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READ MORE Of all the choices Scott Morrison could take, the decision to sink the boot into Malcolm Turnbull for telling the truth was not the wisest. A few facts: Morrison, the new Prime Minister, chose to send Malcolm Turnbull, the leader he replaced, to a conference in Indonesia because he couldn’t go himself, and he wanted “to ensure that we had very senior-level representation.” In fact, Morrison could hardly attend, having just announced, apropos of nothing but panic at the byelection in Turnbull’s former seat of Wentworth, that he was thinking about moving Australia’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Anyone who thought about it for more than a second knew such a thought-bubble was guaranteed to inflame relations with Australia’s nearest large neighbour. Indonesia is the most populous Muslim-majority nation in the world.

READ MORE “You can talk to me up hill and down dale but you won’t convince me that it’s fair or sustainable for the tax office to write a multibillion-dollar refund cheque every year for shareholders who haven’t paid any tax for that year in the first place,” Mr Shorten told business leaders in October. Retired academic Robert Morrison said he and his wife had calculated their share dividend tax refunds to ensure that they would avoid ever having to apply for a pension. “We are far from rich, both being in receipt of the government’s health care card, which is only provided to those with an income low enough to be deemed worthy of support,” the 76-year-old environmental conservationist said. Dr Morrison said the changes would be most felt by retired women whose super balances had suffered without paid maternity leave and a history of staying home to take care of children and older parents. “In order to give [my wife] security, [...

READ MORE 1:37 AM ET Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print David Peever, Cricket Australia’s chairman, is expected to exit his role only a week after being re-elected for a further three years, as a result of this week’s fierce reaction to the release of a damning cultural review of the governing body that followed the Newlands ball tampering scandal. A day after three of the six states – New South Wales, Western Australia and Victoria – stopped short of endorsing his chairmanship, Peever is understood to have taken the call to depart, after joint reviews conducted by Dr Simon Longstaff of the Ethics Centre and the former Test opening batsman Rick McCosker questioned why CA’s leadership had not been as accountable as the players. A board meeting must be held to confirm Peever’s exit. While the replacement for Peever is unclear, it may not necessarily be his deputy Earl Eddings, announced as the heir apparent last week at the AGM wh...

READ MORE Nyiltjiri Naalina Forrest, 36, was disgusted by what Lenon had done and initially planned to pour a mug of hot tea on her, the WA District Court heard on Thursday. But when she saw a two-litre container, she decided to fill that up instead and poured the boiling water onto Lennon’s back, then said “sorry, sir” to a guard. Prison officers placed Lenon under a cold shower before she was treated in hospital for about three weeks, having suffered second degree burns to 22 per cent of her body. She did not require skin grafts but needs creams and therapy to keep the scarring to a minimum.

READ MORE Other halves off contract at the end of 2019 include Corey Norman, Mitchell Moses, Te Maire Martin, Clint Gutherson, Luke Brooks and Ryley Jacks. “He’s a golden boot winner, he’d be handy at any club. It is a bit surprising [he’s available], he’s been there so long, but it’s a crazy game isn’t it,” Croker said. “We only have the two halves here at the moment with Ata going down, so any depth is good depth.”

READ MORE “I’m confident I’ve got him going there in the best form he could possibly be in. We just need the cards to fall right. If he gets a clear run I can’t see why he won’t run a big race. “My gut feeling is he actually might be better over 12 or 14 furlongs than over 16 which is what seems to work in the Melbourne Cup. If we win the Lexus, we run. We came out here to run in the Melbourne Cup.” Bookmakers reported a slew of small Melbourne Cup bets on Lexus Stakes contender Sixties Groove, which is one of three Darren Weir runners trying to earn a backdoor entry into Tuesday’s $7.3 million race. Meanwhile, Brenton Avdulla had one meeting slashed from a suspension incurred in Sydney after an appeal on Thursday, but it wasn’t enough to keep the ride on Red Cardinal in the Melbourne Cup. He was originally booked for the Lloyd Williams-owned Latrobe, which was withdrawn from the race last month.

READ MORE The husband of murder victim Jill Meagher is asking the immigration minister to explain why “violent criminal” Charlie Sheen was granted a visa to Australia. US actor Sheen, who has a long history of violence against women, arrived in Australia this week for a speaking tour. His presence has sparked an emotive response from Tom Meagher, the husband of Jill Meagher, who was raped and murdered in 2012. Mr Meagher says Sheen is seeking “character rehabilitation” in Australia while the nation struggles with a domestic violence crisis. Last week, activist group Collective Shout launched an online petition calling on immigration minister David Coleman to revoke Sheen’s visa. The groups says Sheen has a “sickening history of sexual assault, battery and threats against women spans over two decades” and his presence in Australia contradicts the Commonwealth Government’s national plan of action to reduce violence against wo...

READ MORE In 2004, a little-known state senator named Barack Obama gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention on his vision for a new America. Under a divisive Republican presidency, Mr Obama told his party to reject the “politics of cynicism”. “As we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices and meet the challenges that face us … Out of this long, political darkness a brighter day will come,” he said.  The Democrats swooned at his fresh-faced optimism and within a matter of years Mr Obama led the party to the presidency. Fast forward to 2018 and some see history repeating itself. ‘Beto-mania’ Democrat Beto O’Rourke, a congressman from El Paso, Texas, is taking on conservative firebrand Ted Cruz for the state’s Senate seat in the US midterm elections on 6 November.  The telegenic 46-year-old is a married father of three and partial to a bit of skateboarding. Unabashedly ...

READ MORE Indonesian divers have retrieved a black box from a Lion Air jet that crashed into the sea this week with 189 aboard and brought it back to a ship on the surface, one of the divers has told media. The black box could provide clues to what happened after the still-new plane lost contact with ground staff just 13 minutes after taking off early on Monday from Jakarta, on its way to the tin-mining town of Pangkal Pinang. There were no survivors. “We dug and we got the black box,” from among debris in the mud on the sea floor, the diver, identified as Hendra, told broadcaster Metro TV on board a search vessel, the Baruna Jaya. It was orange in colour and intact, he said, without saying whether it was the flight data recorder or the cockpit voice recorder, which are both usually referred to as black boxes. Only “small pieces” of the aircraft had been found, the diver said, adding that the search had gradually closed in on the black box. Yusuf Latif, a spokes...

READ MORE Two senior Victoria Police officers have been charged with a total of 23 offences after an investigation into alleged fraud involving vacant properties. The state corruption watchdog charged the inspector and sergeant on Thursday with a range of offences including perjury, misconduct in public office, obtaining property by deception and theft. The charges follow an investigation by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission into allegations a police officer fraudulently took possession of a number of vacant properties. The inspector has been charged with perjury, making a statement that is false or misleading and failing to produce a document. The sergeant is charged with 20 offences including misconduct in public office, obtaining property by deception, and theft. The sergeant faces Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on November 26 while the inspector is set to appear at Geelong Magistrates’ Court on February 5. AAP

READ MORE When officers arrived, they found Mr Mickelo drunk and swaying and a woman, Eleanor Webb, sweeping up glass from a broken fanlight on the first floor of the unit. On the upstairs level, police saw another man and a blood-stained young woman, Deanna Airey, stumble out of a bedroom wardrobe, both of whom complied with the officers’ instructions. As Constable Schofield started questioning Ms Airey on the staircase, she realised Mr Mickelo was walking up the stairs behind them and was trying to push past her. The officer told the court she had to tell him to go back downstairs nine times before he complied. But a violent scuffle broke out after Constable Jarman tried to handcuff Mr Mickelo after he refused to sit down on the lounge.

READ MORE Zoë Kravitz has that thing – a touch of magic, a certain je ne sais quoi – that distinguishes a star. There’s her astounding beauty: almond eyes, a dusting of freckles, cheekbones you could dine off. There’s her effortless style, which sees her rocking a peroxide blonde buzz cut and septum piercing one moment, and a sleek dark crop and feathered Dior gown the next. There are her roles in blockbusters including X-Men: First Class and Mad Max: Fury Road , indie dramas such as Yelling to the Sky and the hit series Big Little Lies , in which her character, the peacenik Bonnie, was last seen shoving Alexander Skarsgård’s Perry down stairs to his death, and in which she will soon be seen again. But the New York-based actress, musician and muse, 29, has something else, something just out of reach; a sense of mystery that gives her an extra shimmer of charisma. Today, in an upmarket hotel in Holborn, central London, where we meet to discuss...

READ MORE Washington : The United States and Britain, Saudi Arabia’s biggest arms suppliers, are stepping up their pressure for a ceasefire in the Yemen war, the world’s worst man-made humanitarian disaster. The calls for a halt to the conflict — by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday night and his British counterpart, Jeremy Hunt, on Wednesday, and US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis starting last weekend — came as criticism of Saudi Arabia has surged over its bombing campaign in Yemen and the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident Saudi writer. Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul as part of a premeditated killing, and his body was dismembered before being disposed of, a top Turkish prosecutor said on Wednesday. Dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whose killng has sparked an international backlash against Saudi Arabia. Credit: AP Chief Istanbul prosecutor Irfan Fidan’s office also said in a statement that d...

READ MORE The Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane that crashed on Monday killed all 189 people on board, and there are growing questions being asked about Lion Air’s handling of the aircraft, given – according to flight data – it had experienced technical difficulties on the day before the crash. Also on Thursday, the Indonesian Transport ministry officially asked more members of Lion Air’s management to be relieved of duty so they could assist with the investigation. Those stood aside include the director of Maintenance and Engineering, the Quality Control Manager, the Fleet Maintenance Management Manager and the Release Engineer. With AP

READ MORE Seoul: Sexual abuse is so common in North Korea “it has come to be accepted as part of ordinary life,” Human Rights Watch has asserted in a report on sexual violence in the reclusive country. North Korean officials including high-ranking party members, prison guards, police, prosecutors and soldiers commit sexual abuse “with little concern for the consequences,” the rights watchdog said in the report published on Wednesday. Women are routinely abused in North Korea, according to Human Rights Watch. Credit: AP Afraid of retaliation or social disgrace, women rarely report abuse and authorities rarely investigate or prosecute such cases, according to HRW, which said it interviewed 54 North Koreans who had fled the country since 2011 and eight former North Korean officials. Most of the assaults reported to HRW took place when the victims were in custody or when the victims were market traders who were attacked by market guards or other officials.

READ MORE The secret’s out to someone! A major ‘Chicago P.D.’ character learns what’s really  going down between Ruzek and Upton during the Oct. 31 episode. Is it Burgess or Halstead or someone else entirely?! Upton and Ruzek have been able to keep their relationship a secret on Chicago P.D. for a while now, but they slip up just a tad when they show up to a crime scene together. Voight brings it up to Ruzek. Ruzek fumbles a bit, saying her car is in the shop. Voight knows that’s a L-I-E. “Well, if her car keeps having problems, and you keep giving her rides, you should probably tell your supervisor, fill out the proper HR forms,” Voight tells Ruzek. After Upton’s rough day, she and Halstead have a drink at her place. Ruzek stops by unexpectedly, catching everyone by surprise. It’s so awkward. Ruzek quickly leaves because he totally knows what this looks like. It doesn’t take long for Halstead to say something about that...

READ MORE Heidi Klum is the queen of Halloween, but she has some stiff competition from who is the better ‘Shrek’ Fiona as Colton Haynes wore the same elaborate costume in 2014. You’ve gotta give Heidi Klum mad props for the effort she puts into Halloween year after year. On Oct. 31 the 45-year-old held her 19th annual costume party and absolutely killed it as Fiona from Disney’s animated franchise Shrek . Not the pretty princess either, but the big green ogre she turned into after being cursed. But Heidi isn’t the first star to rock an ogre Fiona costume as Arrow star Colton Haynes , 30, donned the look as his “dream costume” for Halloween in 2014. We’ve got the side by side to see who rocked it best. Heidi documented her journey to become Fiona via her Instagram account throughout the say, posting videos of many steps along the process having prosthetics put on her face and chest. Then she had to get the green coloring all over her sk...

READ MORE Jenna Dewan looked like she hopped out of a fairy-tale book for her first Halloween without Channing Tatum! See her look like an upgraded Tinker Bell, and find out the other costume she wore for the holiday! Jenna Dewan , 37, didn’t wear your average costume for Halloween! The  Step Up  actress’ fairy ensemble, which she revealed to her Instagram fans on Oct. 31, was actually a gift from Hufkie-Wright Designs LLC. We could tell it was a step-up from ordering a last minute getup from online. Decked out in dozens of faux florals, glittery wings, a crown and lace-up bustier that flaunted ample cleavage, Jenna won this holiday! And yes, this is most likely the same costume she wore to the Casamigos Halloween party in Beverly Hills on Oct. 26, where she was “dressed as a fairy” and was spotted “dancing all night” with her new boyfriend , Tony-winner  Steve Kazee , 43, according to a  Us Weekly   eyewitness. So this ...

READ MORE “‘It’s OK to be white’ aren’t just five words that are arbitrarily thrown together and have some kind of expressive meaning about racism,” she said. “It is actually a loaded slogan with a long history within the white supremacist movement. “And when we have our leaders in Parliament using white supremacist and neo-Nazi slogans, and when you have the Liberals and the Nationals following One Nation and voting for it, this kind of stuff happens. “It emboldens people to do this kind of intimidation and harassment.” Dr Aly said the phrase was a recruitment tool for the alt-right. Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sbsnews-topstories/~3/oQNB4AKbtkc/same-sex-marriage-survey-yes-and-no-campaigns-ramp-across-australia Share this: Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window) Best Wordpress Plugin development comp...

READ MORE “This horse probably needs blinkers to smarten him up a bit,” said Dance, adding that connections felt “he can win the Lexus without them and then put them on to win the Cup.” Dance is also holding his breath that Nakeeta can squeak into the field. The Iain Jardine-trained galloper did not run a place in his last five starts in England, but Dance says his performances have been better than the bare figures indicate, including his last start 13th of 15 behind Ventura Storm in the Moonee Valley Cup. “His form does not look that good, but if he gets in he will run a big race. We gave him a run at The Valley but he just did not get around the track and handle the course. The whole idea was to get him out of Werribee, tune him up and let him burn up some energy,” he said. “He has experience from last year, he ran the fastest last 800 metres last year, and he can stay.” Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sbsnews-topsto...

READ MORE An Indian national has faced court over allegations of masterminding a marriage visa scam that targeted South Asian communities, involving over 150 partner visa applicants who were willing to pay large sums of money to remain in Australia. Thirty-two-year-old Jagjit Singh is accused of being the main facilitator of the scam and has been charged with arranging four fake marriages for obtaining permanent residency. However, the Australian Border Force says a total of 164 partner visa applications have been refused after they were found to be linked with Singh’s syndicate. Read the FULL STORY at here at SBS Punjabi  Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sbsnews-topstories/~3/oQNB4AKbtkc/same-sex-marriage-survey-yes-and-no-campaigns-ramp-across-australia Share this: Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window) Best Wordpress Plugin development company ...

READ MORE A “ping” sound believed to be emitted by the black box of an Indonesian jet that crashed into the sea this week with 189 people aboard is getting clearer, the deputy of a national transport safety committee says. Ground staff lost touch with flight JT610 of budget airline Lion Air 13 minutes after the Boeing 737 MAX 8 took off early on Monday from Jakarta, on its way to the tin-mining town of Pangkal Pinang. There were no survivors. “The ping sound is clearer,” Haryo Satmiko, deputy chairman of the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), told Reuters. “We’ve deployed a remote operating vehicle and detected a large chunk on the bottom of the sea. We suspect that is a part of the plane’s body.” A team of divers had gone down since 5am on Thursday to map the area where the black box is thought to be, he added, describing sea conditions as normal. Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sbsnews-topstories/~3/oQNB4AKb...

READ MORE Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has taken to social media to correct the “facts” on his recent Bali trip, after Scott Morrison criticised his predecessor for raising the Jerusalem embassy controversy  and said he would not be given any more foreign “missions”.  Mr Turnbull, while attending a global conference in Bali earlier this week, noted Indonesia held “serious concern” over the Australian government considering moving its embassy in Israel.  “There is no question, were that move to occur, it would be met with a very negative reaction in Indonesia. This is after all the largest Muslim-majority country in the world,” Mr Turnbull told reporters. Asked on 2GB Radio on Thursday whether Mr Turnbull would be sent on further missions, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said “no”. He said Mr Turnbull was supposed to focus on oceans, and issues of “trade and other things” were “not reall...

READ MORE ROUND FIVE Thursday, April 18 Brisbane Lions v Collingwood, Gabba, 7.35pm Friday, April 19 North Melbourne v Essendon, Marvel Stadium, 4.20pm West Coast Eagles v Port Adelaide, Optus Stadium, 8.10pm Saturday, April 20 GWS Giants v Fremantle, UNSW Canberra Oval, 1.45pm Melbourne v St Kilda, MCG, 4.35pm Richmond v Sydney Swans, Marvel Stadium, 7.25pm Sunday, April 21 Western Bulldogs v Carlton, Marvel Stadium, 1.10pm Adelaide Crows v Gold Coast Suns, Adelaide Oval, 4.40pm Monday, April 22 Hawthorn v Geelong Cats, MCG, 3.20pm ROUND SIX Wednesday, April 24 Richmond v Melbourne, MCG, 7.35pm Thursday, April 25 Essendon v Collingwood, MCG, 3.20pm Friday, April 26 Port Adelaide v North Melbourne, Adelaide Oval, 7.50pm Saturday, April 27 Gold Coast Suns v Brisbane Lions, Metricon Stadium, 1.45pm St Kilda v Adelaide Crows, Marvel Stadium, 4.35pm Sydney Swans v GWS Giants, SCG, 7.25pm Fremantle v Western Bulldogs, Optus Stadium, 8.10pm Sunday, April 28 Hawthorn v Carlton, University of ...

READ MORE We don’t often think of Apple as a Facebook competitor; that’s a role we reserve for various parts of Google parent Alphabet (especially YouTube), Snapchat, Twitter and various other dedicated social and messaging platforms. Perhaps it’s time, however, to look at Apple and Facebook as companies with broadly similar sources of market power, which would explain their squaring off in the messaging space. Apple grew extremely fast on the back of its explosive innovations, the iPod, the iPhone and, briefly, the iPad. It reported 68 per cent revenue growth in 2005 (peak iPod) and 66 per cent in 2011 (when Android wasn’t yet the powerful competitor it has since become and Nokia gave up on its own software, getting into an ill-fated partnership with Microsoft). Perhaps it’s time to look at Apple and Facebook as companies with broadly similar sources of market power. Now, Apple’s growth is far less impressive; its 2017 revenue was lower than in 2015....

READ MORE Each year more than 380 million tons of plastic are produced globally and at least 8 million tons end up in the sea. It is estimated that there is now a 1:2 ratio of plastic to plankton and, left unchecked, plastic will outweigh fish by 2050. Britons use 7.7 billion single-use plastic water bottles a year and fewer than half are recycled, meaning that 16 million bottles are binned every day in the UK. Earlier this year, the Prince said that although the plastic problem is “extremely grave” and “unbelievably urgent”, he was encouraged that the issue was now on the global agenda and in the public consciousness. In the Budget this week, Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, announced a new tax on plastics that cannot be recycled while the Government is also consulting on banning plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds. Since the plastic bag charge was introduced in 2015, Britons each use just 25 plastic bags a year compared to the 140 before the charge, which r...

READ MORE “Personally, I don’t think this operation was just about money laundering. There has to be something else,” he said. Niklas Granholm, deputy director of studies at FOI, the Swedish Defence Research Agency, Division for Defence Analysis, did not rule out that the islands that were raided could have been part of a money-laundering scam. But he added that their helipads, multiple docks, barrackslike structures and location near Finnish military facilities suggested possible preparations for “some kind of hybrid warfare.” Airiston Helmi’s seafront headquarters has a helipad and multiple surveillance cameras like Melnikov’s island, as well as a decommissioned military landing craft that has been converted into a sauna and three other vessels. Standing guard next to the main entrance of the company’s office is a fashion mannequin dressed in military fatigues with a cracked plastic head. Its basement, according to a recent report in Ilt...

READ MORE A couple that slays Halloween together, stays together. We’ve got Bella Hadid and The Weeknd dressing up together in amazing ‘Beetlejuice’ costumes. Bella Hadid is marrying The Weeknd ! Or at least her Halloween alter ego is. The reunited couple proved that they’re so in love and in sync that they decided to match costumes on Oct. 31 before heading out to Heidi Klum ‘s 19th annual party and they chose a classic! They dressed in the outfits worn by Beetlejuice in his wedding to Lydia Deetz in the iconic 1988 film. Bella, 22, nailed Winona Ryder ‘s character’s high spiked black hair with long sides while wearing the red billowing wedding gown. She even held red roses and the model had on pale makeup to mimic Winona’s alabaster skin. The Weeknd — real name Abel Tesfaye — dressed in Beetlejuice’s purple wedding tuxedo with the white ruffled shirt. The singer must have spent hours in the makeup chair as...