Sydney News: Jewish community wants football ban over Nazi salute of Sydney United 58 fans

Here’s what you need to know today.

Call for ‘quick and heavy’ penalties

A representative of the Jewish community hopes action will be taken against more people who were filmed giving the fascist salute at the Australia Cup on Saturday night.

Several Sydney United 58 fans have been accused of performing a Nazi salute and booing “Welcome to the country” during their match against MacArthur FC.

Football Australia issued a one-time permanent ban and said it will continue to work with police to identify other individuals who may have been involved.

Darren Burke, head of the New South Wales Jewish Commission, said the wider community condemned the fan’s actions and hoped that those responsible would be identified soon.

“Social media images clearly show many fans participating in these abhorrent acts, including booing Welcome to Country,” he told ABC.

“Therefore, we look forward to Football Australia enforcing even faster and harsher penalties once these fans have been identified.”

Sydney closes in on rain record

Meteorologists predict Sydney’s annual rainfall will hit a record high by the end of this weekend.

Three rain bands converged in New South Wales this week, bringing a total of 100 mm of rain to several towns.

ABC meteorologist Tom Saunders said he expects Harbor City’s annual total to set a new record by Sunday.

The current total is rapidly approaching the high of 2,194 mm set in 1950 and passed 2,111 mm late last week.

This surpassed the 1860 (2,110.5 mm) which was the third highest in Sydney today.

Storm warning has been lifted

The Bureau of Meteorology has canceled severe weather warnings for parts of New South Wales.

Heavy rains have eased in the northwestern part of the state, but various flood monitoring and warnings remain in place in parts of the state.

The imminent threat of severe weather has passed, but state emergency services are advising people to stay vigilant and monitor the situation.

The agency also canceled a severe weather warning for southern Queensland, but issued a severe thunderstorm warning.

It warns of possible damage from high winds, severe hail and heavy rains, and the possibility of flash flooding.

Water Data Fails Flood Management Systems

A New South Wales professor says Australia’s water data collection system is frustrating dam managers, especially during floods.

Professor Stuart Kahn of the University of New South Wales said the data is currently collected by local, state and federal agencies, making collation difficult.

He endorsed a new report by the Australian Academy of Technology, Science and Engineering calling for the development and implementation of technologies such as satellites to improve surveillance.

He said real-time data is important, especially before dam openings during heavy rains.

“Sometimes when we make those decisions, we are making decisions based on imperfect data,” he said.

deadly house fire

Police investigating a deadly house fire on the state’s south coast say it’s not being treated as suspicious.

Yesterday afternoon, the body of a 40-year-old man was found inside a smoldering unit in Moruya.

Emergency services were called to the property, whose windows were blackened and smoke-filled.

They say there was no active fire when they arrived, but a man was found dead inside.

The scene is being investigated by an expert forensic officer.