Here's what you need to know this morning.
Men arrested on the way to 'Brownie's' funeral are in court today
Two men arrested on their way to the funeral of a gangland crime figure on the weekend will reappear in court today on serious drugs charges.
Senior police said their investigation into last week's fatal shooting of 39-year-old Mahmoud "Brownie" Ahmad on a Greenacre street was progressing well.
"Police are redoubling their efforts around this crime type, we want to prevent any retaliatory action and we want to prevent any further violence," Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Bennett said yesterday.
"I just want the public to know that we are doing that, and taking these types of targeted assassinations very, very seriously indeed."
No one has yet been arrested over Ahmad's killing.
Belmore man Feyz Ghanem, 35, and Saer Tabikh, 36, from Mount Lewis, allegedly fled from police when the car they were driving to Ahmad's funeral was stopped by detectives.
Police caught up with the pair, charging them with a string of offences including the supply of a prohibited drug.
Officers allegedly found cocaine and methylamphetamine on the men and in the car.
Sydney families offering homes to refugees
Carmela Falzon is among 2,500 Australians who have offered free accommodation to people fleeing Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Council of NSW.
More than 800 offers came from NSW, with at least 50 placements now underway.
Ms Falzon said opening her own home on the Northern Beaches to a Ukrainian family in need was a no-brainer.
But the requests kept coming.
"My contact details were still on a database and I just couldn't say no," she said.
"I became emotionally caught up in it."
She helped five families secure tourist visas and flights to Australia and spoke with them daily as they fled bomb shelters and made a desperate dash for the border.
'Notorious certifier' in China at time of final inspection
A building certifier who was banned for life by the consumer watchdog in March was in China when he claimed to have conducted the legally required final inspection of a Mascot apartment complex in Sydney's south.
The information came to light after an investigation into "notorious certifier" Maurice Freixas's mobile phone and Border Force data by NSW Fair Trading.
In June 2019, Mr Freixas issued what Fair Trading says were "dodgy construction and occupation certificates" for 108 units at the $22 million Peak Towers development without the final checks.
"The legislation is clear, a certifier must carry out a full and proper final inspection of a building. This is something that cannot be done from overseas," Fair Trading Minister Eleni Petinos said.
"Certification work is a crucially important function with potential impacts on public safety and all certifiers must carry out their work to the highest standard or they will face severe consequences."
Ms Petinos also said Mr Freixas's lifetime ban should serve as a "stern warning to any unscrupulous certifier".
Mr Freixas is among three others from his former workplace, Dix Gardner, whose registrations have been cancelled.
The company is also no longer able to provide services in NSW.
Inflation sends uni fees soaring
Changes to fee structures and inflation have seen the costs of some university arts courses rise as much as 113 per cent.
The cost of education in Sydney is up 3.8 per cent and acting as a key driver of the biggest inflation surge in more than 20 years.
Danielle Villafana is three months into a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Sydney, majoring in psychology.
When she received an invoice for her first semester of study, Danielle said the difference in price between them shocked her.
"My maths class this semester was $500 and my psychology class — being charged as an arts course — was $2,000."
Teen dies days after fiery crash
A 16-year-old girl died days after the car she was travelling in crashed and caught fire in Sydney's south-west last week.
The teenager was among five passengers who were dragged by passers-by from the burning wreckage on Elizabeth Drive in Liverpool at about 8:40pm on Tuesday.
She was left in a critical condition and died on Saturday.
The other occupants in the car — the 18-year-old driver and three male passengers aged 15, 16 and 22 — along with the 31-year-old female driver of the other vehicle were treated at the scene and taken to nearby Liverpool and Westmead Hospitals.
They have all since been released.
Investigations into the incident are ongoing, with police appealing for witnesses to come forward.
Ramadan ends
Australian Muslims are today celebrating Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the month-long sunrise-to-sunset fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.
There are more than 200,000 people in New South Wales who follow Islam, with many celebrating Eid in Sydney's mosques, parks and community centres.
In marking the occasion, the Australian National Imams Council said the time, which will be celebrated until sunset today, should be used to bring neighbours together.
"We … encourage the Muslim community to engage with their fellow neighbours and friends in displaying the true and peaceful image of Islam," the council said.
