Category Archives: Sydney

How Sydney’s endless rain is ruining football seasons and breaking young hearts

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As Saturday after Saturday gets wiped out by bad weather, clubs are drowning in a sea of unplayed fixtures

The first thing Jamie Amendolia’s boys ask him when he picks them up from school every afternoon is the same: “Is training on? Is the game on? Has it been called off? Are we playing?”

Both of his sons, Sebastian, 10, and Alexander, eight, play football at Enfield FC in Sydney’s inner west. They’re footy fanatics. Except both have had their season thrown into chaos by the wet weather that has hit and bogged down Sydney’s weekends for months.

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Father charged with three counts of murder after young children killed in Sydney house fire

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Man, 28, facing three domestic violence murder charges and five counts of attempted murder following weekend blaze at Lalor Park

A father has been charged with murder and attempted murder after three of his children died and four more were injured alongside their mother in a house fire in Sydney’s west.

The 28-year-old man was charged with three counts of domestic violence murder, five counts of attempted domestic violence murder and destroying or damaging property with intent to endanger life relating to domestic violence.

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In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 988 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org

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Hero neighbour ‘heartbroken’ about death of three children in Sydney fire

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Jarrod Hawkins crawled into the smoke-filled home to save the children from the Lalor Park house fire on Sunday

A heroic neighbour who helped rescue children from a deadly house fire says he’s heartbroken that three young kids died in the catastrophic blaze.

Three children aged six, three and 10 months were killed in the fire at Lalor Park, in Sydney’s west, early on Sunday.

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Man charged with murder over alleged DV-related stabbing death in Sydney’s west

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Twenty-one-year-old arrested in Penrith after woman found with two stab wounds to her chest at Kingswood on Monday

A man has been charged after the stabbing of a young woman in an alleged domestic violence-related murder in Sydney’s west.

The 21-year-old was arrested in Penrith and was due to face court on Tuesday, after the woman was found with two stab wounds to her chest.

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Blockade Australia climate activist sentenced to three months in jail over Port of Newcastle protest

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Laura Davy, who travelled from Tasmania to take part in a protest at a coal terminal, will appeal prison sentence

A 21-year-old woman who secured herself to a piece of machinery during a climate protest at a Newcastle coal terminal has been sentenced to three months in prison.

The climate protest, which is now in its 14th day and has involved daily actions, was organised by Blockade Australia to call for a change to the economic and political system to achieve meaningful climate action.

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Artwork featuring Christ overlaid with Looney Tunes characters removed by Sydney council after threats of violence

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Online protest claimed the work mocked the Christian religion and Liverpool mayor Ned Mannoun called for it to be taken down

A Sydney council has removed a “playful” artwork of Jesus Christ overlaid with Looney Tunes characters after a torrent of online abuse.

Sydney artist Philjames’ work, Jesus Speaks to the Daughters of Jerusalem, was removed from the Blake Art Prize exhibition at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre after fierce criticism was directed at the artist and gallery on Friday, just two days before the eight-week exhibition ended.

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University of Sydney students and staff blast new ‘draconian’ protest crackdown

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Policy demands three days’ notice for demonstrations and approval for use of megaphones or putting up posters

Academics and students at the University of Sydney have blasted the vice-chancellor for a “draconian” protest crackdown that requires explicit permission for megaphones to be used or posters to be put up on campus.

The policy, quietly introduced last week, demands three days’ notice for demonstrations to be held and approval for putting up “materials, banners or structures” on campus, using megaphones or amplifiers, erecting temporary structures and using cooking equipment.

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Sydney house fire: three children dead, father in custody after alleged triple homicide

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Emergency services were called to a home in Lalor Park at 1am on Sunday

Three children are dead and their father is in custody after a house fire in Sydney’s west, in what police are treating as a domestic-related multiple homicide.

Emergency services were called to the home in Lalor Park at 1am on Sunday, which acting Supt Jason Pietruszka said was “engulfed by flames” on arrival.

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Two bodies found on beach at Little Bay in Sydney’s south

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Neither person formally identified as of Sunday afternoon, NSW police said in a statement

Two bodies have been found on a beach in Sydney’s south following a search and rescue operation.

Emergency services began searching Little Bay Beach at about 11.10am on Sunday morning after a member of the public found personal items unattended on the shore, and called police.

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University of Sydney stabbing: 14-year-old boy arrested after alleged incident at campus

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University confirms police operation under way with 22-year-old man taken to Royal Prince Alfred hospital

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested and a 22-year-old man has been taken to hospital after an alleged stabbing at the University of Sydney.

A New South Wales ambulance spokesperson said paramedics had been called to the university about 8.30am on Tuesday and had taken one patient to Royal Prince Alfred hospital.

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Are Australia’s public transport discounts for seniors too generous? Are they fair?

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School and tertiary students receive concessions, but their fares are still more than three times those offered to seniors in some states

It’s the uncomfortable question few politicians would dare to ask. Are generous travel discounts afforded to Australia’s older citizens, especially self-funded retirees who are not means tested, sustainable? Moreover, are they fair?

Seniors have long enjoyed heavily subsidised public transport fares across Australia. But as the population ages, public finance strains and a cost-of-living crisis weighs disproportionately on younger generations, some are suggesting a rethink.

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Woman allegedly murdered by housemate in inner-west Sydney home identified

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A 42-year-old man has been denied bail after being charged with the murder in Russell Lea

The woman allegedly murdered by her housemate in Sydney’s inner west has been identified as 53-year-old Annette Kiss.

Benjamin Scott Art, 42, has been charged with murder, after the body of a woman was found at a home on Clements St in Russell Lea on Thursday.

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Australia’s first high-speed rail link could ease house prices and widen the dating pool, UK expert says

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Prof Andrew McNaughton also warns plan to build Sydney-Newcastle route is ‘doomed’ to fail unless a shorter stretch to Gosford comes first

Ensuring Australia’s decades-long high-speed rail project maintains enough support to be built requires the public to be constantly reminded of its benefits, such as easing property prices, providing better job opportunities and even widening the dating pool, a British expert has urged.

Prof Andrew McNaughton, the chair of the UK’s Network Rail High Speed, also warns that the Albanese government’s push to build high-speed rail along Australia’s east coast, starting with a Sydney-Newcastle section, is “doomed” to fail unless planners split the first stage into an even smaller, achievable stretch to Gosford.

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Newington College head blasts parents for ‘behaviour inconsistent with our values’

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Michael Parker criticises ‘deliberate negativity’ of a ‘very small group’ but does not refer directly to opponents of controversial plans to admit girls

The headteacher of the top Sydney school embroiled in a row over becoming co-educational has written to parents and alumni expressing disappointment with a group of people within the school’s community “whose behaviour is inconsistent with our school culture and our values”.

The email, which the Guardian has seen, was sent by the head of Newington College, Michael Parker, on Monday.

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Play it Safe: Sydney Opera House short film wins Grand Prix award at Cannes Lions festival

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Judges say four-minute piece featuring Tim Minchin is ‘a celebration of the creative spirit, of brave ideas and taking huge risks in the face of critics’

A short film celebrating the Sydney Opera House’s 50th anniversary has won at the Cannes Lions, considered the world’s most prestigious advertising awards.

Satirically titled Play it Safe, the 2023 campaign collected one of two Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions international festival of creativity awards last week.

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Man charged after allegedly slashing staff at western Sydney hospital

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Police attended Westmead hospital about 11.30pm on Friday after a man, 39, allegedly slashed and assaulted staff

A man has been charged after allegedly slashing two security guards and injuring a nurse as police investigate possible mental health and drug issues.

Police were called to Westmead hospital in western Sydney about 11.30pm on Friday after reports a man had assaulted staff.

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‘Woke mumbo jumbo’: Sydney barrister says he will lobby King of Tonga in fight against Newington College coed shift

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Exclusive: Dallas Morgan sends impassioned email to old boys updating them on ‘embarrassing saga’ and telling them to ‘never give up’

A Sydney barrister and Newington College old boy leading the fight against the private school’s coed shift has sent an impassioned email to alumni, detailing his plans to fly to Tonga this week to lobby King Tupou VI on the issue.

In his email, Dallas Morgan also lamented that “transgender midgets” could have their fees subsidised and said he hoped the king – whose father is also a fellow former student of the school – would oppose the coed transition.

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Climate 200 names nine new Coalition seats where it hopes to replicate teal wave at next election

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Exclusive: After months of speculation the fundraising giant has identified more electorates where independent campaigns meet its criteria for support

Climate 200, the fundraising giant that bankrolled the teal independent wave at the last election, has thrown its support behind independent campaigns in nine more Coalition-held seats.

After months of speculation, the group said it would support independent campaigns in the Queensland electorates of McPherson, Moncrief, Fisher and Fairfax as well as the New South Wales electorates Cowper and Bradfield, and Casey, Monash and Wannon in Victoria.

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From social housing to $1.5m for a studio: minister hits out at ‘dud deal’ sale of Sydney’s Sirius building

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Exclusive: Rose Jackson says losing public housing in expensive central suburbs leaves society worse off, and this week’s state budget will address issue

A decade ago the only way to secure a bed in Sydney’s brutalist icon, the Sirius building, was a proven need and time on the social housing waitlist. Now the price of admission starts at $1.55m – for a studio apartment.

The last of the 76 apartments in the redeveloped complex in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge are on the market after the building was sold to a developer by the former Coalition state government for $150m in 2019.

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Man charged over alleged murder of Sydney surfer Guy Haymes after family appeal for information

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‘Fun-loving’ former competitive surfer was well-known on NSW’s northern beaches

Police have charged a man with the murder of Sydney surfer Guy Haymes, days after his family appealed for information about the death of the “fun-loving” northern beaches identity.

Haymes, 59, a former competitive surfer affectionately known as “Creature”, was found with critical head injuries on 27 February, outside a unit complex on Pittwater Road at Manly.

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