Some students are avoiding eating the lunches, leaving hundreds untouched.

Stuart MacGill told his drug dealer "I'm out of time" hours before the ex-Test spinner was kidnapped over a $660,000 drug deal that went sour, a jury has heard.

The 54-year-old faced a jury trial today after pleading not guilty to knowingly participating in the supply of the prohibited drug in April 2021.

A jury heard the illicit exchange had been struck between MacGill's brother-in-law Marino Sotiropoulos and the former cricketer's drug dealer, who can legally only be referred to as "Person A".

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While an initial deal went off without a hitch, Person A decide to rip Sotiropoulos's associates off days later, fleeing with $660,000 worth of cocaine, crown prosecutor Gabrielle Steedman told Sydney's Downing Centre District Court.

Stuart MacGill has denied any involvement in the drug deal.

The dealer exchanged the drugs for a vacuum-sealed bag of A4 paper concealed by $50 notes, before turning off his phone and deleting the encrypted app he was using.

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Threats started to come in demanding either the location of Person A or the return of the money, leading to MacGill's kidnapping later in April, the jury heard.

"I'm out of time, mate," MacGill allegedly messaged his dealer hours before he was abducted.

"I don't understand why you would deliberately do this to me, I was just trying to help."

The former Test bowler was bundled into the back of a car by several males and taken to an abandoned shed at Bringelly, in Sydney's west, where he was assaulted, threatened and then released, the jury heard.

Six days later he went to the police and denied any involvement in the drug supply, Steedman said, although he admitted introducing Person A to Sotiropoulos.

The ex-cricketer was a regular user of cocaine and bought the drug from Person A for years, usually in half-gram quantities for $200, Steedman said.

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He was a trusted buyer, allowed to rack up $1000 in drug debts and receiving expensive bottles of alcohol for his patronage, the jury heard.

MacGill was kidnapped, assaulted and threatened in April 2021.

In April 2021, MacGill was in a de facto relationship with Sotiropoulos's sister, Maria O'Meagher, with whom the ex-cricketer ran restaurant Aristotle's at Neutral Bay, on Sydney's north shore.

After complaining about the quality of cocaine sold by Person A, MacGill said he could hook the dealer up with Sotiropoulos, who sold "good gear", Steedman said.

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Person A later brought $330,000 and Sotiropoulos brought a one-kilo brick of cocaine and a money counter to an arranged meeting in the underground car park at Aristotle's, the jury heard.

MacGill has only been accused of setting up the meeting and he remained at the restaurant while the duo travelled across the city to Ashfield to complete the deal.

"You're a man of your word," Person A texted the ex-spin bowler afterwards.

The dealer offered MacGill a gift but eventually wiped $1000 from his drug debts, prosecutors allege.

But defence barrister Thos Hodgson denied the 54-year-old was involved in the deal "in any shape, manner or form".

He said Macgill had not sought nor received any benefit by arranging for Sotiropoulos to meet Person A.

The credibility of Person A, the key crown witness in the case, would be of central importance in the trial and jurors should be very careful when considering their evidence, Hodgson said.

The trial continues.

Residents in northern NSW are being urged to prepare for what could be a first tropical cyclone in more than three decades.

Cyclone Alfred, which is currently off the Queensland coast could slam Northern Rivers towns in the north of NSW with devastating winds and rain.

Cyclone Alfred is expected to cross the coast sometime on Thursday.

READ MORE: Queenslanders warned to act soon as cyclone barrels towards coast

Cyclone warnings have been issued from Bundaberg South to Grafton, just south of Yamba and Byron Bay.

That is four million people potentially affected including Brisbane.

Alfred could smash the NSW northern rivers region, including Lismore, which devastated by floods in 2022.

BOM Manager of hazard preparedness Steven Bernasconi said in 1974 there were landslides which cut rail lines, and hundreds of people evacuated.

"That's the sort of impact we are looking at," he said.

"This is unusual for NSW hence the reason for the briefing. We don't often have tropical cyclones watches and warnings in the NSW jurisdiction."

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The Hazards Near Me app is crucial for residents to download, he said.

SES Flood rescue crews are already in place.

Alfred is expected to intensify to a category two, with five being the strongest.

It's armed with a triple threat, comprising 100km/h winds, waves in excess of eight metres and up to 300mm rain.

The last cyclone to hit NSW was Nancy in 1990.

Back in 1974 it was Cyclone Zoe.

Widespread heavy rain is expected from late on Wednesday, and will continue into the weekend.

Northern NSW can expect between 100 and 300mm of rain on Thursday and Friday, Bernasconi said.

"Today is about watching and preparing," he said.

Cyclones are unusual in the north-east corner of NSW although the region is familiar with severe weather caused by east coast lows.

"For NSW, in particular the north-east of NSW, experiencing severe weather through east coast lows which have sometimes similar impacts to tropical cyclones, the impacts are well known," Bernasconi said.

Coastal river catchments from the Tweed and Rous rivers in the north of NSW to the Camden Haven near Port Macquarie are on flood watch for moderate to major flooding.

Catchments are already wet and the flood risk will be exacerbated by high tides, the Bureau warns.

In tourist hotspot Byron Bay, white water is swallowing beaches.

Lifeguard Scott McCarthy said all of the beaches are closed, with waves "up to eight foot".

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'Kill Bill' and 'Bladerunner' star Daryl Hannah has shown support for Ukraine on the Oscars stage following US President Donald Trump's disastrous meeting with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week.

Hannah went off script and shouted 'Slava Ukraini' as she entered the stage to the present the award for Best Editing.

The phrase is a Ukrainian national salute and the battle cry of its armed forces, translating literally to 'Glory to Ukraine'.

READ MORE: Anora dominates Oscars | Full Academy Award winners

Her onstage voice of support for the war-torn country comes after a politically tumultuous week surrounding Russia's war on the Eastern European nation.

US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance had a contentious meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday in the Oval Office.

In a shocking moment, Trump and Vance berated the Ukrainian leader in front of reporters as they discussed efforts to secure a peace deal and Trump's overtures to Russia.

Zelensky pushed back on several points, and his White House visit was ultimately cut short.

The reverberations from that meeting are still being felt in Washington and across Europe on Sunday.

Anora, a strip club Cinderella story without the fairy tale ending, was crowned best picture at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday, handing Sean Baker's gritty, Brooklyn-set screwball farce Hollywood's top prize.

In a stubbornly fluctuating Oscar season, Anora, the Palme d'Or-winner at the Cannes Film Festival, emerged as the unlikely frontrunner. Baker's tale of an erotic dancer who elopes with the son of a Russian oligarch – unusually explicit for a best-picture winner – was made for just US$6million.

But Oscar voters, eschewing blockbuster contenders like Wicked and Dune: Part Two, instead added Anora to a string of recent indie best picture winners, including Everything Everywhere All at Once, CODA and Nomadland.

Mikey Madison won best actress for her breakthrough performance in Anora, a victory that came over the category favorite, Demi Moore (The Substance).

Sean Baker, the filmmaker of Anora, won best director, best original screenplay and best editing. Baker used his acceptance speech for best director to preach passionately for the theatrical experience.

Adrien Brody clinched his second Oscar for best actor, winning for his role as a visionary Hungarian architect in The Brutalist.

Kieran Culkin picked up the first award of the night for A Real Pain, pipping Australian Guy Pearce. Zoe Saldaña later earned her first Academy Award for best supporting actress in Emilia Pérez, capping an already accomplished awards season.

Host Conan O'Brien got the show and his monologue off to a start filled with his usual sarcastic humour.

Meanwhile, Morgan Freeman gave tribute to two-time Oscar winner Gene Hackman, four days after Hackman was found dead.

"This week our community lost a giant, and I lost a dear friend, Gene Hackman," he said.

ALL THE 2025 OSCARS WINNERS

Best picture

• Anora – WINNER
• The Brutalist
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• I'm Still Here
• Nickel Boys
• The Substance
• Wicked

Best actor

• Adrien Brody – The Brutalist – WINNER
• Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown
• Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
• Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
• Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice

Best actress

• Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
• Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez
• Mikey Madison – Anora – WINNER
• Demi Moore – The Substance
• Fernanda Torres – I'm Still Here

Best director

• Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez
• Sean Baker – Anora – WINNER
• Brady Corbet – The Brutalist
• Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
• James Mangold – A Complete Unknown

Best supporting actress

• Monica Barbaro – A Complete Unknown
• Ariana Grande – Wicked
• Felicity Jones – The Brutalist
• Isabella Rossellini – Conclave
• Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez

Best supporting actor

• Yura Borisov – Anora
• Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain – WINNER
• Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown
• Guy Pearce – The Brutalist
• Jeremy Strong – The Apprentice

Best adapted screenplay

• A Complete Unknown – Jay Cocks and James Mangold
• Conclave – Peter Straughan
• Emilia Pérez – Jacques Audiard
• Nickel Boys – RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes
• Sing Sing – Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar

Best original screenplay

• Anora – Sean Baker – WINNER
• The Brutalist – Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold
• A Real Pain – Jesse Eisenberg
• September 5 – Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David
• The Substance – Coralie Fargeat

Best original song

• Never Too Late – Elton John: Never Too Late
• El Mal – Emilia Pérez – WINNER
• Mi Camino – Emilia Pérez
• Like A Bird – Sing Sing
• The Journey – The Six Triple Eight

Best original score

• The Brutalist – WINNER
• Conclave
• Emilia Pérez
• Wicked
• The Wild Robot

Best international feature

• I'm Still Here – Brazil – WINNER
• The Girl with the Needle – Denmark
• Emilia Pérez – France
• The Seed of the Sacred Fig – Germany
• Flow – Latvia

Best animated feature

• Flow – WINNER
• Inside Out 2
• Memoir of a Snail
• Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
• The Wild Robot

Best documentary feature

• Black Box Diaries
• No Other Land – WINNER
• Porcelain War
• Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
• Sugarcane

Best costume design

• Wicked – WINNER
• Nosferatu
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Gladiator II

Best make-up and hairstyling

• A Different Man
• Emilia Pérez
• Nosferatu
• The Substance – WINNER
• Wicked

Best production design

• Wicked – WINNER
• The Brutalist
• Dune: Part Two
• Nosferatu
• Conclave

Best sound

• A Complete Unknown
• Dune: Part Two – WINNER
• Emilia Pérez
• Wicked
• The Wild Robot

Best film editing

• Anora – WINNER
• The Brutalist
• Conclave
• Emilia Pérez
• Wicked

Best cinematography

• The Brutalist- WINNER
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Maria
• Nosferatu

Best visual effects

• Alien: Romulus
• Better Man
• Dune: Part Two – WINNER
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
• Wicked

Best live action short

• Anuja
• I'm Not a Robot – WINNER
• The Last Ranger
• A Lien
• The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

Best animated short

• Beautiful Men
• In the Shadow of the Cypress – WINNER
• Magic Candies
• Wander to Wonder
• Yuck!

Best documentary short

• Death by Numbers
• I Am Ready, Warden
• Incident
• Instruments of a Beating Heart
• The Only Girl in the Orchestra – WINNER

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Celebrities have descended on the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the 2025 Oscars – and the greatest competition starts before any award is handed out.

Despite major progress in closing Australia's gender pay gap over the past decade, 10 industries saw the difference in pay between men and women widen in the past year.

Fans are remembering the voice and songs of trailblazer Angie Stone after her death at 63 in a weekend crash on an Alabama highway as she travelled from a performance.

The Grammy-nominated RnB singer was a member of the all-female hip-hop trio The Sequence and known for the hit song "Wish I Didn't Miss You." She found a sweet spot in the early 2000s as neo-soul began to dominate RnB.

In a recent Instagram post, Stone told fans she was excited about upcoming events and "getting back in the mix."

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"A lot of stuff is going on that I don't want to just let out of the bag just yet," she said. "But you can see that there's a big grin on my face."

The tributes to Stone on social media included one from rap artist MC Hammer, who posted a video featuring Stone's song "Brotha," writing "I can't tell you how many days this song blessed my Soul. RIP Angie Stone."

Actor and singer Jennifer Hudson expressed disbelief in a social media post.

"What a loss !!! Angie Stone was a true pioneer," Hudson wrote.

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"Another one of our great soul singers gone too soon. Prayers up for her family and loved ones!"

The Alabama Highway Patrol said the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van that Stone was travelling in overturned on Interstate 65 early Saturday before being hit by a 2021 Freightliner Cascadia truck. Stone was pronounced dead at the scene, the highway patrol said in a statement.

The crash occurred about 8km south of the Montgomery city limits. The van's driver and seven others were taken to a hospital for treatment. Officials continue to investigate the crash.

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The singer-songwriter created hits like "No More Rain (In This Cloud)" which reached number one for 10 weeks on Billboard's Adult RnB airplay chart, "Baby" with legendary soul singer Betty Wright, another number one hit, and "Wish I Didn't Miss You" and "Brotha." Her 2001 album "Mahagony Soul" reached number 22 on the Billboard 200, while 2007's "The Art Of Love & War" peaked at number 11.

"Rest in Power, Angie Stone. A true pioneer, a soulful storyteller, and a voice that helped shape the sound of RnB," the NAACP Image Awards posted on social media.

The church-grown singer was born in Columbia, South Carolina. She helped form The Sequence, the first all-female group on the hip-hop trailblazing imprint Sugar Hill Records, becoming one of the first female groups to record a rap song.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGq57ZmSJTV/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp

The group's "Funk You Up," has been sampled by numerous artists, including Dr. Dre. Stone later joined the trio Vertical Hold before launching her solo career.

Actor and comedian Jamie Foxx said Stone would be missed "painfully."

"I know they say that God doesn't make any mistakes… but man this one hurts…," Foxx said.

"Angie Stone was an incredible songwriter, and incredible artist and incredible person … never thought in 1 million years that this would happen…"

Stone was also remembered by the Reverend Bernice King, daughter of the late Martin Luther King Jr and CEO of the King Centre.

"So heartbreaking" King posted on social media.

"Rest well, soul sister. #AngieStone".

Stone's performance at the Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association's Grand Marshal's Ball on Friday night was "nothing short of phenomenal," according to the organisation's president, Isadore B Sims. In a statement, Sims said they would cherish memories of Stone's talent and warm spirit.

"Her talent captivated everyone in attendance, and her presence truly elevated the event," Sims said.

"Never could we have imagined that it would be the last time we would have the honour of witnessing her perform."

At the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association's men's championship basketball game in Baltimore on Saturday, where Stone was scheduled to perform during halftime, Chaplain Pastor Jerome Barber called for a moment of silence.

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority mourned the loss of their sorority sister.

"Renowned for her contributions to the RnB and neo-soul genres, Stone's music has resonated with fans for decades," the sorority said in a statement, remembering her diabetes awareness efforts and work with the sorority's Elder Care initiatives and Zetas Helping Other People Excel.

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The cream of Hollywood will assemble this morning to see which of the year's most acclaimed films, performers, and creators are acknowledged in the 2025 Academy Awards.

The Oscars are coming off a tumultuous few months for the film industry elite, including the Los Angeles fires and the recent deaths of acting titan Gene Hackman and his wife.

Multiple Australians are also in the running for an awards nod. Here's what you need to know.

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When do the Oscars start?

The ceremony will begin at 11 am AEDT.

Coverage of the red carpet will begin about half an hour earlier, at 10.30 am AEDT.

Who is hosting the ceremony?

Late-night TV icon Conan O'Brien will be filling hosting duties.

He'll be accompanied by a range of performers who are typically drawn from the ranks of the nominees.

Award announcers, usually former Oscar winners themselves, will also take the stage.

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What's different about this year's ceremony?

While the Oscars themselves are keeping to schedule, the devastating LA wildfires saw changes to the lead-up.

The voting period was extended by a week, delaying the announcement of the nominees.

The Oscar Nominees Luncheon was also cancelled.

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Who are the Australians up for an award?

Guy Pearce headlines the list of Australians going for an Oscars gong, after he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Award for The Brutalist.

The film is also up for Best Picture, Best Actor (Adrien Brody), Best Supporting Actress (Felicity Jones), and Best Director (Brady Corbet).

Pearce faces stiff competition, particularly in the form of Kieran Culkin for his turn in A Real Pain.

Culkin has swept the awards season so far, with Pearce recently joking in an interview that he was sure to lose the Oscar to his fellow actor.

Other Australians up for a golden statuette include former winner Adam Elliot, nominated for Best Animated Feature Film for Memoir of a Snail.

Melbourne-based producer Liz Kearney is also nominated for the same film.

Elliot previously won Best Animated Short in 2016 for Harvey Krumpet.

Australian cinematographer Greig Fraser has been nominated for his work on Dune: Part Two, after winning the Oscar in 2022 for the previous film in the prospective trilogy.

Australian producer Maya Gnyp is included in the nomination for Best Documentary Short Film for I Am Ready, Warden, alongside US director-producer Smriti Mundhra.

The film follows the last week in the life of a former US Marine, John Henry Ramirez, spent on death row.

Australian Rodney Burke, special effects supervisor on Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, was nominated for Best Visual Effects Oscar.

He'll be competing in the category with fellow Australians Luke Millar and David Clayton, who worked on the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man, which saw the singer rendered as an anthropomorphic chimpanzee.

Who are the other nominees?

You can check out a rundown of the Best Picture nominees, and how to watch them, here.

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A private lunar lander carrying a drill, vacuum and other experiments for NASA touched down on the moon on Sunday, the latest in a string of companies looking to kickstart business on Earth's celestial neighbor ahead of astronaut missions.

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander descended from lunar orbit on autopilot, aiming for the slopes of an ancient volcanic dome in an impact basin on the moon's north-eastern edge of the near side.

Confirmation of successful touchdown came from the company's Mission Control outside Austin, Texas, following the action some 360,000 kilometres away.

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"You all stuck the landing. We're on the moon," Firefly's Will Coogan, chief engineer for the lander, reported.

An upright and stable landing makes Firefly — a startup founded a decade ago — the first private outfit to put a spacecraft on the moon without crashing or falling over. Even countries have faltered, with only five claiming success: Russia, the US, China, India and Japan.

A half hour after landing, Blue Ghost started to send back pictures from the surface, the first one a selfie somewhat obscured by the sun's glare. The second shot included the home planet, a blue dot glimmering in the blackness of space.

Two other companies' landers are hot on Blue Ghost's heels, with the next one expected to join it on the moon later this week.

Blue Ghost — named after a rare US species of fireflies — had its size and shape going for it. The squat four-legged lander stands 2 metres tall and 3.5 metres wide, providing extra stability, according to the company.

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Launched in mid-January from Florida, the lander carried 10 experiments to the moon for NASA. The space agency paid $US101 million ($162 million) for the delivery, plus $US44 million ($70 million) for the science and tech on board. It's the third mission under NASA's commercial lunar delivery program, intended to ignite a lunar economy of competing private businesses while scouting around before astronauts show up later this decade.

Firefly's Ray Allensworth said the lander skipped over hazards including boulders to land safely. Allensworth said the team continued to analyze the data to figure out the lander's exact position, but all indications suggest it landed within the 100-metre target zone in Mare Crisium.

The demos should get two weeks of run time, before lunar daytime ends and the lander shuts down.

It carried a vacuum to suck up moon dirt for analysis and a drill to measure temperature as deep as 3 metres below the surface. Also on board: a device for eliminating abrasive lunar dust — a scourge for NASA's long-ago Apollo moonwalkers, who got it caked all over their spacesuits and equipment.

On its way to the moon, Blue Ghost beamed back exquisite pictures of the home planet. The lander continued to stun once in orbit around the moon, with detailed shots of the moon's gray pockmarked surface. At the same time, an on-board receiver tracked and acquired signals from the US GPS and European Galileo constellations, an encouraging step forward in navigation for future explorers.

The landing set the stage for a fresh crush of visitors angling for a piece of lunar business.

Another lander — a tall and skinny 4 metres tall, built and operated by Houston-based Intuitive Machines — is due to land on the moon on Thursday. It's aiming for the bottom of the moon, just 160 kilometres from the south pole. That's closer to the pole than the company got last year with its first lander, which broke a leg and tipped over.

Despite the tumble, Intuitive Machines' lander put the US back on the moon for the first time since NASA astronauts closed out the Apollo program in 1972.

A third lander from the Japanese company ispace is still three months from landing. It shared a rocket ride with Blue Ghost from Cape Canaveral on January 15, taking a longer, windier route. Like Intuitive Machines, ispace is also attempting to land on the moon for the second time. Its first lander crashed in 2023.

The moon is littered with wreckage not only from ispace, but dozens of other failed attempts over the decades.

NASA wants to keep up a pace of two private lunar landers a year, realizing some missions will fail, said the space agency's top science officer Nicky Fox.

"It really does open up a whole new way for us to get more science to space and to the moon," Fox said.

Unlike NASA's successful Apollo moon landings that had billions of dollars behind them and ace astronauts at the helm, private companies operate on a limited budget with robotic craft that must land on their own, said Firefly CEO Jason Kim.

Kim said everything went like clockwork.

"We got some moon dust on our boots," Kim said.