world news Venezuela orders arrest of former Green Beret involved in botched raid By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T19:33:17Z The chief prosecutor will seek capture of Jordan Goudreau as well as two US-based advisers to opposition leader Juan GuaidóHow the plot to invade Venezuela fell apartVenezuela’s chief prosecutor has ordered the arrest of a former Green Beret and two opposition figures living in the United States for their purported role in a botched operation aimed at removing Nicolás Maduro from power.Tarek William Saab said Venezuela will seek the capture of Jordan Goudreau, a military veteran who has claimed responsibility for the attack, as well as Juan José Rendón and Sergio Vergara, two US-based advisers to the opposition leader Juan Guaidó. Continue reading... Full Article Venezuela Americas Juan Guaidó Nicolás Maduro World news
world news One in three shareholders vote for Rio Tinto to adopt binding emissions target By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T08:32:49Z Shareholder vote in favour of global mining giant adopting binding targets grew sixfold since last yearShareholders in global miner Rio Tinto have rebuked the company over its climate stance, with 37% voting at a meeting in Australia for a resolution that would require it to set binding emissions targets.While the resolution did not pass, its sponsor, environmental group Market Forces, said it attracted six times as much support as an identical one put up at the same meeting last year. Continue reading... Full Article Rio Tinto Australia news Mining Environment Mining Business Fossil fuels Energy Greenhouse gas emissions
world news Asic looking at new investment product offered by Dunk Island developer Mayfair 101 By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T05:36:20Z Corporate watchdog’s move comes after a court earlier banned Mayfair 101 from advertising two other productsThe corporate watchdog is looking into a new investment product issued by Mayfair 101, the group that has bought the cyclone-ravaged Dunk Island resort, after alleging in court that it had misled people by comparing its previous offerings to bank term deposits.On Thursday, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission issued a general warning against advertisements that compare fixed-interest products to bank term deposits as part of a broader crackdown on potentially misleading marketing by investment groups. Continue reading... Full Article Business Queensland Australia news Coronavirus outbreak
world news Rupert Murdoch gives up his bonus as News Corp loses US$1bn in three months By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T01:49:41Z Huge losses driven partly by fall in valuation of Australian pay TV service Foxtel and decline in news advertising revenue Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire, News Corp, lost US$1bn in the three months to the end of March and is expecting more financial pain as the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis continues.The chief executive, Robert Thomson, said there was a fresh wave of cost-cutting ahead for the group, including a “strategic review of our Australian newspaper holdings” that could signal further job losses at the company’s smaller mastheads. Continue reading... Full Article News Corporation Media Foxtel Rupert Murdoch Media business Coronavirus outbreak Australia news Business Business World news
world news Melbourne Airbnb superhost jailed for at least five years for raping guest By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T04:12:48Z Nicholas David Weston found guilty of four counts of rape of 19-year-old woman during her 2017 stay at his city apartmentAn Airbnb superhost has been jailed for raping a young woman in Melbourne while she was visiting the city with her friend.Nicholas David Weston was found guilty of four counts of rape of the 19-year-old woman over the horror stay at his Melbourne CBD apartment in November 2017. Continue reading... Full Article Melbourne Victoria Australia news Crime - Australia Airbnb
world news Sydney harbour master tells Ruby Princess inquiry he 'did not understand' email By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T03:56:43Z NSW Health assessment the cruise ship was ‘low risk’ introduced ‘an unfortunate element’ into his decision-makingSign up for Guardian Australia’s daily coronavirus emailDownload the free Guardian app to get the most important news notificationsA New South Wales harbour master has told an inquiry he “did not understand” an email that told him to treat the Ruby Princess “as if it has a positive Covid-19 result” when it came into Sydney Harbour on 18 and 19 March.Cameron Butchart, who was the duty harbour master on 18 March, said NSW Health’s assessment that the ship was “low risk” introduced “an unfortunate element” into his decision-making. Continue reading... Full Article Ruby Princess Coronavirus outbreak New South Wales New South Wales politics Health Australia news
world news Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case postponed over Covid-19 and national security concerns By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T11:32:55Z Victoria Cross recipient’s suit against Nine newspapers can’t be held until in-person hearings resume after coronavirus The highly anticipated defamation trial brought by Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith against the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald will not go ahead next month after the federal court ruled a remote hearing under Covid-19 rules may breach national security.The delay in the case came as justice Anthony Besanko said he had to consider whether to delay the trial despite a submission that Roberts-Smith and his family are suffering from the ongoing publication of articles by the Nine newspapers. Continue reading... Full Article Australia news Law (Australia) Australian security and counter-terrorism Nine newspapers
world news Early access to superannuation paused as police freeze $120,000 in allegedly stolen funds By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T01:57:44Z ‘Sophisticated’ identity theft attack leads to Australian Tax Office stopping early super withdrawals until MondaySign up for Guardian Australia’s daily coronavirus emailDownload the free Guardian app to get the most important news notificationsAllegations of identity theft involving 150 Australians have forced the government to pause the early release of superannuation, after police froze $120,000 believed to have been ripped off from retirement savings.On Friday the assistant treasurer, Michael Sukkar, announced the Australian Tax Office would pause requests for early access of superannuation until Monday “out of an abundance of caution” to consider further anti-fraud protection. Continue reading... Full Article Superannuation Coronavirus outbreak Australia news Crime - Australia Identity fraud Data and computer security
world news NSW police watchdog says strip searches illegal but critics say findings ‘did not go far enough’ By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T10:16:31Z A 16-year-old Aboriginal boy was forced to remove his shorts and squat during a search, but disciplinary action has not been recommendedA New South Wales police watchdog investigation into seven strip searches including one in which a 16-year-old Aboriginal boy was physically forced to remove his shorts and squat has found that all of them were unlawful.But the watchdog has been criticised for “not going far enough” in its findings, with Sarah Crellin, a principal solicitor at the Aboriginal Legal Service, saying she was “deeply disappointed that there have been no recommendations for disciplinary action” against individual officers. Continue reading... Full Article Australian police and policing Indigenous Australians New South Wales Australia news
world news Australian government stops listing major threats to species under environment laws By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-07T22:10:31Z Exclusive: Documents show department has stopped recommending assessment of ‘key threatening processes’ affecting native wildlifeThe federal government has stopped listing major threats to species under national environment laws, and plans to address listed threats are often years out of date or have not been done at all.Environment department documents released under freedom of information laws show the government has stopped assessing what are known as “key threatening processes”, which are major threats to the survival of native wildlife. Continue reading... Full Article Australia news Environment Scott Morrison Coalition Wildlife Australian politics Conservation
world news Bridget McKenzie was told to seek Scott Morrison's 'authority' for sports grants program By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T08:17:24Z Australian National Audit Office evidence to Senate appears to contradict Morrison’s claim that he provided no authorisationThe prime minister’s office asked Bridget McKenzie to seek Scott Morrison’s “authority” for intended recipients of $100m of sports grants and coordinate the announcement with Coalition campaign headquarters, according to new evidence to the sports rorts inquiry.The evidence from the Australian National Audit Office to the Senate inquiry contradicts Morrison’s claims that McKenzie, the former sports minister, was the ultimate decision-maker for the grant program, and that changes were not made after parliament was dissolved. Continue reading... Full Article Bridget McKenzie Scott Morrison Australia news Australian politics National party Coalition
world news Brian May taken to hospital after tearing buttock muscles while gardening By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T07:51:30Z Queen guitarist says ‘I won’t be able to walk for a while’ after injury during lockdown and lambasts Boris Johnson over coronavirusBrian May has complained of “relentless pain” after he was taken to hospital following a gardening injury that tore muscles in his buttocks – and, while in recovery, made a sustained attack on Boris Johnson’s preparedness for coronavirus.Writing on Instagram, the Queen guitarist said: “I managed to rip my gluteus maximus to shreds in a moment of overenthusiastic gardening. So suddenly I find myself in a hospital getting scanned to find out exactly how much I’ve actually damaged myself. Turns out I did a thorough job – this is a couple of days ago – and I won’t be able to walk for a while … or sleep, without a lot of assistance, because the pain is relentless.” Continue reading... Full Article Brian May Queen Activism Music Culture UK news Coronavirus outbreak Gardens Animals Protest Pop and rock Life and style World news Boris Johnson Celebrity
world news 'A Freudian nightmare': Madonna's Blond Ambition tour turns 30 By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T12:00:26Z Three decades on, the controversy-courting concert tour is still shaping the ways female artists express their sexualityModern Toss on Blond Ambition tour ...In Toronto, Madonna simulated masturbation on a velvet bed under the watchful eye of the Canadian police, who threatened her with arrest if her show went ahead. In Italy, unions called for a general strike if Madonna performed, and Pope John Paul II declared her concert “one of the most satanic shows in the history of humanity”. The Blond Ambition tour, which turned 30 years old last month, remains among the most controversial tours of all time. Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips Continue reading... Full Article Pop and rock Madonna Music Culture
world news David Sedaris: 'Alan Bennett's Talking Heads is pretty much the best thing ever' By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T09:00:23Z The comic essayist on crying over Olive Kitteridge, his love for Richard Yates and the books that make him laughThe book I am currently readingHidden Valley Road. It’s a nonfiction book about a family with 12 children, half of whom turn out to be schizophrenic. In the opening pages the mother sews a live bird’s eyes shut. And she’s one of the few who isn’t mentally ill!The book that changed my lifeKurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions. A friend read it out aloud to me when we were hitchhiking across America in 1976, and it made me think: “That’s right – books!” After high school I had forgotten about them. As soon as I got a stable address, I secured a library card, and started making up for lost time. Continue reading... Full Article Books Culture Fiction David Sedaris
world news Terrible name, terrific sitcom: how Schitt's Creek became a surprise hit By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T09:00:52Z Word of mouth turned the riches-to-rags show into a sleeper hit. Its creator and stars explain why it is going out at its peakSchitt’s Creek was always going to be a hard sell. There is that title for a start; an off-putting pun that instantly sets the comedy bar below ground level. Couple that with a hackneyed fish-out-of-water premise involving a rich family forced to slum it in a backwater town and you’ve got a one-season sitcom at best. Co-created by and starring Dan Levy, best known as a presenter on MTV Canada, and his dad Eugene, most famous for playing Jim’s embarrassing dad in the American Pie films, it was rejected by HBO and Showtime, eventually finding a home on the little-known US pay-to-view channel Pop. Even its main draw, the great Catherine O’Hara, was initially unenthused by the project, turning down the role of the Rose family’s self-obsessed matriarch Moira, citing her own laziness. Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips Continue reading... Full Article TV comedy Culture Television Television & radio
world news When my mum video calls, is it wrong to switch it to audio? | Coco Khan By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T13:00:28Z Too many connection drop-outs, too many missed cues: at least phone calls are intimateThis week, a parcel presumed lost arrived. It was from my mum. Inside was a mask she’d sewn; sunflower seeds to plant; an Easter egg and a card: “To my lovely daughter, I miss you so much!” it read. “Absence truly makes the heart grow fonder. But indifference doesn’t. Video call me. Mum xx”My mum and I are very close. We speak most days and would usually visit weekly; if it were up to her, it would be more. Her dream is to have all her children, our partners and someday grandchildren living under the same roof. One big happy family, bonded by love, loyalty, south Asian melodrama and unsolicited comments about weight. Continue reading... Full Article Life and style Family
world news Ugly makeup: the trend highlighting what's beyond conventional beauty By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T08:00:21Z Ugly makeup is imperfect, sloppy, chaotic – and only worn to please the wearer, against social expectationsIn 2018, Rosanna Meikle felt like a failure. She was toiling through beauty school, and she hadn’t been able to find much work nor garner much attention for her creations online. She was exhausted from the sameness she saw around her, “a sea of beautiful girls, smoky eyes and plumped lips”, she remembers. “My school was in an expensive area of Auckland, which made me feel so out of place. I couldn’t afford the products or the clothes, my kit wasn’t ‘professional’ enough and neither was my look.” Related: ‘It makes me feel human’: 11 women share their lockdown beauty regimens Continue reading... Full Article Makeup Beauty Fashion Life and style
world news Pubs pivot to digital: 'We hope that people feel that the world outside is still there' By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-07T17:30:05Z Weekly meat tray giveaways, craft beer deliveries and trivia held over Zoom. As pubs stand empty, those that run them look to the internetAcross Australia, pubs stand empty because of the Covid-19 lockdowns. Some venues have shut entirely, others have pivoted to takeaway businesses, and the majority have had to make changes to their staffing.While the future of physical pubs remains very uncertain for the coming months, the entertainers, brewers and chefs that rely on pubs for their livelihood are finding ways to recreate pub experiences in patrons’ homes. Continue reading... Full Article Pubs Restaurants Coronavirus outbreak Australia news Food Australian food and drink Australian lifestyle Business
world news Fit in my 40s: why am I silently arguing with the mindful running coach? | Zoe Williams By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T06:00:49Z Around the 19-minute mark, I noticed something odd; it wasn’t that I felt any less out of breath than normal, but I felt detachedMindfulness is the last thing I want to practise while running. When I’m really up against a wall (which is to say, after four minutes), the only thing that keeps me going is listening to Maniac and imagining I’m that gorilla in a paddling pool. So I approached this with a closed mind, and discarded a lot of podcasts because they were too woo-hoo, or because you had to listen to them before you run (“no headphones” is a typical mindful runner’s instruction), or because the person had an annoying voice. Finally, I settled on The Milestone Pursuit podcast, by a likable blokey Londoner, Steve Hobbs. He didn’t sound at all spiritual; he sounded like a person who would help you with your bike if your chain came off.He has one mindful episode that I’ve listened to seven or eight times. Total convert. But full disclosure: I’ve never got to the end. It lasts 36 minutes, and I still don’t run for that long. So it’s partly suspense that keeps me going back. Continue reading... Full Article Running Mindfulness Life and style
world news Experience: I found a stranger in my front room By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T09:00:23Z My immediate reaction was fear. I bent down and shouted at him. He bolted upright, spluttering and looking a bit wildIt was early on a Monday morning, about 5.30am, and I’d got up to use the toilet. Afterwards, I nipped into the kitchen to get a drink. As I stood at the sink, I could hear snoring from the living room. At first I thought it was the dog. Then I realised it wasn’t. I went into the room to find a stranger asleep on the sofa. He was wearing a grey Adidas tracksuit and, bizarrely, only one shoe. I stood there in my shorts and T-shirt, staring at him.My immediate reaction was fear. I live in a modern block of four flats on a busy road in Kilmarnock, about 20 miles south of Glasgow. The main door to the block is a buzzer-entry, secure entrance. My front door is also locked and the dog, a labradoodle called Molly, normally barks like anything when anyone comes through the door. You’d have to really know what you were doing to break in. Continue reading... Full Article Life and style Family
world news Australia We're Full Party or an Independent? Who will win the Eden-Monaro by-election? | First Dog on the Moon By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T05:34:40Z Is it all moot because of the deadly virus infecting Australia and no I don’t mean the National party ahahahaSign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading... Full Article Australian politics NSW south coast Liberal party Labor party Australia news
world news Sharri Markson's coronavirus 'bombshell' impresses Fox's Tucker Carlson | Weekly Beast By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T03:12:18Z Those less convinced in Australia cast doubt on source of Wuhan lab ‘intelligence’. Plus: Trump and Jennifer HawkinsThe origin of the coronavirus has opened up a new battlefield between the Murdoch press and just about everyone else – and given the Daily Telegraph’s Sharri Markson an international platform on Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News.Following in the footsteps of her colleague Miranda Devine, who also made it onto Fox News, Markson told Tucker Carlson Tonight the “bombshell dossier” she had uncovered showed some of the world’s foremost intelligence agencies were investigating whether the virus was linked to a lab in Wuhan. Continue reading... Full Article News Corporation Australian media Australian Broadcasting Corporation Coronavirus outbreak Fox News
world news The Murdoch media’s China coronavirus conspiracy has one aim: get Trump re-elected | Kevin Rudd By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T03:41:08Z News Corp is campaigning full-bore for the US president, with reports of a Wuhan lab ‘intelligence’ dossier being seeded across its empireIn liberal democracies, the integrity, impartiality and professionalism of intelligence agencies matters. That’s why it is essential that intelligence agencies remain aloof, not only from the political debates of the day, but also from the policy decisions that individual governments may take. The intelligence community’s core task is to provide brutally realistic analysis on the threat environments we face so that governments can then make the best-informed policy decisions possible to preserve our common security.The failures of the intelligence community before the Iraq war, the gullibility of much of the western media, as well as the cynical manipulation of both by the political class of the day, provide us with a stark reminder of what can go radically wrong. On 8 September 2002 the New York Times published one of this century’s most consequential news articles. The front-page story, supplied by the Bush administration, claimed that Saddam Hussein had stepped up his quest for weapons of mass destruction by acquiring key components for a nuclear weapon. In the UK, the Blair government’s “dodgy dossier” compounded the error. John Howard did the same in Australia. The problem was that it just wasn’t true. These were over-egged stories designed to soften the public up for what would become a disastrous war. Continue reading... Full Article News Corporation Rupert Murdoch Fox News Australian media Australian politics Espionage US elections 2020 Donald Trump Iraq Middle East and North Africa Media US news Coronavirus outbreak China Saddam Hussein World Health Organization Australia news Infectious diseases Mike Pompeo Australian security and counter-terrorism
world news Ronaldo Souza dropped from UFC 249 card after testing positive for Covid-19 By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T08:03:24Z Ronaldo Souza pulled from event after positive coronavirus testUFC 249 scheduled for Saturday night with no fans in buildingThe Ultimate Fighting Championship has withdrawn a bout from Saturday’s card in Jacksonville after middleweight Ronaldo ‘J’acare’ Souza and two of his cornermen tested positive for coronavirus, the mixed martial arts promotion said. Related: UFC 249: Ferguson faces Gaethje as Dana White touts only game in town Continue reading... Full Article UFC MMA Sport US sports Coronavirus outbreak
world news My favourite game: England v Australia, fifth Ashes Test, 1968 | Stephen Bates By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T11:00:54Z A Derek Underwood-inspired England – assisted by the Oval’s resourceful spectators – beat the final-day flood, clock and Australian resistance to start my lifelong obsession with cricketI was clearing out some old papers a while back when a small pink slip fell out. Even after 50 years I knew instantly what it was because it had been stuck to my bedroom wall when I was a teenager: indeed the old brown shadows of the tape were still there. It was the ticket for my first day’s Test cricket: the fifth Test against Australia at the Oval on 22 August 1968: Derek Underwood’s match and the game that started a lifelong obsession.We joined my friend Matthew and his mother – two teenagers, what were we thinking of, taking our mothers? – and caught an early train from deepest Berkshire. London was a big, strange place where we rarely ventured and never as far south as SE11. We were square to the wicket and the players were so distant as to be indistinct, almost lost against the crowd. Continue reading... Full Article Cricket The Ashes England cricket team Australia cricket team Australia sport Sport
world news F1 on track for July resumption after drivers' association backs safety plan By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T17:22:23Z Alex Wurz calls measures to deal with coronavirus ‘immaculate’‘F1 can be pioneer’ for other sports to follow, says GPDA chiefThe Grand Prix Drivers’ Association is confident the precautions being taken by Formula One mean the sport stands every chance of resuming as planned in Austria on 5 July.Alex Wurz, chairman of the GPDA, will reassure his members that Formula One has put the safety of everyone involved at the forefront of its plans to return to racing after attending a meeting with F1 and the FIA on Friday. Continue reading... Full Article Formula One Motor sport Sport
world news Desperate times call for desperate measures: how far sport will go to resume play | Scott Heinrich By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T20:00:36Z From hosting the remainder of the Premier League season in Perth to the UFC Fight Island concept, ideas have ranged from bold to crazy“When you’re going through hell, keep going.” Winston Churchill might not have had the coronavirus pandemic in mind when trotting out that particular gem, but trust him to find the right words almost a century before the fact. The Churchillian equivalent of “keep calm and carry on” is a mantra embraced by much of society right now, and sport is no different.While health remains the primary concern in all walks of life, sporting bodies the world over have found themselves engaged in sessions of radical thinking to stave off looming economic ruin. In what predicament other than a global crisis could the term “NRL Island” be anything other than a genius concept for reality television? Continue reading... Full Article Sport Australia sport Coronavirus outbreak
world news Covidsafe app: how to download Australia’s coronavirus contact tracing app, how it works, what it does and problems By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T03:49:14Z The app will ask for your name (or pseudonym), age range, postcode and phone number. Scott Morrison says the Australian government’s covid safe tracking app won’t be mandatory to download and install, but its uptake numbers could play a part in easing Covid-19 restrictionsAuthorities admit app is not working properly on iPhonesHow Australia’s Covidsafe compares to other countries’ contact tracing technologySign up for Guardian Australia’s daily coronavirus emailDownload the free Guardian app to get the most important news notificationsThe Australian government has launched Covidsafe, an app that traces every person running the app who has been in contact with someone else using the app who has tested positive for coronavirus in the previous few weeks, in a bid to automate coronavirus contact tracing, and allow the easing of restrictions.Here’s what we know about the app so far. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak Australia news Privacy Technology Health Australian politics Scott Morrison Christian Porter Infectious diseases
world news Coronavirus Australia numbers: how many new cases are there? Covid-19 map, statistics and graph By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-07T02:14:30Z Is Australia flattening the curve? We bring together all the latest Covid-19 confirmed cases, maps, stats and graphs from NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA, WA, Tasmania, ACT and NT to get a broad picture of the Australian outbreak and track the impact of government response.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s daily coronavirus emailDownload the free Guardian app to get the most important news notificationsDue to the difference in reporting times between states, territories and the federal government, it can be difficult to get a current picture of how many confirmed cases of coronavirus there are in Australia.Here, we’ve brought together all the figures in one place, along with comparisons with other countries. Continue reading... Full Article Australia news Coronavirus outbreak New South Wales Queensland Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Victoria Tasmania South Australia Western Australia Northern Territory Infectious diseases
world news The three-step plan for reopening Australia after Covid-19 and what Stage 1, 2 and 3 looks like By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T05:22:18Z Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has detailed a gradual opening up of society with the timing the stages to be determined by the statesSign up for Guardian Australia’s daily coronavirus emailDownload the free Guardian app to get the most important news notificationsCoronavirus Australia maps and cases: live numbers and statisticsScott Morrison and the chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, have laid out a three-step plan to reopen Australia after the coronavirus crisis. Morrison said he hoped step three could be achieved in July, but it would be up to each state and territory when they moved from one step to the next.Below are some of the areas that will be opened up at each stage, according to the plan – and you can see the timeline for easing restrictions in each state here. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak Scott Morrison Infectious diseases Science World news Australia news Medical research JNI Casuals grant
world news Friday the 13th at 40: the maligned slasher that's haunted pop culture By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T06:10:48Z The morality brigade loathed the hit teen horror on release but hockey mask-wearing villain Jason Voorhees has been with us ever sinceBefore production on the teen slasher A Long Night at Camp Blood had even started, before a final draft of the screenplay had even been submitted, thirtysomething writer-producer-director Sean S Cunningham decided to make an audacious statement. Not only would he use an advert in the industry paper Variety to confirm an inarguably ingenious title change but he would also use it to declare that his next film would be the most terrifying ever made, after a decade that saw The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Last House on the Left (which he also produced), The Exorcist and Halloween. Related: Final Destination at 20: the bleakest teen horror film ever made? Continue reading... Full Article Horror films Film Culture
world news Lard-di-dah: how to render animal fats By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T20:00:37Z It’s certainly a sometimes food – but if you already cook with animal fat, you’ll save money and prevent waste by rendering it yourselfLet’s talk about the four letter f-word: fats. Over the past 60 odd years they’ve been drenched in confusing controversy – to eat or not to eat, what kind should we eat, and according to who?Animal fats have the worst reputation of all. I’m not here to argue the health facts – but please take the time to look at the research regarding what we replaced many old fashioned animal fats with, namely hydrogenated vegetable oils. Nutritionists suggest neither should play a major role in your diet – but many people who happily reach for margarine still flinch at lard. Continue reading... Full Article Meat Food Life and style Australian lifestyle
world news Blind date: ‘I'd had quite a lot to drink and broke into song’ By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T05:00:47Z Harry, 32, a TV producer from London, meets Jayson, 25, a journalist from Hong Kong, in our latest virtual dateWhat were you hoping for?A fun chat that didn’t involve a quiz. Continue reading... Full Article Life and style Relationships Dating
world news Dying too young: coronavirus, my Māori family and me By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T20:00:37Z Lockdown has granted me the blessing of getting to know my father, but it has also underlined the severe health inequalities we faceCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageI hardly recognise the man in front of me. He staggers on one leg, his eye twitches, his stomach stretches past his waist.“I got some fry bread for us,” he grins, his toothless smile reminding me he is getting old and so am I.” Continue reading... Full Article Māori New Zealand Coronavirus outbreak Asia Pacific World news
world news Helen Garner: 'I may be an old woman, but I'm not done for yet' By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T20:00:38Z In this extract from her Griffith Review essay the author wrestles with ageing and the deep need to keep writingWhy did they ask me for an essay about stopping writing? And why did I say yes? Did I tell someone I’d stopped? Have I stopped? I could, if I wanted to, couldn’t I? I’m 77 and I’m pretty tired. And lately I think I’ve copped what the French call “un coup de vieux”: a blow of old. I’ve got arthritis in my left wrist, my right knee gives twinges, and my left foot sometimes aches and stabs all day. Other days, nothing hurts at all. I don’t know what this means. I am an old woman. Continue reading... Full Article Helen Garner Books Ageing Culture Australian books Grandparents and grandparenting Family
world news ‘We shouldn't just be used for charity’: musicians are still getting work – but they’re not being paid By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T20:00:37Z With more Australian artists being asked to play for free in the lockdown, many are asking if it might do more harm than goodIf live music died in mid March, it’s sure been noisy at the funeral. On platforms old and new, live gigs performed at home have streamed from trickle to tidal wave, breaking over the mobile devices of captive audiences. Global gig guide aggregator Bands In Town has added a livestream dropdown, and a new Australian state has been ceded by Eventfinda and tucked alphabetically between Victoria and Western Australia: the state of “Virtual”.For fans it’s been fun. We’re loving seeing musicians’ pets and plants and enormous fingers fumbling for the flip screen button and, unless we’ve bought a URL ticket, there’s scandalously little to lose by dropping into, and out of, a show. Continue reading... Full Article Australian music Australia news Culture Music
world news 'It's a really weird realisation': when cancelled holidays come with silver linings By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T00:00:12Z From accidentally making money due to currency fluctuations, to paying down debt, for some Australians cancelled overseas trips have had surprising windfallsFrom June 2018 to June 2019, the Australian Bureau of Statistics says Australians made a record 11.3 million trips overseas – double the number of trips just 10 years ago. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of Australians have been forced to cancel or alter their international travel plans.This has left many Australians struggling to get refunds from travel providers. Flight Centre was charging $300 in processing fees per person, in some cases leading to fees that cost more than the value of the refund, until the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission stepped in and threatened legal action, causing the company to waive fees for trips cancelled by travel providers. The ACCC also warned travel providers against retroactively changing their cancellation policies after tour companies including Topdeck and Intrepid attempted to retrospectively apply updated refund policies that would force customers to take credit rather than cash for cancelled trips. Continue reading... Full Article Travel Australia holidays Australian lifestyle Consumer affairs Life and style Money
world news Angie McMahon, Cut Copy, Alex the Astronaut and others: Australian music for isolated times By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T20:00:37Z Each Saturday we add 15 (or so) new songs to a Spotify playlist to soundtrack your physical distancing amid coronavirus – and help artists you love get paidWe’ve published a bunch of articles about how the coronavirus crisis has impacted the Australian arts industry. But there are small things you can do. It’s an imperfect solution, but streaming Australian music can help.Each week, in partnership with Sounds Australia, Guardian Australia will add some 15 new songs to a playlist for you to put on repeat. Continue reading... Full Article Music Pop and rock Culture Australia news Spotify
world news Coronavirus and culture: 'We're waiting it out in paradise' By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T20:00:37Z When the coronavirus crisis hit, Yolngu elders moved back to east Arnhem Land homelands where they found freedom, peace, and powerThis is part two of a four-part series about Indigenous caretakers of culture in the time of coronavirusSign up for Guardian Australia’s daily coronavirus emailDownload the free Guardian app to get the most important news notificationsAdapting to change is something Yolngu are good at, senior Rirratjingu songman Witiyana Marika says.When the coronavirus first started making news, community leadership met to plan how they would manage if Covid-19 arrived in eastern Arnhem land. Senior men and women met with the emergency taskforce, the local Miwatj health service and the Laynhapuy homelands organisation to take the most vulnerable people further away from risk. Continue reading... Full Article Indigenous Australians Australia news
world news Pandemic nesters: what it's like to move back with your parents during lockdown By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T20:00:36Z Some people have found returning to the family home a blessing, but for others it has been anything but smooth sailingCovid-19 has reshaped geographic boundaries. It has left many financially distressed. Expatriates have returned from overseas for indefinite periods of time, and vulnerable people require more help than usual. For all these reasons, and many more, adult children have found themselves doing something that might previously have been unthinkable: moving back in with their parents.Some are finding the experience transformative. One woman, who left New York for her parent’s rural home, told me that the space and country air have made her reconsider whether she will ever return to the city. But there are also downsides. “I’m craving male attention more than I ever have before,” she confessed. When flirting over apps stopped cutting it, she wound up ordering a vibrator in an unmarked box, and fended off her younger siblings in order to retrieve it from the mailbox. Continue reading... Full Article Family Australian lifestyle Parents and parenting Life and style Coronavirus outbreak
world news Fear of flying foxes: coronavirus is topping off a bad year for Australia's bats By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T20:00:37Z They’ve faced drought, extreme heat and bushfires, and now they have to deal with a new paranoia courtesy of the pandemicAustralia’s bats are turning up in increasing numbers in city suburbs. But as they search for food, they’re bringing for some a newfound paranoia thanks to a global pandemic that likely sprang from one of their overseas relatives.In Ingham in far north Queensland, an influx of more than 200,000 little red flying foxes in January was variously described as a “swarm”, a “tornado” and an “infestation”. Continue reading... Full Article Wildlife Australia news Coronavirus outbreak Infectious diseases Animals
world news Revenge porn in Australia: the law is only as effective as the law enforcement By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T20:00:36Z One study suggests one in three people from 16 to 64 have been victims of image-based abuse. But most will never step foot in a police stationWhen Laura* was 14, she was convinced that her boyfriend was the love of her life. So, when several girls messaged her to say he had sent them a video of her drunk and engaging in a sexual act, she told herself they were lying.“I was just like, ‘Oh, you don’t know anything about our relationship. I don’t believe you,’” she says. “But after we broke up, he pretty much sent it to everyone that I knew. Continue reading... Full Article Online abuse Bullying Pornography Australia news Social media Children Child protection Crime - Australia Digital media
world news Cedar Meats cluster: why abattoir workers are on the coronavirus frontline By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T20:00:37Z As the US deals with a Covid-19 catastrophe in its meatworks, the Melbourne factory points to the potential for outbreaks in AustraliaSign up for Guardian Australia’s daily coronavirus emailDownload the free Guardian app to get the most important news notificationsWorking in an abattoir at the best of times is tough. The hours are long, the labour is intensive and, for rank and file labourers, the pay is low.Now, in the Covid-19 crisis, workers have one more thing to worry about – around the world their factories have proved to be a hotbed of infection. As Australia moves to ease lockdown laws, meat workers may still be at the frontline of exposure and infection. Continue reading... Full Article Health Coronavirus outbreak Victoria Melbourne Business Australian economy Industrial relations Infectious diseases Australia news
world news ‘Why didn’t he help those little boys?’: how George Pell failed the children of Ballarat By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T22:21:07Z The cardinal maintains he didn’t know about the Victorian town’s notorious paedophile priests, a claim the royal commission found ‘implausible’“Why isn’t all of Australia talking about what happened here in Ballarat?”That’s the question Clare Linane remembers asking her husband, Peter Blenkiron, 12 years ago as they were sitting in the kitchen talking about his abuse. Linane’s husband, brother and cousin had all been abused when they were children between 1973 and 1974 by Christian Brother and now convicted paedophile Edward “Ted” Dowlan. They knew they were among thousands of people living in and around Ballarat – Victoria’s largest inland city – who had been affected by child sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy. Continue reading... Full Article George Pell Royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse Victoria Child protection Catholicism Children Australia news
world news Queensland deputy premier Jackie Trad stands down over corruption investigation By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T03:19:40Z Trad says she will cooperate with investigation into allegation she interfered in appointment of school principalQueensland’s deputy premier and treasurer, Jackie Trad, has stood down from ministerial duties over an investigation into the appointment of a Brisbane principal.The Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) is investigating the recruitment and selection process for the principal of the Inner City South Secondary College. Continue reading... Full Article Queensland politics Queensland Australia news
world news Already in this crisis we are slipping into over-optimism about the economy and over-pessimism about debt | Wayne Swan By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T20:00:37Z Deep recessions have long shadows and already there is a gaping hole opening up in our pandemic responseSign up for Guardian Australia’s daily coronavirus emailDownload the free Guardian app to get the most important news notificationsThe great recession was followed by Brexit, the election of Donald Trump and the rise of authoritarianism particularly in Europe.Big economic events have big political consequences. Continue reading... Full Article Australian politics Coronavirus outbreak Australian economy Australia news Scott Morrison Wayne Swan
world news Covid-19 competence has given Australian governments some political capital. But there's a flipside | Katharine Murphy By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-08T20:00:36Z Politicians have set a high bar for themselves – success on coronavirus has created community expectations that will be challenging to shiftSign up for Guardian Australia’s daily coronavirus emailDownload the free Guardian app to get the most important news notifications“Let’s not give everything back, let’s not throw away all the progress we’ve made by letting our frustration get the better of us.” This was Daniel Andrews on Friday afternoon, shortly after national cabinet resolved to gradually restart economic and social activity by July.The Victorian premier wanted people to understand he’d be hastening slowly – the message being here in the Massachusetts of Australia, we decide how quickly we’ll remove coronavirus restrictions. We don’t apply an arbitrary national average. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak Australian politics Health Australia news Scott Morrison Daniel Andrews Gladys Berejiklian Victoria New South Wales
world news Coronavirus world map: which countries have the most cases and deaths? By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T10:40:56Z Covid-19 has spread around the planet, sending billions of people into lockdown as health services struggle to cope. Find out where the virus has spread, and where it has been most deadlyCoronavirus map of the UKCoronavirus map of the USCoronavirus cases in Australia Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak Infectious diseases World news
world news Take care with physical distancing on Mother's Day, Australia's deputy chief medical officer says By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T08:07:06Z Paul Kelly warns people over 70 and with existing diseases are at high risk from coronavirus as pandemic restrictions easeSign up for Guardian Australia’s daily coronavirus emailDownload the free Guardian app to get the most important news notificationsThe deputy chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, is warning people to take care if visiting mums on Mother’s Day, as frictions emerge over the lockdown in Victoria.In some states, authorities are allowing people to pay family visits on Sunday as coronavirus pandemic restrictions are eased, but Kelly has restated warnings that people over 70 and with existing chronic diseases are at high risk from coronavirus. Continue reading... Full Article Health Coronavirus outbreak Victoria New South Wales Australia news Aged care Greg Hunt Tim Wilson Anthony Albanese Australian politics
world news Taylor Swift named 2019’s best-selling global recording artist by IFPI By musiccanada.com Published On :: Tue, 03 Mar 2020 21:40:58 +0000 IFPI, the organization representing the recorded music industry worldwide, announced their Top 10 Global Recording Artist Chart yesterday. Taylor Swift has been recognized with the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Award, as the world’s best-selling recording artist of 2019. The Award and the Top 10 chart is the only ranking to accurately measure […] The post Taylor Swift named 2019’s best-selling global recording artist by IFPI appeared first on Music Canada. Full Article Industry News Drake. Frances Moore Global Artist Chart IFPI Taylor Swift