The Ashes: unfinished SCG stands without a roof
JAMES ROBERTSON The rush for seats in the members' reserve at the Sydney Cricket Ground Test match next week is set to be a touch more frantic this time round.
Latest NSW news
Sydney New Year's Eve gets a third act
![Fireworks](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/27/5037338/cn27-thumb-fire-20131227120723154042-90x60.jpg)
12:15pm Sydneysiders can look forward to an extra fireworks spectacular as part of this year's New Year's Eve celebrations, organisers have revealed - but blink and you'll miss it.
Man charged over fatal crash on M1
![Mooney Mooney crash](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/26/5035255/th-mooneymooney-90x60.jpg)
Police have charged a man with negligent driving after a crash that killed two men on the M1 on Thursday morning.
Comforts of home lure revellers
![Fion So, left, and Karen Lee, prepare for a New Years Eve party they are hosting in Enmore, Sydney.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/27/5038605/th-nye-90x60.jpg)
Charmaine Wong, Esther Han More than 1.6 million people will converge on Sydney harbour to marvel at one of the world's most spectacular New Year's Eve firework displays. But this year, Karen Lee will stay at home.
Walls at police homicide squad say volumes
![Willing](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/27/5038824/mb_thumb_willing-20131227220039248749-90x60.jpg)
EMMA PARTRIDGE The hallway is festooned with faded, yellow newspaper clippings. ''Killer within'', ''Guilty'' and ''Murder hunt'' are some of the headlines on the wall.
My magical moments at Sydney Opera House
![Lucy Cormack as a 4 year old.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/27/5038607/th-lucy-20cormack-90x60.jpg)
Lucy Cormack Dressed in my very best OshKosh B'gosh dress, as a bright eyed four-year-old I marched proudly up the mountainous Opera House steps.
Council told to fix beach safety after death
![Ayman Ksebe](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/23/5031012/aymanksebe320-90x60.jpg)
7:31pm More than 4000 people have signed a petition calling on Rockdale City Council to warn the public about the dangers of swimming at an unpatrolled beach where a five-year-old boy drowned last week.
Boxing Day splurge estimated at $1.9 billion
![Customers enter the David Jones.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/26/5036691/th-792478433-90x60.jpg)
Ben Butler, Amy McNeilage To shopping fanatics, it's the equivalent of a grand final. But rather than soaking up the atmosphere at the main game, they are increasingly staying on their lounges to bag Boxing Day bargains.
Urban renewal hits roadblock
![barry](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/26/5036344/th-barry-20o-90x60.jpg)
LEESHA MCKENNY The O'Farrell government's much-trumpeted plan to provide 30,000 homes near some of Sydney's main transport developments has been dealt a blow.
Firefighters smashed way into burning home
![Oxley fire](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/26/5035710/320_fire2-90x60.jpg)
An off-duty firefighter says he used a tomahawk and a sledgehammer to help save two children from a burning Brisbane home on Christmas Day.
Police find body of missing boy
![Connor Elliott Graham](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/26/5035289/connor-thumb-90x60.jpg)
RACHEL OLDING Police have found the body of a four-year-old boy who went missing on Thursday morning from a house on the NSW mid-north coast.
Synthetic drugs linked to man's death
![drugs](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/26/5036543/th-drugs-90x60.jpg)
Dan Proudman A Lake Macquarie man is believed to be the latest victim of synthetic drugs, found dead a day after telling friends he felt hot and itchy after taking a substance.
Two dead in M1 crash on NSW Central Coast
![Azhar Iqbal](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/26/5036147/iqbalthumb-90x60.jpg)
RACHEL OLDING Two men have been killed and three others injured in a horror crash on the Pacific Motorway north of Sydney, police say.
Staff say triple-0 call service is undermanned
![Phones](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/25/5034632/mb_thumb_phones-20131225194244574250-90x60.jpg)
JAMES ROBERTSON A woman was on hold for 13 minutes while calling for an ambulance this month, the second recent report of a lengthy delay and one described by the Health Minister as concerning.
Christmas weather fails to dampen spirit
![Life-guards stand alongside their Christmas Tree at Bondi Beach](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/25/5034802/th-792433460-90x60.jpg)
Rachel Olding, Charmaine Wong The sky was grey but the tree at Bondi Beach was decked in bright shades of red and yellow.
Order in court and Christmas spirit to boot
![Courts](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/25/5034638/mb_thumb_courts-20131225193506873234-90x60.jpg)
Alexia Attwood It's not the most cheerful place to be on Christmas Day, but Registrar Bernadette Hilton was in positive spirits at Sydney's only operating court on Wednesday.
Man burnt in Christmas BBQ explosion
![BBQ](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/25/5034697/th-BBQ-90x60.jpg)
A man has been severely burned in a BBQ gas explosion as he prepared Christmas lunch for his family on the NSW south coast.
King-hit 'a total blank' for bashing victim
![Griffin](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/25/5034631/mb_thumb_griffin-20131225194320885493-90x60.jpg)
RACHEL OLDING Greg Griffin never thought he would spend Christmas in an intensive care unit as the latest victim of Sydney's king-hit culture.
Festive cheer among the ruined homes
![Joe and Chereyl Moore with their four foster children](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/23/5032041/th-Bushfires-90x60.jpg)
KIM ARLINGTON They are a family used to giving to others but since the Moores lost their home in the October bushfires, people have been giving back.
Star casino in hunt for new boss, again
![A tourist poses for pictures at the main sign of The Star Casino.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/07/04/4545469/th-star-90x60.jpg)
GEORGIA WILKINS Echo Entertainment is on the hunt for a new boss for flagship casino the Star after its managing director quit to take up a role overseas.
Religious leaders invoke 'selfies' and new Pope
![Selfie](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/23/5032047/Selfie-90x60.jpg)
LEESHA MCKENNY Sydney's Christian leaders have turned to Oxford Dictionaries' word of the year and Time magazine's person of the year in their annual Christmas messages.
Dog owners stick up for pets in wet adventure
![News. Zac Wagner-McCullough, 9, from Scotland Island who will be competingwith his dog Bob in the Scotland Island church point dog race](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/23/5032044/th-Swimming-90x60.jpg)
AMANDA HOH Participants in the annual Scotland Island canine race are told to keep it ''all fun'', but nine-year-old Zac Wagner-McCullough is having none of it.
Brother's desperate attempt to save sibling
![Ayman Ksebe](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/23/5031012/aymanksebe320-90x60.jpg)
EMMA PARTRIDGE Kindergarten student Ayman Ksebe only escaped his family's eyes for a few seconds. But it was just enough time for the five-year-old to dart across the sand and into the water.
Sydney father drowns in the Murray River
![Jovica Djukic, 44, from Sydney](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/23/5032346/th-SydneyMan-90x60.jpg)
Tammy Mills The family of the father-of-three who drowned in the Murray River near Yarrawonga at the weekend described him yesterday as a hard-working man who did everything for his loved ones.
Random violence puts medics on edge
![Arrest in city](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/23/5030357/violence-90x60.jpg)
EMMA PARTRIDGE Veteran paramedic Norm Spalding gives his crews advice before they head out on a weekend night shift. ''Remember to duck and weave, duck and weave.''
$100 million sum for a $133,000 payout
![NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell and Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione discussing alcohol related violence at NSW parliament. Photo: Edwina Pickles. 16th Dec 2013.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220902im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/23/5030331/1_th-790637675-90x60.jpg)
NICOLE HASHAM The O'Farrell government has defended spending almost $100 million on a police insurance policy which returned less than $135,000 to injured officers.
Owners beside motorway weigh compo claim
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JACOB SAULWICK Residents along the WestConnex motorway whose properties will not be bought by NSW government but who may end up having to live by a motorway ramp or exhaust tower are considering legal action.
Syd Fischer still takes it up to the big names in Sydney to Hobart
Syd Fischer may be the oldest competitor in the Sydney to Hobart but he showed he is as sharp as ever as day two at sea drew to an end on Friday.
NSW sentencing laws out of step with its human rights obligations
NSW must pay attention to its human rights obligations when it comes to prisoners, write John Anderson, Felicity Wardhaugh and Daniel Matas.
VIDEO
Treacherous weather ahead for racers
Gail force winds and waves up to 10 metres high are predicted to challenge Sydney to Hobart racers as a vigorous cold-front moves up from the Bass Strait on Saturday.
Two dead, three injured in M1 crash
Vehicle "impacted with one of the rock walls, catapulted across the M1" says Inspector George Bradbury. Nine News
George Pell's Christmas message
The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell delivers his 2013 Christmas message.
Two dead in M1 crash
RAW VISION: Two men have been killed and three others injured in a crash on the NSW Central coast. NO SOUND. Nine News.
Dramatic rescue at Dee Why
A teenager has been winched to safety by rescue crews after falling 20 metres down cliffs at Dee Why beach. Nine News.
Sydney Fish Market's festive frenzy
RAW VISION: Shoppers and staff struggle to make themselves heard at Sydney Fish Market as 80,000 customers flock to buy seafood during a 36-hour shopping marathon.
Major drug syndicate smashed
RAW VISION: Police uncover a laboratory in the NSW Central Coast containing methylamphetamine with an estimated street value in excess of $43 million. Vision: NSW Police.