Category Archives: Sydney

Jordanian arrested for visa offences after alleged Bondi attackers visited his coffee shop during Philippines stay

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Military used in arrest of Mohammad Odeh Saleh, owner of business allegedly visited by the Akrams before Australia’s deadliest terror attack

A Jordanian national whose coffee shop was visited by the alleged gunmen behind December’s Bondi beach terrorist attack – and who frequently traveled to Australia and the Middle East – has been arrested in the Philippines for overstaying his visa.

Authorities investigating the gunmen’s month-long stay in Mindanao Island, in the country’s south, alleged that Mohammad Odeh Saleh, 65, had travelled to Australia in the years before his arrest in Pagadian City on Monday.

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Officer ‘didn’t have time’ to turn on body-worn camera before shooting Sydney man having psychotic episode, inquest hears

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Steve Pampalian fatally shot in 2023 after moving towards police while holding kitchen knives, coronial inquest told

A police officer has told a coronial inquest he didn’t have enough time to turn on his body-worn camera before he fatally shot a Sydney man who ran at him with two kitchen knives, amid conflicting statements on what unfolded in the critical moments before the man was killed.

Steve Pampalian, 41, was shot three times by a police officer in the driveway of his home on a quiet suburban street in Sydney’s North Willoughby on 25 May 2023 after he had a psychotic episode.

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Former NSW MP Rory Amon tells court 13-year-old boy said he was 17 before alleged sexual abuse

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Former state Liberal MP begins his evidence after pleading not guilty to 10 charges for various sexual acts

A former state Liberal MP accused of having sex with a 13-year-old boy in a car park toilet has claimed in court the boy told him he was 17 .

Rory Amon, 36, began his evidence in his New South Wales supreme court trial after pleading not guilty to 10 charges for various sexual acts against the young teen in 2017.

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NSW government denies ‘covering up’ deadly fungal outbreak at major hospital

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Health minister says cluster of infections at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred hospital was not publicised to avoid ‘unnecessarily scaring people’

The New South Wales health minister has denied “covering up” a deadly fungal outbreak at one of Australia’s largest hospitals, saying it was not publicised to avoid “unnecessarily scaring people”.

The cluster of infections caused by aspergillus, a common mould, killed two patients and left four others unwell in the Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) hospital’s transplant unit in late 2025.

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Minns government undermined own goal with NSW protest restrictions, constitutional challenge hears

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Lawyer for protest groups argues state needs to prove it was ‘rational to prevent all protests’ to achieve social cohesion

Lawyers for three protest groups have argued a Minns government law which effectively banned marches in Sydney’s CBD made its own objective of enhancing social cohesion “worse”.

On Thursday the NSW court of appeal heard the constitutional challenge against the anti-protest law, which was passed in the wake of the Bondi terror.

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Jacinda Ardern living and working in Australia after move from US

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Exclusive: Former New Zealand PM ‘based out of Australia’, according to spokesperson, after rumours she was looking for houses in Sydney

The former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern is living in Australia with her family, a spokesperson has confirmed.

“The family has been travelling for a few years now,” her office told the Guardian.

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Maxi Shield, beloved Australian drag queen and Drag Race Down Under star, dies aged 51

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Performer appeared in closing ceremony of 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and was a mainstay of city’s drag scene

One of Australia’s best-known and loved drag queens, Sydney’s Maxi Shield, has died after being diagnosed with throat cancer, prompting tributes from around the world.

Kristopher Elliot, who performed drag under the name Maxi Shield, was 51. Shield was a mainstay of the Sydney drag scene and brought Australian drag to the world as contestant in season one of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under.

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Chris Baghsarian: police hopes fade of finding 85-year-old kidnap victim alive after raid on Dural property

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NSW police search ‘makeshift stronghold’ in Wildthorn Ave, Dural after Baghsarian abducted from North Ryde home last Friday in case of mistaken identity

Police say “hope is fading” to find Chris Baghsarian alive as investigations continue into an abandoned and “derelict” house where they believe the grandfather was kept sometime in the past week.

A warrant has been executed and a crime scene has been established at the semi-rural property on Wildthorn Ave in Dural, about 36km north-west of Sydney, after police swarmed the area on Thursday night.

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KPMG asks Sydney writers’ festival to delete its name from website after Randa Abdel-Fattah confirmed as speaker

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Festival confirmed writer and academic would appear in two sessions in 2026 following disinvitation from Adelaide event

Global accounting giant KPMG has distanced itself from the Sydney writers’ festival, requesting its name be removed from the event’s website where it was listed as a corporate partner.

The move follows the festival scheduling Palestinian Australian academic Randa Abdel-Fattah to speak at two sessions in this year’s event.

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Sydney police charge four men over alleged ‘international satanic child sex abuse material ring’

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Detectives claim to have uncovered Sydney-based network involving online distribution of child sexual abuse material involving ritualistic or satanic themes

Four Australians remain locked up after being charged for alleged involvement in a satanic child sexual abuse material ring.

Detectives busted an apparent Sydney-based pedophile network they claimed was actively involved in possessing, distributing and facilitating child sexual abuse involving ritualistic or satanic themes.

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Bondi Junction stabbings: ‘10 seconds warning’ from security could have saved lives, inquest hears

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Families of those killed ‘angered’ that Scentre Group and Glad security did not accept control room operator was not competent to be in the position she was that day

Had new mother Ashlee Good been given “even 1o seconds’ warning” when Joel Cauchi began his stabbing spree at Westfield Bondi Junction, she might have been able to take evasive action to save her life, a court has heard.

Schizophrenic man Cauchi, 40, killed Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Yixuan Cheng, 27, Pikria Darchia, 55, Dawn Singleton, 25, and Faraz Tahir, 30, and injured 10 others at Westfield Bondi Junction before he was shot and killed by police inspector Amy Scott.

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Man dead and two under arrest after daylight shooting on suburban Sydney street

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Police say a man in his early 20s was found in Blacktown with gunshot wounds to his neck, chest and leg

A man has died and two others are in custody after a daylight shooting on a suburban street in Sydney.

Police were called to Carinya Street, Blacktown, at about 11.50am on Friday after reports of a public place shooting.

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Second teenage boy charged with murder after alleged stabbing behind Sydney school played ‘active role’, police say

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Another boy, 15, charged on Monday after 17-year-old boy died from wounds to thigh in Rouse Hill

A second teenage boy arrested in his home over his alleged “active role” in the stabbing murder of a 17-year-old in a suburban park will spend months in custody.

The alleged victim died from a knife wound to his thigh after a confrontation at a park behind a school in north-west Sydney on Monday afternoon.

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All-male lineup take top slots at ABC Sydney after Chris Bath’s shock departure

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Director of audio concedes ‘there is always more to do’ on diversity as station staff express dismay at dearth of female presenters

ABC radio’s chief, Ben Latimer, says “there is always more to do” on diversity after Chris Bath was replaced with a male presenter on ABC Sydney, leaving the station with an all-male lineup from Breakfast through to Drive in 2026.

Bath, who announced her resignation after only one year on Monday, will be replaced by Thomas Oriti in the key Drive slot, which was vacated by the veteran broadcaster Richard Glover after 26 years.

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Sydney restaurant Cairo Takeaway counter-sues pro-Israel activist, claiming he trespassed to ‘ambush’ staff

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The Newtown eatery is counter-suing Ofir Birenbaum, who launched defamation action against the popular restaurant

An Egyptian restaurant in Sydney is counter-suing a pro-Israel activist over a News Corp stunt, alleging he trespassed on the popular eatery in a bid to get a “negative reaction” from staff.

Ofir Birenbaum went to Cairo Takeaway, a popular restaurant in Sydney’s Newtown, in February wearing a Star of David cap and necklace alongside reporters from the Daily Telegraph. The undercover operation, later revealed to be dubbed “undercover Jew” internally by the paper, made international headlines after it backfired.

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Teenager charged with murder after 17-year-old boy stabbed to death in Sydney’s north-west

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The victim was treated by NSW paramedics for wounds to his thigh but died at the scene

A 15-year-old boy has been charged with murder after a teenager was allegedly stabbed to death behind a high school.

Police said a 17-year-old boy died from stab wounds to his thigh following a confrontation at a park in Sydney’s north-west about 4.20pm on Monday.

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Severe thunderstorm risk for northern and eastern Australia including Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra

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BoM forecasts possible storms from tropical north and WA to central and eastern parts, with potential for strong winds and heavy rainfall

Much of northern and eastern Australia faces a risk of severe thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon and evening, with millions of people potentially in the firing line.

“It’s another severe thunderstorm outbreak for eastern parts of the country. It could be an active one,” said Angus Hines, senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology on Saturday.

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Severe storms forecast for parts of NSW as Victoria and Queensland face wet weather

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BoM says destructive winds and ‘very dangerous thunderstorms’ are most likely across the Hunter, mid-north NSW coast and northern tablelands

Severe storms with the potential for destructive winds and large hail are expected to move across New South Wales on Saturday.

Storms were also expected in parts of Queensland and Victoria.

Sydney 32C with showers and then storms developing.

Melbourne 13C with rain increasing.

Brisbane 31C with a late shower or two.

Perth 28C and sunny.

Adelaide 18C and cloudy.

Hobart 15C and partly cloudy.

Canberra 26C with a shower or two and then becoming windy.

Darwin 34C and partly cloudy.

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Strap in for a feral lead-up into Christmas in the NSW parliament

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The Minns government has two major pieces of legislation it desperately wants to pass – but to do so it needs to woo some crossbenchers

As the New South Wales parliament draws to a close at the end of November, expect it to be dominated by feral horses, feral pigs and feral politics.

The Minns Labor government has two major pieces of legislation it desperately wants to pass before parliament rises. But it faces obstacles in the upper house where a clutch of minor parties hold the balance of power.

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Woman arrested after allegedly sabotaging gas supplies at two Sydney hospitals

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NSW police allege 42-year-old ‘cut water and gas mains’ at first hospital in Sutherland before switching off gas mains at nearby facility

A woman has been arrested after allegedly sabotaging gas supplies at two Sydney hospitals.

Sutherland hospital in southern Sydney lost medical gases on Tuesday morning, requiring them to switch to portable oxygen and air as part of their contingency plans, the New South Wales health minister, Ryan Park, said in a statement

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