Around the World: Australia

Blackout grips Sydney

A power blackout hit Sydney for the third time in a month yesterday, forcing offices onto generators, trapping some workers in lifts and disabling traffic lights in another embarrassment for Australia's biggest city.

A cable failure cut power to about 30,000 homes and businesses, or about a third of all customers in Sydney's central business district, for about 30 minutes in the late morning, said a spokeswoman for utility EnergyAustralia.