Sydney news

Look back at the race run by Toby Price to become Australia's first Dakar Rally champion.

Police are trying to find a convicted rapist they want to speak to over the disappearance of 49-year-old mother Karen Chetcuti in Victoria's north-east.

Our Spot on the Map this week is one of the southernmost towns in Tasmania, Geeveston. Sally Doyle's family have been Geeveston for seven generations. She speaks to Tim Brunero.

Look back at the race run by Toby Price to become Australia's first Dakar Rally champion.

Record visitor numbers are reported at ACT parks including the Cotter, Tidbinbilla, and Namadgi, with increases in the number of camping permits and day passes issued.

Toby Price becomes the first Australian to win any category of the gruelling Dakar Rally, taking out the motorcycle division in this year's race after placing third on debut last year.

The Melbourne Stars book their spot in the Big Bash League finals with a superb bowling display to dismantle the Perth Scorchers in Perth and win by 52 runs.

Perth Glory withstand an intense assault from Melbourne City to come away with a 2-2 dome draw.

Viktor Troicki defends his Sydney International title, edging Grigor Dimitrov after a marathon third-set tie-break.

Self-proclaimed billionaire Clive Palmer is facing mounting pressure to repay more than $6 million funnelled into his own political party from his struggling Queensland nickel refinery, which has laid off more than 200 workers.

Shane Smeltz wins the Sydney Derby for the Sky Blues with a thumping goal in the dying stages of a thrilling match against the Wanderers in Parramatta.

Sydney Thunder's Big Bash League finals hopes are alive after they posted an emphatic 46-run win over the Sydney Sixers at the SCG on Saturday.

A convicted rapist is questioned by police investigating the disappearance of 49-year-old Victorian mother-of-two Karen Chetcuti, who was last seen on Tuesday night.

Retiring champion Lleyton Hewitt firmly believes he can make a deep run on his Australian Open farewell at Melbourne Park.

Adelaide United continues its surge towards the A-League finals, defeating Central Coast Mariners in a game that featured two missed penalties.

Sydney's Trinity Grammar says it has been working with parents and students after reports of inappropriate sexualised behaviour amongst Year 1 pupils, adding that one boy will not be returning to the Junior School as a result of the matter.

A good Samaritan hands in a substantial amount of money to Wyndham North police, east of Melbourne.

The Central Coast Mariners signed former Liverpool winger Luis Garcia until the end of the A-League season.

Parents of children at an independent Sydney school told that one student will not be returning this year after reports of inappropriate sexualised behaviour.

Former Australian Open champion Li Na says local hope Bernard Tomic can one day win a tennis major.

World number 42 Alize Cornet wins the Hobart International with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Eugenie Bouchard.

The bushfire alert system in Western Australia could be overhauled to create better "situational awareness", Andrew O'Connor writes.

Protesters in Sydney mourn the loss of more than 60 heritage trees felled to make way for the $2.1 billion City-South East light-rail project.

Police continue their search for missing Victorian mother of two Karen Chetcuti, who was last seen on Tuesday night, amid grave fears for her safety.

Too much wastewater is being let out to sea because the cost of reusing it is too high, South Australia's Liberal Opposition says.

Just a fortnight before sacking 237 workers, Clive Palmer's Queensland Nickel operation made a donation of nearly $290,000 to the Palmer United Party, documents show.

Darwin's Indonesian community gathers at a special tribute for victims of the Jakarta terrorist attacks, to send the message that it will not live in fear.

In the wake of doping revelations in Australia and internationally, four-time Australian Open champion Roger Federer says tennis must work to maintain its good record.

Australia's male gymnastics team comes together to train for Rio qualifiers, with the hope that fresh faces will bring a boost to the country's world ranking.

A new generation of girls and women, inspired by former UFC champion Ronda Rousey, is taking up mixed martial arts in Australia, but medical experts warn the sport could cause long-term health problems.

Four former police detectives are added to the Families SA investigation unit to assess complaints made against staff and foster carers, the agency's chief executive says.

An elderly woman dies in a house fire in the Dandenongs, in Melbourne's east, after she was overcome by smoke and firefighters were unable to revive her.

US Customs and Border Protection denies travellers may be subject to an interview because of racial profiling, after NSW Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi said she was "interrogated" about how she got an Australian passport as she entered the US.

A pilot is seriously injured after crash landing a microlight aircraft at Parilla in South Australia's Murray Mallee.

Crews work to restore power to about 5,000 homes and businesses that were disconnected after a storm on Thursday brought down powerlines and trees across Sydney's south, up to the Central Coast and Hunter region.

Catch up with the latest podcast of Saturday Talkback Gardening with Jon Lamb and Ashley Walsh.

A 135-year-old wooden gothic church in Tasmania's north-west is given a new lease on life, as a history centre and community art gallery.

Paceman John Hastings will remain with the Australian squad for the third one-day game against India, with Josh Hazlewood rested for the remainder of the home season.

Fitness fiends are spoilt for choice as athletes flock to Canberra's first triathlon festival, which offers six races for different skill levels.

V/Line trains stop running on Melbourne tracks, excluding the Ballarat and Geelong lines, forcing passengers to switch to Metro services in the city's outer suburbs.

Female candidate's backers admit that the self-described "democratic socialist" Bernie Sanders has mobilised voters they need to win over.

She almost threw away her winning $1 million lottery ticket from Wednesday night's $1 billion-plus Powerball drawing.

A pet kangaroo is reunited with its grateful owner following the deadly bushfires that wiped out the West Australian town of Yarloop.

Armed assailants have stormed a hotel in the West African city of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, taking hostages and burning vehicles in what the French Embassy described as a terrorist attack.

Joe Root's ninth Test century has kept England on track against South Africa in the third Test - and may have kept the tourists in line for a long-awaited series win over the Proteas.

Police continue their search for missing Victorian mother of two Karen Chetcuti, amid grave fears for her safety.

A man is in hospital with two broken arms and a broken leg after falling from a vehicle in a car surfing incident south of Brisbane, police say.

Perth boxer Mark de Mori says he is more than happy to be playing the bad guy when he takes on UK heavyweight star David Haye at a packed O2 Arena in London early on Sunday morning.

Toby Price is one stage away from becoming the first Australian to win the Dakar Rally, holding a huge lead in the motorbike category going into the final day.

A game that requires players to bludgeon Aborigines to death has prompted outrage and apparently been removed from app stores, raising questions as to how a game that warns players to "beware of Aborigines" was ever allowed online.