Shot in the back: boyfriend claims shooting was random attack

Megan Levy The boyfriend of a woman who was shot in the back in Sydney's west claims they were walking down the street when someone in a car opened fire at random.

Girl who claimed she was gang raped made story up, police confirm

Rachel Olding Police investigating an apparent gang rape in Sydney's northern suburbs have found that the incident did not occur.

Police close the book on Hills abduction and gang rape that wasn't

Rachel Olding The finger was pointed at several men in the area and women spoke of being too scared to leave the house, but an apparent abduction and gang rape in Baulkham Hills has been proven untrue by police.

Sydney hotelier shot dead in Pakistan

Megan Levy and Rachel Olding An Australian man has been shot dead during a robbery in Karachi as a wave of gun violence sweeps over the Pakistani city.

Tributes flow for murdered businessman

Rachel Olding He was a larger-than-life personality; a "pillar of the community" and a man who represented everything good about multicultural Australia.

Sydney's shrinking blue-collar sector

Matt Wade Blue-collar strongholds in Sydney's west have shrunk dramatically over the past decade and some close to the central business district have vanished altogether as the city's employment profile...

Muslims divided on genital mutilation, magistrate says

Paul Bibby SYDNEY'S close-knit Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community is starkly divided over allegations of female genital mutilation made against some of its members, a court has heard, with debate raging in the...

Government set to buckle over private-school cuts

Anna Patty The O'Farrell government appears set to back down from a decision to make extra cuts in funding to Catholic and independent schools.

Teen critical after 'drunk' P-plater rolls car

A teenager has been charged after a crash in Sydney's north-west that left a man seriously injured.

Naked Eye

A distinguished guest

Heath Aston THE timing could not have been better for the monarchists of State Parliament. Just as government and opposition MPs prepared to debate the re-introduction of the traditional oath of allegiance to...

Family car crash tragedy: girl and grandmother killed as 12-year-old fights for life

Glenda Kwek A young girl and her grandmother have died, and her sister is fighting for her life after a crash on the NSW mid north coast, police say.

A leap of faith for church and state

Andrew West The Princes of the Church arrayed themselves across the stage, jostling – albeit diplomatically – for space and attention.

MP kept his lobbying job after preselection

Sean Nicholls THE new MP for Baulkham Hills, David Elliott, continued as a paid adviser to a political lobbying firm set up to target the incoming O'Farrell government for three months after he was preselected to...

A challenging future is in these hands

Sean Nicholls The mood inside the NSW Parliament's historic Jubilee Room was naturally ecstatic for the first meeting of the new government on Wednesday.

Tattooist dies after suspected bikie gang shooting

Vanda Carson A MAN has died after he was shot by bandits in an attack on a Sydney tattoo parlour owned by a Bandidos bikie gang member.

Meet Barry, the man who would be king

A new cast of powerbrokers is circling Macquarie Street, poised to exert its influence on Barry O'Farrell's government-in-waiting.

Here comes O'Farrell's new wave

Heath Aston BARRY O'FARRELL will reward persistence ahead of potential in choosing his first cabinet if the Coalition, as expected, storms into government in March.

'I feel guilty I am not in my country at this important time'

John Huxley and Yuko Narushima EGYPTIAN-born Mahmoud Fahmy admits that when he woke yesterday morning at his home in Baulkham Hills and watched television footage of the rioting in his native Alexandria, he shed tears.

Early opportunities leave many behind

Jim O'Rourke and Paul Fraser STUDENTS have a slim chance of winning a spot in a selective high school if they have not gained entry to classes for gifted and talented pupils in primary school, figures obtained under...