Sydney

Sydney is bracing for large protests and a heavy police presence as Israeli President Isaac Herzog arrives Monday for a four-day visit to honor victims of the Bondi Beach mass shooting, with authorities warning demonstrators to avoid violence and disruption in the city’s streets. New South Wales Police said they will deploy in large numbers and have declared the visit a “major event,” a designation that allows officers to separate rival groups and impose crowd-management controls to reduce the risk of confrontation. “It’s…

Sydney records third shark attack in two days; surfer critically injured, northern beaches closed A shark mauled a surfer off a northern Sydney ocean beach, leaving him in critical condition in hospital with serious leg injuries, authorities said, in the city’s third shark attack in two days. New South Wales Police said members of the public pulled the man, believed to be in his 20s, from the water and began first aid before emergency services arrived. All of Sydney’s northern beaches were closed until further notice. Police…

Sydney records third shark attack in two days; surfer mauled at northern beach as closures widen A surfer believed to be in his 20s was critically injured after a shark mauled him off a northern Sydney ocean beach, authorities said, marking the city’s third shark attack in two days and prompting the closure of all northern beaches. New South Wales state police said members of the public pulled the man from the water and began first aid before emergency crews arrived. He suffered serious injuries to his legs and was taken to…

SYDNEY — A teenage boy was critically injured Sunday after a shark attack in Sydney Harbour, prompting beach closures and warnings to stay out of the water as authorities searched for the animal, police and state officials said. New South Wales Police said the boy, believed to be about 13 years old, was bitten off Shark Beach in the eastern suburb of Vaucluse. He suffered serious leg injuries. “The injuries are consistent with what is believed to have been a large shark,” police said in a statement. Officers pulled the boy…

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…