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- NSW storm: three dead as Sydney and Hunter region lashed by wild weather – as it happened
- ‘Accountant of Auschwitz’ goes on trial in Germany
- Julie Bishop presents David Pope cartoon to Charlie Hebdo staff in Paris
- Mob attacks Bangladesh opposition leader during election rally
- Iranian ambassador says Australian jihadis in Iraq will 'get what they deserve'
- South Korea to punish factories for raising wages
- Migrant boat captain arrested as survivors of sinking reach Italy
- Britain sponsors for-profit schools abroad – but not in our back yard
- Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai's iconic railway station – a history of cities in 50 buildings, day 20
- Hubble at 25: the best images from the space telescope
- Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilisation review – a fabulous beast
- Chibok: 'For over one year, our children haven't been to school'
- Seven die in Dominican Republic plane crash
- Arachnophobe's nightmare as man hits wolf spider and hundreds of babies burst out of egg sac – video
- Babies feel pain 'like adults', MRI scan study suggests
- Forty years on from the fall of Saigon: witnessing the end of the Vietnam war
- Lord Ashdown: destroy migrant smugglers' boats before they leave port
- Shinzo Abe may not repeat previous apologies for Japan's wartime atrocities
- Japan's maglev train breaks world speed record with 600km/h test run
- From the archive, 21 April 1962: Hard problem of Arab refugees from Israel
| NSW storm: three dead as Sydney and Hunter region lashed by wild weather – as it happened Posted: 21 Apr 2015 01:24 AM PDT
As 100km/hour winds and torrential rain continue to beat down across parts of northwest New South Wales and Sydney, here is what we know so far:
With power cuts to 200,000 homes across New South Wales and over 4,500 reports of hazards and wires down across the network due to the wild weather, Ausgrid are reporting it may take "several days" to repair the damage. Here is their advice about what to do if you find yourself in a blackout: Someone is enjoying this weather! Our giraffes are catching raindrops with their tongues #SydneyStorm #SydneyWeather pic.twitter.com/TNYLuShIeW
For anyone mad enough to contemplate a swim today, Sydney Water recommended residents of the city avoid swimming at all beaches due to possible stormwater and wastewater pollution. The extreme weather conditions on Tuesday saw an "extremely rare power outage" at the North Head wastewater treatment plant in the morning, which serves nearly one million customers. Wild weather continues to batter the coast at Clovelly in Sydney this afternoon @dailytelegraph #weather pic.twitter.com/3a7ZbPC8h1 I wonder what horrors will be found under the #bondi sand, stripped away overnight? #SydneyStorm Pic: John Grainger pic.twitter.com/j4dgxmYe1r
According to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) the maximum temperature in Sydney on Tuesday was 15.4C, making it the coldest April day since 1983. It may rarely get so cold so early, but rain at this time of the year is more common: this graph supplied by my colleague Nick Evershed shows April is traditionally the wettest month in Sydney. The Paterson River hit a record 16.1 metres at 2pm causing major flooding. #NSWFloods. See http://t.co/iC2DWrblig pic.twitter.com/HojXrqN07o
Residents of Dungog have been advised by police to leave the township. There have already been three confirmed deaths and a dozen rooftop rescues after severe flooding hit the 2,000-person town, north of Newcastle, early on Tuesday. The NSW SES has sent emergency text messages to Newcastle and surrounding areas residents. pic.twitter.com/ElPdAFyaHY
As the storm intensifies across parts of New South Wales, we continue to witness the fury being unleashed on towns and suburbs, including pulling down signs, trees and rooftops. RT @EdmondTran: RIP in piece :( #SydneyStorm pic.twitter.com/f26h8cSU7H *tear* This hatchback in Redfern has been crushed by a fallen tree, as NSW awakes to damage. #SydneyStorm #9News pic.twitter.com/ZYnfAFjjEJ
The state emergency service for New South Wales has sent a tweet advising residents in Newcastle to "expect rapid rises and flash flooding in the next few hours". Flood advice for residents in Newcastle. Expect rapid rises and flash flooding in the next few hours. Do not enter floodwater. Telephone 000 3409 Triple Zero calls since 6am & 1239 #NSWWeather emergencies. #FRNSW f/fighters v.busy today supporting #NSWSES. pic.twitter.com/8pDRwZV5jR
This is what the intense low pressure system currently thrashing northern New South Wales looks like from space: Spectacular image of the intense low pressure system off the #Hunter coast (from @NASA_EO) #NSWweather #NSWFloods pic.twitter.com/LdRtQYcisW Newcastle Beach is an intense static of foam and tremor, I've never seen the place like this before - @1233newcastle pic.twitter.com/gUVK1Hajb4 Brother-in-law found his car smashed and a goat in his carport this morning. Anyone missing a goat? #SydneyStorm pic.twitter.com/hUMoDd1Oer
As storms rage across the Hunter region, Sydney and Central Coast they are expected to intensify before easing around midnight, with Newcastle and the Central Coast copping the most severe weather. Here is the damage and warnings so far:
Storms are intensifying in Sydney after a day cleaning up from last night's storms.
There are currently severe weather warnings for Sydney, the Illawarra, the Hunter region and the Central Coast. From 2pm onwards there will be damaging winds, heavy rain and damaging surf from Illawarra through Sydney to the Hunter Valley.
"Please take the opportunity to get home as quickly and as safely as you can," premier of New South Wales Mike Baird has advised all of those affected by severe weather across the state. Officials are urging people to get home before dark and that employers be flexible with employees leaving work early.
The 2,000-person town of Dungog, north of Newcastle, has already experienced three fatalities, with several homes washed away. But New South Wales premier Mike Baird advised "the weather could get more severe" for the region between now and midnight at a press conference at 1pm on Tuesday. Baird said an evacuation centre has been setup in the town. Rescue efforts have been hampered by power cuts and areas in which mobile networks are struggling with the volumes of calls. "Some of the areas are remote and cut off but we are doing everything possible to provide support on the ground." Stay safe Newcastle. Image via Facebook - @HunterStadium entrance sign down #NRL pic.twitter.com/9dnv9YQgCI
The state emergency service have given important safety advice to all those caught in a storm that's being described as "once in a decade":
The weather is set to worsen between now and midnight, according to New South Wales premier Mike Baird, who was speaking from a press conference in Sydney. Baird said the warning was particularly important for those located in the Hunter and Central Coast regions, which have already been hit by more than 24 hours of severe weather.
Extraordinary footage of a house floating down the turbulent waters of Lake Macquarie has been posted on the Newcastle Herald website. The paper also interviewed Tianna Brien, a local from Toronto, just south of Newcastle, who said she had seen the house float past as she drank her morning coffee on Tuesday at about 6.30am. I thought it was a boat or something. It just looks like half a house. Another house has washed up - this time on the shore of #LakeMacquarie. - Credit: @nswincidents #SydneyStorm pic.twitter.com/nyvObnf9G2
Three people have died in Dungog, a town north of Newcastle, following severe weather conditions. The town is located in the Hunter region, one of the hardest hit areas in New South Wales, with reports of damage to major roads and homes.
For many students across New South Wales this was the first week of a new term. But children from more than 100 schools woke up on Tuesday to discover that they would be staying home for the day, as wild winds and torrential rain continued to pummel parts of the state. The state education department has said more than 100 schools, mainly in the hard-hit Hunter region, have temporarily closed. Some Sydney metropolitan and Illawarra schools have been also affected. Fence breaks the fall of a large tree at #Coogee Public School #SydneyStorm pic.twitter.com/mb0d8skI1F
Dungog Chronicle is reporting three elderly people are dead due to flooding, as severe weather continues in the area. Four homes were washed away in the town, which is north of Newcastle. Two men and one woman were trapped in their residences as flood water surged through the town in the early hours of Tuesday. Emergency services could not save them. There is no power, no mobile service and a number of roads and bridges have been washed away in the Dungog district.
A passenger on Carnival Spirit, the cruise ship unable to get into Sydney harbour because of the swell, has posted footage of conditions on the ship. Passengers have also been speaking to radio stations, with one telling the ABC "it's not pleasant, it's been like this all night".
Six people reportedly suffering from hypothermia are being rescued from a flooded house by fire officers in the Hunter Valley. GRETA | #FRNSW conducting a flood rescue at Sale St. House severely damaged by flood waters. Reports of 6 ppl with hypothermia. #NSWWeather
Extraordinary scenes purportedly from Dungog, north of Newcastle: a home literally pulled from its foundations by floodwaters. About 312mm of rain have fallen in the town in the past 24 hours.
The winds and rain are continuing and more images are coming in showing the damage and strength of the storms across Sydney, the Hunter region and Central Coast.
The University of Newcastle has closed for the day because of the severe storms and students who live on campus are being prepped to leave in case the weather gets any worse. Newcastle has two severe storm warnings and the Bureau of Meteorology is warning a "very dangerous" line of storms is heading for the region.
South of Sydney has also been suffering and the Audley weir in the Royal national park is overflowing. A weather bloganista has very kindly sent through footage. Thank you to Peter Baxter for filming and Cindy Baxter for linking me up.
An elderly couple reported missing in the storms in Stroud, north of Newcastle, have been found and the woman is in a critical condition in hospital. The SES deputy commissioner, Steven Pearce, has told Seven news the couple are in hospital and AAP is reporting the woman may have suffered a heart attack. We have other rescues on at the moment and in some of those situations we hold grave concerns for those persons," Pearce said.
The Hunter region and Newcastle have experienced some of the worst of the storms with flooding, smashed-up boats and roofs blown off. Debris is scattered across the Gosford foreshore, after cyclonic winds. @nswincidents #9News pic.twitter.com/11lLxbN0JL Tree chops house in half - Atherton Close, Rankin Park #newystorm pic.twitter.com/LcAUAom1Go
Another severe storm warning has been issued for the Hunter region including Maitland, Cessnock, Raymond Terrace and Nelson Bay. A "very dangerous line of thunderstorms" extends from about Nelsons Bay to Cessnock, according to the latest warning issued by Bureau of Meteorology.
This is the rain radar within the 128km vicinity of Sydney. The wind and rough conditions are likely to ease tomorrow but the rain won't clear until late Thursday.
Well, it seems we all shouldn't be so shocked by the inclement weather. According to this nifty graph supplied by my colleague Nick Evershed, April is traditionally the wettest month in Sydney.
Bondi beach has been closed because of dangerous surf and the winds are so strong sand is blowing inland. My colleague Nikki Marshall took this footage and photos. Bondi beach, taken by @MarshallNikki pic.twitter.com/Y8dyIC24pk
The SES was called out to a school bus trapped in floodwater in Stroud this morning. The bus was swept off the road but thankfully did not have any children on board. The driver has been winched to safety, 2GB reports. #UPDATE: There were no children on the bus which was swept off the road near Stroud. The driver has since been winched to safety. @2GB873
A glance at the State Emergency Service callout log gives an idea of the extent of damage done by storms in Sydney and the Hunter region. The NSW SES has been called out 3,136 times in 24 hours, according to its morning update which you can read here.
In these trying weather times I think it is important we all remember to "keep a reasonably slow walking pace and don't turn sharply". Truly. That is part of the stellar advice at Stanford University for when wet weather strikes. A lovely tweeter, @NerdNeuro, has passed the advice along. This is the kind of amazing advice given out at Stanford when it rains @bkjabour pic.twitter.com/ZIUTfNr723
Bondi beach is closed today with the storm creating very dangerous conditions in the surf. My colleague Nikki Marshall took this photo in Bondi: So Bondi junction Westfield is starting to flood pic.twitter.com/DSuKAf0TTd Fabulous @cityofsydney street sweepers r braving the howling weather this morning to clear the bike path. Amazing. pic.twitter.com/F4gldD0fjT
Photos of the storm damage have been flooding in. We don't know weather or not it will start clearing tomorrow or Thursday but hopefully the rain of terror will be done by the weekend. (Feel free to join the pun fun.) Waterfront at Gosford looks like the aftermath of a cyclone. Boats and debris washed ashore @9NewsSyd @TheTodayShow pic.twitter.com/CFtnTLdNzl @earleyedition @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/Wc4PNVkybv The #SydneyStorm #umbrellageddon pic.twitter.com/nJ0lL1gEQi The #SydneyStorm #umbrellageddon pic.twitter.com/PBSUVL4NAn The #SydneyStorm #umbrellageddon pic.twitter.com/JvnkqpUmZt
The number of homes which have lost electricity has doubled since this morning, says Ausgrid. The power company has confirmed 180,000 homes are without electricity in the Sydney, Central Coast and the Hunter region, up from 100,000 earlier this morning.
Reports are coming in of a school bus trapped in floodwater in Stroud, north of Newcastle. Two people are also missing in the area after driving into floodwaters overnight. NSW SES has confirmed it is responding to calls about the school bus and has repeated warnings not to attempt to drive through flooded roads. The @NSWSES says they're responding to a school bus trapped in floodwater at Stroud. Via @cbemergency
The Bureau of Meteorology says more than 300mm of rain has fallen in some areas in the past 24 hours. Dungog, in the upper Hunter, had 312mm; Crawford, which is just north of Newcastle, recorded 259mm; 171mm was recorded in the Sydney suburb of Wahroonga.
Newcastle really copped a beating from the storms last night. We have pictures of the damage coming through this morning, and people are being told to stay home. Runaway bins all over the place. No surprise waste collection services are cancelled today #newystorm @1233newcastle pic.twitter.com/HnoZ90Ax71 Foam party?! #newystorm pic.twitter.com/zyNmZgtEKV Raymond Terrace. #NewyStorm Photo credit: Jessie Jane pic.twitter.com/PiGUDfHquB @australian Some of the damage near Lake Macquarie, south of Newcastle... pic.twitter.com/FMMDYLJ1Af
This morning we are greeted with gale-force winds, thousands of homes without power and the news that conditions are not going to ease across Sydney and the Hunter region until Wednesday. The SES deputy commissioner, Steven Pearce, has warned people to stay off the roads because of flash- flooding "everywhere" across Sydney and surrounding areas. We've had 24 hours of relentless gale-force winds. I haven't seen this wind damage for years," he said. Continue reading...        |
| ‘Accountant of Auschwitz’ goes on trial in Germany Posted: 21 Apr 2015 12:37 AM PDT 93-year-old Oskar Gröning charged with complicity in the murder of 300,000 Holocaust victims A 93-year-old man who was assigned to confiscate the luggage of prisoners arriving at Auschwitz concentration camp in his capacity as an SS guard is to go on trial in Germany on Tuesday, charged with complicity in the murder of 300,000 Holocaust victims. Oskar Gröning, referred to as 'the accountant of Auschwitz', will stand trial in the north German town of Lüneburg in what is a hugely symbolic act as part of authorities' last-ditch attempt to put the handful of remaining Nazi death camp guards in the dock before they die. Continue reading...        |
| Julie Bishop presents David Pope cartoon to Charlie Hebdo staff in Paris Posted: 21 Apr 2015 12:28 AM PDT The foreign affairs minister tells staff of French satirical magazine that Pope's 'He drew first' image 'encapsulates the brutality of terrorists' Continue reading...        |
| Mob attacks Bangladesh opposition leader during election rally Posted: 20 Apr 2015 11:45 PM PDT Khaleda Zia is apparently shot at as she travels in bullet-proof car in Dhaka Police in Bangladesh are investigating a mob attack on the car of Bangladesh's main opposition leader on Monday, during which gun shots were reportedly fired. Attackers armed with iron rods surrounded the car of Khaleda Zia during an election rally and then shot at it as the vehicle sped away, officials said. Continue reading...        |
| Iranian ambassador says Australian jihadis in Iraq will 'get what they deserve' Posted: 20 Apr 2015 11:36 PM PDT Diplomat warns Shia militias and Iranian intelligence will not offer any special treatment to Australians caught fighting on behalf of Islamic State Continue reading...        |
| South Korea to punish factories for raising wages Posted: 20 Apr 2015 11:29 PM PDT Company owners will pay for bowing to North Korean pressure over workers in Kaesong joint industrial zone, says Seoul Continue reading...        |
| Migrant boat captain arrested as survivors of sinking reach Italy Posted: 20 Apr 2015 11:20 PM PDT Police make two arrests as 27 survivors from sinking that killed 800 are brought to Catania on board Italian coastguard ship Italian police have arrested two suspected people traffickers among the survivors of the migrant boat that capsized on Sunday, as the United Nations confirmed that at least 800 people died in the sinking off the coast of Libya. Prosecutors said they had detained a Tunisian man believed to be the captain of the vessel and a Syrian allegedly a member of the ship's crew, taken from a group of 27 haggard survivors who arrived in the Sicilian port of Catania on Monday evening. Related: Europe's worsening migrant crisis – the Guardian briefing Related: Risking death in the Mediterranean: the least bad option for so many migrants Related: Crushing repression of Eritrea's citizens is driving them into migrant boats Related: If Europe listens to Tony Abbott, the future for refugees will be cruel | Richard Ackland Continue reading...        |
| Britain sponsors for-profit schools abroad – but not in our back yard Posted: 20 Apr 2015 11:15 PM PDT Schools run for profit make the education secretary 'uncomfortable'. So why is it OK to make money from Ugandan and Kenyan schoolchildren? Continue reading...         |
| Posted: 20 Apr 2015 11:00 PM PDT The old Victoria Terminus was the first truly public building in Bombay. So when it became a target of the 2008 terrorist attacks, what was violated was much more than just a railway station Continue reading... |
| Hubble at 25: the best images from the space telescope Posted: 20 Apr 2015 11:00 PM PDT As the Hubble space telescope gets ready to celebrate 25 years since its launch, we look back at some of the iconic images it has produced Continue reading...        |
| Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilisation review – a fabulous beast Posted: 20 Apr 2015 11:00 PM PDT British Museum doesn't shy from its ownership of many controversial artefacts in this wonderful exploration of Indigenous Australian tragedy and triumph Preservation or plunder? The battle over the British Museum's Indigenous Australian show Continue reading... |
| Chibok: 'For over one year, our children haven't been to school' Posted: 20 Apr 2015 11:00 PM PDT The closing of Chibok school after Boko Haram's kidnap of 276 girls last year has had a devastating impact – one of many such closures in Nigeria's Borno State due to the conflict Continue reading...        |
| Seven die in Dominican Republic plane crash Posted: 20 Apr 2015 10:55 PM PDT Britain's foreign office issues update saying no Britons died in Piper PA-32 crash, contrary to initial reports Continue reading...        |
| Arachnophobe's nightmare as man hits wolf spider and hundreds of babies burst out of egg sac – video Posted: 20 Apr 2015 10:32 PM PDT Have you ever had a nightmare involving spiders? Perhaps it went a bit like this ... A man attempting to kill a large wolf spider in Hallett Cove, South Australia, got a bit of a surprise when he squashed it with a broom and released hundreds of baby spiders from an egg sac. Female wolf spiders hold on to their egg sacs on their spinnerets and the young then crawl up onto her abdomen for safety – it is one of the only cases of maternal protection in the arachnid world. The man said he originally filmed the event in order to prove to his wife that the creature had been dealt with Continue reading...         |
| Babies feel pain 'like adults', MRI scan study suggests Posted: 20 Apr 2015 10:09 PM PDT Scientists at Oxford University say a world-first form of research shows infants may be far more sensitive to pain than adults The brains of babies "light up" in a similar way to adults when exposed to the same painful stimulus, suggesting they feel pain much like adults do, researchers said on Tuesday. In the first of its kind study using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), scientists from Britain's Oxford University found that 18 of the 20 brain regions active in adults experiencing pain were also active in babies. Continue reading...        |
| Forty years on from the fall of Saigon: witnessing the end of the Vietnam war Posted: 20 Apr 2015 10:00 PM PDT When North Vietnamese troops marched into the capital on 30 April 1975, it marked the most crushing defeat in US military history. Four decades after he reported on these events for the Guardian, Martin Woollacott reflects upon what it meant for the future of both nations Continue reading...        |
| Lord Ashdown: destroy migrant smugglers' boats before they leave port Posted: 20 Apr 2015 09:46 PM PDT Former Lib Dem leader claims there is a case for using special forces to destroy migrant vessels before they leave port         |
| Shinzo Abe may not repeat previous apologies for Japan's wartime atrocities Posted: 20 Apr 2015 09:44 PM PDT PM hints that there is no need to reiterate apology for country's war crimes and aggression although he says he 'upholds basic thinking' behind it Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has hinted that he will not repeat previous official apologies for Japan's wartime conduct in a highly anticipated statement to mark the anniversary of the end of the Pacific war later this year. Abe's comments, which are expected to anger former victims of Japanese aggression, came hours before he made a symbolic offering to the Yasukuni shrine , where 2.4 million Japanese war-dead, including class A war criminals, are honoured. Continue reading...        |
| Japan's maglev train breaks world speed record with 600km/h test run Posted: 20 Apr 2015 09:32 PM PDT The seven-car 'magnetic levitation' train hit a top speed of 603km/h less than a week after breaking a 2003 record of 581km/h Japan's state-of-the-art maglev train set a world speed record on Tuesday in a test run near Mount Fuji, clocking more than 600km/h (373mph). The seven-car maglev – short for "magnetic levitation" – train, hit a top speed of 603km/h and managed nearly 11 seconds over 600km/h, Central Japan Railway said. Continue reading...        |
| From the archive, 21 April 1962: Hard problem of Arab refugees from Israel Posted: 20 Apr 2015 09:30 PM PDT |
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