SYDNEY: Asian markets were precariously poised on Wednesday as the world waited to hear from the US Federal Reserve on when it would stop buying assets and start raising interest rates, possibly piling pressure on its peers to follow. Futures have already priced in an end to tapering by March and a first hike to […]
sydney
Sydney extends Covid-19 lockdown to entire city: state govt
Authorities extended a Covid-19 lockdown to include all of Sydney and surrounding population centres on Saturday as Australia’s biggest city battles a surge in the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus. “From 6pm today all of Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and Wollongong will go into lockdown,” said Gladys Berejiklian, the […]
Pacific sees a ‘Blood Moon’ rising
Stargazers across the Pacific cast their eyes skyward on Wednesday to witness a rare “Super Blood Moon”, as the heavens aligned to bring a spectacular lunar eclipse. The first total lunar eclipse in two years took place at the same time as the Moon was closest to Earth, in what astronomers say is a once-in-a-decade […]
Australian police arrest 3 over alleged Daesh Sydney terror plot
Police say three men have been arrested over an alleged Daesh group-inspired plot to attack several Sydney targets, including police and defense buildings, courts, churches and diplomatic missions. Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Ian McCartney said Tuesday that a 20-year-old suspect is expected to be charged with preparing for a terrorist act and preparing to […]
Thwarting fraud: thousands to ‘crowd-source’ Indonesian election results
More than 10,000 people have volunteered to crowd-source election results posted at polling stations across Indonesia on Wednesday in a real-time bid to thwart attempts at fraud during the biggest single-day election in the world. Nearly 193 million people are eligible to vote for the Southeast Asian country’s president and thousands of legislative seats, a […]
Uproar after injury on ‘deplorable’ Sydney Cricket Ground pitch
Australia’s players’ union has joined Melbourne Victory boss Kevin Muscat in denouncing the “dangerous” Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) pitch after a player suffered a knee injury during an A-League match against Sydney FC on Saturday night. Midfielder Terry Antonis fell to the ground untouched on the edge of the cricket square during a 2-1 loss […]
Complaints of poor governane in Sindh abound
I have the great privilege and good fortune of interacting with a lot of rural Sindhis. Many of them are uneducated, poor and malnourished. Some of them are farmers. Others are labourers or seasonal migrants from Thar. They come and sit with me at an otaq in my village. We mostly discuss the political situation […]
White supremacy and the massacre in Christchurch
The massacre in the two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, (more on this later) illustrates the danger from white supremacists. The worst nightmare of white supremacists is that the ‘other’ might, in the not so distant future, replace them; with Muslims being the worst. Which means that they would not only lose their privileged position […]
Australia to bid for women’s and men’s World Cups
Australia will bid to host the 2021 women’s and 2027 men’s World Cups, Rugby Australia said on Wednesday, building on government plans to construct new stadiums in Sydney. Australia successfully hosted the men’s edition in 1987 and co-hosted the 2003 event with New Zealand, but has never staged a women´s World Cup. “The World Cup […]