Category Archives: Sydney

Violence against women rallies: thousands attend protests as Mark Dreyfus rules out royal commission

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More rallies to be held across the country on Sunday with attorney general claiming state and federal governments need to cooperate on plan of action

Thousands of people have rallied in Sydney calling for an end to violence against women amid growing anger at the number of those being killed in violent attacks across the country.

No More: National rallies against gender based violence were held in Sydney, Hobart and Adelaide on Saturday, with more due to be held across the country on Sunday, calling for greater action, including calls for a royal commission, to address the epidemic of women killed in violent attacks.

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Tenth person charged over Wakeley church riot, say NSW police

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It comes as a sixth teenager was charged with terrorism-related offences after raids across Sydney as investigations continue into church stabbing

A tenth person has been charged in relation to their alleged participation in the Wakeley church riot, according to New South Wales police.

The 27-year-old was arrested at a home in Granville in western Sydney on Saturday after several items alleged to be linked to the incident were seized by the strike force.

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Taylor Swift makes Arias history; Tucker Carlson and Clive Palmer to headline ‘Australian freedom conferences’ – as it happened

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As we reported, X has provided an update on its legal challenge against Australia’s eSafety commissioner, stating it had complied with a direction to remove content from the Wakeley church stabbing.

However, underneath the post from the platform’s global government affairs team (which we quoted in our previous post), the video is available to watch in a reply to the post, as of 7.45am AEST.

The eSafety Commissioner required X to remove posts containing a video of the attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, filmed by an innocent bystander. [The bishop] has expressed his desire for the video to remain online.

X believes it has complied with the notice issued by eSafety, and with Australian law, by restricting all the posts at issue in Australia.

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Seven juveniles with alleged ‘violent extremist ideology’ arrested in Sydney counter-terror raids

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NSW police deputy commissioner says more than 400 police were involved in the raids

Seven juveniles have been arrested as part of extensive counter-terrorism raids across south-western Sydney, with police alleging they adhere to a “religiously motivated violent extremist ideology”.

New South Wales police said 13 search warrants were executed on Wednesday, leading to the arrest of seven “juveniles” including 15, 16 and 17-year-olds. Five others are assisting police with their inquiries.

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Beau Lamarre’s lawyer flags mental health defence to murder charges

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Outside court in Sydney, John Walford says he is ‘not sure’ how his client will plead to alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies

The lawyer for former police officer and accused double murderer Beau Lamarre has suggested the charges could be defended on mental health grounds.

John Walford said on Tuesday the charges against his client – who is accused of murdering Jesse Baird, 26, and Luke Davies, 29 – could be defendable on mental health grounds.

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Australian court orders Elon Musk’s X to hide Sydney church stabbing posts from users globally

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Judge makes interim order after eSafety commissioner orders social media outlet to remove footage of Wakeley stabbing

The Australian federal court has ordered Elon Musk’s X to hide posts containing videos of a stabbing at a Sydney church last week from users globally, after the eSafety commissioner launched an urgent court case on Monday evening seeking an injunction.

X, along with Meta, were ordered by the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, on Tuesday last week to remove material deemed to depict “gratuitous or offensive violence with a high degree of impact or detail” within 24 hours or potentially face fines.

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Sydney church riot: images of 12 men released as police look for up to 50 people

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Four men have been charged and police are searching for more after violence outside the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church in Wakeley following the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel

Multiple men allegedly captured on video outside a western Sydney church are among 50 people police are seeking after a riot which injured dozens of officers.

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and Father Isaac Royel were stabbed during a livestreamed sermon at the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church in Wakeley last week.

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Driver in ‘highly disordered mental state’ slammed into Sydney home and killed sleeping occupant, court told

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Batoul Sleibi El Dirani sped into home of Robyn Oxley, throwing her out of bed and through her back window, court hears

A woman was in a “highly disordered mental state” when fleeing the scene of an accident after her speeding SUV slammed into a western Sydney home, killing the occupant, a court has heard.

Robyn Oxley was asleep in her St Marys residence when a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Batoul Sleibi El Dirani barrelled through the front of the home on 8 October 2022.

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Hundreds gather for candlelight vigil at Bondi Beach to pay tribute to victims of shopping centre attack

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Anthony Albanese says vigil was to honour victims and ‘mourn for all the years of joy they should have known’

Hundreds of people attended a candlelit vigil at Bondi Beach on Sunday evening to remember the victims of Australia’s worst mass killings in years with speeches, music, and a minute’s silence.

Six people were killed and many more injured when Joel Cauchi carried out his murderous rampage on 13 April. At least 12 others – including nine women – were taken to hospital after suffering stab wounds in the attack, and six of them remain in hospital. Police officer Amy Scott shot Cauchi dead at the scene.

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Elon Musk and X to fight Australian eSafety order to remove content relating to Sydney stabbing

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Company says it complied with directive over posts about stabbing of Sydney bishop but will challenge ‘unlawful and dangerous approach’ in court

Elon Musk and his social media company X have accused Australia’s eSafety commissioner of censorship and say they will challenge in court an order to remove content on the site relating to Monday’s Sydney church stabbing.

On Tuesday the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said that X and Meta were issued with a notice to remove material within 24 hours that depicted “gratuitous or offensive violence with a high degree of impact or detail”, with the companies facing potential fines if they failed to comply.

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Second person charged with rioting outside Sydney church after bishop stabbing

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Man charged over alleged involvement in incidents outside Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church in Wakeley

A second person has been charged with rioting outside a Sydney church after the stabbing of bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel on Monday.

A man from Fairfield Heights in western Sydney was charged on Friday with riot and “threaten violence, cause fear” after he was allegedly involved in wild scenes outside the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church on Monday night.

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Australia news live: Dfat issues Middle East travel advice; Nationals concerned after fire ants spotted near Murray Darling Basin

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Reports of explosions in Iranian city of Isfahan prompt sell-off of stocks in Australia – and in other markets such as Japan. Follow the day’s news live

The NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, is speaking to the media after a 16-year-old was charged with a “terrorist act” for allegedly stabbing a bishop on Monday and is expected to appear at a bedside hearing today.

She said members of the joint counter-terrorism team interviewed the alleged offender at a medical facility last night, and he was subsequently charged with a commonwealth offence for terrorism and refused bail.

We expect he will be attending a bedside court hearing today to determine bail. This relates to the stabbing of the Bishop [Mar Mari Emmanuel, who] we allege on Monday night [was] stabbed up to six times.

We also allege that the boy had travelled for 90 minutes to attend that location from his home address.

We’ve got a crisis of male violence in Australia. We know that it’s a scourge in our society, we know it must end and I think it’s really clear women can’t be expected to solve violence against women although it is time for men to step up.

I don’t think debating definitions is the way to go … We need to act, we need to educate ourselves, men need to step up, we need to talk to our sons, to our colleagues, to our friends. We need to work together to a solution. And I think going down some kind of almost a wrong path to say let’s redefine – it’s not about definitions. This is about action. We need to shift the way in which we think about this …

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Teenager accused of Sydney church stabbing has history of behaviour consistent with mental illness, court hears

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Police have charged 16-year-old boy with terrorism offence over stabbing of bishop at church in Sydney suburb of Wakeley

A teenage boy facing a possible life term in prison for terrorism over the stabbing of a bishop has shown behaviour consistent with mental illness or intellectual disability, his lawyer has said.

The 16-year-old is accused of travelling 90 minutes from his home to attack Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel during a livestreamed sermon at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, Sydney, on Monday night.

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Sydney church stabbing: police charge 16-year-old boy with terrorism offence

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Bishop was injured in alleged attack in Wakeley with the teenager expected to appear at a bedside court hearing on Friday

Police have charged a 16-year-old boy alleged to have stabbed a bishop and priest at a western Sydney church with a terrorism offence.

The teenager was due to face a hospital bedside hearing of the Parramatta children’s court on Friday. He is still recovering from surgery after his finger was severed during the alleged attack on Monday night.

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First person charged over Wakeley riot after Sydney church stabbing attack granted bail

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Dani Mansour, 19, charged after allegedly filming himself damaging two police vehicles amid anger over stabbing of bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel

The first person arrested and charged for taking part in the Wakeley riots was granted bail after appearing at Blacktown local court on Thursday. .

Dani Mansour, 19, was charged with riot, affray and destroying or damaging property as part of the mob that allegedly attacked police in Wakeley on Monday night. The incident took place in the aftermath of the stabbing of bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church.

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Sydney church stabbing: social media pages ‘infamous’ for spreading misinformation taken down

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Premier Chris Minns is alarmed at the ‘wildfire’ of rumour and graphic content online after Wakeley and Bondi stabbings

Social media pages “infamous” for spreading misinformation have been taken down after the Wakeley church stabbing attack, the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, said on Thursday, while expressing alarm at the “wildfire” of rumour and graphic content still proliferating on tech platforms.

On Monday night YouTube was live broadcasting Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel’s service at the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church. After the stabbing occurred, video clips spread through WhatsApp groups before police had arrived on scene.

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Seven boss departs – as it happened

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Marles continues breakfast rounds to discuss defence spending

The defence minister, Richard Marles, has been making the rounds this morning and has also spoken to ABC RN about yesterday’s defence announcement.

The reason why we make the observation that an invasion of Australia is a very unlikely scenario, no matter what happens, is because any adversary that wished to do us harm could do so much to us before ever setting foot on Australian soil – and disrupting those specific sea lines of communication, which I’ve described, would obviously achieve that. That that is where the risk of coercion lies, as one example.

And in order to protect ourselves in respect of that, we do need the ability to [project], because if you think about it, … the geography of our national security when seen through those lands is not the coastline of our continent. It in fact, lies much further afield.

We’re looking at a substantial increase on what’s already in the Online Safety Act. So not only a large amount – so for example, a $3m fine for an offence and ongoing fines, but a percentage of turnover as well.

We know that the revenues of some of these online platforms exceed those of some nations and so it needs to be a meaningful and substantial penalty system that’s put in place.

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Australia news live: Marles says Labor ‘utterly committed’ to Brereton response but can’t say when work will be completed

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Unemployment ‘might take up a little bit’ when new numbers released later this week

Q: Given the economic conditions we’re seeing, what should households with mortgages expect?

[Inflation] won’t necessarily continue to come off in a perfectly straight line, but [it] is a fraction of what it was a couple of years ago when we came to office. That’s a good thing.

So we’ve got a whole bunch of things going for us in Australia, but enough to concern us as well about the global conditions about the way that people are still under considerable cost of living pressure.

The way that I would describe it to your listeners is we’ve got inflation lingering in parts of the world, we’ve got growth slowing in China and elsewhere, we’ve got tensions rising in the Middle East and the war in Europe. We’ve got supply chains which are straining and we’ve got a global economy which is fragmenting and transforming and so all of these factors are really important to us as we finalise the government’s third budget.

These are going to be these global conditions are going to be a really big influence on our budget, so the trip to DC which will be a pretty quick and make the most of it but it’s a good opportunity to take the temperature of the global economy.

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Sydney church stabbing: Chris Minns considering tighter knife laws after Wakeley and Bondi stabbings

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NSW premier says a ‘major and serious criminal investigation’ is under way after incident at Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church in Wakeley was deemed terrorism attack

Political and religious leaders are pleading for calm amid a “combustible situation” set off by a stabbing at a western Sydney church and subsequent riot, as the state mulls tighter knife laws following two serious stabbing incidents in as many days.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, held a joint press conference with police and security chiefs in Canberra on Tuesday morning, hours after New South Wales declared as a terrorist attack the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at a service at the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church in Wakeley just after 7pm on Monday.

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Meta and X ordered to remove church stabbing content – as it happened

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The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says he has been briefed by the Australian federal police following an alleged stabbing at a Wakeley church overnight.

Albanese wrote on X:

I have been briefed by the AFP and our security agencies regarding the shocking incident at Wakeley’s Christ the Good Shepherd Church.

As police continue their investigations, Australians are thinking of those who have been injured, the first responders who rushed to help and the police who worked to restore order.

They are coming out on a united front irrespective of religion, political [or] ideological views, and I think that is really important to send a message [that] we are collectively one community …

We are a fairly big mixed community now in NSW but it doesn’t mean we can’t live side by side.

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