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Sydney councils
Mayor of Sydney’s biggest council dies on flight home from China
Tony Bleasdale, a Labor Party veteran, was returning from a delegation to cities in South Korea and China when he died. He was 77.
- by Michael Koziol
Three arrested, burnt-out ute found as Mexican police search for Australian brothers
A torched vehicle has been found as Mexican authorities search for Perth brothers Jake and Callum Robinson.
- by Alex Crowe and Marta Pascual Juanola
Australian news LIVE: New Zealand deputy prime minister fires back in Bob Carr spat
Follow the latest national news live.
- by Jessica McSweeney
Wild first aid: Orangutan applies medicinal plant to treat facial wound
Animals have been known to eat certain plants to alleviate stomach discomfort, but scientists had never seen one apply a makeshift bandage to heal a wound before.
- by Christina Larson
Breaking
Inquest
‘This can’t happen again’: Titmuss died after ‘inappropriate’ training session
A coroner has handed down his findings into the death of the former Manly rugby league player, with the Sea Eagles boss vowing it must never be repeated.
- by Adam Pengilly
Opinion
ICC Men’s World Cup
Australian selectors optimistic at best in ignoring T20’s A-kid
George Bailey and his panel think they are being risk-averse with their World Cup squad. They are actually risking everything as the world changes without them.
- by Malcolm Knox
Exclusive
Cybersecurity
Family violence and sex assault victims exposed in Monash Health data breach
A cyberattack has exposed the personal data of thousands of victims of family violence and sexual assault at the state’s biggest health service.
- by Kieran Rooney
The best new shows to stream in May
Our guide to the best of what’s on the streamers and free-to-air this month.
- by Craig Mathieson
NSW promises emergency domestic violence response ‘in days’
Speaking after an urgent cabinet meeting, Deputy Premier Prue Car highlighted crisis accommodation for women escaping violence as a top priority.
- by Alexandra Smith
Updated
Horse racing
Racing Victoria to review after Warrnambool’s day of ‘insanity’
Racing Victoria stewards cleared two clerks of the course of any wrongdoing as they attempted to catch loose horses at Warrnambool on Thursday, but will review protocols.
- by Danny Russell
Macquarie chief takes $7.6m pay hit as profits fall
Many of the investment behemoth’s top executives, including CEO Shemara Wikramanayake, have had their pay cut by millions of dollars as green investments and lower commodity prices weighed on fiscal 2024 profits.
- by Millie Muroi
‘What have we done?’ Lawyer, editor in Stormy Daniels deal appear shocked after Trump won
The text messages were shown to the jury on the latest day of the trial, in which Trump has been accused of falsifying business records to cover up an affair with a porn star.
- by Farrah Tomazin
Exclusive
Aviation
‘Not for the faint-hearted’: Jetstar boss on the high-stakes battle for Australia’s skies
There’s a cruel irony to Australia’s newest low-cost airline scrambling to get out of voluntary administration while the country’s oldest celebrates its 20th birthday.
- by Amelia McGuire
Think this week’s been wet? It’s about to get turbocharged
A band of rain sweeping towards Sydney is forecast to deliver 150-millimetre downpours and flash flooding.
- by Angus Dalton
Suzie Miller on why UK police are required to watch her Broadway show
The award-winning playwright is not only changing lives, she’s changing the law.
- by Cassidy Knowlton
Why you won’t be seeing some of your favourite labels at fashion week
Labels such as Zimmermann and Dion Lee are blazing international trails while newcomer Dissh steers clear of the runway.
- by Damien Woolnough
‘It sounds bizarre’: Why being a principal is more challenging than volunteer firefighting
Firefighting is dangerous and volatile - but there are no parents to contend with, says NSW Secondary Principals’ Council president Craig Petersen.
- by Christopher Harris
PM concedes community protection board failed to protect the community
Albanese said the decision to waive the requirement for a former detainee – now accused of a violent assault – to wear an ankle bracelet was the wrong one.
- by Olivia Ireland and Angus Thompson
Breaking
Public housing
Public housing towers class action case dismissed, but judge throws lifeline
The legal fight against the demolition of Melbourne’s high-rise public housing towers has been dealt a major blow.
- by Rachael Dexter
Opinion
Real life
My wedding plan was perfection, then I turned my feet into two blocks of ice
My scheduling and Be Your Best strategy seemed to have paid off, before suddenly I realised it hadn’t.
- by Kate Halfpenny
The role that Audra McDonald, Broadway’s GOAT, would kill to play
The superstar holds six Tony awards, two Grammys and an Emmy. If only there were an award for tap dancing while seven months pregnant.
- by Cassidy Knowlton
Updated
World markets
ASX lifts as Wall Street jumps; Apple surges on earnings
The S&P/ASX 200 has climbed, reflecting US’ rally that trimmed the majority of their losses for the week while Apple released its numbers after the closing bell.
- by Jessica Yun
★★★★★
Review
Hacks returns for a third delicious season – and does not disappoint
Deborah and Ava are reunited in the comedy-drama’s new season and it’s a thrill to see both their characters evolve (but not too much).
- by Kylie Northover
Misfits find a home in this film about housekeeping. Tidy it isn’t
Goran Stolevski changed his behaviour while filming in his homophobic home country. His partner almost paid the ultimate price.
- by Stephanie Bunbury
Shereen’s partner pleaded for help when she went missing. He now admits he killed her
The body of mother-of-two Shereen Kumar was found near her Dural home after an extensive police search.
- by Sarah McPhee
Exclusive
AFL 2024
Late Hawk hero’s son to debut, stirring high hopes and feelings
Calsher Dear, the teenage son of late Hawthorn premiership player and Norm Smith medallist Paul Dear, will make his debut for the Hawks on Sunday in a rapid ascension that stirs hopes and feelings.
- by Jake Niall
Exclusive
Electric vehicles
Surveyors warn EV chargers in old apartment buildings should have fire safety approval
The Australian Institute of Building Surveyors warn the rapid uptake of the technology has created fire risks not yet addressed by existing building regulations.
- by Rachel Eddie and Kieran Rooney
Boris Johnson turned away from polling station after forgetting ID
Johnson introduced the contentious new laws that mandate photo ID when voting while he was PM despite railing against the idea when he was a newspaper columnist in 2004.
- by Rob Harris
Opinion
US Votes 2024
Alarm bells: Donald Trump is flirting with some very dangerous ideas
Donald Trump is as addicted to magical thinking and denial of reality as any petty strongman or dictator. That’s why his economic plans should have us all worried.
- by Paul Krugman
Europe must prepare to send troops to defend Ukraine, Macron says
The French president told The Economist that governments will need to act if Vladimir Putin makes a significant breakthrough in the coming months.
- by Rob Harris
Same age, same experience, less pay. But it’s not for the reasons you might think
Australian research has found differences in pay within occupations make up the bulk of the gender pay gap – not women working part-time or in lower-paid occupations.
- by Rachel Clun
‘Get your foot off Carlton’s throat’: When Eddie McGuire went into bat for the Blues
For Eddie McGuire, there’s nothing better than the anticipation of playing Collingwood - and then beating them. Which is why he intervened at the Blues’ lowest ebb.
- by Greg Baum
The YouTuber taking on the old-school TV hosts in Top Gear Australia
Jonathan LaPaglia, Beau Ryan and Blair Joscelyne are in the drivers’ seats for the latest iteration of the cult motoring show.
- by Bridget McManus
They were the coolest duo in dance music. Does their comeback album live up to that legacy?
New album Hyperdrama from French duo Justice is nowhere near as bold as its title suggests.
- by Annabel Ross
Opinion
Comedy
Eight pressing questions I’ve left unanswered for decades
The answers are surely a quick Google away. But do I really need to know?
- by Richard Glover
Opinion
Flexible working
Bosses demanding a return to the office should stop and listen to women
The benefits of flexible work are particularly appreciated by women, who have indicated clearly it is non-negotiable.
- by Pip Dexter
Opinion
NRL 2024
Peter FitzSimons is hurting the concussion cause, not helping it
The former Wallaby would have greater impact if he took us with him on his concussion crusade rather than continually belittling us.
- by Andrew Webster
Opinion
Productivity
Is a Future Made in Australia a good idea or a bad one? Maybe a bit of both
Why would Anthony Albanese and his smart economists, Jim Chalmers and Chris Bowen, want to reverse the bipartisan policy of the past 40 years and take us back to the future?
- by Ross Gittins
Analysis
NRL 2024
Any more losses like this and Souths might lose Bennett as well
No one would have been a keener observer of South Sydney’s latest loss than Wayne Bennett. The enormity of the job, should he wish to accept it, has just been laid bare.
- by Adrian Proszenko
Exclusive
Services Australia
Joeanne was stabbed while at work at Centrelink. She says it should never have happened
The career public servant was left battling severe pain and nerve damage and is unable to return to work, but hopes beefed-up security will keep others safe.
- by Caroline Schelle
Exclusive
Domestic violence
Women forced to live in tents, sleep in car parks to escape violence
The emergency housing crisis is emerging as one of the most pressing issues ahead of Friday’s urgent cabinet meeting.
- by Alexandra Smith, Michael McGowan and Perry Duffin
Opinion
Work therapy
Was my colleague being callous by not comforting a co-worker?
We should be careful about making assumptions about people’s intentions in any situation, including at work, as people’s thoughts can be hard to deduce.
- by Jonathan Rivett
Exclusive
Sydney stadiums
‘We’re not a charity’: Former SCG boss defends dumping of guest passes
Tony Shepherd said the decision to discontinue “club cards” for new members was made for economic reasons, which will anger members who say the move puts profits over people and tradition.
- by Michael Koziol
Exclusive
Domestic violence
Carly was looking for help. Instead, she found the man who killed her
Carly McBride vanished just before a letter landed on her mother’s doorstep. Had it arrived earlier it could have saved her daughter’s life.
- by Perry Duffin
Opinion
Domestic violence
Holding all men responsible for a violent minority has failed to keep women safe
The more I heard the discourse around respect and violence, the more it reminded me of being told that it was up to all Muslims to own the problem of terrorism and solve it.
- by Waleed Aly
Analysis
Media & marketing
Breaking news: Will social media kill the evening bulletin?
Competition from agile digital outlets and social media giants is forcing a major rethink of how TV news is delivered, and who is best suited to do so.
- by Calum Jaspan
Ruining the ‘aha’ moment: why movie trailers give too much away
Why watch the movie if the trailer has already shown you every twist, stunt and gag? It turns out we might be to blame.
- by Nell Geraets
Houseplants need different care during winter. Here’s how to look after yours
For indoor gardens to thrive during the cooler months, you need to get your lighting and watering right.
- by Megan Backhouse
Exclusive
Social media
‘Meta will play hardball. So will the government’: Facebook threatens Canadian option
“Meta’s threat to pull news content from Australia should send a shudder down the spine,” says Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones.
- by Paul Sakkal
Biden condemns violence as police dismantle pro-Palestinian UCLA protest camp
The pre-dawn police crackdown at UCLA marked the latest flashpoint for mounting tensions on US college campuses over Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza.
- by Lisa Richwine and Omar Younis
Exclusive
Arts
‘Quality space’: New look for Powerhouse Museum at Ultimo revealed
The Powerhouse Museum at Ultimo will have a new entrance, and its interiors will be ‘decluttered’ of modern additions according to a new plan.
- by Linda Morris
‘I’ll ask for his advice’: Hornby to lean on likely Souths’ successor Bennett
The three-time premiers have scored a comprehensive 42-12 win over South Sydney at Accor Stadium.
- by Christian Nicolussi and Paul Zalunardo
Alexis Wright wins Stella Prize with ‘perhaps the great Australian novel’
The Indigenous writer has won the $60,000 award for her acclaimed novel, Praiseworthy, making her the first to win the prize twice.
- by Jason Steger
Exclusive
Inflation
Businesses struggle as cash-strapped customers dump spending plans
The cost-of-living crisis that is hitting consumers is now being felt by small and medium-sized businesses as shoppers try to make savings.
- by Shane Wright
‘Near unliveable’ extreme heat poses national security risk
Climate change could throw into doubt the feasibility of crucial military bases, a group of leading defence figures has warned.
- by Matthew Knott
Exclusive
Domestic violence
How police could spot red flags for violent men who fly under the radar
Australia’s police ministers will discuss how they can improve their response to high-risk offenders – which could involve looking at their GPS data, online activity, mental health data or involvement in family law disputes.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
Analysis
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Cops to remain on Ivy League campus until after graduations
The sight of law enforcement officers in and around a prestigious college campus is somewhat jarring, even with its history of activism.
- by Farrah Tomazin
Exclusive
Schools
School students missed more than 9 million days of learning last year. Here’s why
Attendance levels remain below pre-pandemic levels, while a third of public school students are leaving before finishing year 12.
- by Lucy Carroll and Nigel Gladstone
Opinion
Domestic violence
Jacinta Allan needs to do more than walk the protest walk on violence against women
The image of Allan and other Labor MPs leading a march of incensed protesters fed up with inaction and holding signs saying “The system has failed us” felt a bit off.
- by Annika Smethurst
New domestic violence focus is too little, too late
One imagined that the national cabinet on family violence would have wanted to demonstrate it meant business. Nothing could be further from those ambitions.
Editorial
Domestic violence
Australia needs to ditch its dinosaur attitudes – but Molly Ticehurst shouldn’t have paid the price to make it happen
Under cloudy skies on the Forbes rugby oval, hundreds of people paid witness to a father’s grief. The premier and police minister were among them.
- The Herald's View
Across a university moat, pro-Israel and pro-Palestine groups face off
Pro-Israel supporters harassed a student encampment at Monash overnight while a Jewish rally confronted the University of Melbourne’s pro-Palestine camp on Thursday.
- by Sherryn Groch
Raw silence: A shattered community says farewell to Molly Ticehurst
As mourners remember Molly Ticehurst as a devoted mother, a talented educator and a lover of cob loaf, her alleged murder has galvanised a national movement against domestic violence.
- by Sally Rawsthorne
Inner-city hospitals boss departs after turbulent 12 months
Teresa Anderson’s departure comes less than a year after medical staff at Concord Hospital revolted against her leadership, sparking a ministerial review.
- by Angus Thomson
Exclusive
Music festivals
Another Sydney music festival calls it quits, blaming 529% increase in costs
Return to Rio, created by husband and wife duo Ricky and Alex Cooper, was born in 2013 but last year confronted $300,000 in extra costs under the state’s controversial “user pays” system.
- by Michael Koziol
Australia news as it happened: PM pledges financial support for DV victims, online safety measures; Violence flares among protesters at US college campuses
The federal government will invest $925.2 million to permanently establish the leaving violence program, alongside a range of online safety measures including banning doxxing and deepfake pornography, and tensions have erupted at US college campuses as violence breaks out at UCLA, and police put an end to protest at Columbia University.
- by Rachael Dexter and Josefine Ganko
Opinion
Immigration
‘Community safety is our priority,’ the government says. Tell that to Ninette Simons
The Albanese government wanted the alleged basher of Ninette Simons to remain behind bars, but it cannot escape the political fallout from the fact he was set free.
- by David Crowe
Rare editions of Russian author’s books are vanishing from libraries around Europe
Authorities paint a picture of a network of associates, some blood relatives, travelling across Europe by bus with library cards sometimes under assumed names to scout rare Russian books.
- by Rachel Donadio
Updated
World markets
ASX extends gains after Wall Street’s Fed rollercoaster
The Australian sharemarket lifted on Thursday despite a negative lead from Wall Street after Jerome Powell revealed the US Federal Reserve would hold its cash rate steady and moving to reassure another rate hike is unlikely despite stubbornly high inflation.
- by Sumeyya Ilanbey
Updated
Supermarkets
‘We have got a lot of work to do’: Woolworths ‘out-traded’ as it trails Coles
Outgoing Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci says cost-of-living pressures have hit the supermarket giant.
- by Jessica Yun
This satiric series based on Tom Wolfe’s novel unpacks the fault lines of America today
Adapted by the prolific David E Kelley, A Man in Full stars Jeff Daniels as a property tycoon who won’t change with the times.
- by Craig Mathieson
The COVID variant that now accounts for almost every case in NSW
The JN.1 strain now accounts for almost all COVID cases in NSW. Scientists, however, say getting a booster now is a better bet than waiting for a new vaccine.
- by Angus Thomson
NAB boss says most of its home loans are written at a discount
Chief executive Andrew Irvine reported a 13 per cent tumble in half-year profits, but said households were mostly proving resilient in the cost-of-living crisis.
- by Millie Muroi
Protest, pain and family the themes as Archibald Prize entries arrive
As the entries arrived at the Art Gallery of NSW ahead of Friday’s deadline, you could tell a lot about recent events in Australia by the faces painted.
- by Helen Pitt
Phil Gould fined $20,000 over television rant
The NRL has sanctioned the high-profile television commentator after he labelled the game “stupid” in a rant about rules interpretations.
- by Adam Pengilly
South Sydney to offer Bennett three-year deal as Eels pass on supercoach
Parramatta held a board meeting on Wednesday night but they won’t be making at an immediate play for Bennett, who is about to be be offered a three-year deal to return to the Rabbitohs.
- by Michael Chammas and Christian Nicolussi
Opinion
Competition
Competition kicks the stuffing out of NAB and Woolworths
This week’s results provide a reality check for those who argue that the highly concentrated banking and supermarkets sectors lack competition.
- by Elizabeth Knight
All Bonza flights cancelled until Wednesday with no refunds imminent
Bonza administrator Hall Chadwick says early discussions with the owners of the airline’s grounded fleet will continue into next week, with all flights cancelled before then.
- by Amelia McGuire
Updated
AFL 2024
Three down, two to go: Florent signs long-term extension with Swans
Ollie Florent has followed in the footsteps of Errol Gulden and James Rowbottom by pledging his long-term future to Sydney - and he hopes Logan McDonald and Will Hayward do the same.
- by Vince Rugari
Bob Carr to sue NZ foreign minister for calling him a ‘Chinese puppet’
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters is facing calls to step down after he attacked Bob Carr for calling AUKUS “fragrant, methane-wrapped bullshit”.
- by Matthew Knott
‘We can’t be killing our young footy stars’: Why Perrett intends to sue Sea Eagles
Lloyd Perrett claims he has never been the same person since a training incident in 2017. But that’s not the reason he intends to sue the Manly Sea Eagles.
- by Adrian Proszenko
Pro-Israel supporters attack pro-Palestinian encampment at University of California
Eyewitness videos showed people wielding sticks or poles to hammer on wooden boards being used as makeshift barricades to protect the pro-Palestinian protesters before police were called to the campus.
- by Nichola Groom and Maria Tsvetkova
How letter to the editor exposed a fake identity and earned an ICAC referral
On Wednesday, the editor of the Southern Highlands Express referred the local MP to the corruption watchdog. By Thursday, the bizarre saga took on another life.
- by Anthony Segaert and Max Maddison
Exclusive
Social media
TikTok local profits surge as potential ban looms
New figures show TikTok is a money-making machine locally, despite mounting political and regulatory pressure.
- by David Swan
Hawaii’s ‘famous macadamia nuts’ threatened by cheaper, undisclosed Australian imports
Macadamia nut trees are native to Australia and were introduced to Hawaii in 1881 by a Scotsman. The nut has since become synonymous with Hawaii.
- by Audrey McAvoy
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher reveals taking antidepressants after personal tragedy
Katy Gallagher has told former prime minister Julia Gillard she hit the “bottom of the bottom” after the tragic death of her fiance.
- by Olivia Ireland