8:06am: On the roads:
At Granville, there is a brekdown on the M4 at James Ruse Drive.
At Drummoyne, there's a breakdown on Victoria Road at Park Avenue.
At Woolahra, traffic on Ocean Street is slowly recovering after a car accident near Wallis Street.
8:04am: Buses using Oxford Street in Darlinghurst may experience delays this morning due traffic lights blacked out in the area.
8:04am: It's a Friday miracle - there a no disruptions on the train network.
This weekend there is trackwork on the Western Line, Carlingford Line and Blue Mountains Line.
8:01am: To recap the weather, it will be cloudy today with a top of 24 in the city, 26 in the west. Showers will clear this afternoon.
Saturday will be a corker - mostly sunny with a top of 30 degrees.
Sunday will be average - possible showers with a top of 24 degrees.
7:59am: Here's a gallery of the finalists for the 2013 Archibald Prize.
The portrait of Tara Moss by Matthew Lynn. Photo: Supplied
7:58am: ''Number one: it has to be good, so that knocks out a hell of a lot of 'em."
Geez I love the criteria for awarding the Archibald's Packing Room Prize, this year awarded to Mathew Lynn's portrait of novelist Tara Moss.
7:56am: The Australian dollar rose above $US1.04 overnight, following overseas markets higher and after traders in the US and Europe welcomed surprisingly strong domestic jobs figures.
It was recently buying $US1.0377, up from $US1.0364 late yesterday.
Follow the Markets Live blog from 9.30am.
7:52am: The Australian share market is set for a strong start to trade with encouraging jobs figures in the United States helping Wall Street extend its longest winning streak in more than 16 years.
Earlier this morning, the March share price index futures contract was up 20 points at 5050.
However, another big slump in iron ore, which fell 4.4 per cent $US132.90 overnight, could weigh on the miners.
7:51am: There's already a scandal brewing on the horizon for Pope Francis.
His humble reluctance to talk about himself is why he has hardly ever denied one of the harshest allegations against him: That he was among church leaders who actively supported Argentina's murderous dictatorship.
Argentina's Jorge Bergoglio, elected Pope Francis I. Photo: AFP
7:50am: Pope Francis, who took his name to honour the simplicity and humility of St Francis of Assisi, has begun his reign by sharing a bus with cardinals after his election, mingling with worshippers in a church the next morning and making an unscheduled stop to pay his hotel bill because "bishops should set a good example".
A pope for austerity
He's been hailed a humble champion of the poor, but the pressure is on for Pope Francis to lead the Catholic church out of crisis.
- Autoplay OnOff
- Video feedback
- Video settings
7:47am: While on the topic of federal politics, Tony Abbott has remained strategically quiet after Julia Gillard's policy announcement to protect penalty rates and overtime payments in law. Can't you just see him quietly cogitating here?
"Tony Abbott - eager to be a small target generally, and on industrial relations in particular - has refused to fight." Photo: Andrew Meares
7:43am: So what exactly is dog whistle politics? Fairfax illustrator and animator Rocco Fazzari has dissected the fine art in his phenomenal weekly blog. Get it indya.
Dog whistle while you work
Rocco Fazzari presents - Dog whistle while you work
- Autoplay OnOff
- Video feedback
- Video settings
7:42am: Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is on Radio National defending his heavily-criticised media reforms which are lacking crucial support from crossbenchers like Craig Thompson and Rob Oakeshott.
"We're having discussions and listening to the issues but... it's a little too early to make pronouncements about whether or not people are voting for the bill."
The bill has just two weeks to be rushed through parliament. And if you can't get Craig Thompson on your side against the media, who can you?
Communications minister Senator Stephen Conroy reacts after he uses unparliamentary language. Photo: Andrew Meares
7:36am: Need a dose of something good for Friday? Peep this website dedicated to employee stuff ups. So good.
Screen shot from hadonejob.com
7:34am: Absolutely shocking and heartbreaking news coming out of Queensland. Ten child protection workers are facing disciplinary action for failing to protect a baby girl who suffered bleeding on the brain, broken legs, hemorrhaging in both eyes and fractured ribs at the hands of her parents.
Saleh Jamal
7:32am: Court reporter Paul Bibby has an incredible story of the quiet acquittal of Saleh Jamal, who will walk free from Nowra jail today following a drive-by shooting on the Lakemba police station in 1998.
7:29am: As Australian troops pack up to quit Afghanistan, fears of a new era of warlord violence and tribal domination are taking hold in Oruzgan province, where locals say the Australian government's efforts to import democracy have failed.
Herald chief foriegn correspondent Paul McGeough and photographer Kate Geraghty are on the ground filing reports every day.
A group of tribal elders walk past razorwire surrounding a police compound Photo: Kate Geraghty
7:23am: Still in Victoria, thieves have infiltrated Crown Casino's surveillance system to pull off a $32 million heist, the Herald Sun is reporting. Ocean's 11 eat your heart out.
7:20am: In Victoria, two men in their 60s, believed to be brothers, have been found dead with gunshot wounds on a rural property north of Melbourne.
The scene near the home where the bodies were found. Photo: Jeremy Bannister
7:18am: Kevin Rudd and Joe Hockey are exchanging blows on Sunrise this morning. Should you be able to tweet what you like in parliament even though you can't say it?
Rudd: "It's a free country... I tend not to comment on what's going on in the chamber because Joe's performing cartwheels most of the time and it gets a bit repetitive, doesn't it Joe?"
Hockey: "You won't see videos of me trying to do chinups on YouTube like Kevin."
7:13am: Banished cricketer Shane Watson and his wife, Lee, gave birth to a baby boy, Will, yesterday and Watson could be back in India for next week's fourth Test.
More fun than a wet weekend: Michael Clarke contemplates his lot as the first day of play in the third Test is washed out on Thursday. Owing to BCCI restrictions on photography accreditation, Fairfax Media will be bringing you all the action from Mohali in stick-figure form. Illustration: SMH Graphics
7:10am: The Bulldogs pulled through without a host of stars, including Ben Barba, last night to beat the Parramatta Eels 20-16.
7:08am: Trains are looking fine so far.
7:06am: Buses using Oxford Street in Darlinghurst may experience delays due to traffic lights blacked out on Oxford Street at Darlinghurst Road.
7:06am: At Rozelle, a breakdown on the City West Link is causing delays heading into the city.
At Mascot, an accident is affecting traffic on General Holmes Drive.
At Carlingford, oil on the road is affecting traffic on Pennant Hills Road at North Rocks Road.
At Woolahra, there is a car accident on Ocean Street at Wallis Street.
7:03am: To recap the weather, it will be cloudy with a top of 24 degrees today, 26 in the west. Scattered showers will clear in the afternoon.
Tomorrow is a corker - 30 degrees and mostly sunny.
Sunday promises a few showers and a top of 24 degrees.
7:03am: The official jobs figures came as a big shock to everyone and sent the sharemarket lower as the possibility of two more interest rate cuts evaporated, Adele Ferguson writes.
7:00am: Jobs data released yesterday showed spectacular growth in employment - far above any forecast.
As such, you can kiss goodbye any chance of an interest rate cut this year, economists say.
6:55am: In transport news, get ready for a few more years of train B.O.
Sydney train commuters will be stuck using non-airconditioned carriages for years with the O'Farrell government ignoring an approaching deadline to order new trains.
6:53am: Struggling mining baron Nathan Tinkler was grilled for three hours in court yesterday during an examination by the liquidator of his private entity, Mulsanne Resources.
Asked if he was "worried" as he entered court, the incredible shrinking billionaire replied: ''The chair's not electric, is it?''
a Photo: Nick Moir
Illustration: Cathy Wilcox
6:49am: A new portrait of Australia's young people has emerged from a new report. It shows they are better educated and smoking less but are increasingly overweight, using illicit drugs and drinking at risky levels. Hard to argue with an assessment as frank as that.
6:41am: The federal government's media reforms are still on the political agenda today with less than two weeks to "ram" the changes through parliament.
The fate of the fast-tracked reform package, which has been allocated just four days for parliamentary debate, has MPs questioning the wisdom of the Prime Minister's judgment again.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
6:38am: A 50 year-old man was rescued from the Nepean River in Penrith after suffering a seizure while riding his jet ski and towing two other people in an inflatable tube yesterday.
Two people who were fishing in a small boat nearby were able to think quickly and convey two police officers and a paramedic to the jet ski to save the man.
Cyclone Tim forms off the Queensland coast.
6:33am: Tropical Cyclone Sandra is expected to weaken as it passes Lord Howe Island off the state's North Coast today. A cyclone warning remains in place for the Island - with wind gusts of up to 100-kilometres lashing the area.
Meanwhile, Cyclone Tim has officially formed and is expected to upgrade to a category 2 tropical cyclone before weakening and heading for the Queensland coast.
6:29am: Moving back to news closer to home, an elderly man has been found dead near Broken Hill after going missing during a prospecting trip near Broken Hill in outback New South Wales. Two men, aged 78 and 81, left Broken Hill in their Holden Jackaroo 4WD on Wednesday morning and were found yesterday afternoon.
6:27am: Watch those venomous skirts ladies. North Korea has issued a direct personal attack on the South's new president for the first time since her inauguration two weeks ago, saying on Wednesday that her ''venomous swish of skirt'' was to blame for rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Riiight.
Park Geun-hye Photo: AP
6:25am: Panic is mounting in Shanghai with dead pigs bobbing up in the city's rivers. And not just a few - almost 6000 of them.
China pulls nearly 6,000 dead pigs from river
The number of dead pigs found floating in a river flowing into Shanghai has reached nearly 6,000.
- Autoplay OnOff
- Video feedback
- Video settings
6:21am: Oh, there it is! Scientists say they have found the Higgs Boson and the search is all but over for the subatomic "God particle" that is a crucial building block of the universe.
The Higgs boson has helped scientists understand the collision of particles. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP
6:19am: In Germany, police have arrested four men associated with the ultra-conservative Islamic movement known as Salafism on suspicion of plotting to murder the leader of a far-right political party that has repeatedly taunted Muslims with caricatures of the prophet Muhammad.
6:15am: In the United Kingdom, four people have been arrested over phone hacking including the Sunday People editor, James Scott, who is the first serving newspaper editor to be caught up in the scandal.
6:13am: Moving to world news from overnight, Pope Francis (are you sick of him already?) has celebrated his first Mass in the Sistine Chapel and delivered a homily.
Newly elected Pope Francis I (R), Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, leads a a mass with cardinals at the Sistine Chapel. Photo: REUTERS TV
6:09am: There are no disruptions on the train and bus networks so far.
Buses replace trains between Scone and Maitland and between Telarag and Maitland on the Hunter Line.
6:09am: On the roads:
An accident at Kingswood is affecting southbound traffic on Parker Street at the Great Western Highway.
At Carlingford, there is oil on the road on Pennant Hills Road heading southbound near North Rocks Road.
At Darlinghurst, the lights are not working both ways on Oxford Street at Darlinghurst Road.
6:09am: On the front pages of the major papers:
The Age in Melbourne reports on a growing electronic blitzkrieg by Beijing - blasted by Barack Obama as ''state sponsored'' hacking and now extending to the jamming of Australia's radio news broadcasts in Asia - that threatens to derail delicate negotiations for the ABC to win television rights in China.
The Australian Financial Review says that corporate Australia has expressed growing concern over the Gillard government’s past fortnight of new regulations on media, temporary foreign workers, coal seam gas and industrial relations.
The Daily Telegraph carries a front page photo of Pope Francis, dubbing the austere cardinal the "People's Pope".
The Australian reports that Labor is losing ground in its fight to overhaul the media as independent MPs turn against the plans and critics warn of growing confusion over changes meant to be rammed through parliament in a week.
SMH front page, March 15
6:00am: On the front page of today's Sydney Morning Herald, Eddie Obeid's private diaries are blown wide open. His claims to a corruption inquiry that he played no part in his family's business interests have been contradicted by the diaries, which list scores of meetings with Sydney's most influential people, some of whom did deals with companies tied to the former Labor minister's family.
6:00am: Good morning all. TGIF.
It will be cloudy today with showers clearing by the afternoon. The top temperature is 24 degrees in the city, 26 in the west.
On Saturday, it will be sunny and 28 (hoorah). On Sunday, a shower or two and a top of 24 degrees.
No comments:
Post a Comment