ROCK icon Paul McCartney has wowed Sydney with a three-hour show packed with Beatles classics, and a few new tunes, leaving fans in an absolute frenzy.
Former Beatle Paul McCartney has touched down in Brisbane for his first performance in the city in over four decades. Video: 7 News Brisbane
The enduring beauty of Something, for George Harrison, and Yesterday, the poignancy of Hey Jude and Eleanor Rigby and rock’n’roll grandeur of Live And Let Die and Back In The USSR, he was superb whether plucking heart strings or rocking out.
Blackbird was a sublime moment, just McCartney on acoustic guitar, deftly plucked its distinctive melody as the sold out crowd of 15,000 DisciPauls sang along to this song of solidarity.
And the epic majesty of A Day In The Life, mashed up with Give Peace A Chance, followed soon after by the three songs in one Band On The Run served as a reminder of the ambition of his songwriting and musical vision through the Beatles and beyond.
The perennial performer knows the value of a great story and he has a lifetime of them. The time Jimi Hendrix played Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band to open his own show just two nights after the album came out.
Often watching the crowd was almost as hypnotic as witnessing McCartney sing and play with effortless agility and unmistakeable joy.
Although it was tough to summon the love for Mull of Kintyre, even with a local piper band joining McCartney on stage during the encore.
From nine-year-old Harry, who got a birthday shout out from the Beatle legend, to those well into their 70s and 80s, there were beaming faces, bemused faces (during the Kanye and Rihanna number) and others stretched by the effort of singing along at the top of their lungs.
There are many fans who would have seen the 75-year-old rock great on this long-awaited tour thinking it might be his last here.
In the meantime, try to get a ticket for the final Sydney show tonight. It is the show of a lifetime.
TRIBUTES are flowing for Kofi Annan, who rose through the ranks of the UN to become its first black African secretary-general, after his death.
Former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan has died at age 80 in Switzerland after suffering an illness.
Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, is said to have died “peacefully” after a short illness. Picture: MEGASource:Mega
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan waves after delivering his final speech to the 61st session of the UN General Assembly in New York in 2006. Picture: AFPSource:AFP
Incredibly sad day to wake up to the news that the wonderful Kofi Annan is no longer with us – he was an extraordinary individual who committed his life to guiding the world to a better place https://t.co/hUoQEaHPNG pic.twitter.com/iafxqvPsdI
Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and his wife, Nane, visit the paediatric Service of the Zinder Hospital in Zinder, Niger, in 2005. Picture: APSource:AP
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan & wife Nane outside the United Nations New York headquarters in 1998 following successful negotiations in Baghdad. Picture: AFPSource:AFP
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan being escorted by USA soldiers upon his arrival in Baghdad, Iraq 12 Nov 2005. Picture: AFPSource:AFP
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan being greeted by United Nations staff in lobby of the Secretariat building in New York after his Iraq deal averted threat of war. Picture: APSource:AP
Kofi Annan with former Palestinian (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat at Gaza city in 2000. Picture: APSource:AP
Queen Elizabeth II investing the former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan with an honorary Grand Cross of the order of St. Michael and St. George knighthood at Buckingham Palace in 2007. Picture: APSource:AP
Former South Africa president Nelson Mandela is reunited with The Elders, who included former secretary-general of the UN Kofi Annan. Picture: APSource:AP
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and founder of Live 8 charitable foundation and former rock star Bob Geldof launch the Africa Progress Report in Addis Ababa, on May 11, 2012. Picture: AFPSource:AFP
Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, meets with Kofi Annan, the United Nations special envoy to Syria, in Damascus, Syria, on Saturday March 10, 2012. Picture: APSource:AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin with former UN-Arab League special envoy and peace mediator Kofi Annan during their meeting in central Moscow. Picture: AFPSource:AFP
Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon meets with former UN-Arab League Joint Special Envoy for Syria Kofi Annan. Picture: AFPSource:AFP
U2 frontman Bono with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan at a UN summit in 2000. Picture: GettySource:Getty Images
Kofi Annan shows the way to U2 singer Bono, left, and Live8 organiser Bob Geldof. Picture: APSource:News Limited
Angelina Jolie receiving her United Nations Correspondents Association Citizen of the World award from Nane Annan. Picture: APSource:AP
Nicole Kidman with Kofi Annan and his wife Nane, at the premiere of her latest film The Interpreter at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City in 2005. Picture: GettySource:AFP
Mr Annan&apos;s taping came a few days before he was to accept the 100th Nobel Peace Prize on December 10.
Muhammad Ali, who died on Friday, June 3 at the age of 74 after a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, was not only a world heavyweight champion – he was also a United Nations Messenger of Peace who devoted his time outside of the ring to activism. Ali’s charity work was immense, and after his retirement from boxing in 1981, he made numerous goodwill missions to Afghanistan and North Korea. He visited Lebanon to secure the release to hostages, donated over $1 million in aid to Cuba and delivered food and medicine to children in Morocco and Indonesia. This 1998 file footage shows him receiving the dove of peace from Kofi Annan, seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations. Credit: Youtube/United Nations
Former President Bill Clinton, the United Nations special envoy for tsunami recovery, meets Kofi Annan in 2005. picture: APSource:AP
Britain's former Prime Minister Tony Blair greeting former Secretary General Kofi Annan, outside No 10 Downing Street in London in 2003. Picture: AFPSource:AFP
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan greets President George W Bush at United Nations headquarters in New York in 2003. Picture: APSource:AP
Former Governor-General Sir William Deane with former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at Government House in Canberra in 2000. Picture: SuppliedSource:News Limited
FEBRUARY 21, 2000 : Prime minister John Howard (L) with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan during joint press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, 21/02/00. Pic John Feder.Source:News Corp Australia
Forensic officers attend the crime scene after Lanell Latta was stabbed to death in her Avalon Beach house. Picture: Daniel Munoz.Source:AAP
BEFORE stabbing his mother to death, Joel Woszatka saw her face changing and possibly thought she had been “replaced by an alien”, a court has heard.
Mr Woszatka told police after allegedly killing his mother Lanell Chris Latta that “her face changes”.
On the morning of September 18 last year in the beachfront house Ms Latta, 50, was renting from model Gemma Ward, Mr Woszatka took a large knife from the kitchen.
He allegedly punched his mother’s partner, Geoff Robson-Scott several times in the face before fleeing the Avalon Beach home in far northern Sydney.
Psychiatrist Dr Olav Nielssen told the NSW Supreme Court that severe schizophrenia sufferers commonly thought their mothers “have been replaced by an alien or a person who is not her”.
Dr Nielssen was giving evidence in the judge-only trial of Joel Woszatka, who has pleaded not guilty to murder by reason of mental illness.
Asked by defence counsel Ertunc Ozen if Mr Woszatka had heard hallucinatory “command voices” telling him to harm or kill his mother, Dr Nielssen said they were “relatively rare”.
Lanell Latta was allegedly killed by her son, Joel Woszatka, in the Avalon Beach house she rented from model, Gemma Ward.Source:Facebook
Police attend the northern beaches home where Lanell Latta died. Picture: Seven NewsSource:Channel 7
Joel Woszatka has pleaded not guilty by way of mental illness to murdering his mother, Lanell Latta last year. Picture: FacebookSource:Facebook
But he said killing one’s own mother “is most likely to be perpetrated by a person with schizophrenia”.
Dressed in a blue suit, collared shirt and tie, the accused sat impassively staring straight ahead as the court heard there was no contest that he had caused his mother’s death.
Dr Nielssen described a decision to take Mr Woszatka off antipsychotic medication six months before the alleged killing as “a tragic error”.
The drugs caused “lethargy, loss of motivation, poverty of speech … neglect of self care, difficulty in planning”.
In 2015, Mr Woszatka had disclosed to doctors “homicidal ideas … thoughts to kill his mother”, the court heard.
He said it caused “hallucinations, voices … persecutory delusions that you are in danger … under surveillance, a victim of persecution”.
Diagnosed with a “severe and disabling form” of chronic schizophrenia, Mr Woszatka had been placed by community order on monthly injections of a high dose of medication.
On the trial’s second day before Justice Helen Wilson, Dr Nielssen agreed that smoking cannabis “brings on schizophrenia” earlier in a person with an inherited disposition for the disease.
Dr Nielssen agreed with Crown prosecutor Paul Lynch that when Mr Woszatka allegedly punched Mr Robson-Scott in the face he was in the grip of mental illness.
The psychiatrist said that in 140 homicide cases in which he had forensically examined accused killers, a large proportion of those who had killed “a family member, often a mother” were schizophrenic.
“It’s not unusual. Ten per cent of homicides in Australia are committed by people with schizophrenia,” he said.
Dr Nielssen said that Mr Woszatka had been treated for his mental health condition in custody following his arrest on the day of the killing, but that it was “very slow”.
In a final submission, Ertunc Ozen told Justice Wilson he did not oppose a verdict of not guilty by reason of mental illness.
Lanell Latta with Geoff Robson-Scott, who was punched in the altercation which resulted in her death.Source:Facebook
A look into a study that breaks down the myths surrounding the relation between mental illness and crime.
The sports ministry and the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) are all set to evaluate the implications of hosting the 35th Olympics as well as its impact on various sectors associated with the event.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president N Ramachandran said that the association was seeking permission from the government to bid for the 2032 Olympics.
Also, the IOC is keen on bidding for the 2030 Asian Games to put the country on the map of international sports community.
While the Sports Ministry is open to the idea of partaking in the bidding process but it will move cautiously in view of the costs involved.
The bidding and candidature process begins nine years before the event. This means that the International Olympic Committee will be announcing the 2032 hosts in 2025.
The countries which have declared their interest in the 2032 Olympics are Germany, Australia, and India.
Of the three, Germany's bid is interesting, as it has proposed to spread the Olympic events throughout 13 different cities in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Can India afford it? This is the question which comes to haunt one when India is bidding for the 2032 Olympics.
However, on the contrary, India's successful stint at several global cricket tournaments puts a stop to such speculations.
According to IOC president Ramachandran, the aim is to use the engagement as a catalyst for the growth of Olympic sports in India.
Nearly five people lost their lives and over 17 lakh remain affected as the flood situation deteriorated in Assam.
Former SP leader Amar Singh said that NDA Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind is the ideal choice for the president.
Opposition to test-linked job ratings have sparked boycotts of state exams involving hundreds of thousands of students.
State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia is seen at the Tilles Center in Greenvale on May 2. Photo Credit: Howard Schnapp
State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia told a capacity crowd of school board delegates Friday that the state could potentially extend its moratorium on using student test scores to evaluate the job performance of teachers.
New York State’s system of evaluating teachers, known as Annual Professional Performance Reviews, or APPR, is one of the most talked-about topics in education. On Long Island and statewide, opposition to test-linked job ratings have sparked boycotts of state exams involving hundreds of thousands of students.
Many teachers remain apprehensive about their ratings, because the statewide moratorium is due to expire in June. Elia has suggested the policymaking Board of Regents to whom she reports might seek to ease tensions by postponing enforcement for a longer period.
State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia speaks to school-board convention delegates at the Sheraton New York Times Square on Friday. Photo Credit: Corey Sipkin
“The fact that somebody knows that something is going to be down the road even — is going to be coming — they are stressed,” the commissioner told more than 700 representatives of local school boards attending a Manhattan convention. “I know that the Regents have shared this publicly, so I'm going to say it is possible that they may choose to do an extension of that moratorium. But I would say to you, we still have work to do."
School board trustees, like other New Yorkers, voice mixed feelings over what approach the state should take next in dealing with teacher evaluations. Some at Friday’s session agreed with the commissioner that an extended moratorium would work, until the state finds a permanent solution.
“If this gives you more time to do it right, then take more time to do it right,” said Susan Bergtraum, of Old Westbury, who sits on the Nassau BOCES board.
Many trustees hope, however, that state lawmakers prove more willing during the coming year than they have been in the past to rewrite the law mandating evaluations.
“I think there’s a better way to evaluate teachers than linking it to test scores, and that’s linking it to teaching standards,” said Timothy Kremer, the association’s executive director.
Elia, who took over as commissioner in July 2015, has dealt with public complaints over the testing policy since her first days in office. By then, New York had endured three years of test boycotts — a movement that started with a few hundred students in Rockville Centre and other scattered locations before gradually mushrooming into hundreds of thousands across the state.
Ronald White, delegate from the Bridgehampton Union Free School District, asks a question to the education commissioner Friday. Photo Credit: Corey Sipkin
The protests, which began under Elia's predecessor, John King, were sparked largely by a state law requiring that up to 50 percent of the job ratings of teachers and principals be based on students' test scores. Opponents of the system, mostly parents and teachers, contended that the ratings put too much pressure on students and faculty members.
Under Elia, the state has made multiple attempts to ease tensions over testing — such as shortening exams and delaying enforcement of the law on job evaluations. Both the commissioner and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo are under pressure to come up with a different approach.
From the beginning, Long Island was the movement's hub. More than 90,000 students in grades three through eight throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties refused to take the state's English Language Arts test in April, representing nearly 50 percent of those eligible, according to Newsday surveys.
In September, Elia announced that the percentage of students boycotting tests statewide had dropped to 18 percent — down a point from the year before. Nevertheless, more than 210,000 students across New York had refused to participate in the exam, out of about 1 million eligible.
The boycott movement also has made its influence felt on local school boards. Jeanette Deutermann, of Bellmore, chief organizer of a parent network, Long Island Opt Out, estimates that her group over the past four years has endorsed 175 successful board candidates, many of whom have helped oust incumbents.
One driving purpose behind such endorsements, organizers said, was to persuade districts to provide students who refused to be tested with alternative activities, such as reading books of their choice, rather than simply sitting at their desks.
Iraqi Christian children who fled the violence in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, sit outside tents erected in the grounds of Mar Elias Chaldean Catholic Church where they are taking shelter in Irbil in northern Iraq on December 24, 2014. Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images / Safin Hamed
So, on a recent trip to Iraqi Kurdistan, it was a relief and a surprise to come across an upbeat story in an unexpected place: a church in Irbil that houses Christian refugees from northern Iraq who barely escaped the Islamic State invasion in August.
The first hint of something unexpected was the shrieks of children's laughter when I entered the Mar Elias churchyard. The next surprise was seeing young boys and girls playing volleyball together on a paved court under improvised night lights, a sight I'd never seen in the gender-conscious Middle East.
This scene was a far cry from the dark days when the Islamic State overran ancient Christian towns in Nineveh province and 60,000 Christians fled to Iraqi Kurdistan, where they crowded into cheap apartments or churches or squatted in unfinished buildings.
The Kurds, who are Sunni Muslims but not Arabs, welcomed the Christians but couldn't cope with the influx (having already accepted 200,000 Syrian refugees and previous waves of Christians fleeing Baghdad and Mosul).
"We had to use the church garden and an unfinished mall," recalled Father Douglas Bazi, an ebullient Iraqi cleric with a brush cut and a short salt-and-pepper beard, wearing black slacks and an electric-blue short-sleeved shirt.
But when relief agencies finally sought to move the refugees into rental apartments or makeshift camps, a strange thing happened. "People here refused to move," Father Douglas said.
Under the priest's direction, and with the contributions of local Christian volunteers, the refugees had morphed into a close community. With help from charitable groups and local volunteers, Father Douglas had moved them into brightly colored trailers - he uses the British term, caravans - which line the edges of the churchyard.
What Father Douglas had decided to do was focus on young children and teens. "To focus on the adults in a time of chaos is a waste of time," he told me. "I care about the kids. They are our revenge and our promise." When the children arrived with their families "they were lost," the priest recalled. "They were aggressive, and the boys used bad language."
There was no sense of order. He was determined to keep the kids busy, although the government was unable to provide formal schooling until two months ago. He set up programs staffed by volunteers from Ankawa and from among the refugees, to teach English, French, music, dancing, and acting - all the things that the Islamic State had banned.
He forbade families from sending their children to work. He insisted that girls and boys learn and play sports together, another repudiation of Islamic State ideology - and something uncommon even among Iraqi Christians. He created a camp library in two trailers with donated books and computers and a huge chessboard, putting students in charge.
"The future of Christians in northern Iraq is vague and the challenges great," I was told by Chaldean Bishop Bashar Warda in his Irbil residence.
As for Father Douglas, he says he can't say whether it's better for Christians to stay or emigrate abroad, where they would lose touch with historic communities that have endured for generations.
So he will keep pursuing his goal: Give children the skills and a mind-set that will enable them to survive the coming years of hardship. "If I lose one kid, I lose the future," he insists.
This indefatigable priest is looking for donations of illustrated children's books in simple English. He would also love to have some volunteer English teachers for a two- or three-week stretch this summer. To learn more, email him at douglasbazi@gmail.com.
Pupils of the new Backworth Park Primary School with the Duke of Northumberland, headteacher Barbara Middleton, MP Alan Campbell and Cllr Peter Earley. Picture by Jane Coltman
Children, families, teaching staff and VIP guests joined in the celebrations marking the opening of the new Backworth Park Primary School building.
The school has relocated from its existing site on Station Road, to a new location south of the golf course within the new Backworth Park housing estate.
It features state-of-the-art classrooms, improved outdoor play space, a multi-use games area and a garden, providing the school with a larger capacity and space to expand in the future, if necessary.
Barbara Middleton, Executive Headteacher at Backworth Park Primary School, said: “Everyone, from the staff and governors, to the pupils and their parents, has been looking forward to moving into this building and the opportunities it will bring – especially for sports and outdoor provision.
“I’d like to say a huge thank-you to everyone who has been involved in getting us to this point – it’s been an amazing journey and I’m delighted that we have been able to mark this day in such a special way.”
Nine-year-old pupil Thomas said: “I really like it, it’s bigger and better and all my friends like it too.”
Alan Campbell, MP for Tynemouth, and the Duke of Northumberland were on hand to help mark the official opening of the new building, with the MP unveiling a commemorative plaque to celebrate the opening while the Duke of Northumberland buried a time capsule to be opened in 2043.
“The new school is a first class facility which will provide an outstanding learning environment for local youngsters.
“In light of the new housing in this area it was a much needed addition and also provides access to valuable community facilities.”
The Duke, who wrote a letter to be included in the children’s time capsule, added: “I am delighted to be here to mark the opening of Backworth Park Primary School.
“Northumberland Estates has been much involved in recent development here in Backworth so we were delighted to assist when asked to provide a suitable site for the construction of this new school.
“The Estate, and indeed the Percy family, have a long tradition of supporting education in the North East, dating back many centuries, and it is great to be able to continue this tradition here.
“Any school is at the heart of its community, and I would therefore like to take this opportunity to wish the staff and the children all the very best in their endeavours and I hope they, and indeed future generations, will enjoy and benefit from these wonderful new premises.”
Coun Peter Earley, cabinet member for children, young people and learning, said: “I’m delighted that we could be here today to mark the opening of the new Backworth Park Primary School.
“The new building is absolutely fantastic and these new facilities will allow the school’s staff to build on the outstanding support they already provide these pupils with.
“North Tyneside’s fantastic education system has received such praise over the past few years, with a number of our schools named among the best in the country – and I’m delighted that we can build on this with another state-of-the-art building.”