Toppled dictator Bashar al-Assad airlifted around $252 million in cash to Moscow in a two-year period when Syria was dependent on Russia for support. The Financial Times has uncovered records showing that Assad’s regime flew two tonnes of banknotes into Vnukovo airport in Moscow to be deposited at Russian banks between 2018 and 2019. The shipments came at a time …

On the occasion of the feast day of St Nicholas the Wonderworker, H.E. Metropolitan Basilios presided over the festive Vespers in St Nicholas Church in Punchbowl. The priests of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, along with the faithful from all the churches in Sydney, gathered at St Nicholas Church to celebrate its patron saint’s feast. This year the parish welcomed the …

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told 7.30 parliament will sit in February, to consider remaining bills on the government’s agenda, pushing back against the notion of an early 2025 election. That election will be set against the backdrop of the continuing cost of living crisis but Mr Albanese was keen to counter Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s suggestion that Australians should …

A popular Christmas lights display in Melbourne’s south that raises money for charity will be scrapped this year, as organisers blame excessive red tape from the local council. The Grange Road Lights show in Sandringham attracts hundreds of people each year, with proceeds from donations going towards the National Breast Cancer Foundation. But the organiser Michael said this year’s event …

Six months ago, Ben Quilty tried to hang his Archibald Prize-winning portrait of Margaret Olley on his kitchen wall, but it was making for some awkward conversations. “I wanted it back, just to feel her back in our house,” the painter said. “But every time people walked in it was very awkward having to talk about the painting again. “It …

Was Kamala Harris hiding something under those classy pumps and Converse All Stars – her alternating footwear of choice during her failed presidential campaign? Could it really be that Joe Biden’s veep has a little toenail fetish that only she – and presumably husband Doug Emhoff – knows about? How else can you explain the fact that her election spending includes some $5,000 to a California nail artist who specializes …

Coco Gauff became the youngest player to win the WTA Finals title in 20 years with a gruelling 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) victory over Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in Riyadh on Saturday. The 20-year-old Gauff rallied back from 3-6, 1-3 down, and erased a one-break deficit twice in the decider, to overcome Zheng in three hours and four minutes – …

Australia’s Middle Eastern trading partners say a 50-year working relationship has been “thrown out the door” by the decision to end live sheep exports by sea. Decades of exports to markets like Kuwait are set to end in 2028, after the Albanese government confirmed earlier this year the trade would cease. It came as somewhat of a surprise to Kuwaiti officials, …

Ryan Park Minister for Health Minister for Regional Health Minister for the Illawarra and the South Coast Steve Kamper Minister for Small Business Minister for Lands and Property Minister for Multiculturalism Minister for Sport The Asylum Seekers Centre will be able to expand primary care clinics and meet the increasingly complex health needs of some of Sydney’s most vulnerable residents, …

Steve Kamper Minister for Small Business Minister for Lands and Property Minister for Multiculturalism Minister for Sport Jihad Dib Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Minister for Emergency Services Minister for Youth Justice The Minns Labor Government is investing $7.5 million into Multilingual NSW which will deliver the new Multilingual NSW Academy for translators and interpreters to further strengthen …