Top-ranked Ash Barty is set to lead Australia’s 11-member tennis team at the Tokyo Olympics. The Australian squad was announced on Tuesday, hours before Barty’s scheduled first-round match at Wimbledon against Carla Suárez Navarro. Former US Open champion Sam Stosur was selected to play singles and doubles in her fifth Olympics, while Nick Kyrgios, Alex de Minaur and John Millman were …

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has been fined by NSW Police for failing to wear a mask, in breach of public health orders. Officers from New England Police District were called to a petrol station in Armidale after the tip-off that Mr Joyce was not wearing a mask. Police confirmed that Mr Joyce was issued with a $200 fine at 8:00am on …

Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong has entered a COVID-19 lockdown for two weeks in response to a growing virus outbreak. Four local government areas (LGAs) in Sydney had already been subjected to “stay at home orders”, but as the ultra-transmissible Delta COVID-19 variant spreads, authorities have taken more drastic action. A swathe of new social distancing restrictions have …

The limousine driver at the centre of Sydney’s COVID-19 cluster won’t be charged, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller says. Some of the man’s passengers included international airline crew. He had not had a COVID-19 vaccine. He tested positive for the Delta COVID-19 variant on June 16, later that night it was confirmed his wife had also been infected. Since then, more than …

In a Sydney pub with her colleagues, Cathy Ngo thought it would be a normal Friday night out for after-work drinks. Instead, to her shock, she was approached by a male colleague at the company, who picked her up and swung her over his shoulder. Ms Ngo said her now former co-worker shouted to the pub, “I love Asian women!” He later told Ms …

Two women have pleaded guilty to charges related to their attempt to have a baby girl circumcised in Perth. The women, aged 23 and 50 at the time, faced court in March after being charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. They have pleaded guilty to conspiring in Canning Vale to commit unlawful genital mutilation. The baby girl was two weeks old …

Two women have pleaded guilty to charges related to their attempt to have a baby girl circumcised in Perth. The women, aged 23 and 50 at the time, faced court in March after being charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. They have pleaded guilty to conspiring in Canning Vale to commit unlawful genital mutilation. The baby girl was two weeks old …

Reef tourism operators say they are bewildered by a draft recommendation to list the Great Barrier Reef as “in danger”, saying the world’s largest living organism is “healthy” and “beautiful”. The World Heritage Committee, which sits under UNESCO, has proposed moving the reef to the list because of the impact of climate change, and will consider the decision at a meeting in …

The number of COVID-19 cases in Sydney’s Bondi cluster has risen to 21, after NSW Health confirmed 10 new infections in its latest update. The increasing number of cases has led NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to extend the state’s mask mandate for all indoor public venues to 12:01am on Thursday, July 1. “We will extend it to all of Greater Sydney …

A 24-year-old man from Sydney’s south-west has faced court after being arrested for allegedly pledging allegiance to Islamic State. Joseph Saadieh from Chester Hill was arrested on Friday following a seven-month investigation by the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCCT). At Parramatta court on Saturday, he did not apply for bail but is expected to apply next Friday when he fronts court again. …