Sydney

Sydney ushered in 2026 with its largest-ever New Year’s Eve fireworks display, a 12-minute spectacle capped by a shimmering “waterfall” cascading from the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The show stretched 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) along the harbor and, according to organizers, featured some 25,000 individual pyrotechnic shots forming cockatoos, koalas, bottlebrush and other native Australian motifs. Fireworks launched from the Sydney Opera House, six city rooftops and six aerial platforms hovering above the water. To widen…

Sydney — Hundreds of mourners overflowed a Bondi synagogue Tuesday to remember two rabbis killed in the Bondi Beach Hanukkah festival shootings as kind, curious men devoted to their families, faith and community. Funerals were held for Rabbi Eli Schlanger, 41, and Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, 39, who were shot dead during Sunday’s “Chanukah by the Sea” celebration organized by Chabad of Bondi. Rabbi Schlanger’s service took place a few blocks from the beachfront where the attack occurred; Rabbi Levitan, a father of four, was buried…

Bondi Beach Hanukkah shooting probed as terror attack; Israel’s envoy urges protection for Jewish Australians SYDNEY — Dozens queued along Sydney’s Bondi Beach to lay flowers and light candles for the victims of the weekend’s Hanukkah festival shooting, as Australia opened a terrorism investigation and Israel’s ambassador called for stronger protection of the country’s Jewish community. Police said 16 people were dead, including one of the alleged gunmen, after two attackers opened fire on Sunday in Australia’s worst mass…

Surfer killed in rare shark attack at Sydney's Long Reef; beaches closed What happened A man has died after what police and rescuers described as a suspected shark attack at Long Reef Beach on Sydney’s northern coastline, prompting immediate beach closures and a visible, urgent response from emergency services. New South Wales police said the man was pulled from the Pacific Ocean and brought ashore but died at the scene. Two sections of a surfboard recovered near the victim have been taken for forensic examination as…

Swimmers can rejoice as Sydney's beaches have reopened following the swift removal of thousands of mysterious black pollution balls that recently washed up on shore. These peculiar substances, upon inspection, were identified as being composed of chemicals akin to those found in cosmetics and household cleaning supplies. Since Tuesday, approximately 2,000 of these enigmatic black spheres—some the size of golf balls—have littered the sandy stretches of Sydney's coastline. This alarming influx necessitated the temporary…