Author: info@thewitness.com.au

Despite the legal battle, the $45,000-a-year school is confident the appeal will be thrown out and is forging ahead with enrolling girls in kindergarten and year 5 from next year. It will admit girls into years 7 and 11 in 2028, and become fully co-ed by 2033.Last month, the school unveiled its new prep school girls’ uniform, which includes a grey pinafore, striped shirt, shorts and skort. The full senior school uniform – including pants, skirt and summer dress – is set to be launched in mid-October.Parents Suzanne and Matt Gruber have enrolled their daughter, Autumn, who will start kindergarten…

Fresh from one of his best starts to a new season, “Rocket” Rod Northam is eyeing off a four-pronged assault at Monday’s Tamworth meeting.The likeable Scone trainer has brought home 11 individual winners from his last 34 runners, an impressive near 33 per cent strike rate across 26 days to kick-start 2025-26.Scone trainer Rod Northam.Credit: BradleysIt could have been even bigger, with the yard running three close second-placings at Dubbo early last month before back-to-back placings on Cup day at Narromine.His latest successes came at Scone last Tuesday, when promising mare Smart Buy swept home to win a Class 1…

As evidenced by the Coalition’s colossal loss, it didn’t work for him, but Labor was sure to match the promise, if not in numbers, then in intention – Anthony Albanese also pledged to cut migration levels.It is rare that you will find a politician stating the obvious – that population growth in Australia is propped up by immigration (as it is in most OECD countries), and that successive Australian governments of both stripes have relied on immigration to power economic growth, while neglecting Australia’s profound productivity slump.It is unheard of that a politician will say out loud what demographers and…

French Customs officers control postal parcels in the Customs area of the postal customs clearance office located in the sorting centre of La Poste, near Orly airport, South of Paris on March 20, 2025. — AFPPostal traffic to the United States plunged more than 80% following Washington’s imposition of new tariffs, with 88 operators worldwide fully or partially suspending services, the Universal Postal Union said on Saturday. The UPU, the United Nations’ postal cooperation agency, is working on “the rapid development of a new technical solution that will help get mail moving to the United States again”, its director general…

Travis Kelce earns major support from enraged Taylor Swift fans after incidentTravis Kelce might not have Taylor Swift in the stadium but her fans are watching over him and supporting from afar.The 35-year-old Kansas City Chiefs tight end was slapped by a Los Angeles Chargers player Teair Tart during their game in Brazil, which went viral in a video on social media. Following the shocking moment, Swifties took to social media and blasted Tart for his out of conduct act as they extended support for the “national hero.” Expressing their well wishes for Kelce, one fan wrote, “The guy than…

“Propaganda,” Hitler’s chief propagandist declared, “works best when those who are being manipulated are confident they are acting on their own free will”. This, together with the insight that many people will simply go along with and not challenge a movement that seems socially dominant – the Mitläufer phenomenon, translating literally as one who walks with – explains a great deal about why extremists and autocrats are so keen to use people of good faith to amplify their evil ideas.March for Australia protesters in Sydney.Credit: Max Mason-HubersThe Chinese Communist Party celebrated its military might and propaganda nous this week, with…

“Alan Jones had a crack at it way back. It hasn’t been done with success. Many league coaches have come over to rugby and been successful there – maybe not as head coaches, although I think they could.“To master that challenge, especially being an Aussie kid where league is such a big sport and I grew up playing the sport, I think it would be a huge challenge. I’ve been back here now for maybe six weeks or so, getting my feet on the ground and deciding what I’m gonna get up to next.”One of the biggest challenges for Newcastle’s…

“And in the end, they had the legal base to allow Tony Abbott, the prime minister then, to tow the boats back to Indonesia. Within two weeks, they stopped coming.”The claims overstate the speed of the Australian policy, which took months to come into full force after Abbott won the September 2013 election and introduced Operation Sovereign Borders to turn boats back.Abbott has suggested the UK should learn from the Australian policy and wrote two years ago in The Telegraph that he succeeded when sceptics said his policy would not work.“My government built on the Howard [government] formula: boat turn-backs…

PM Shehbaz Sharif addresses the Second Pakistan-China B2B Investment Conference in Beijing, China, September 4, 2025. — PIDPrime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday vowed maximum facilitation of Chinese investors by removing all bureaucratic hurdles as Pakistan and China inked 21 memoranda of understandings (MoUs) worth $4.2 billion in diverse fields.The prime minister unveiled a bold new vision for Pakistan-China economic cooperation, announcing the formal launch of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor “CPEC 2.0” during his keynote address at the Second Pakistan-China B2B Investment Conference held in Beijing.Welcoming the high-level delegates, he described the forum as a reflection of the iron-clad brotherhood between…

The Young Artist winner completed her jaw-dropping look with nude stilettosEmma Watson was a vision of charm and class in a stunning Gucci mini dress as she stepped out amid the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on Saturday. The Harry Potter star, widely acclaimed for her role as Hermione Granger, posed effortlessly in the Italian city, showing off her slender physique in the beige sleeveless number, which featured chic leather pockets. The Perks of Being a Wallflower 35, actress, appeared in high spirits while departing the luxurious Hotel Excelsior before whisking off on a boat.  The Young Artist winner completed her jaw-dropping look…