced a combined 15 weeks of sea temperatures at least one degree above the historic maximum.

Some reefs in the Pilbara felt up to 30 weeks of the increased water temperature.

Corals begin to die after eight weeks of heat stress. 

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The Australian Institute of Marine Science found it was the "longest, largest and most intense" marine heatwave on record for the state.

The heat stress is believed to beat records set during the 2011 La Nina and the 2016 El Nino on most reefs.

Senior research scientist James Gilmour said climate change had finally caught up to reefs and parts of the coast that had never been bleached before.

"The length and intensity of the heat stress, and its footprint across multiple regions, is something we've never seen before on most of the reefs in WA," he said. 

Gilmour said it was a concerning time for coral reefs in Australia, with the Great Barrier Reef also experiencing an extended mass bleaching.

"Climate change is driving these events, which are becoming more frequent, more intense and more widespread, giving our amazing, valuable coral reefs little time to recover," he said.

"And they need 10 to 15 years to recover fully."

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According to the Bureau of Meteorology, global oceans experienced their warmest year on record last year.

Sea surface temperatures in and around Australia were the warmest since records began in 1900.

"The increased frequency of extreme and record-breaking ocean temperatures is associated with global warming," the Bureau of Meteorology Seasonal and Marine Applications team leader Claire Spillman said.

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A Chinese naval vessel has slammed into one of its own coast guard ships while pursuing a Philippine patrol boat in the disputed South China Sea.

Footage, released by Philippine officials, showed the dramatic collision between a Chinese Coast Guard vessel and a much bigger People's Liberation Army Navy warship close to the Scarborough Shoal, claimed by both nations.

A loud crash can be heard in the video when the Chinese ships strike each other.

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Photos released by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) show one of the Chinese vessels with a crumpled bow following the collision on Monday.

PCG spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said it was caused by a "risky manoeuvre" from one of the Chinese ships.

"The (China Coast Guard vessel) CCG 3104, which was chasing the (Filipino coast guard vessel) BRP Suluan at high speed, performed a risky manoeuvre from the (Philippine) vessel's starboard quarter, leading to the impact with the PLA (People's Liberation Army) Navy warship," he said.

"This resulted in substantial damage to the CCG vessel's forecastle, rendering it unseaworthy."

It is not known whether any of the crews from the Chinese ships were injured.

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Tarriela said the PCG vessel offered assistance but the Chinese crew did not respond.

The collision comes after years of head-on disputes between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea.

The Chinese government has repeatedly accused the Philippines and other rival claimant states, including Vietnam and Malaysia, of encroaching on what it says are "undisputed" Chinese territorial waters.

An international court has ruled the claim has no legal basis.

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Exclusive: Australian travellers returning from the United States on an ESTA waiver are disputing accusations they have illegally overstayed their visa by months or even years.

US immigration appears to have failed to record some outbound Australian passengers on cruises and planes after travelling on an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA), potentially exposing a hole in the country's exit checks for foreign nationals.

Lismore man Aaron Drooger's holiday was ruined in April.

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today defended his government's pledge to recognise a Palestinian state, insisting Hamas members could be barred from any government.

His announcement yesterday was slammed by Israel's president, who accused the federal government of rewarding "terror".

But Albanese told Today this morning the world needed to act before more innocent lives were lost.

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"There has been too many innocent lives lost, both Israelis and Palestinians, and the world is saying we need a solution to this conflict," he said.

Australia, alongside France, the UK and Canada, will recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in New York next month.

Albanese said before yesterday's announcement that a decision to recognise a Palestinian state was not imminent.

But he indicated growing international support for Palestinian statehood, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision last week to reoccupy Gaza, had provided momentum.

"The decisions of the Netanyahu government, firstly, the stopping of aid that we've seen and then the loss of life that we're seeing around those aid distribution points, where people queuing for food and water are losing their lives, is just completely unacceptable," Albanese said.

"And we have said that. I've spoken with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

"He, again, reiterated to me what he has said publicly as well, which is to be in denial about the consequences that are occurring for innocent people." 

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Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the move by Australia and several western allies was a "grave and dangerous mistake" and emboldened terrorist group Hamas.

But, Albanese suggested, as part of conditions for Australia recognising the nation of Palestine, the global community could prevent Hamas representatives from standing for elections.

"Of course there is something we can do. We can stop them standing, let alone be elected.

"You can if you have the Arab states in the Middle East, all speaking as one, as well as the Palestinian Authority, as well as the international community.

"Yes, you can."

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Electorate boundary changes include parts of Tauranga, Bay of Plenty and Rotorua.

Police say the man and woman found dead at a home in Melbourne's south-east overnight were victims of a "targeted attack".

Detectives this morning are interviewing a 34-year-old man arrested after a major manhunt in Mount Waverley.

Police discovered the dead man and woman when they made a welfare check at the property in Adrienne Crescent about 10pm yesterday following reports of yelling inside.

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They are yet to be identified.

Soon after, police, including the canine squad, launched a large manhunt in the surrounding streets.

About 1.40am today, officers arrested the suspect, who was walking with two dogs at Westall train station.

Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said the suspect arrived at the property before the start of a dispute, which resulted in the two deaths.

"The message here is that it appears to be a targeted attack. Our suspect is known to the address," said Thomas.

"We are not looking for anybody else. It appears to be isolated."

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Thomas said police are not looking for anyone else over the deaths.

He said police believed the suspect may be of no fixed address.

"We'll work together with the local police, and our detectives from the Homicide Squad will piece it all together during the course of the day."

Various words and phrases have been spraypainted on the house where the victims were found, including "karma" and "enough is enough".

Images captured by the 9News helicopter show several exterior walls that are covered in graffiti.

"Homicide Squad detectives will work to determine if the graffiti is relevant to the murder investigation," police told 9News.

Anyone who witnessed the incident, with footage or information should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential online report.

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