Category Archives: Sydney

Sydney restaurateur Alan Yazbek pleads guilty after displaying Nazi symbol at pro-Palestine rally

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Co-owner of Nomad held sign mirroring Israeli flag but with swastika in place of Star of David and the words ‘Stop Nazi Israel’

The prominent Sydney restaurateur Alan Yazbek has pleaded guilty to displaying a Nazi swastika at a pro-Palestine rally.

Yazbek appeared at Downing Centre local court on Thursday where his lawyer said he was pleading guilty to the charge.

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Selfies, hugs and protests: King Charles’s new approach in spotlight during ‘fast and furious’ royal tour of Australia

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Issue of Aboriginal sovereignty front and centre during head of state’s whirlwind first visit

King Charles and Queen Camilla have left Australia after more than 30 official engagements – and a fair share of controversy – packed into just four full days on the ground.

In the stage-managed whirlwind were churchgoers, bushfire scientists, a violinist, authors, dancers, architects, chefs, surf life savers, schoolchildren, republicans and monarchists – and unscripted discordance as activists took up Aboriginal sovereignty directly with the crown.

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Barbecue, kangaroo pies and Jimmy Barnes: Charles and Camilla go quintessentially Australian for final day of tour

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The royals get on the tongs, banter with surf lifesavers and meet massive crowds at the Sydney Opera House

Just as King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived at a barbecue picnic in western Sydney, the strains of the Jimmy Barnes anthem, Working Class Man, wafted mysteriously and humorously above the crowd.

As Barnsey rasped out the opening lyrics of the Aussie classic, Charles and Camilla greeted hundreds of invited guests in the punishing Parramatta Park heat. Muster dogs waited patiently atop barrels and a windmill slowly twirled above a pile of hay.

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Cockatoo rescued after ‘living on brioche’ for four weeks inside Sydney supermarket

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NSW environment minister hopes ‘Mickey will be flying free by tomorrow’ after successful capture by wildlife services

A sulphur-crested cockatoo called Mickey that had been “living on brioche” inside a Sydney supermarket for four weeks has been captured by wildlife services and is expected to be set free soon.

The New South Wales environment minister, Penny Sharpe, announced on Tuesday evening that the bird had “been safely captured by wildlife rescuers after spending way too long in Macarthur Square”.

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‘I believe I can win’: the immigrant hoping to upset Labor in western Sydney stronghold

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Ahmed Ouf, a pharmacist from Egypt, says local election success means he can take Blaxland from Jason Clare

Brimming with confidence after barreling his way onto Cumberland council, Ahmed Ouf has his eyes on a bigger prize: the historically safe Labor seat of Blaxland.

“Labor didn’t believe I could get onto the council, but I proved them wrong. And we are confident we will to do it again. I’m not here to shake a narrative, or to swing a seat, I believe I can win,” he said.

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King Charles makes relaxed start to Australian tour but spends less than 10 minutes at lunch in his honour

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After a day of rest, monarch appears at Sydney lunch in his honour and gives hosts an hourglass while joking about swift passage of time

King Charles III did not linger long at the luncheon put on in his honour, at the second scheduled event of his short Australian visit. And his gift to the gathering was a reminder of the fleeting passage of time.

There was a menu fit for a king, and very Sydney: chargrilled asparagus and olive dust; marinated octopus and squid ink wafer; barramundi and duck confit.

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Teal independent says likely byelection win in Sydney was a ‘race to the top’ with Liberals

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Jacqui Scruby was on track to comfortably take Pittwater and said the results showed voters appreciated a ‘different way of doing politics’

Teal independent Jacqui Scruby, the likely winner of the NSW byelection in Pittwater, says the contest in the blue-ribbon seat has shown how strong candidates can encourage a “race to the top” in politics.

“It was a very competitive byelection,” Scruby said on Sunday.

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Woman and two children found dead after being seen in distress in Sydney river

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Emergency services recover bodies of children, aged five and seven, at Floyd Bay in Lansvale

A woman and two children, aged five and seven, have died after being seen in distress in waters in Sydney’s south-west.

Emergency services were called to a boat ramp at Floyd Bay on the Georges River in Lansvale on Saturday morning after a woman and two children were seen in the water in distress.

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Sydney beaches reopen after tar balls wash ashore but mystery remains over source

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NSW Maritime executive director says balls appear to be made up of fatty acids, chemicals found in cleaning and cosmetic products, and fuel oil

A baffling tar ball emergency that closed major beaches in Sydney’s eastern suburbs appears to be over.

The remaining beaches closed to bathers at Coogee, Maroubra and Clovelly have been cleared to reopen on Saturday after Bondi and several others reopened on Friday.

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King Charles’s visit puts the monarchy’s Australian future back in focus

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Hopeful Republicans are calling it the ‘farewell tour’, as the king toes the tried and tested constitutional line

As the king arrives in Australia for the first time as head of state, republican rumblings are once more on the media radar.

Will it be, as the Australian Republic Movement (ARM) optimistically opines, the monarchy’s “farewell tour”?

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King Charles has arrived in Australia for his first visit as monarch. Here’s where to see the royals

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Sydney and Canberra are on the royal couple’s itinerary, with opportunities for the public to see them between official functions

King Charles and Queen Camilla have touched down in Australia for the couple’s first visit to the country since Charles became its reigning monarch.

They were last in Australia in 2018, when then Prince Charles opened the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. This shorter, more compact tour will take in just Canberra and Sydney, with dozens of engagements packed into the pair’s four days on the ground.

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Rio Tinto praised for ‘breaking ranks’ to back revamp of environment laws – as it happened

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Queensland leaders to lock horns again in election debate

After their deputies traded blows, the Queensland premier and opposition leader are set to face off again ahead of the state election, AAP reports.

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Sydney’s Coogee beach closed after mysterious black balls wash ashore

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Beachgoers warned not to touch the material, which may be tar balls formed from oil spills or seepage at sea

Sydney’s Coogee beach has been ordered closed until further notice after “mysterious black, ball-shaped debris” washed up along its length.

Lifeguards discovered the debris on Tuesday afternoon at the popular eastern suburbs beach. Randwick city council environmental officers collected samples and have sent them for testing. In the meantime, beachgoers were advised not to touch or go near them.

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Potentially lifesaving Blue Mountains fire trails obstructed as bushfire season begins

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Exclusive: Residents who fought the black summer bushfires are concerned access tracks are not being maintained

Residents of a Blue Mountains town who were forced to defend themselves against an out-of-control backburn during the black summer bushfires are concerned fire trails in the area are not being maintained ahead of the fire season.

Guardian Australia has seen photographs of fallen trees obstructing two fire trails in Bilpin near the Tutti Fruitti cafe and surrounding homes, which were destroyed when the Rural Fire Service lost control of the backburn it lit near Mount Wilson in December 2019.

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NSW police union pushes back at premier’s suggestion pro-Palestine protests divert resources from crime

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Police association boss says vast majority of officers at weekend rally were ‘doing user-pay or cancelled rest day’ shifts

The head of the New South Wales police union has denied any suggestion that patrolling weekly pro-Palestine protests is making it difficult to respond to or investigate crime across the state.

Kevin Morton’s comments came as the premier, Chris Minns, was forced to deny he had lost control of the Labor caucus after several of his MPs expressed alarm at his statement that police should be able to reject a protest permit based on the cost of patrolling it.

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Revealed: University of Sydney spent millions more on consultants than repaying wages of casual staff

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Greens say revelations a ‘damning indictment’ that speak to a ‘broken governance culture’ at prestigious universities

The University of Sydney has spent millions of dollars more on external contractors and consultants – including PwC – for calculating and administering liability for wage underpayments and a review of its systems than it has paid out to staff, answers provided to the Greens have revealed.

In the answers to supplementary questions, provided to chair of the New South Wales education committee, Greens MLC Abigail Boyd, it was revealed the university had repaid 514 casual staff a total value of $2.8m as of last month, while across all “remediation work streams”, it had paid 10,692 professional staff a total value of $17.4m.

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Crumbl Cookies to open in Australia after viral unofficial pop-up at Bondi Beach turned stale

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US brand says it was ‘inspired’ by local fans flying in cookies from the US and selling them at the weekend – for $17.50 each

Popular US-based brand Crumbl Cookies has announced it will fast-track plans to open in Australia, after a rogue pop-up stand in Sydney created huge hype for the company’s kilojoule-filled products.

The announcement comes after unaffiliated fans of the American company flew in hundreds of cookies to sell at a temporary store near Sydney’s Bondi Beach, charging $17.50 a biscuit. The cookies usually sell for US$4.49 ($6.67) in the US.

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Man dies after being shot by police amid alleged theft of car belonging to Labor MP’s husband

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A 26-year-old man has died after he and another man, 34, were shot by police while allegedly driving a stolen car at officers

A man shot by police in Wentworthville in Sydney last week after an alleged car theft has died, NSW police said.

Two men were shot by police after officers were called to the scene at about 12.10pm on Friday, responding to a report of a stolen car in a Wentworthville car park in Sydney’s west. The officers fired their guns at the vehicle after it was allegedly driven at them.

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Controversial Sydney airport slot system faces government crackdown

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Carriers that cancel flights to block competition could face civil penalties in move against Qantas-Virgin duopoly

Airlines that strategically cancel flights to block competition at Sydney airport could face civil penalties as the Albanese government moves to crack down on the Qantas-Virgin duopoly.

A new bill, to be introduced on Wednesday, will focus on Sydney airport’s controversial slot allocation system, which restricts the airport to 80 takeoffs and landings per hour – known as slots. An overnight curfew to minimise noise further limits flight numbers.

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Curious koala survives close call at Sydney train station

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Marsupial caught on camera at Casula in city’s south-west, where urban development threatens wildlife

A curious koala has been captured wandering perilously close to a Sydney train line before the native animal was corralled to safety into nearby bushland.

The marsupial was caught on video crawling beneath a fence on to a platform at Casula train station, in the city’s south-west, shortly after 4am on Friday.

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