Sydney reaches 33C in potentially warmest start to spring since mid-1800s, while snow forecast in southern NSW

A total fire ban is in place for greater Sydney with extreme fire danger exacerbated by hot and windy conditions

Summer heat is due to arrive early across much of eastern Australia with potentially record early September temperatures predicted for Brisbane and Sydney, while snow was expected in southern New South Wales.

Maximum temperatures in Sydney during the first days of September were on track to match the city’s midsummer average of 26.4C, warmer than any other start to spring since the city’s Observatory Hill station opened in 1858.

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Boy charged after teenager’s hand nearly cut off in Sydney

NSW police called to Redfern on Wednesday night found a 17-year-old with a partially severed hand

A teenage boy will face court today after a “near-complete amputation” of a boy’s hand during an alleged assault in Sydney on Wednesday night.

New South Wales police were called to Redfern about 6pm last night and found a 17-year-old with a partially severed hand.

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Newborn baby’s body found in Sydney rubbish bin as police hold ‘serious concerns’ for mother

Police urge mother to attend hospital after baby’s body discovered in Harrow Road in Auburn

New South Wales police have appealed for information to find the mother of a newborn baby boy, whose body was discovered in a rubbish bin in Auburn in Sydney’s west on Monday morning.

Police said emergency services responded to reports of the body of a baby located in a rubbish bin at a unit block along Harrow Road in Auburn at 11.20am, with officers from the Auburn police area command finding the body of a newborn boy.

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Sydney Marathon admits ‘unfortunate error’ as finisher’s medal depicts Munich stadium as race highlight

‘Landmarks’ side of the medal features the Allianz Arena in German city rather than Allianz Stadium in Sydney

In a week’s time, the proud runners finishing the Sydney Marathon will receive a medal showing the landmarks they have just sped past – plus one they definitely didn’t.

In what organisers have admitted was an “unfortunate error”, a stadium in Munich, Germany, was erroneously etched on to the event’s participation medal instead of a local Sydney landmark.

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From ‘elation’ to ‘terrible news’ in 10 minutes: how the confusion over missing bushwalker Lily Hooper unfolded

The 18-year-old’s body was found in Nattai national park on Thursday – but initial police messages indicated she was alive

Police have blamed dense bushland and radio confusion for wrongly reporting to 18-year-old Lily Hooper’s parents, the New South Wales premier and the media that the missing bushwalker had been found alive.

Hooper had last been seen on 12 August after leaving home for a hike in the rugged bushland of Nattai national park, 90km south-west of Sydney. She was reported missing that night, triggering a multi-agency search involving nearly 1,000 people, including hundreds of volunteers.

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Three boys charged over alleged rape of teenage girl in Sydney home

The 17-year-olds were charged over an alleged attack in Sydney’s south-west on Saturday

Three teenage boys have been charged over the alleged rape of a 17-year-old girl at a home in Sydney’s south-west on Saturday.

The three 17-year-old boys were arrested on Wednesday after the girl was allegedly attacked.

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Transport watchdog investigates third near miss at Sydney airport

Two planes came close to collision on the runway on Sunday – hours after another near miss – making a total of three in recent weeks

The transport safety watchdog is investigating a a third near-collision between two planes at Sydney airport – the latest incident occurring hours after one that made national news and raised concerns about air traffic control.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said on Thursday night that it was investigating a second “runway incursion” on Sunday 9 August.

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Alan Jones’ lawyers accused by defence of ‘intimidating’ witness in indecent assault case

Judge rejects intimidation claim as high profile trial continues with complainant J’s ex-girlfriend cross-examined by shock jock’s defence team

The prosecutor in the Alan Jones trial has accused the defence team in court of “intimidating” an alleged victim’s former girlfriend after she asserted she wasn’t financially motivated to provide evidence supporting her ex’s allegations.

On Thursday, complainant J’s ex-girlfriend was cross-examined by Jones’s defence team, during which she maintained she had a conversation with J more than 20 years ago in which he alleged Jones touched him.

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Two workers temporarily stood down after near-miss collision at Sydney airport

Transport minister says improved staff rostering will be in place from next month after ‘unacceptable’ delays and incident involving Qatar Airways and Jetstar planes

The transport minister, Catherine King, has said improved staff rostering will be in place at Sydney airport from next month after “unacceptable” delays and a near-miss collision that resulted in two workers being stood down.

King called in the Airservices Australia chief executive officer, Rob Sharp, for a meeting in Canberra on Monday, the day after a Jetstar plane narrowly avoided hitting a Qatar Airways plane that was pulled across the runway in front of it.

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Sydney gardener fined almost $200,000 for removing 287 trees to improve harbourside mansion’s water views

Local council described incident as ‘worst act of environmental vandalism in Lane Cove history’

It began with a gardener being hired to trim grass at a harbourside mansion in Sydney – and escalated to payments being left in a shoe for the unlawful felling of hundreds of native trees in protected bushland.

Now a court has fined Yi Wang $187,500 for his role in organising and carrying out the destruction of 287 trees from council-owned foreshore bushland at Woodford Bay in Longueville in late 2023.

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‘Not enough air traffic controllers’: safety concerns at Sydney airport after Jetstar and Qatar planes involved in near-miss

Planes narrowly avoid collision on tarmac with Jetstar A320 forced to ‘brake firmly’ as Qatar Boeing 777 towed into its path

Two planes have narrowly avoided a collision on the tarmac of Australia’s busiest airport as it struggles with staff shortages.

The Jetstar and Qatar Airways planes almost collided at Sydney airport at 7am on Sunday.

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Dogs to be euthanised after man dies following suspected animal attack at rural Sydney property

Police say body of 23-year-old found at Eschol Park property with significant injuries, indicating he may have been attacked before death

A group of dogs has been taken to a shelter to be euthanised after a young man died following a suspected dog attack at a rural Sydney property.

Authorities were alerted to the discovery of the 23-year-old’s body at a rural property in Sydney’s south-west on Wednesday. Police found the body with what they described as significant injuries and established a crime scene.

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‘Did you send that report?’ The Icac bombshell that came late for Damien Tudehope

The former Liberal finance minister was questioned by Icac counsel assisting, Peggy Dwyer, on Tuesday

The bombshell came in the last five minutes of former finance minister and rightwing powerbroker Damien Tudehope’s examination before the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac).

At 3.30pm on Tuesday, Tudehope was shown an email which he sent in February 2023, attaching a leaked draft parliamentary report into branch stacking in the Hills area by the Reformers, the shadowy group at the centre of Icac’s Operation Rosny.

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Most Sydney road tolls to keep rising after Transurban accused of blocking reforms

Handful of tollroads to get one-off price cuts but WestConnex toll to keep rising at least 4% a year

The cost of using Sydney’s biggest toll road will continue to rise at least 4% a year after the multinational private operator was accused of blocking the state government’s push for sweeping reforms.

Only a handful of Sydney’s motorways will receive one-off toll cuts under a deal announced by the state Labor government on Monday, as the tolling bill footed by taxpayers surpasses $1bn.

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School in remote SA Indigenous community on list of places where accused paedophile worked

Police investigating Hamish Tait – who faces 329 child abuse charges – have released list of 55 locations where he worked or attended

A federal police investigation into an accused paedophile facing more than 300 child abuse charges has expanded to a remote community in South Australia.

Hamish Tait, 35, faces 329 charges of child abuse between 2009 and 2025 while working across 62 centres.

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Extreme high temperatures double young people’s risk of mental health admissions, Australian research shows

Exclusive University of Sydney study finds heat-related hospital admissions to increase by 6% to 7.7% by the end of the century

Extreme high temperatures in warmer months double the risk of young people being admitted to hospital for a mental health condition, according to research.

The analysis, which looked at 720,000 New South Wales hospital admissions of young people aged up to 24, suggested the climate crisis would aggravate the already declining mental health of young people.

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House prices fall in four capital cities as Sydney values drop nearly $50,000 this year

More than half of homes taken to auction not selling while median property price in Adelaide started to slide in June

House prices are now falling in four capital cities with the Adelaide market beginning to slide in June, while Sydney values have dropped by $48,000 since the start of the year.

Data from Cotality, released on Wednesday, showed Sydney and Melbourne recorded their biggest one-month decline in values since August 2022, falling 1.2% and 1% respectively.

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The pianist from the audience at La La Land in Concert was a global feelgood story – but all was not what it seemed

Two orchestra members from the Sydney performance allege tensions behind the scenes were the cause of pianist failing to appear after intermission

When an audience member stepped in for a pianist at a Sydney performance of La La Land in Concert last month it made global headlines.

During the intermission of the concert at Darling Harbour Theatre on 30 May, the two-time Oscar-winning composer and conductor Justin Hurwitz appealed to the 2,000-strong crowd for an “amazing sight-reader”, saying one of his two keyboardists had fallen ill.

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Almost three tonnes of cocaine found buried under Sydney property in Australia’s biggest ever seizure, police say

Australian federal police arrested and charged two men after allegedly finding $800m worth of cocaine in ‘bunkers’ under shipping containers

Police claim to have made Australia’s biggest ever cocaine bust after finding $800m worth of the drug buried under false flooring on a semi-rural property.

Two men, aged 21 and 25, allegedly tried to run from police and were arrested on Friday after an operation by Australian federal police, alongside investigators in multiple states.

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Two children dead after pram hit by car in Sydney despite ‘phenomenal’ bystander efforts to save them

Police found two children – both aged under five – had been struck by a car in Cabramatta, in the city’s south-west

Two children in a pram have been struck and killed by a car in Sydney’s south-west.

Emergency services were called to the intersection of Joseph and Gilbert streets, Cabramatta at about 3.15pm on Wednesday after reports of a crash, New South Wales police said.

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