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Exclusive
Healthcare
‘We’re quite frankly being smashed’: United plea for help
Liberal and Labor health ministers from the five mainland states are pleading with the Morrison government to ease the strain on a health system choked by post-2020 ill health.
Breaking
Coronavirus pandemic
COVID restrictions to end on Monday after no new cases
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said today that based on health advice, restrictions will be lifted from 12.01am on Monday. There were no new community cases reported but the source for the latest local infection has still not been found.
Exclusive
Food
Rate my plate: What $65 a day will buy you in hotel quarantine
Photo diaries reveal a huge variation in what returning travellers are served during their 14 days in a hotel room. In some cases the food is so unappetising people are forced to buy in their own meals.
Exclusive
Kids sport
‘Using your head is probably not a good thing’: Safety concerns for soccer kids
Football Australia is reviewing the medical evidence for whether young players should be taught how to hit the ball with their heads, a practice that has been banned for younger children in the United States and Britain.
Exclusive
Emerald City
Elite Sydney school’s apology after email blunder implicates high-profile family
Hours after the email was sent, Cranbrook’s office manager issued an apology to the student and family and blamed a clerical error.
Exclusive
Coronavirus pandemic
‘I no longer feel like Australia is my home’: The people quitting our shores
The federal budget predicts the loss of 174,000 people by mid next year as a result of Australia travel bans.
Ancient Bondi rock carvings at risk of destruction
Indigenous rock carvings on the golf course at North Bondi could be lost due to weathering, erosion and degradation.
In witness protection: Growing disquiet among Liberal MPs over Christian Porter’s media silence
Christian Porter is the only minister from Scott Morrison’s March reshuffle who is yet to hold a press conference or give an interview.
Opinion
Keanu Reeves
In defence of Keanu: humanity’s gentle emissary, who never claimed to be great
I normally love to read brutal film reviews, but one published in my own newspaper last week reached my limit.
Jacqueline Maley
Columnist and senior journalist
Sleep six hours or less? Why your risk of dementia may be higher
Poor sleep is linked to cognitive decline, with the risk of dementia deemed up to 30 per cent higher in midlife
Shouts, a hurried evacuation, and then the bombs came
My colleagues’ yells awakened me, and the pounding of my heart drowned out the racing of my mind. I had just a few minutes to escape before the building I was in was going to be pulverised by missiles.
Israeli strikes destroy Gaza tower housing media outlets, and home of Hamas leader
An Israeli airstrike targeted and destroyed a high-rise building in Gaza City that housed offices of The Associated Press and other media outlets.
NRL 2021
Is Tom Trbojevic twice as valuable as anyone else in the NRL? One betting agency thinks so
Just how valuable is Tom Trbojevic to Manly? A new rating has found he means more to his side than even Andrew Johns and Johnathan Thurston in their prime.
Roosters 30 Cowboys 16
Magic moment from Tedesco puts gloss on ugly win for Roosters
The game’s best player busted four tackles to help set up a try and inspire a Roosters side who spent large passages of the game barely touching the ball.
Sydney
Five people hospitalised, one critical, after stabbings in Sydney’s west
Five people, including a 15-year-old boy, have been hospitalised after separate stabbings across Sydney’s west on Saturday night.
‘Sacrilege’: Frankie’s Pizza to be demolished for Sydney Metro station
An icon of the city’s entertainment scene, Frankie’s Pizza, will be demolished to make way for the Sydney Metro – a loss that may be mourned on Macquarie Street more than anywhere else.
Exclusive
Casinos
Crown tower pays out to Sydney Observatory in fight over light pollution
Concerns over light pollution from high-rise towers at Barangaroo have prompted a new partnership between Sydney Observatory and Crown Sydney.
‘Winter is coming’: Snow and strong surf as cold front moves across NSW
Sydneysiders woke to cooler temperatures this morning as a cold front brings snow and powerful surf to NSW.
Fresh allegations made against Craig McLachlan in defamation case documents
In documents released by the Supreme Court this week, the Sydney Morning Herald and the ABC detail a series of alleged incidents involving the Gold Logie-winning actor.
WEEKEND READS
Graphic content
Privilege, porn and parent-free parties: Schoolkids and where it all goes wrong
Sexual assault allegations involving students from a raft of private schools underline the need for a healthier brand of manhood.
Australian Museum gears up for most important show in its history
An exhibition about colonisation through the eyes of First Nations people will be confronting for many as it challenges ideas about Australian history.
Politics
Liberals believe early election more likely after well-received federal budget
Josh Frydenberg’s third federal budget has raised expectations of an early election. And Liberal MPs say - as long as the vaccine roll out improves - Scott Morrison could pull the trigger.
Opinion
Federal budget
Why the budget is a ‘requiem for robust, rules based policy’
Peter Hartcher
Political and international editor
Business
Opinion
Superannuation
Why I’ve decided to contribute extra into my super account
You can easily score a slice of this government-sanctioned tax-minimisation strategy, if you want it.
Jessica Irvine
Senior economics writer
World
Modi missing in action during nation’s deadly crisis
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been silent as India endures one of the worst outbreaks of coronavirus in the world.
Opinion
Tony Blair’s insights nail the challenge for Australian Labor
Parnell Palme McGuinness
Columnist and communications adviser
Truth-telling paves the way to a brighter future
Ian Hamm
Chairman of the First Nations Foundation
Hold it, fellas: Let women bring out their slayer
Kate Halfpenny
Regular columnist
Budget’s avalanche of money hides a vacuum
David Crowe
Chief political correspondent
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Property bydomain
The eye-catching kitchen trends transforming the heart of our homes
We’re spending more than ever before on designing and constructing new kitchens, cooking up renovations with character.
Rare Burley Griffin house hits the Melbourne market
When Americans Marc and Mary Parlange inspected the 1924 house in 2017 they did not know it was one of the rarest houses in Australia.
Life & Culture
‘I screamed, then I cried’: Rising star Sophie Wilde on making her big break
Ivorian-Australian actor Sophie Wilde has been on a steep learning curve in her first TV role, the eight-part mystery series Eden, shot in Byron Bay. She chats about finding her feet in front of the camera, resilience and role models.
Sport
Analysis
NRL 2021
Lights, Cam, action: Smith joins Origin mates as TV commentator
There had been much speculation about Cameron Smith’s next move but the only time we are going to see him on the field is with a microphone in hand.
Soccer
FA Cup
Tielemans stunner earns Leicester first FA Cup win
In front of the largest crowd in England in over a year, the Foxes celebrated their victory in emotional scenes with the club’s Thai owner.
Is Turbo twice as valuable as anyone else in the NRL? One betting agency thinks so
Just how valuable is Tom Trbojevic to Manly? A new rating has found he means more to his side than even Andrew Johns and Johnathan Thurston in their prime.
Roosters 30 Cowboys 16
Match report
Magic moment from Tedesco puts gloss on ugly win for Roosters
The game’s best player busted four tackles to help set up a try and inspire a Roosters side who spent large passages of the game barely touching the ball.
Updated
NRL 2021
‘Survival of game depends on it’: NRL unmoved by backlash to welfare edict
There has been a backlash to the NRL’s latest interpretation of the rules, but another mooted change – the five-minute sin bin – isn’t currently on the table.
Sharks 22 Rabbitohs 32
Match report
‘Is the bunker reffing the game now?’: Bennett blows stack after Souths win
The Rabbitohs coach gave the NRL a slap as well as a tickle in a tirade after his team were given a leg-up by the bunker to condemn the Sharks to a sixth straight loss.
Bulldogs 18 Raiders 20
Match report
‘It’ll turn into Oztag’: Bulldogs and Raiders blast NRL after controversial clash
Canberra’s season was on life support when they were reduced to 11 men midway through the second half, but Ricky Stuart’s men somehow ran down the Bulldogs.
Have Your Say
The World Cup should only have one home in 2027 – Australia
It’s a big week for Rugby Australia as they formally launch their bid for the 2027 World Cup in Sydney.