Child in a critical condition in hospital after being pulled from the water in Vaucluse at about 4.20pm Sunday

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A boy has been attacked by a shark in Sydney’s east and is in a critical condition after suffering serious injuries to both legs.

The boy, believed to be aged about 13, was pulled from the water near Shark beach at Neilsen Park, in the eastern suburb of Vaucluse, at about 4.20pm Sunday afternoon.

Government extends grip on north after stalled efforts under Ahmed al-Sharaa to reach accommodation with Kurds and fold their forces into national army

Syria’s army has taken control of swathes of the country’s north, dislodging Kurdish forces from territory over which they held effective autonomy for more than a decade.

State media said on Saturday that the army took over the northern city of Tabqa and its adjacent dam, as well as the major Freedom dam, formerly known as the Baath, west of the Syrian city of Raqaa. It came despite US calls to halt the advance.