Burlesque queen follows Angelina's brave lead

LINDA MORRIS On the morning Angelina Jolie announced she had a preventive double mastectomy, Imogen Kelly had three lumps removed from her right breast.

'Betrayed': top dance coach arrested

Nick Ralston, Melanie Kembrey, Tim Barlass, Megan Gorrey For almost a decade thousands of parents trusted prominent Sydney dance teacher Grant Davies as he told them he could make their children famous.

Corruption defined by Chook's crotch cam

KATE MCCLYMONT The boss of the Cross cops was as colourful as the area's criminal characters, writes Kate McClymont.

Hatchet job on native forest logging

Kirsty Needham Taxpayers in NSW are losing money to subsidise the logging of native forests, at an average cost of $671 a hectare, undermining a parliamentary report calling for a massive increase in such logging.

Rivers of gold start to flow

TOBY JOHNSTONE Sydneysiders' love affair with waterfront properties is no longer just about eyeing pricey beach suburbs - rivers are now attracting interest.

Prison reform is a hard cell

Tim Barlass A barrister, a former Labor deputy leader and the assistant deputy commissioner of the Tax Office

Mermaid makes a splash to help sea creatures

Jackie Dent The water polo team has left for the night and the lights at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre have been turned off. But in the darkness of the diving pool is a shimmering figure, blonde hair flowing, arms floating and body twisting.

Asbestos verdict in two years

Natalie O'Brien A Sydney judge has taken more than two years to make a decision in a case against the founder of the Clean Up Israel environmental campaign.

AVO issued after council threat claim

Natalie O'Brien The alleged death threats that have rocked a south Sydney council have ended up in court, with a Rockdale councillor obtaining an interim apprehended violence order against the brother of a fellow councillor.

New ideas spring in Botanic Gardens

Kirsty Needham Camping, a permanent music bowl, even allowing the harbour to flow right through the gardens, are among the ideas under consideration as the NSW government commissions the first master plan for the centuries-old Royal Botanic Gardens.

Accident triggers calls to improve hunt safety

Kirsty Needham A shooting accident in South Australia has resulted in the shutdown of all amateur hunting in that state's national parks, prompting calls for tougher safety measures before hunting of feral animals begins in NSW parks later this year.

Old pub dressed up for wedding belles

PAULA JOYE Designer Collette Dinnigan is helping give the historic Watsons Bay Hotel a makeover of the bridal variety. Ms Dinnigan has joined forces with celebrity chef Peter Evans and the pub's new owner Fraser Short to attract Sydney's booming wedding market.

Assault sparks review of school security

STEPHANIE GARDINER The unknown man came into Haberfield Public School, assaulted four girls in an external stairwell in an attack that lasted less than a minute, and left.

Man charged with running down woman

Megan Gorrey A man who allegedly ran a woman down in his car following a domestic dispute in north-west Sydney on Friday night has been charged.

Playing to the crowd puts kids in the picture

JOSEPHINE TOVEY Teacher Tim Creighton had a simple goal: raise a few hundred dollars to buy some camera equipment for his students.

Car crashes into Sydney house

Megan Gorrey Four people were taken to hospital after a car crashed into a house in Northmead, in Sydney's west, this afternoon.

Lessons in steroid danger urged at school

Peter Munro The World Anti-Doping Agency wants every Australian school student to be taught about the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs.

Killer caught taxi with body in suitcase

PAUL BIBBY The teenager casually wheels a large black suitcase out to a waiting taxi. He lies to explain the bag’s surprising weight and bulging contents, telling the driver it’s ‘‘full of laptops and electrical gear’’.

Colleagues' different view of whistleblower

One by one, former and serving police officers have rejected Detective Inspector Peter Fox’s claims at the Special Commission of Inquiry. One even described his allegations as ‘‘disgusting’’ and ‘‘crazy’’.

For richer, for pourer: $4 for a coffee

ESTHER HAN Savour that cup of coffee and start collecting loyalty cards. The average price for coffee could hit $4 in three years, industry groups and economists say.

Comments

Macdonald declares his innocence

Linton Besser The disgraced former minister Ian Macdonald has signalled that he will appeal against any adverse findings by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Council goes to court against one of its own

LEESHA MCKENNY A Sydney councillor renting out units in an apartment block where half the flats are not approved for occupation is facing legal action by his own council.

Man jailed for sex attack 22 years ago

STEPHANIE GARDINER Born in Hungary, she survived the Holocaust and made a life for herself in Sydney. But she died at 90 without seeing the man who assaulted her face justice.

When running for charity is just half the fun

GARRY MADDOX Kirsten Molloy says the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon will be as much fun as opening gifts on Christmas Day.

Mental health problems untreated in the bush

CATHERINE ARMITAGE Nearly half of people likely to have a serious mental health disorder in rural NSW are not seeking professional help, a large-scale study has revealed.

Swan's downsize offer: who will jump first?

STEPHEN NICHOLLS Experts are divided about the effect of a new government strategy to encourage retirees to move to smaller homes.

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Prestige

Trophy home sales set scene for vibrant winter

LUCY MACKEN Recent ''trophy home'' sales in the east are creating a ripple effect across Sydney with record highs in the inner west and bumper auction results on the lower north shore.

Comments

Join the queue to see Olley's 'clutter'

Lance Richardson A storage facility filled with cardboard boxes hardly seems like a thrilling prospect for art aficionados, but one such store in Tweed Valley is proving so attractive there is now a waiting list to visit it.

Sunday afternoon karaoke on Sydney streets

ANDREW TAYLOR City streets could become even noisier if the City of Sydney takes up the public's ideas for a speakers' corner, pop-up concerts and Sunday afternoon karaoke sessions.

Train schedule to come in its own time

Nicole Hasham The state government is resisting calls to reveal details of its new train timetables after a leaked draft of the drastic changes sent commuters into a spin.

Winners and losers: all change in rail revamp

Jacob Saulwick, Nicole Hasham Sydney's biggest train timetable change in almost a decade will include an extra 700 services a week - but some commuters will miss out when trains skip certain stations.

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Packer pushes for more at Barangaroo

Sean Nicholls, Stephen Nicholls James Packer has taken the next step in his public campaign to win government approval for a tower at Barangaroo, unveiling a design that would deliver him hundreds of millions of dollars.

Crowning casino before coronation

SEAN NICHOLLS It is likely to be some months before the NSW government decides whether to back James Packer's plan for a 60-storey tower at Barangaroo. That has not slowed the billionaire's public relations juggernaut.

Rescue hero became suicidal with PTSD

Tim Barlass A police officer who was awarded the highest decoration for civilian bravery after rescuing a boy from a stormwater drain planned to end his own life after a psychological breakdown.

Labor seeks candidate to upstage Thomson

HEATH ASTON The daughter of a teetotaller former government minister who banned the sale of a beer named Shag has been asked to stand for Labor in the seat of Dobell.

Macdonald denies gifting mine to a mate

Linton Besser Ian Macdonald has denied allegations at the state's corruption watchdog that he "gifted... hot property to a mate", when he directly issued a coal licence to former union boss John Maitland.

Paramedic dragged to death by helicopter

MEGAN LEVY A paramedic who was killed during a cliff rescue on the NSW south coast was inadvertently dragged off a cliff ledge by a rescue helicopter that was meant to winch him and his patient to safety.

Records falling, but what about temperatures?

PETER HANNAM Sydney's Indian summer is fast becoming an Indian autumn with the mild conditions on Thursday setting a record for late-season warmth in the city.

Stanley the giant leap for Lightning Ridge

Damien Murphy Australia has long been the land of the giants. Coffs Harbour's Big Banana, Hexham's Ozzie the Mossie, Goulburn's Big Merino. Now tiny Lightning Ridge has taken its own giant step.

Teachers urged to discuss effects of NAPLAN

JOSEPHINE TOVEY Teachers and principals should take advantage of parliamentary privilege and speak honestly about the effects of the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy testing, a senator has urged.

Widow fights to protect paramedic families

ANNA PATTY The wife of a paramedic who died rescuing an injured canyoner on Christmas Eve in 2011 is campaigning to make it easier for people in her husband's job to get income protection and life insurance.

Nuclear waste on the move in clean-up

HEATH ASTON Radioactive waste and parts of Australia's oldest nuclear reactor will be trucked out of Sydney under plans to clean up the Lucas Heights nuclear facility.

NSW could lose school cash under PM Abbott

Josephine Tovey, Daniel Hurst The federal opposition has refused to commit to allowing NSW to keep funding agreed to under the Gonski deal, a centrepiece of Tuesday's budget, if elected.

Woman sues police after six months in prison

PAUL BIBBY A south-west Sydney woman is suing the NSW police after she was charged with intent to murder and jailed for six months pending a trial, only for the matter to be dropped due to a lack of evidence.

Baird dismisses funds offer on WestConnex

JACOB SAULWICK The federal government's promise of money for Sydney's WestConnex motorway in Tuesday's budget has been dismissed by the state government as essentially meaningless.

Cannabis for pain wins MPs' approval

ANNA PATTY A NSW parliamentary committee has recommended the medical use of cannabis for people with terminal illness and AIDS.

Macdonald's 'total authority' for mine licences

Linton Besser Former resources minister Ian Macdonald has insisted to a corruption inquiry that he had "total authority" to issue exploration licences without a tender.

Family tries to make sense of deaths

NICK RALSTON Restaurateurs Marc and Cher Thomson thrived on the challenge of running their French-style eatery in the competitive Sydney food scene. It was a challenge they had successfully tackled together for eight years.

Train chaos fix left out of loop

JACOB SAULWICK Sydney's train operator has failed to use $100 million rail facilities built five years ago that would make city train services more reliable.

Uni students to star on Broadway

Nicole Hasham An extra 800 live-in students would replace office workers at Broadway's Central Park project and hundreds of new apartments have been flagged because the developer cannot find commercial tenants.

Tighter rein on Waterhouse business links

Lisa Davies, Kate McClymont Tom Waterhouse should ''embrace'' a plan by authorities to tighten controls around his business' links to his mother Gai's horse training operation, as it would protect his reputation, too, Racing NSW boss Peter V'landys said on Tuesday.

Fox suspected as source of leaks, inquiry told

Stephen Ryan Senior police were concerned that confidential details about the investigation into alleged cover-ups of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church were being divulged and detective Peter Fox was the suspected source of the leaks.

CBD traffic plan meeting put off again

JACOB SAULWICK The management group appointed by Barry O'Farrell to tackle bike paths and bus congestion in Sydney's CBD has met just once in more than a year.

iTunes

Wee Waa waits, Sony 'leaks' Daft Punk album

Bernard Zuel Hope they weren't relying on exclusivity up in Wee Waa on Friday because they've been gazumped. That would be Wee Waa, home for the so-called release party for the new Daft Punk album, Random Access Memories.

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Woman freed after attempted murder conviction fights on

Harriet Alexander Roseanne Beckett can't put a price on the decade she spent in jail on wrongful convictions, but she is confident it won't come close to the amount the NSW government has spent frustrating her attempts to gain a single cent in compensation.

Training mine was 'quid pro quo'

Linton Besser A key financial backer of a training mine spruiked by Labor party figure John Maitland has told a corruption inquiry he ''never had any intention'' of running a training mine and planned instead to sell the asset at a profit.

Detective charged with lying to commission

NICK RALSTON A former senior detective has become the second person charged with lying to the Police Integrity Commission during its investigation into drug use and supply within the NSW force.

Racing

Racing tells Tom: grow up

Lisa Davies, Kate McClymont Tom Waterhouse may be formally prevented from linking his business to the activities of his renowned trainer mother Gai, despite the bookmaker being cleared at the More Joyous inquiry.

At last, trio unravel words and whispers

Kate McClymont, Lisa Davies ''Everyone knew the horse couldn't win except poor Singo,'' said controversial brothel-owner and punter Eddie Hayson about John Singleton's horse More Joyous.

Lack of certainty upsets tenants

Anthony Dennis, Esther Han An upgrade of Sydney's Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay will help satisfy the booming cruise industry but not everyone is on board with the idea.

Collette sued over failed property deal

STEPHANIE GARDINER An actress, her musician husband, fashion moguls, millions of dollars and a mansion.

Obeid denies meeting investor over coal deal

Linton Besser Former Labor kingmaker Eddie Obeid has said his family would be vindicated, as he denied meeting a Chinese businessman who wanted to buy the family's farm to mine coal.

Garden Island crane drain divides public

LEESHA MCKENNY It would cost about three to 17 times as much to retain Garden Island's "hammerhead crane" as demolishing it, says a report that shows the public divided over what to do with the Sydney landmark.

Logging looms in national parks

SEAN NICHOLLS Logging would be allowed in NSW national parks and a freeze imposed on the declaration of new conservation areas under recommendations of a state parliamentary inquiry.

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Labor's helping hand led to $1b yield

ANNA PATTY Former resources minister Ian Macdonald introduced legislation that overruled the highest court in NSW and resulted in a $1 billion windfall to two mining executives.

Chinese mine fails to meet standards: report

Sarah-Jane Collins A controversial mining proposal slated for prime agricultural land on the Liverpool Plains in northern NSW fails to meet basic environmental standards, an independent assessment of the project has found.

Missing pair had not been drinking: family

Sarah-Jane Collins The family of a young woman presumed dead after falling from a cruise ship last week say Kristen Schroder and her boyfriend Paul Rossington had not been drinking before the incident, and the fall was not deliberate.

Pub workers put armed attacker in hospital

Emma Partridge A gunman who tried to rob a southern Sydney pub ended up in hospital after staff at the Engadine Tavern overpowered him early on Sunday.

Racing NSW to examine overseas bets

CHRIS ROOTS Racing NSW will further investigate overseas betting on last month's All Aged Stakes as part of the inquiry into the performance of More Joyous in the race.

Boxing champ's wife has claim over bordello

KATE MCCLYMONT Just when you thought the cast of colourful racing identities starring in Sydney's equine scandal could not get any more garish, enter stage right - Suzee Fenech, wife of boxer Jeff ''I Love Youse All'' Fenech.

Pictures shine light on pregnant teens

Raphaela Rosella has been highly commended for her photographic essay about teen mothers in The Sydney Morning Herald competition for emerging documentary photographers.

O'Farrell may join Putin on heritage alert list

Nicole Hasham One is painted as a despotic dictator, the other an over-cautious bore. But Vladimir Putin and Barry O'Farrell may soon be in the same company.

City all warm and fuzzy but winter is coming

LEESHA MCKENNY A warm burst of autumn emerged from the fog to bask Mother's Day in above-average temperatures. It was the 22nd day in a row that the mercury passed 20.

Temporary expo centre triggers noise warning

Nicole Hasham A temporary exhibition centre will be built at Glebe Island, despite limited public access and potential disruption to roads and residents.

Taking hope from the Cleveland rescue

AMANDA HOH Mother-of-four Sharron Rooney tries not to let the disappearance of her third youngest child rule her life. ''To go through it is a really harrowing experience but you get to the point where it doesn't rule your life,'' she said.

Cruise ship couple had been fighting

A couple who went overboard from a cruise ship off the NSW coast had been fighting the night of the incident.

Pokies chiefs learnt straight-shooting from US

Heath Aston The state clubs industry took advice from the influential US National Rifle Association before orchestrating the ''grassroots'' campaign that derailed Labor's poker machine reforms.

Dockets fuel drink abuse: regulator

Kirsty Needham Two-for-one wine offers and free beer deals being aggressively promoted on grocery receipts by the big supermarket chains may be encouraging the abuse of liquor, according to the NSW liquor regulator.

Casino machines to be rolled out in suburbia

Kirsty Needham Electronic casino games including blackjack and roulette that allow high cash bids will be rolled out across suburban NSW under an O'Farrell government move to widen access to the gaming machines.

Backpackers fill shearing shed void

Damien Murphy These women may be the new faces of Australia's rural workforce.

Poorest children go a day without food

RACHEL BROWNE Thousands of people using Anglican emergency relief services in NSW are cutting their children's meal sizes to make food go further, and many children are going without for more than an entire day.

NAPLAN results used as entry criteria

JOSEPHINE TOVEY Private schools are asking for students' NAPLAN test results as part of their enrolment applications and selection process, a move some education experts warn could fuel pressure on children to perform.

Bound by gratitude to honour Swedish saviour

Vince Chadwick Raoul Wallenberg walked into a cell and told Ervin Forrester ''I'm going to save your life''.

Belly dancer finds star billing hard to stomach

Natalie O'Brien She is one of the most famous belly dancers in the world and as the headline act in an Australian tour being advertised for this month, is an assured crowd puller.

What makes a good mum?

COSIMA MARRINER Mothers feed their child fresh fruit and vegetables, send them to private schools, enrol them in lots of extra-curricular activities and limit their television watching to the ABC.

Serenade for mothers and bubs

ANDREW TAYLOR Gabrielle Tomlin is too young to applaud Kirsten Williams at the end of her recital.

Twins home in time for special day

MELISSA DAVEY It was surprise enough for Arlene Gorey when, just seven weeks pregnant, she found out she was having twins. But it was an even bigger shock when they entered the world at just 27 weeks gestation.

Clearly, they must be worth triple the love

Peter Vincent The amount Australians spend on Mother's Day has grown to $1.4 billion - nearly three times more than is forked out on Father's Day.

Three wisdom teeth can be a devil of a job

Tim Barlass It was uncharted orthodontic territory. Not much is routine about major surgery on a Tasmanian devil with toothache - in fact Taronga Zoo believes it is a first.

Mystery Road

Real-life killings and Weaving's reel life

GARRY MADDOX Echoes of two real-life killings surround the new Australian film Mystery Road.

Age of innocence lost forever

EAMONN DUFF A grandfather was reported to police after letting his six-year-old granddaughter swim naked at Balmoral Beach. After The Sun-Herald reported the story last week, we were inundated with similar tales.

Ibrahim puts Vaucluse mansion on market

ILYA GRIDNEFF Business is bad for former Telopea Street boy Bashar Ibrahim, who is selling his $4 million Vaucluse home.

Suburbs

There's real estate gold in them Surry Hills

TOBY JOHNSTONE Historians Chris Keating and Garry Wotherspoon wrote in their Dictionary of Sydney in 2009, that Surry Hills had been ''damned as a squalid slum breeding crime and immorality''.