BREAKING NEWS Sydney Train delays: Commuters warned to allow extra travel time after an incident at Artarmon
Sydney commuters have been warned to 'allow extra travel time' following an incident in the city's north.
Trains on the T1 line have been affected by an issue at Artarmon.
'Allow extra travel time due to an incident requiring emergency services at Artarmon,' Sydney Trains said.
'Stops may change at short notice.
'For service updates, please check transport apps, information screens and listen to announcements.'
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The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
The longest division: can Palestinian and Israeli students compete at the International Maths Olympiad?
For six Palestinian teenagers, it could be a 'life-changing opportunity'. The youngsters have been selected for the International Mathematics Olympiad, to be held on Australia's Sunshine Coast in July, but it is unclear whether they will be able to leave Gaza and the West Bank to take part. At the same time the IMO faces calls to suspend Israel's membership and allow its students to compete solely as private entrants. National teams around the world are in training camps for the trip to Australia, being coached by academics as they prepare to compete for medals – and the ticket such prizes offer to just about any university in the world. The Palestine team leader, Samed AlHajajla, says the IMO should be the start of a journey towards a glittering career. 'Having a mind to solve these problems is incredibly rare,' AlHajajla says. 'They are the best in Palestine, they are the top students. Being an IMO competitor, it takes a lot of hard work and talent and gifts and, for them [in training for the IMO] they can exercise that, they can exercise some freedom inside the prison which is Gaza. 'For them [it should be] a life-changing opportunity where they can taste freedom for the first time.' The problem facing AlHajajla and his young Palestinians is logistical and political. Last year, four Palestinians – two from Gaza and two from the West Bank – were selected for the 2024 IMO in Bath, England, but were unable to take part. The closure of the Rafah crossing meant those in Gaza could not leave. Visas and passports for those in the West Bank were approved by British and Israeli authorities, but did not arrive in time. A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Australia says they are 'not aware of any evidence that Israel delayed or refused visas for the Palestinian team at the last IMO, nor do we have information suggesting this will occur now'. Mike Clapper is the interim chief executive of the Australian Mathematics Trust, which is organising the Sunshine Coast event. He says it is 'very much our hope' that the Palestinian team will be able to come in person. 'We are exploring all the avenues that we can to try to make it possible for the Palestinians to participate,' he says. Whether Palestinians can compete is only one part of the IMO's problem. The other is whether Israelis should be allowed to do so. On 6 May a letter signed by more than 700 mathematicians was issued to the IMO under the heading 'Mathematics and Moral Responsibility: the IMO and the Genocide in Gaza'. The letter calls on the IMO to do as it did when it suspended Russia's membership after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine – while allowing its six students to compete remotely as private individuals. Russia remains suspended. Signatories come from a diverse range of countries, universities and career stages: from Australia to Morocco to Switzerland; from Oxford to Stanford to the University of Carthage; from PhD researchers to associate professors to three winners of the Fields medal – the award often referred to as the Nobel prize of maths. The letter – seen by Guardian Australia – has not been published, to protect signatories from harassment. Among them is an Israeli, a former IMO medallist, who asked for their name to be withheld. 'I needed to think about it for a second because of the potential danger,' they say. 'If I would tell this to random people in the street it would be, I would not say controversial, it would be considered a clearcut treasonous thing to do.' But, they say: 'We see what is happening in Gaza: there's war crimes, there's starvation, the genocide. For me it is clearcut. It is the moral thing – it is the obligatory thing to do in this situation.' They hope the suspension of Israel would be a symbolic act that would help 'put a mirror in the face of the Israeli nation'and cause their compatriots to reflect on 'what direction this country is going'. The Israeli embassy in Canberra flatly rejected the call. 'The embassy strongly opposes any call to suspend Israel's IMO membership or to boycott its students,' its spokesperson said. 'Mathematics must remain apolitical and inclusive.' The Israeli signatory, like so many young mathematicians, says competing at the IMO was a 'transformative experience'. The first signatory of the letter is the research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, Ahmed Abbes. The son of a Tunisian high school maths teacher, he recalls the IMO as his 'making as a mathematician'. Abbes won a bronze medal at his first IMO in Canberra in 1988. The following year in Braunschweig, Germany, he won silver, rubbing shoulders and making lifelong connections with teenagers who would go on to become some of the world's most influential people. Ranked No 1 in the world in 1988, for the second year running, was Nicuşor Dan, who won a second consecutive gold medal with his second perfect score. In May, he emerged from Romania's political crisis as its new president. At that same IMO the Australian prime minister, Bob Hawke, presented a gold medal to an even younger prodigy, a 12-year-old Australian called Terence Tao. Tao remains the youngest ever IMO gold medallist and is now regarded by many as the greatest living mathematician. A more recent example of the IMO's power to transform lives is Ihor Pylaiev. Pylaiev was plucked from war-ravaged Kharkiv in 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine to continue his studies in Paris. He won his second gold medal in Oslo, this time with a perfect score and the top world ranking. He is now studying at Cambridge on a scholarship with colleagues from the Ukrainian IMO team. Abbes, who led efforts to support Pylaiev and the Ukrainian students, says the mathematical community's response to the Russian invasion is another chapter in its proud history of standing up for human rights. 'When you accept that there are universal values, you just apply them, like you apply a mathematical theorem,' Abbes says. 'When you see clearly the double standard [in not applying the same lens to Israel], as a mathematician you cannot accept this.' The president of the IMO board, Gregor Dolinar, denies accusations of double standards. Since assuming the presidency in 2023, the Slovenian professor has overseen the incorporation of the IMO as an association, based in the Netherlands. 'I wanted to make things more formal, more professional,' Dolinar says. 'Now we have set up a government structure properly.' Dolinar says it is his 'strong belief' that important decisions such as suspending nations should be made not by his board, but by the IMO jury, which includes representatives from more than 100 states and territories. The jury, he says, will meet at the Sunshine Coast in July and could make the decision to suspend Israel then. 'Our primary goal is just focusing on [developing] young minds and, based on a very long tradition, doing a nice event,' Dolinar says. 'We really do want to avoid any political issues. We really do want to be apolitical. 'Our primary goal is to enable as many kids as possible to participate at the IMO.'
TTG
9 hours ago
- TTG
How to generate £500,000+ from a client event
SHOWCASING SPECIALISMS Homing in on one destination has worked well for Sam Smith Travel. The Welsh agency, part of Ocky White Travel, netted £200,000 worth of bookings from a Japan-themed client dinner, then around £500,000 from an in-agency Australasia weekend. The Japan evening saw VIP bookers and customers who'd expressed an interest in the destination treated to a meal at Ivy Asia Cardiff. It was sponsored, at the agency's request, by Japan National Tourism Organisation, which even sent its Tokyo head. A Wendy Wu representative also attended. After some 'short, sharp and sweet presentations, the vibe was prosecco and talk about Japan', says sales and commercial manager Suzanne Cumpston. Knowing there would be a buzz around Australia thanks to the British and Irish Lions rugby tour this year, Sam Smith later held three fizz-fuelled social drop-in days to talk holidays down under. A BBC radio interview on the topic helped alert listeners to the agency's tailor-made expertise. Ahead of the event, Sam Smith staff updated their knowledge of products and trends by completing Aussie Specialist Program modules. They also primed Australasia experts at several operators to take enquiries during the weekend, with Prestige proving particularly helpful. 'It's not just about the event and it's not just about the revenue you do on that day or the halo effect within a week or two; you become famous for a destination. Maybe months down the line they remember us as an Australia specialist,' explains Cumpston. Sam Smith deliberately showcases destinations that suit the tailor-made strengths of independent agencies. Similar events highlight how it can book individual cruise lines face-to-face. Results from a Celebrity Cruises event included a group booking. 'I think people need more hand-holding with cruise,' Cumpston points out. To further raise the agency's profile, the venue for next year's key event will be a castle. Analysing favourite and trending holidays is important for picking a theme, Cumpston advises. 'Know your audience, know your market, and go in heavy with the marketing side of things. Be switched on inviting the right people to the event.' Sam Smith Travel builds events around single destinations INCENTIVISING BOOKERS Magic Vacations in Kinsale, Ireland is in the sixth year of its Big 10 travel event. Each September more than 1,000 attendees meet 10 of its core tour operator, theme park and cruise line suppliers. Prizes are up for grabs and upgrades are given to those booking within a certain time window. The event now generates around €250,000 worth of sales in the following fortnight alone. Codes for Big 10 sales help the team track what's working and what can be built on for the following year. The agency also gains marketing opt-ins from those who reserve free tickets to the event. 'Really, September for us is as big as January,' says managing director John Barrett. Keeping the event 'tight and relevant' is the key to its success, he explains. 'We're actually turning suppliers away – we need them to tie in with our core product.' The theme park and cruise specialist knew it was originally a big ask to get suppliers such as Disney, Universal and Legoland to an event beyond Dublin, but its close relationships helped and now 'they have the belief that the event is going to be a success'. In a similarly ambitious move, Magic Vacations spent a year-and-a-half negotiating a significant cruise embarkation from Cobh (Cork) which it was able to sell at its 2024 Big 10 event. The agency had an allocation of 50 cabins on MSC Virtuosa, which sold out in 48 hours. 'We could have sold 200!' says Barrett, who now has his sights set on having a major ex-Cork cruise to sell at each Big 10. It comes down to 'thinking outside of the box', he says.
Daily Mail
9 hours ago
- Daily Mail
The hugely popular tourist destination Disney won't open a theme park in
With its amazing natural landscapes and beautiful cities, it's one of the world's most popular holiday destinations - attracting 7 million visitors in 2024 - but Australia is unlikely to get a Disney theme park in the near future. While the Land Down Under has plenty of its own brand parks, including its biggest, Dreamworld, on the country's Gold Coast, the most famous theme park brand in the world is yet to be tempted to open up there. Disney currently has six theme parks across the globe, including its original parks in the US - Disneyland Resort, California and Walt Disney World Resort, Florida - Disneyland Paris in Europe and three in Asia, in Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai. And, to great fanfare, a new opening was announced last month, with plans unveiled for a Disney theme park in United Arab Emirates' capital Abu Dhabi - the brand's first major new theme park in nearly a decade and its first in the Middle East. Disney fans in Australia though are likely to have to wait a long time for an attraction on Oz soil, with executives confirming there are currently no plans in the pipeline. The reason? Disney doesn't believe Australia has a big enough population to keep a Disney park prosperous - and the demise of Sega World, which famously opened and then failed in Sydney in the 90s, is likely all the evidence the brand needs. A gaming mecca that was dubbed 'Sydney's Disney' at the time, Sega World opened at Darling Harbour's Pavilion and was said to have cost more than AUS$80million (around £38million)...but by the turn of the millennium, the indoor park was closed. While Australia has a population of around 26.5 million - plus 7.6 million tourists, it still small fry numbers compared to other destinations that do have a Disney park; Greater Tokyo, for example, has a population of 37 million. There have been plans for a park in the past, with a Gold Coast park rumoured back in the 90s, but China was later preferred as a natural step for expansion by the US brand. And now, it seems the Middle East has eclipsed Australia. While the city of Abu Dhabi has a population of about 2.5 million, Yas Island, where the park will open 'in the early 2030s' recorded more than 34 million visits in 2023, a 38% rise compared to the year before, Miral has said. 'We've always been interested in this part of the world - to bring our Disney stories to new, younger fans,' Disney's Experiences unit Chairman Josh D´Amaro told Reuters in May, adding, 'Abu Dhabi was an ideal location for us.' Miral, the Abu Dhabi-based leisure and entertainment group responsible for developing Yas Island, will finance, build and operate the resort. The creative and technical professionals who design Disney's theme parks, known as Imagineers, will lead creative design and provide operational oversight. The Abu Dhabi park, Disney´s first since Shanghai Disneyland opened in 2016, represents a continuation of the company´s plans to 'turbocharge' its Experiences unit, which includes its six global theme park resorts, a cruise ship line and a family resort in Hawaii. In 2023, Disney announced it would commit $60 billion over a decade to double the size of its Disney cruise ship fleet and invest in its theme parks. It also took a minority stake in Epic Games, creator of the online game Fortnite. Miral initially approached Disney to talk about their plans for creating a tourism hub in Abu Dhabi, said D´Amaro. That conversation led Disney executives to visit the prospective theme park site last September. 'We saw where our potential park might go, and had some serious conversations about what this could mean to our 'turbocharging',' D´Amaro said. After a return trip to the region in February, D´Amaro said the parties entered into serious discussions that culminated in a deal. The amount of Miral's investment was not disclosed. Miral Group CEO Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi issued a statement hailing the addition of a Disney theme park to Yas Island as a 'historic milestone' in the company´s efforts to build the island into a global entertainment destination. (Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Henderson and Muralikumar Anantharaman) HOW TO GET MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK AT DISNEY THEME PARKS When it comes to family fun, few destinations rival Disney. Who can resist high-octane rides, thrilling entertainment and a cartoon cast for every generation? But wherever you embark on your Disney adventure, costs can quickly spiral. Here's our guide to getting the best bang for your buck at Disney theme parks all over the world. Disneyland Paris Highlights of Paris' two parks include the recently spruced-up Sleeping Beauty Castle, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Peril and Ratatouille: The Adventure. Best value time to visit: Where possible, swerve seasonal celebrations like Easter, Halloween and Christmas. French school holidays differ from ours, too, so do your research to get a better deal. Failing that, prices in January, February, September and November are likely to be much lower. Ditto with weekdays over weekends. Park tickets: As a rule of thumb, the more days you visit Disney parks, the cheaper the price. For deals, check third party outlets like Budget stays: A night at Hotel Marne-la-Vallée Val d'Europe, a ten-minute drive from the park, is £117 with breakfast for a family of four in the summer ( For a real budget option, happy campers can stay under canvas on a pitch with electricity at the Camping International de Jablines, a 20-minute drive from Disneyland Paris, from £14pp/pn ( Eat for less: The Earl of Sandwich serves everything from breakfast to salads and sandwiches, with most items under a tenner. Packed lunches are allowed inside the park. Disneyland California; Disney World Florida The first site to open, Disneyland California is home to the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty Castle. Walt Disney World, in Orlando, is the bigger – and arguably better – sister of the original, with over 173 rides to choose from. Best value time to visit: Disney offers official deals throughout the year, with January to May ones generally better than those around winter holidays. Tickets: Shop around discount providers for the best deals. Opting for '1 Park Per Day' tickets, rather than 'Hopper' tickets should save you some cash. Budget stays: For Disneyland, some off-property hotels are just as close to the action as pricier on-site offerings. A 25-minute walk from the park, doubles at DoubleTree Suites by Hilton start from £105 ( For Disney World, you're better off at the value resorts onsite, such as the All-Star Movies Resort, where doubles start from £118, and two children under 18 stay for free. Eat for less: Food is allowed inside the park. If you do eat onsite, avoid table-service restaurants to keep costs down. Disneyland Tokyo Japan's capital has two parks, Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, as well as six hotels all within easy reach. The train from central Tokyo takes 24 minutes and costs around £2. Best value time to visit: Currently, the yen is very weak, so if Japan is on your travel wish list, don't put off a trip. Mid-January to mid-March is considered off-peak. Tickets: Only one-day tickets are currently available and it's cheapest to use the official website, It's £44 for adults, £37 for children aged 12 to 17 and £26 for ages four to 11 (under threes go free). Weekdays Tuesday to Friday see the smallest crowds. Budget stays: Family rooms at Mitsui Garden Hotel Prana Tokyo Bay cost from £117 in high season, with a free 15-minute shuttle to the park, The same night in the Hotel MiraCosta at DisneySea costs £440. Eat for less: International fast food options will fill bellies without a huge outlay – a small salami pizza at Pan Galactic Pizza Port in Tokyo Disneyland costs around £4. Otherwise, don't miss Ikspiari mall, located at the park's gateway; it's open late and has much cheaper options, plus a great supermarket, Hong Kong The smallest theme park in the empire, Hong Kong Disneyland is a 30-minute MTR train from both the airport and city centre. Comprising eight lands, the newest of them, World of Frozen, opened in 2023. Best value time to visit: Avoid holidays such as Golden Week (May and October) and Lunar New Year (January or February), as well as local school holidays and weekends. Mondays and Fridays are the busiest weekdays. Tickets: This Disneyland's succinct size means you can do it in a day, which keeps ticket costs low. Find savings on which has adult tickets at £59.85 and children/seniors at £45.69, saving around £14. Budget stays: Stay in central Hong Kong for the best deals; a room for four at the Dorsett Tsuen Wan hotel in Kowloon is just under £100 a night, Eat for less: Packed lunches are allowed inside the park. Citygate Outlets is a ten-minute cab ride away in Tung Chung and has 40 dining options. Shanghai The newest Disney park has eight lands, including Toy Story Land and Zootopia, plus two hotels and Disneytown for entertainment, dining and shopping. Best time to visit: November to May has the smallest crowds and cooler weather – but avoid weekends and major holidays. A 20-minute cab ride from the airport costs around £11 with the DiDi app, which works like Uber. From central Shanghai, the subway takes up to an hour but costs just a few pounds. Budget stays: If you're travelling with young children, the Toy Story Hotel is hard to argue with, particularly as rooms start from around £150. Otherwise, The Courtyard by Marriott, which has a free park shuttle and comes in at £136, is a good option,
