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Footage of police officer boasting about punching Sydney anti-Herzog protester raises questions about conduct

Male police officer caught on camera during 9 February protest against visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog

Video footage has emerged capturing a New South Wales police officer boasting about “punching” a protester in the head “when he was down”, before the protester was charged with assaulting police.

Police body-worn camera footage, which was leaked to a social media account and widely shared over the weekend, reveals a male police officer telling his colleagues during the 9 February protest at Sydney town hall against a visit by the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog: “I fucking pumped that cunt.”

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© Photograph: Supplied

© Photograph: Supplied

© Photograph: Supplied

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Sydney records warmest winter on record as Melbourne equals previous hottest temperatures

New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania just experienced their warmest-ever winters – and BoM says above-average temperatures expected to continue

Australia’s two biggest cities had their hottest and equal hottest winters on record, with three eastern states also breaking temperature records.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s (BoM) spring outlook shows above average daytime and night-time temperatures are expected to continue for much of the country, with an increased chance of unusually high maximums.

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© Photograph: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images

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Albanese has everything to lose engaging in a fight with Hanson, but he may be drawn in anyway | Analysis

The PM wants to combat One Nation through core Labor values such as education and health, even as his popularity takes a beating

At the height of her 1998 re-election fight, Pauline Hanson was challenged to give her honest assessment of John Howard.

Two years on from her firebrand maiden speech, the One Nation leader was contesting the Queensland seat of Blair when she was bailed up by a group of punters at a country race meeting. The men had been drinking and one demanded to know if Howard was “a prick”.

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© Composite: AAP/Guardian design

© Composite: AAP/Guardian design

© Composite: AAP/Guardian design

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Charles Perrottet told fugitive developer plan at Nobu dinner to have NSW MP ‘on his knees’, Icac hears

Liberal party figure tells inquiry he never asked Jean Nassif ‘for payments for political outcomes’ as lawyer tells him she is ‘gobsmacked’ by his ‘obfuscation’

The younger brother of Dominic Perrottet has insisted he never asked a fugitive property developer for money for political outcomes – including at a meeting at fine-dining restaurant Nobu in Crown Casino, an inquiry has heard.

On Tuesday, the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) heard that developer Jean Nassif had withdrawn from a scheduled videolink appearance from Lebanon later this week, after Charles Perrottet faced questions about the dinner meeting between the two men in Melbourne in May 2021.

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© Photograph: Nadir Kinani/AAP

© Photograph: Nadir Kinani/AAP

© Photograph: Nadir Kinani/AAP

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Meal deal: meth found hidden inside McMuffin during a police car search in Western Australia

Police say the drugs were uncovered as part of ongoing investigations into illicit drugs in Broome

A Western Australian man has been charged after police said they found approximately 3.5 grams of methylamphetamine in a ziplock bag wedged between the bacon and egg of a McMuffin meal during a car search.

The arrest on 20 August was part of ongoing investigations into illicit drugs in Broome, in WA’s Kimberley region.

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© Photograph: WA police

© Photograph: WA police

© Photograph: WA police

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Relief as Australian missing in Nepal-Tibet flood disaster found alive

One of 43 missing Australians has been located in Tibet, foreign affairs department says

An Australian believed to be missing after floods ravaged the Nepal-Tibet border last week has been found alive.

The person made contact with officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) on Tuesday from Tibet.

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© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images

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China warns of ‘consequences’ over Taiwan presence at Pacific Islands Forum

Beijing-Taipei tensions a feature at meeting in Palau, with Australia and New Zealand saying the forum – not another country – will determine who attends

China ⁠said it had serious concerns ⁠about Taiwan’s presence at ​the annual Pacific Islands Forum in Palau, warning of “consequences” after the democratically ruled island attended the group’s opening ceremony on Monday.

China views Taiwan as its own territory, and China-Taiwan tensions have ⁠featured prominently at the meeting, which is intended to demonstrate regional unity.

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© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/Reuters

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/Reuters

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/Reuters

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Meal deal: meth found hidden inside McMuffin during a police car search in Western Australia

Police say the drugs were uncovered as part of ongoing investigations into illicit drugs in Broome

A Western Australian man has been charged after police said they found approximately 3.5 grams of methylamphetamine in a ziplock bag wedged between the bacon and egg of a McMuffin meal during a car search.

The arrest on 20 August was part of ongoing investigations into illicit drugs in Broome, in WA’s Kimberley region.

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© Photograph: WA police

© Photograph: WA police

© Photograph: WA police

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Rival Ray Hadley tells Alan Jones trial that alleged victim ‘broke down and sobbed’ when detailing assaults

Former 2GB and 2UE broadcaster Jones, 85, has denied 22 indecent assault and sexual touching charges involving six men

Broadcaster Ray Hadley has told a Sydney court that an alleged victim of Alan Jones confided in 2019 he’d been “sexually assaulted” by the fellow 2GB broadcaster on a number of occasions.

He said [Jones] put his hand on my cock and kissed me,” Hadley told the Downing Centre local court on Tuesday.

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© Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

© Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

© Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

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Relief as Australian missing in Nepal-Tibet flood disaster found alive

One of 43 missing Australians has been located in Tibet, foreign affairs department says

An Australian believed to be missing after floods ravaged the Nepal-Tibet border last week has been found alive.

The person made contact with officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) on Tuesday from Tibet.

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© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images

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China warns of ‘consequences’ over Taiwan presence at Pacific Islands Forum

Beijing-Taipei tensions a feature at meeting in Palau, with Australia and New Zealand saying the forum – not another country – will determine who attends

China ⁠said it had serious concerns ⁠about Taiwan’s presence at ​the annual Pacific Islands Forum in Palau, warning of “consequences” after the democratically ruled island attended the group’s opening ceremony on Monday.

China views Taiwan as its own territory, and China-Taiwan tensions have ⁠featured prominently at the meeting, which is intended to demonstrate regional unity.

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© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/Reuters

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/Reuters

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/Reuters

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Cities sweltering and the smell of the middle ages: has the climate crisis killed Instagram’s Euro summer? | Brigid Delaney

Who dreams of having a Euro summer now when staying in an ancient, uncooled building in the Old Town is like trying to sleep in a wood-fired pizza oven?

This week the Euro summer comes to an end – and so does a certain type of posting on Instagram.

Waiting at the bus stop in the grey winter dawn, a slanting rain soaking your trouser leg, you can warm yourself by scrolling your feed and seeing pictures of Australians enjoying a Euro summer. There it is again – azure Greek coves, plates of barbecued sardines, the yachts rented by the hour, and selfies on the balcony of some Paris Airbnb, drinking wine in the long, blue night.

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© Photograph: Annice Lyn/Getty Images

© Photograph: Annice Lyn/Getty Images

© Photograph: Annice Lyn/Getty Images

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NSW top prosecutor Sally Dowling and state attorney general discussed which barristers could review her office, estimates hears

Dowling tells budget estimates that Michael Daley called to tell her he was appointing a senior counsel and ‘raised quite a number of names’

The top prosecutor in New South Wales says she discussed a list of barristers to lead an independent review into controversial findings against her office with the state’s attorney general, before he appointed someone she had known “professionally and socially” for nearly 30 years.

Last month, a state parliamentary committee voted 4-3 to find that the NSW director of public prosecutions (DPP), Sally Dowling SC, had given false evidence about the pitching of a story about an Indigenous child performing an acknowledgment of country at a sentencing hearing to radio station 2GB.

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© Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

© Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

© Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

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Sydney home invasion during which man shot and killed a ‘targeted attack’, police believe

Alleged offenders at large after man in his early 20s fatally shot in early hours of Tuesday

A man in his early 20s has been fatally shot in an alleged home invasion in Sydney’s south-west that police believe was a “targeted attack”. A homicide investigation is under way, with the alleged offenders still at large.

Acting Supt Gretchin Atkins said the man, who was yet to be formally identified, was at his Glen Alpine home with his family in the early hours of Tuesday morning when multiple individuals allegedly broke in.

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© Photograph: Steven Saphore/AAP

© Photograph: Steven Saphore/AAP

© Photograph: Steven Saphore/AAP

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Investigation into Powerhouse Parramatta museum under way as stop-gap leader steps in

‘Opera House of the west’ still slated to open to the public as scheduled on 7 November, NSW arts minister says

An investigation is under way into allegations of misconduct involving senior executives at the soon-to-be-opened Powerhouse Parramatta.

The $915m museum in western Sydney, billed as one of the world’s most significant new museum projects, is set to open in November.

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© Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

© Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

© Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

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Queensland has passed tough new laws on ebikes and e-scooters. What do they mean for riders, and will the world follow?

Transport minister says laws target ‘young hooligans’ holding ‘communities to ransom’, but cycling advocates say changes most affect law-abiding riders

This week, Queensland became the first Australian state – and one of the first jurisdictions on the planet – to set age limits and licensing requirements for e-vehicle riders.

Bicycle Queensland, the advocacy body for cycling in the state, says only a handful of other other jurisdictions around the world have passed similar legislation for ebike or e-scooter riders, such as New Jersey and Israel.

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© Photograph: Darren England/AAP

© Photograph: Darren England/AAP

© Photograph: Darren England/AAP

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Fugitive property developer won’t give evidence this week to Icac – as it happened

This blog is now closed

43 Australians still missing, with concerns growing ‘every day, every hour’ that goes by, Wong says

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, says there are still 43 Australian missing after the flooding in Nepal, saying the government holds grave concerns for their safety that only gets worse as the days go by.

This is such a distressing time and I know this is so difficult for the family and friends of those 43 Australians.

Every day, every hour, only increases our concern for those who have not been found and remain missing, and that is many Australians. … You can imagine how many families and friends are traumatised as a consequence.

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© Photograph: PR IMAGE

© Photograph: PR IMAGE

© Photograph: PR IMAGE

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Border area between Nepal and China where 33 Australians are missing still almost entirely cut off

Majority of missing Australians were near Gyirong Port minutes before impact. Rescuers say the area is now destroyed, covered in metres of silt and debris

It has been almost a week since the catastrophic floods in Nepal and not even a vehicle can get into the area where the majority of missing Australians were last heard from.

Gyirong Port, the border area between Nepal and China, was the first to be hit. Images from Chinese rescue teams who have managed to get in by helicopter or hiking show the area has been completely flattened. The immigration building, the power lines, everything, just wiped away.

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© Photograph: Lhasa fire and rescue mobile detachment/Xinhua/AP

© Photograph: Lhasa fire and rescue mobile detachment/Xinhua/AP

© Photograph: Lhasa fire and rescue mobile detachment/Xinhua/AP

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Australians missing in Nepal targeted by ‘heartbreaking’ and ‘abhorrent’ racist slurs

As families await news after the catastrophe, community members appeal for compassion in the face of hateful rhetoric

A slew of racist social media comments have been made towards Australians missing in the catastrophic Nepal-Tibet floods, prompting calls for greater accountability of major platforms to remove hateful rhetoric.

On Monday, the total number of Australians missing after flash floods triggered by a massive glacier collapse in the Himalayas rose to 43, and the overall death toll was at least 810 people.

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© Photograph: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

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Icac lawyer tells Charles Perrottet the key to lying is ‘you have to be really good at remembering it’

Perrottet disagrees when counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC claims brother of former NSW premier is not truthful and ‘constructing evidence’

A brother of former New South Wales premier Dominic Perrottet has told Icac he would lie to a property developer about delivering political outcomes “to keep him on side”, but Charles Perrottet has denied lying to the state’s anti-corruption watchdog.

Charles Perrottet, who is among three Liberal figures alleged to have anticipated receiving $2m in prohibited political donations from Jean Nassif, told the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) on Monday that he “made up” updates for the property developer.

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© Photograph: ICAC

© Photograph: ICAC

© Photograph: ICAC

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