Sydney

Iraq’s head coach Graham Arnold couldn’t help but pause, smile and wave to the hundreds of Iraqi football fans gathered at Sydney airport to welcome back the Australian after he guided the Arab team to their first FIFA World Cup in 40 years.

Arnold was given a rapturous welcome as the jubilant Iraqis sang, danced to the beat of drums and tambourines, held aloft placards proclaiming their love for the coach and chanted his name as the 62-year-old walked out of the airport on Sunday night.

Fans waved Iraqi and Australian flags as they chanted “Arnie, Arnie, Arnie, oi, oi, oi” while Arnold spoke to local media following his return from Mexico, where his team won the intercontinental playoff final against Bolivia on Tuesday.

The 2-1 victory came during a tumultuous time in Iraq, engulfed in the Middle East conflict that left several players stranded in various parts of the region and threatened to sabotage their campaign for the playoff tournament.

However, Iraq overcame a logistical nightmare and strong South American opposition to mark their return to the global showpiece event for the first time since 1986.

The Lions of Mesopotamia also returned home to a hero’s welcome. Thousands of fans lined the streets in central Baghdad as the players, sitting atop a double-decker bus, celebrated with their compatriots on Saturday.

Arnold was not part of those celebrations but the Iraqi community in Australia ensured the coach didn’t feel left out.

“Crazy, crazy. I didn’t expect this here in Australia. Obviously in Iraq. But it’s incredible,” Arnold told Australian broadcaster SBS as he stood in front of the fans in the terminal.

“First, I want to apologise to everyone in Iraq that I couldn’t go back there to celebrate due to the airspace shutdown.

“Seeing this here is amazing. Thank you very much.

“I’m just very, very proud of the players and what they did, making many Iraqis happy is very important and that was the main thing.”

Reports in Australian media said local Iraqi football fans found out about Arnold’s return flight from Iraq’s Football Association (IFA) and decided to greet him at the airport.

Fans could be seen chanting “One, one, one, Arnold number one” as the coach took in the scenes around him.

Arnold, who formerly coached Australia, took charge of the Iraqi team in May and led them to three wins, three draws and two losses in their World Cup qualification campaign.

The results took Iraq to the fifth and final round of the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) qualification competition, where they beat the United Arab Emirates 3-2 on aggregate in November and secured a place in the FIFA playoff tournament.

Earlier in March, the former Australian international player urged FIFA to postpone Iraq’s playoff final fixture or find a way to ensure the players reached Mexico well ahead of the match as they grappled with the consequences of the US-Israeli war on Iran.

His plea was heard as FIFA arranged a charter flight for the Iraqi squad and support staff, who reached Mexico just over a week ahead of the March 31 final.

Following their win, Arnold was effusive in his praise of the Iraqi players who participated in the match while the war raged on.

“Everything that is going on in the Middle East made it a little bit harder,” Arnold ⁠⁠said after the play-off final.

“I banned social media since the day we got here,” he added. “I did not want them to think of what is going ⁠⁠on in the Middle East because they had to focus ⁠⁠on the job we had here.”

Arnold said qualifying for the World Cup was a major privilege for the players. “Iraq has nothing to lose.”

Iraq will be placed in one of the toughest groups at the World Cup. Their opponents in Group I will be France, Norway and Senegal.

The Middle East team will face Norway in their opening game on June 16 in Boston. Their second fixture will be against 2018 champions France on June 22 in Philadelphia and their final group game against Senegal is four days later in Toronto, Canada.

SCREEN star Sydney Sweeney is backed for the next 007 film — not as a Bond girl, but a girl Bond.

Hollywood director Paul Feig believes she would be perfect as the British spy.

Asked about a glamour role for her in the next movie, he insisted: “I’d rather Sydney be the next Bond.

“There have been some cool Bond girls, but come on, let her be the super-spy, she’s great.”

Paul, who was behind the camera for Sydney’s latest hit The Housemaid, added: “She’s one of the hardest-working people I know, so professional, so smart, so savvy. I think she’d be a good spy.”

American Sydney, 28 — who posted a selfie in an ivory dress on Instagram at the weekend — last year told of her interest in Bond after the franchise was bought by Amazon MGM.

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She said: “I’ve always been a huge fan and I’m excited and curious to see what they do with it.”

When asked if she fancied playing a Bond girl, Sydney said: “Depends on the script.

“I think I’d have more fun as James Bond.”

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, ­Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi and Jack O’Connell have all been linked to the Bond role.

Daniel Craig quit after 2021’s No Time to Die.

Dune’s Denis Villeneuve will direct the next 007 film, written by Peaky Blinders’ creator Steven Knight.

SYDNEY Sweeney has flaunted her figure in a sheer lace bodysuit during a sexy photoshoot to promote the next release in her lingerie brand, Syrn.

The Euphoria star has been regularly modeling lingerie from her collection since launching Syrn in January.

On Tuesday, Sydney, 28, appeared in a video, posted to the brand’s official Instagram page, giving a behind-the-scenes look at the actress on the set of the racy shoot.

The clip showed The Housemaid star wearing the white one-piece suit, labeled The Fantasy Lace Halter Bodysuit on the company’s website, which was completely see-through, exposing her bare breasts.

The middle had a giant cut-out also teasing her cleavage, nearly busting out of the thin fabric, and her flat tummy.

Sydney finished the look with thigh-high sheer white stockings, a full face of makeup, and her long blond hair styled in loose waves.

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The video captured The White Lotus star seductively posing and making suggestive gestures at the camera, while looking through gold binoculars.

She was also seen walking in the risqué attire with a massive brown fur coat draped over one shoulder.

“Round two, she’s ready. Seductress Drop 2 now LIVE,” the caption read.

Sydney wore the same bodysuit in a snapshot posted last week on the Syrn Instagram page, which announced that two new colors had been added to the best-seller.

The bodysuit was previously available in “Pillow Fight” (white) and “Pout” (pink) and is now also offered in “Shipwrecked” (dark blue) and “After Dark” (black).

Syrn prides itself on being inclusive and designed for all body types, with 44 sizes ranging from 30B to 42DDD.

In an interview with Us Weekly earlier this month, Sydney opened up about not feeling confident in her body growing up.

“I grew up with boobs. I was wearing a 32DD in sixth grade, and I never felt confident,” the Nobody but You star told the outlet.

“I never had anything I felt good in, and I just wanted to hide. It wasn’t until [I played] Cassie in Euphoria that I started realizing it’s actually powerful to be confident; our bodies are incredible.

“We should embrace [them] and feel really good in our skin.”

Sydney added that playing Cassie, who generally wore more revealing clothing that highlighted her ample chest, inspired her to launch a brand that catered to all sizes.

“I’d always be like, ‘Oh, this fit doesn’t work. I don’t have the support I want. The straps are digging into my shoulders, or it’s kind of itchy and riding up.’

“I started a whole Pinterest board of thousands of photos of inspiration, and I [thought], ‘I should actually do this.’ And we put it together,” she explained.

“That’s kind of why I wanted to build all these different worlds,” Sydney continued.

“So [fans] could honestly choose what they wanted to be [at] the start of the day or the end of the day.”

March 20 (UPI) — At least five people were injured Friday after a Delta Air Lines flight hit severe turbulence on its final approach to Sydney, Australia.

Delta told the BBC that Flight 41 from Los Angeles with 160 passengers and crew on board “encountered brief turbulence” as it landed at Sydney Airport, injuring four flight attendants.

The Airbus A350 touched down “safely and normally,” said a Delta spokesperson.

Three of the injured were taken to hospital by ambulance crews waiting on the tarmac after sustaining what paramedics determined were “musculoskeletal and lower back concerns.”

“I believe five were assessed; in total three were transported to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital with minor injuries,” said Lisa Frow, manager of NSW Ambulance’s Mascot station.

Delta said none of those hurt were passengers, but Australian media listed two 71-year-olds, a 60-year-old-woman and a 37-year-old woman among the injured.

In July, more than two dozen passengers aboard a Delta Air Lines Airbus A330 were hospitalized after it was buffeted by “significant turbulence” en route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam.

The flight diverted and landed safely at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport with 25 passengers taken to area hospitals.

In June, five people were injured when an American Airlines Airbus A321 hit “unexpected turbulence on flight from Miami to Durham, N.C.

Three flight attendants and two passengers were taken to the hospital.

Passengers reported an unconscious man, a flight attendant with a broken arm and another burned by hot water from a drinks cart.

The American Airlines incident is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, as is standard for incidents where there are injuries.

In May 2024, one person died and 71 were injured, seven critically, aboard a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore that ran into unexpected extreme turbulence when it was at cruise altitude.

The flight deck declared an emergency, but landed the Boeing 777 safely at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Health officials determined that Briton, Geoff Kitchen, died of a suspected heart attack.

The incident prompted Singapore Airlines to revise its seat belt policy so that it would no longer provide hot beverage or meal service when the fasten seatbelt sign was illuminated

While strong or severe turbulence — where disturbed air pitches an aircraft violently upward or downward, creating G-forces of up to 1.5 — is on the increase, it remains extremely rare, with only one in 7,000 flights affected.

However, experts warned that flying was likely to become rougher more often in the future due to climate change as temperature changes and shifting wind patterns impact atmospheric conditions.

Community tensions – and reports of both antisemitism and Islamophobia – have been rising in Australia since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has led to more than 72,000 Palestinian deaths, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

SCREEN star Sydney Sweeney is rolling in dollar frills — after her new lingerie line helped to quadruple her fortune. 

The American actress is now worth $40million, up from $10million just two years ago. 

The news came as Sydney, 28, showed off a range of sexy pink and white underwear from her Syrn brand. 

The Seductress line launches next week after her original designs sold out in the US. 

Sydney launched the business on the back of becoming one of Hollywood’s most in-demand stars. 

She was worth some $10million in 2024 thanks to roles in black comedy The White Lotus, teen drama Euphoria and the rom-com movie Anyone But You. 

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Lucrative deals with Armani Beauty, Ford and Samsung followed — while controversial adverts for clothing brand American Eagle saw sales shoot up, along with Sydney’s profile and potential earnings. 

Last year she raked in $7.5millon for her role in hit psychological thriller The Housemaid. 

Sydney launched Syrn in January in a bid to take on fellow celebs Rihanna and Kim Kardashian — who have become billionaires through their clothing brands Savage x Fenty and Skims. 

The star’s racy photo shoots have seen her criticised for not being a “girl’s girl”. But hitting back, Sydney said: “People will say, ‘Oh, she’s doing this for guys’. 

“I’m like, ‘What’s more ‘girl’s girl’ than owning your body and doing it for yourself?’.” 

POUTING actress Sydney Sweeney does more than just pay lip service to her undies brand by modelling the range.

The 28-year-old was marking SYRN’s role as lingerie partner of US music festival Stagecoach.

Sydney said: “We’re making the festival even better.”

Sydney recently revealed her true bra size, admitting her curves made her insecure until her star rose in Hollywood.

Her role in Euphoria helped her embrace her body exactly how it is, according to the star.

“I grew up with boobs. I was wearing a 32DD in sixth grade, and I never felt confident,” she told the magazine.

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“I never had anything I felt good in, and I just wanted to hide. It wasn’t until [I played] Cassie in Euphoria that I started realizing it’s actually powerful to be confident; our bodies are incredible.

“We should embrace [them] and feel really good in our skin.”

Sydney said that while playing Cassie, she was forced to wear things she typically wouldn’t – revealing pieces that highlighted her ample chest.

“I’d always be like, ‘Oh, this fit doesn’t work’,” she said.

“‘I don’t have the support I want. The straps are digging into my shoulders or it’s kind of itchy and riding up.’

“I started a whole Pinterest board of thousands of photos of inspiration, and I [thought], ‘I should actually do this.’ And we put it together.”