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Queensland police
Breaking
Crime

Accused childcare predator reported to police for ‘kissing’ child a year before arrest

Childcare manager Yolanda Boruki says she alerted police to the worker who was seen allegedly “kissing” a child but he was then cleared for lack of evidence.

  • by Perry Duffin
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

As it happened: Bruce Lehrmann to sue ACT over handling of Higgins case; Dutton labels PM ‘incompetent’ on Voice

Government considering using super in aged care solution, Peter Dutton labelled the prime minister as ‘incompetent’ on Voice and the debate on housing continues.

  • by Caroline Schelle and Sarah Keoghan
Robotinho prediction

AI predicts round of 16 scores at the Women’s World Cup

How far can Australia go? Which nations will make the final? Who will lift the trophy? We asked Robotinho for its take to the tournament’s big questions.

  • by "Robotinho" and Mark Stehle
Teachers strike for higher pay and better conditions in 2022.

‘A message for the premier: Honour the deal you made with teachers’

Teachers have been betrayed by Chris Minns and Pru Car. They believed the rhetoric that they, like the nurses, child and aged care workers, had done it tough during COVID and deserved a pay rise.

Sharath Mahendran, the 21-year-old behind the hit Sydney YouTube channel Building Beautifully.

Meet the 21-year-old YouTuber taking on Sydney’s bad planning

Sharath Mahendran’s YouTube channel has gained almost 30,000 subscribers. And he’s only getting more popular.

  • by Anthony Segaert
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Bruce Lehrmann has maintained his innocence over rape allegations he faced. The charges were discontinued last year.

Sofronoff gave journalists Lehrmann inquiry report before government: ACT

Calls are growing to immediately release the findings of the inquiry into the handling of the rape trial of former Coalition staffer Bruce Lehrmann, after they were leaked to the media this week.

  • by Angus Thompson
Trump and Nixon. One was destroyed by indictments, the other raises money off them.
Analysis
US politics

Trump is no modern-day Nixon and there is no sign of ‘tranquillity’ returning to the US

Unlike Richard Nixon during Watergate, Republicans remain largely in Donald Trump’s corner, even as he heads into an election year facing three criminal trials.

  • by Farrah Tomazin
The collapse of a Canadian bid to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games has dramatically upped the stakes for the Andrews government as it seeks to extricate itself from its contract to stage the 2026 event.

Victoria blamed for Canadian decision to dump 2030 Commonwealth Games

Australian Sports Commission chief Kieren Perkins says Commonwealth Games can still be staged in a fiscally responsible way.

  • by Chip Le Grand
Wall Street’s rally has run out of steam.

ASX finishes in green after seesaw session; Domino’s up, Block down

The Australian sharemarket seesawed on Friday after Wall Street’s red-hot rally for the year cooled a bit more.

  • by Jessica Yun
China has lifted tarrifs on Australian barley.

China drops tariffs against Australian barley

The decision puts an end to a three-year-dispute over the $1.2 billion export.

  • by Eryk Bagshaw
Mozammil Bhojani and Peter Dutton.

AFP retracts statement Dutton was briefed on Nauru bribery investigation

The grilling of senior police raises serious further questions about how Home Affairs managed multibillion-dollar offshore processing contracts.

  • by Michael Bachelard and Nick McKenzie
Illustration by John Shakespeare

Should talented staff be allowed to work less?

It’s worth having a difficult conversation about why a worker wants to cut back their hours.

  • by Jonathan Rivett
Leibler Yavneh College in Elsternwick.

Jewish students threatened with a knife and vilified on Melbourne bus

Police are investigating after a group of students were chased from a bus in Elsternwick by a man with a knife who yelled antisemitic abuse.

  • by Cameron Houston
Tim Klingender (left) with John Wilkerson, a leading American collector of Aboriginal art, in New York in May.

Tim Klingender farewelled at memorial service at Bondi Pavilion

The art dealer, one of Australian Indigenous art’s greatest champions, died in a freak boating accident during a fishing expedition on July 20.

  • by Andrew Hornery
Vanessa McCausland captures the heady delirium of a European summer love affair.

A letter from the past brings memories of France, love and trauma

Vanessa McCausland’s novel examines devastating loss of youth.

  • by Jessie Tu
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Chris Masters speaks outside the Federal Court after winning the defamation case filed by ex-soldier Ben Roberts-Smith.

‘Hero worship must never be blind’: The lesson from Chris Masters

The veteran journalist’s account of the investigation into Ben Roberts-Smith shows the crucial need for truth and perspective.

  • by Albert Palazzo
Only half of the eight round of 16 games will be broadcast for free on Seven.

Fans ‘forced to subscribe’ to Optus Sport as World Cup free-to-air schedule revealed

The round of 16 gets under way this weekend, but only four out of eight games will be available to watch on free-to-air television, prompting criticism from fans.

  • by Nell Geraets
Gaelic football
Opinion
Ireland

Forget the ’G on grand final day or an Origin decider, this is football for the fans

For those who long for suburban football where, long before corporate boxes and soulless stadiums, all that mattered was your team and the fans – it does still exist.

  • by Rob Harris

NSW Treasury kicks off the new realism: Productivity won’t be speeding up

Economists don’t know as much about what causes productivity improvement as they ought to.

  • by Ross Gittins
Campbell Graham is playing with two painkilling injections every week.

The brave Bunny taking two painkilling injections for every game

Latrell Mitchell will be the star attraction in Perth, but spare a thought for one of his Souths teammates who is still battling a painful blow he received in round one.

  • by Christian Nicolussi
Alanna Kennedy speaks to the media on Friday.

‘It’s about winning something’: As minnows topple giants, Matildas see a World Cup opportunity

The rise of lower-ranked nations and the shock exit of several tournament favourites has opened up all sorts of possibilities for Australia as they prepare for the knockout phase.

  • by Vince Rugari
Toby Greene celebrates his last-minute match-winning goal against the Swans at the SCG in round

Giants chase another record win, but coach warns of complacency against Swans

The Giants are chasing a record eighth-straight win on Saturday night, but GWS coach Adam Kingsley is adamant the 26th Sydney derby is a toss-of-the-coin game.

  • by Billie Eder
Danny (pink hair) and Michael Philippou.

The Aussie twins taking the world by storm with ‘ouija board’ movie

Danny and Michael Philippou, aka RackaRacka, have long promised big things. With their debut feature, Talk To Me, the internet sensations have finally delivered.

  • by Karl Quinn
High interest rates, taxes and inflation will result in the economy struggling to avoid a recession this year.

Economy could shrink under interest rates and tax: RBA

The economy is facing its worst non-pandemic year since the 1990-91 recession as high interest rates, inflation and taxes hit the nation’s consumers.

  • by Shane Wright
Diamonds captain Liz Watson in action at the Netball World Cup in South Africa.

‘Biggest challenge we’ve ever had’: Diamonds face moment of truth against fired-up Jamaica

Australian netball great Cath Cox has no doubt that the Diamonds face their greatest challenge when they play Jamaica in the Netball World Cup semi-finals.

  • by Roy Ward
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Spinning around: has Jessica Mauboy missed the opportunity to coach an aspiring singer in the blind auditions of the 2023 season of The Voice?
★★★
Reality TV

A new batch of starry-eyed singers pray the judges will spin their chairs

The talent show may be as old as TV itself, but the blind auditions of The Voice are a reminder of why singing competitions are so hard to resist.

  • by Ben Pobjie
A New Zealand soldier during a joint training exercise with the US, Britain and Australia in Fiji last year.

Remoteness no longer enough: NZ defence needs more money to counter China, climate change

New Zealand’s first national security strategy underscores how China’s rise is upending old norms – even 9000 kilometres away in Wellington.

  • by Lewis Jackson and Lucy Craymer
Remembering and Honouring Yunupingu ceremony. Garma, August 4, 2023. Photo: Rhett Wyman / SMH

‘The songline runs on’: Yunupingu’s family pledge to carry on Garma founder’s work

The Garma Festival’s opening day included a moving memorial ceremony to its founder, the late Aboriginal leader and land rights activist Yunupingu.

  • by Lisa Visentin
Albert has withdrawn its bid to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games.

Canadian province withdraws Commonwealth Games bid

In a further blow to the embattled Commonwealth Games Federation, the Canadian province of Alberta has withdrawn its bid for the 2030 games.

Catherine Van-Davies and Johnny Carr give stellar performances.
Latest Reviews
Sydney live reviews

Two actors take on the multiverse in jaw-dropping new production

A wrap of the week’s live reviews, including Mr Bailey’s Minder at Ensemble, Constellations at Sydney Theatre Company, and Mad Scenes with Jessica Pratt.

  • by John Shand and Peter McCallum
Miss Peony

Beauty pageant sets the scene for modern-day culture clash

Miss Peony tells the story of Chinese-Australian women grappling with cultural identity in 21st century Australia.

  • by Sonia Nair
A screen grab of the intersection of Campbelltown and Blaxland roads in Campbelltown where the incident occurred.

Woman’s face fractured in alleged Sydney road rage incident

Tori Lee honked her horn at a black sedan when it did not move at an intersection. A man then got out of his car and allegedly punched her in the face.

  • by Olivia Ireland
Greenpeace activists sit on the roof of Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s house in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England, after covering it in black fabric on Thursday.

Activists elevate anti-oil message, spend hours on Rishi Sunak’s roof

Greenpeace protesters entered the grounds of British prime minister’s listed manor house in North Yorkshire, using ladders and ropes to scale the building.

  • by Ewan Somerville, Martin Evans and Dominic Penna
Eddie McGuire on Millionaire Hot Seat in 2017; the show is about to notch up its 2500th episode.

Eddie McGuire says axed Hot Seat is ‘too good’ not to return

The long-running game show, which has given away more than $90 million over its lifespan, will be no more from January 2024.

  • by Karl Quinn
The FBI has begun investigating more cases of state-directed coercion in the US.

‘Unprecedented’: US sailors charged with selling military secrets to China

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray said last year that the FBI opens a new counterintelligence case against China every 12 hours on average.

  • by Peter Martin and Chris Strohm
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Australia’s offshore oil and gas industry primarily operates off north-west WA, the NT and Victoria’s Gippsland.

Labor accused of propping up gas projects with carbon pollution permits

The government says its bill is needed to regulate international trade and storage of carbon pollution, while the Greens say it throws a lifeline to gas projects.

  • by Mike Foley
Former president Donald Trump speaks after being charged.

‘We can’t let this happen’, Trump says after pleading not guilty to 2020 election plot

A trial date has not yet been set, but the former US president is expected to fight the charges by arguing that he is protected by America’s right to free speech.

  • by Farrah Tomazin
Michelle Bright was murdered by Craig Rumsby in 1999.

‘Her dreams were stolen’: Slain schoolgirl’s family confront ‘monster’

Michelle Bright’s mother and brothers sobbed as they told the court of their “unending grief” in the decades since the 17-year-old was murdered by Craig Rumsby.

  • by Sarah McPhee
Joe Deng and Peter Bol.

Best friends, training partners, rivals: How a housemate could upstage Peter Bol

While Peter Bol was fighting to clear his name, his longtime housemate quietly broke the Olympic hero’s national record. Again.

  • by Michael Gleeson
Test your knowledge!

The Weekly Sports Quiz: Test your knowledge

How well did you pay attention to the sporting headlines this week?

Barry O’Farrell is back from India.

‘I’m not a trained diplomat, I’m a recovering politician’: Lunch with Barry O’Farrell

The former premier had never lived overseas. Then he became ambassador to India.

  • by Matt Wade
Banks will use customer data to monitor for people who might be struggling and talk to them early.

Mortgage pain is set to get worse. Here’s how banks are getting ready for it

Banks have signalled they will support customers struggling with higher interest rates – but it won’t be the same as COVID-19 rescue packages.

  • by Clancy Yeates and Millie Muroi
WA Premier Roger Cook has hit out at climate protesters at the home of Woodside boss Meg O’Neill.
Updated
ABC

WA premier lashes ABC in letter to Buttrose over Four Corners presence at protest

“The fact that an ABC TV crew attended the private home of a WA citizen to document the committing of alleged criminal acts is cause for great concern and morally wrong,” Roger Cook wrote.

  • by Daile Cross
 Sophie Gregoire Trudeau has tested positive to coronavirus.
Opinion
Divorce

Going on holiday with your ex doesn’t have to be weird. Just ask the Trudeaus

Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire’s decision to sail off into the sunset together might sound weird, but it’s proof that divorce doesn’t have to be a bitter slanging match.

  • by Kate Halfpenny
Man on a mission: Arryn Siposs is ready to rebound from his miskick in the Super Bowl, in a season when he hopes to land a fresh contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.

‘I can’t fix it’: Siposs banishes heartache over that costly Super Bowl punt

He’s an Australian who has done well in one of the most cut-throat competitions in world sport, the NFL. But that didn’t protect him from the ire of Philadelphia Eagles fans after a Super Bowl loss.

  • by Jon Pierik
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The competition watchdog said

ANZ to challenge ACCC knockback of $4.9b Suncorp deal

ANZ will appeal the ACCC’s rejection of what would have been the biggest transaction in Australian banking since Westpac’s 2008 takeover of St George.

  • by Millie Muroi
Henry Strand, Stacy Clausen and Hannah Ogawa in Crazy Fun Park.

The ‘gateway horror’ ABC kids show that toppled Bluey at the Logies

What, no Bluey? The creators of Crazy Fun Park were just as shocked as the rest of the country when they won the Logie for Most Outstanding Children’s program.

  • by Thomas Mitchell
Nathan Brown is sent from the field 30 seconds after coming on as an interchange player.

Brown facing one-match suspension for rapid send-off, but where does he rank in the hall of shame?

The Roosters forward was marched after being on the field for just 30 seconds against Manly on Thursday night, but it isn’t the fastest send-off in the game’s history.

  • by Adam Pengilly and Billie Eder
A molotov cocktail in use.

Russia blames ‘phone scammers’ for tricking elderly into fire-bombing army enlistment offices

Most of the perpetrators of the recent attacks have been identified as aged 50 or older, according to media reports from two dozen Russian regions.

  • by Nataliya Vasilyeva
Donald Trump

The legal troubles of former US president Donald Trump

As he campaigns for the Republican nomination for the 2024 US election, the legal troubles facing former president Donald Trump continue to grow.

Latrell Mitchell takes time out with a young Perth-based fan.

‘Never washing my hand again’: How Latrell fever is sweeping the west

South Sydney’s Latrell Mitchell was given the sort of fan reception normally reserved for AFL stars in Perth this week.

  • by Christian Nicolussi
Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai embrace after the Panthers’ victory in the 2021 NRL grand final at Suncorp Stadium.

‘I’ve been in his ear’: Cleary confident Luai will stay a Panther

Penrith can’t match what Jarome Luai can earn elsewhere but Nathan Cleary says playing at such a successful club is priceless.

  • by Christian Nicolussi
Scientists are acknowledging that fences might be our last best hope of protecting native creatures.

Australia was stripped bare by feral animals. This sanctuary is reversing decades of damage

Like stepping inside a time machine, Newhaven in the Northern Territory offers a glimpse of Australia before Europeans arrived.

  • by Nick O'Malley and Nick Moir
Clockwise from main, Mary Carr at ACU, Maddison Jackson at University of Sydney and Katrina Pincaro at UNSW.

Is it cool to take your parents to a university open day?

Should you go when you’re in year 12, or is year 9 better? With university open day season about to get under way, experts and students answer these questions and more.

  • by Larissa Ham

Matildas waltz to round of 16, but football fans are hip hopping mad

Despite being frustrated at the lack of free-to-air coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, readers agreed the Matildas represent the very best of Australia’s skill and ability.

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Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan were charged with conspiring to launder 119,754 Bitcoin stolen after a hacker breached Bitfinex’s systems.

‘Crocodile of Wall Street’ pleads guilty in billion-dollar Bitcoin hack case

A hacker and his social-media rapper wife pleaded guilty to a money-laundering conspiracy tied to the theft of billions of dollars of Bitcoin.

  • by Sabrina Willmer
Jack Van Hees (centre) with Caitlyn Quinn and Tim Usherwood. 
Explainer
Health

It starts as an itch then the urge grows: What’s it like to have Tourette’s?

Most people with Tourette’s actually don’t swear, but their tics can be hard to control. Still, many succeed in reframing Tourette’s as just one part of who they are. What’s it like to live with this disorder?

  • by Jackson Graham
Trump

Trump indictment LIVE updates: Former US president appears in court, pleads not guilty over January 6 US Capitol attack

Trump is due to appear in court on Friday morning after being charged with attempting to overturn the 2020 US election result. Follow our rolling coverage.

  • by Latika Bourke
US Navy sailor stands guard next to a machine gun aboard the USS Paul Hamilton in the Strait of Hormuz.

To stop Iranian seizures, US may put Marines on commercial ships

The contemplated move also would represent an extraordinary commitment in the Mideast by US forces as the Pentagon tries to focus on Russia and China.

  • by Lolita C. Baldor and Jon Gambrell
A Powerball player on NSW’s Mid North Coast has won the $50 million jackpot.

‘You’ve changed my life’: Sydney syndicate wins more than $50 million in Powerball

Half of Thursday’s $100 million Powerball was won by a syndicate of 10 people from Sydney, but the Victorian who won the other half cannot be contacted.

  • by Olivia Ireland
Tony Soprana and Eddie Jones
Opinion
Wallabies

Is Eddie Jones the sad clown of Australian rugby – or just diverting our attention?

The Wallabies coach and Tony Soprano might have more in common than many of us think.

  • by Andrew Webster
Ring ring!

I have a landline phone and I know exactly what that says about me

It rarely rings, but the fact of its existence is a dead giveaway.

  • by Richard Glover
Ed Sheeran, left, considered Gudinski a kindred spirit despite a 40-year age gap.

‘He’d hate it, so I’m doing it’: Telling the Michael Gudinski story

Director Paul Goldman spills the beans on the troubled journey to screen of a documentary about Mushroom group founder and Oz rock pioneer Michael Gudinski.

  • by Karl Quinn
Tasmanian-born Rob Mallett, 32, plays Elvis Presley in Elvis: A Musical Revolution.

The story behind Elvis’ musical revolution makes it global debut in Australia

A new musical explores how the king of rock’n’roll changed popular music forever.

  • by Michael Lallo
Cate Blanchett at the 2023 Oscars.

Cate Blanchett no longer Lady Marmalade as star unloads $800,000 artwork

The artwork by sculptor Rosalie Gascoigne will be auctioned after spending the past two decades at Blanchett’s Sydney and UK residences.

  • by Angus Dalton and Simone Fox Koob
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The Committee for Sydney think tank is urging the NSW government not to make it cheaper for people to drive.

The Dine and Discover-style proposal that would raise Sydney’s road tolls

A prominent think tank has told a review into NSW road tolls that the government should consider transport vouchers rather than reduce toll prices.

  • by Michael Koziol
Whitehaven Beach is located on what Australian island?

Travel quiz: What Australian island is home to Whitehaven Beach?

Are you an expert traveller? Test your knowledge with the weekly travel quiz.

Financial services minister Stephen Jones has put super funds on notice over poor customer service.

Government mulling superannuation as part of aged care solution

Sources close to the government said it was a “no-brainer” for super to be part of the mix for funding aged care as costs climb over the next decade.

  • by Natassia Chrysanthos
Gina Rinehart is locked in a court battle with the descendants of her father’s business over royalties from a mining tenement in Western Australia’s iron-rich Pilbara region.
Exclusive
Mining

Will Rio Tinto be dragged into the $1.22 billion Hancock case?

Descendants of the business partners of Gina Rinehart’s father want to claw back billions of dollars in iron ore royalties from her company Hancock Prospecting.

  • by Simon Johanson and Jesinta Burton
Lizzo performs during day one of the Governors Ball Music Festival on Friday, June 9, 2023, at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the Queens borough of New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Lizzo says she’s ‘not the villain’ after dancers’ sexual harassment allegations

Three of the Grammy winner’s former backup dancers made numerous allegations including sexual, religious and racial harassment, disability discrimination, assault and false imprisonment.

A policeman stands next to a scene where, according to media reports, nine people have been stabbed and four others hurt by a car driven by the suspected attacker in Seongnam, South Korea, August 3, 2023.   Yonhap via REUTERS   THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. SOUTH KOREA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SOUTH KOREA.

Multiple victims after car ramming, stabbing incident in South Korea

Authorities said at least 14 people were wounded in the country’s second mass stabbing in a month.

  • by Kim Tong-Hyung
Germany’s Chantal Hagel kneels on the pitch following the Women’s World Cup Group H soccer match between South Korea and Germany in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Katie Tucker)

Germany in shock exit from World Cup, Colombia and Morocco progress

Two-time winners Germany are out of the Women’s World Cup in one of the biggest shocks in the tournament’s history – and the Matildas may yet stand to benefit.

  • by Joel Gould
Trump will appear in court Friday, August 4, 2023. Australian time.

Escorted, fingerprinted and booked: Donald Trump’s date with destiny

The former US president is due to appear in court Friday morning after being charged with attempting to overturn the 2020 election result. Here’s what we can expect.

  • by Glenn Thrush
Touk Miller has been suspended by the AFL.
Opinion
AFL 2023

A weak suspension: How the AFL mishandled the Miller-Zorko incident

For the AFL to have dithered for the better part of a week in dealing with the Touk Miller-Dayne Zorko incident is remarkable.

  • by Andrew Stafford
Column 8 granny dinkus
Opinion
Column 8

Bourn to be filed

Somewhere in Macquarie Street.

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Tim Crakanthorp (left) and Chris Minns pose together shortly after this year’s election.

Sacked minister’s chief of staff reported family’s ‘substantial’ property portfolio

Tim Crakanthorp’s chief of staff raised the alarm with the premier’s office after his boss failed to disclose his family’s land holdings.

  • by Michael McGowan
Albanese and Dutton exchanged barbs on Thursday.

Albanese ‘shifty’, ‘incompetent’ and ‘out of his depth’ on Voice: Dutton

Anthony Albanese hit back, reminding Australians that Dutton had walked out on the apology to stolen generations.

  • by Paul Sakkal
Economists believe the Reserve Bank could be cutting interest rates as early as March next year to support the economy.

Rate cuts tipped for next year as shoppers slash spending like it’s 1991

The biggest fall in the volume of goods bought by shoppers in over 30 years has economists warning the Reserve Bank will have to cut interest rates in 2024.

  • by Shane Wright

The Wolf of Wall Street Lamborghini is up for grabs

The rare car features prominently in the infamous Quaaludes scene, wherein a heavily inebriated Leonardo DiCaprio, playing financier Jordan Belfort, struggles to drive home.

  • by Hannah Elliott