BREAKING NEWS Marrickville fire: Huge blaze breaks out at factory
Firefighters are currently battling a massive blaze at a factory in Marrickville.
The fire broke out at around 3.30am, triggering a large-scale emergency response.
Crews are working to contain the flames and thick smoke both from the ground and the air.
At this stage, the cause of the fire remains unknown
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The Guardian
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- The Guardian
Swimmers' annual nude plunge into chilly Tasmanian river marks the winter solstice – and Dark Mofo's revival
Swimmers have stripped off and raced into chilly waters on the shortest day of the year. Wearing nothing but red swim caps, 3,000 courageous souls took the annual nude sunrise plunge into Hobart's River Derwent to mark the winter solstice. The air temperature was about 10C as the naked pack took to the water at 7.40am on Saturday, sparking shrieks and yells of anguish. Liz Cannard, who has been travelling around Tasmania for nearly four months with her husband, said she was petrified before taking the dip. 'I'm not a strong swimmer and I don't take my gear off for anybody ... so I've ticked off a couple of things today,' the Geelong resident said. Lizzy Nash from Sydney was also in the mood for a bit of carpe diem. 'It's about seizing the moment, seizing life and being inspired,' she said. 'This is the sort of thing that motivates you to want to do more and challenge yourself. It was awe-inspiring and I absolutely loved it.' The free swim is part of the Dark Mofo festival and started with just a few hundred participants in 2013. Melburnian Belinda Chambers said she had been watching people do it on television for years and decided to work remotely from Tasmania for the festival so she could stay and leave on a high. 'So exhilarating,' she said. 'I was nervous, but there was this almost primal moment of everyone being together that carries you along, and a sense of pure happiness.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Dark Mofo has returned to its full pomp in 2025, after running a reduced program in 2024 so it could find a more sustainable financial model. The festival's artistic director, Chris Twite, said the swim was a tremendous way to bring things to a close. 'The response in 2025 has been incredible,' he said. 'The streets of Hobart have come alive with locals and visitors celebrating winter and Dark Mofo again.' More than 103,000 tickets were sold to Dark Mofo events in 2025, generating $4.6m. The festival has made a name for itself by courting controversy and in 2018 drew the ire of some by installing inverted Christian crosses along Hobart's waterfront.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Why a single photo of a Magnum ice cream has Aussies up in arms
A disappointed Aussie has questioned if his favourite ice cream has shrunk in size after he bought a Magnum from his local petrol station. The man placed his hand beside the ice cream to give Aussies a size reference. 'Is this a special servo size or is this just how big a magnum ice cream is now?' he captioned a photo of the sweet treat on Reddit. 'Haven't had a Magnum ice cream in ages. I swear these were three times bigger when I was a kid. It's about as big as a couple fingers now.' Aussies were quick to weigh in to the Magnum size debate. 'What used to be the mini became the regular a long time ago,' one person claimed. 'Absolutely not worth the purchase given the quality also dropped massively from when they were first released.' 'Oh old school magnum ego were the go-to ice cream,' a second agreed. 'The chocolate is much thinner now. I bought two at the footy the other night for $7 each and they were very underwhelming,' a third said. 'Wait, seriously? I stopped getting them years ago after one of the price hikes, but now they only sell the minis and call them regular ones? What a rort,' a fourth added. 'Kept the same overpriced tags and shrank,' another commenter agreed. It came as another upset Aussie claimed they only received 317g of peas in a 500g bag of McCain frozen baby peas they purchased at Woolworths. 'I've heard of shrinkflation, but really?' they captioned a photo of the peas on a scale. 'Guess I'm keeping receipts for longer from now on.' Aussies were divided over whether Woolworths or McCains, the manufacturer of the frozen peas, were at fault over the weight discrepancy. 'Don't Woolworths buy these products to sell to us? Maybe they should do a better job ensuring the quality of what they offer including that consumers are getting what they are paying for,' one person wrote. 'Somebody procures these things. There should be quality control at both levels, I'd be complaining to both.' But another defended Woolworths, writing: 'What do you expect, someone to weigh every single item that is on the shelf?!' 'It's on Woolies to ensure it's delivered within temperature and not tampered with and it's on Woolies to report customer complaints to the supplier/relevant food authorities,' a third person argued.
The Guardian
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- The Guardian
No backyard required: I tried growing vegetables on a 20th-floor balcony – here's what I learned
Gardening is good for our physical and psychological health, and there's great pleasure in plucking ripe tomatoes, salad leaves or fresh herbs to add to a meal. Growing your own food has environmental benefits too, especially if you use a compost heap, worm farm or bokashi bin to divert kitchen scraps from landfill. But can you garden without a backyard? To meet Australia's housing challenge, more city dwellers will live in apartments and townhouses, and gardening in small spaces like balconies and courtyards can be challenging. I found this out last summer when I planted tomatoes in pots on our west-facing balcony. By Christmas, the plants were vigorous and tall, providing a calming wall of green outside my 20th-floor window. But sweltering January days put paid to my hopes of a bountiful crop. Despite plenty of water, the plants couldn't cope with drying winds and the belting afternoon sun, its rays magnified through glass balustrades. Horticulturalist Charlotte Harrison from Sustainable Gardening Australia thinks I might have had better luck if I'd planted tomatoes later in the season. 'Gardening at height is more extreme than gardening at ground level,' she says. 'There's heaps of extra heat radiating from the concrete of the building plus extra light reflected from glass.' As a rule of thumb, Harrison reckons high-rise balconies can be one climate zone warmer than is normal for the local area. On our Melbourne balcony, she says, I'd do better to consult a Sydney planting chart when deciding what to grow and when. 'Think about the microclimate of the space you're gardening in,' advises Harrison. 'Consider how these conditions might be replicated in nature and what might grow there naturally.' An east-facing space is generally more conducive to growing vegetables in summer than a west-facing one. Plants enjoy early light, when the sun is gentler, and shade in the afternoon as the temperature rises. Winds are stronger higher up a building, so our balcony could be compared to a seaside cliff in the Mediterranean, better suited to hardy plants like olives and rosemary than to tomatoes. If conditions are too harsh for fruit or vegetables, then succulents and other desert plants can help to green a space instead. Creating shade on a balcony can be tricky. Body corporate rules may restrict what can be fixed to the building, but anything not securely anchored could blow away and injure someone below. One option is planter boxes with attached shade hoods. Harrison recommends choosing one that is light in colour to reflect heat and that has a wicking bed so plants can draw on a reservoir of water. Make sure you're not overloading your balcony or deck – a planter box full of soil can double in weight when watered. When growing in pots, bigger is generally better, says Harrison, because soil in small pots dries out quickly, even when well mulched. Most plants need as much space for roots below as their branches and leaves take up above, so it's better to grow four plants together in one large pot to share soil and resources than separately in four little ones. Before planting, put large pots on low stands with heavy duty castors so they can be easily moved to follow (or avoid) the sun as it shifts with the seasons. And don't forget drip trays to conserve water and avoid annoying downstairs neighbours. Think carefully about plant selection based on your conditions. Compact varieties of tomatoes, chillies or lemons will be less prone to wind and sun damage than taller traditional varieties. Root vegetables are good for windy settings because soil protects them from the elements. Too much sun is one challenge for gardening in small spaces, too little is another. There's no point in trying flowering vegetables in spots lacking direct sunlight. For a shady position, leafy greens are a better option, or perhaps you can grow upwards to reach the light. A zucchini plant, for example, is a vine and can be trained to grow up a trellis or a stake. 'Growing vertically can really increase growing space,' says Harrison. But the horticulturalist is wary of vertical gardens. They look good, but often need dedicated watering systems and involve plants in small pots that need constant replacement. 'For most home gardeners, having a trellis makes far more sense,' she says. Gardening is a source of great pleasure and makes the concrete jungle a bit greener. A community garden can be a great way to get your fingers in the dirt and meet your neighbours. But don't let limited space deter you from gardening at home too. Harrison's advice: 'Dream big, but start small.'
