49 minutes ago
NSW police have arrested and charged two men after one of them allegedly brandished a fake replica gun, wearing a bulletproof vest with a US flag and carrying a toy police badge, at a busy Sydney entertainment precinct, AAP reports.
Uniform and specialist police swarmed the pair at the Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park on Monday afternoon.
Chaotic social media footage showed dozens of police officers including some wearing tactical gear surrounding the alleged offenders and confused shoppers running, just before 5pm.
On arrival, officers located two men, one of whom was allegedly wearing a vest and carrying a firearm, police said in a statement.
The two men, aged 35 and 39, were arrested and a replica firearm, a vest, plastic handcuffs, and a badge were allegedly seized.
Both were taken to Surry Hills Police Station where during a search of the older man, police allege they located an amount of prohibited drugs.
The younger man was charged with possessing an unregistered, unauthorised pistol in a public place and for offensive behaviour.
He was refused bail to appear in court today.
The older man was charged with possessing a prohibited drug.
He was granted conditional bail to appear in court on 20 August.
Key events
Runny noses and sore throats are keeping blood donors away, the Red Cross has told Australian Associated Press.
Donated blood is needed for a range of patients including cancer sufferers, new mothers, people undergoing surgery and children.
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood says 12,000 donations are immediately needed to support patients in life-threatening situations.
Those who have been lucky to stave off flu symptoms are urged to head to centres in NSW, Queensland and Victoria, where shortages are dire with the greatest need for O-negative and O-positive blood.
Up to 1600 donation appointments sit empty every day, with many more people cancelling or rescheduling appointments, Lifeblood chief customer officer Cath Stone said.
“Even mild symptoms such as sniffles, sore throats, and headaches make people temporarily ineligible to give blood, and this can severely impact the availability of donors during winter months,” she said.
“We’re urging anyone who is fit and well to book an appointment now, and anyone recovering from illness to donate as soon as they can.”
‘Massive’ fuel loads pave way for worrying summer fires in 2027
Kat Wong
As wildfires rage in the northern hemisphere, Greg Mullins, Australian firefighter and former commissioner of Fire and Rescue New South Wales, warns an incoming El Niño combined with significant fuel loads could contribute to bushfires in Australia.
Since 2020, wet weather in places and floods in places such as Lismore in NSW have prevented firefighters from doing as many hazard reduction burns as scheduled.
Mullins told the ABC’s 7.30:
It’s been too wet to burn and what we increasingly find is that conditions swing from being too wet to suddenly too hot and dry.
The hotter temperatures dry out the bush very quickly and the windows to carry out hazard reduction have reduced from months every year to just weeks.
He is less concerned about the current conditions as many parts of Australia are not in drought.
But with the El Niño coming, hotter, drier conditions are also likely to follow.
What worries me is the year after an El Niño is usually the hottest.
So 2027, I think, we’ll have a busy year for fires – it will be back on the TV screens, but then the summer of 27-28 could be a real worry.
NSW police have arrested and charged two men after one of them allegedly brandished a fake replica gun, wearing a bulletproof vest with a US flag and carrying a toy police badge, at a busy Sydney entertainment precinct, AAP reports.
Uniform and specialist police swarmed the pair at the Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park on Monday afternoon.
Chaotic social media footage showed dozens of police officers including some wearing tactical gear surrounding the alleged offenders and confused shoppers running, just before 5pm.
On arrival, officers located two men, one of whom was allegedly wearing a vest and carrying a firearm, police said in a statement.
The two men, aged 35 and 39, were arrested and a replica firearm, a vest, plastic handcuffs, and a badge were allegedly seized.
Both were taken to Surry Hills Police Station where during a search of the older man, police allege they located an amount of prohibited drugs.
The younger man was charged with possessing an unregistered, unauthorised pistol in a public place and for offensive behaviour.
He was refused bail to appear in court today.
The older man was charged with possessing a prohibited drug.
He was granted conditional bail to appear in court on 20 August.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.
We start with charges that have been laid overnight after a security scare and major police action at Sydney’s popular Moore Park entertainment precinct. More on that soon
