How opening ceremony unfolded: Naomi Osaka lights cauldron, drones captivate world A Set the default text size A Set large text size A Set the default text size A Set large text size
Tennis star Naomi Osaka had the honour of lighting the Olympic cauldron early Saturday AEST, at the end of four hour ceremony tinged with pandemic melancholy and a moment of high tech that wowed the watching world.
The first hour of the ceremony took a sombre look at the state of the world and the virus that meant the games were delatyed by a year and have to be played out in front of empty stands.
Ash Barty crowned Wimbledon champion breaking 41 year drought
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Australia, we have a new Wimbledon champion. The 41-year drought is over.
World number one Ash Barty staked her place in history overnight with a stunning three-set 6-3, 6-7 (7/4), 6-3 victory over eighth-seeded Czech Karolína Plískova.
Barty, 25, became the first Aussie woman to claim the Wimbledon ladies’ singles title since fellow Indigenous Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley did in 1980.
The newly-crowned Barty shed tears after the match, describing her win as a “miracle” that allows her to join her idol as tennis royalty.
“The stars aligned for me over the past fortnight,” said Barty.
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The Uluru Statement from the Heart has been awarded the Sydney Peace Prize, four years after it was delivered to the Australian people.
The landmark statement - an agreement of 250 Indigenous delegates that calls for a constitutionally-enshrined Indigenous Voice to Parliament - was issued to Australians on 26 May, 2017.
The prize was revealed on Wednesday, with the jury saying the statement brought together Australia s First Nations Peoples around a clear and comprehensive agenda for healing and peace within our nation .
“The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a powerful and historic offering of peace,” Sydney Peace Foundation chair, Archie Law, said in a media release.
Her comments follow intensifying debate over January 26 over the past few weeks. What we ve seen with all the discussions around the country and certainly the inappropriate and offensive commentary by members of government to First Nations people and organisations shows that there is a lack of leadership from the Prime Minister down, Senator McCarthy told NITV News.
Last week, Cricket Australia announced that they would remove the Australia Day branding from their January 26 matches.
The decision sparked Prime Minister Scott Morrison to say the day wasn t a particularly flash day for those on the First Fleet either.
This assertion was met with outrage - and eye-rolling - on social media.