Tom Flanagan
Australian news live: The Project host's request to mum after Arj Barker controversy, Rebel Wilson's Royal orgy claim
Follow along as Yahoo brings you the hottest topics this Tuesday.
Tom Flanagan
·Homepage and Live Editor
Updated
Yahoo's daily news blog has finished for Tuesday, April 23. It will return tomorrow morning.
Elon Musk's refusal to back down to the Australian government over Wakeley church stabbing videos on his social media platform X continues to be a big talking point.
And comedian Arj Barker has caused further anger after radio host Erin Molan accused him of being "rude" on-air when he was on her show to discuss the moment he ordered a woman and a baby out of his gig.
Below is our live coverage of the day.
LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER10 updates
Jacqui Lambie quits X in Elon Musk protest
Senator Jacqui Lambie has deleted her X account after delivering a furious tirade about Elon Musk, branding him a “friggin’ disgrace” who “should be jailed”.
Renowned for her no-nonsense approach, the Tasmanian Senator urged other politicians to boycott the online platform after its billionaire owner refused to remove footage from a Sydney church stabbing from its website.
“I think (Elon Musk) is a social media knob with no social conscience. Someone like that should be in jail,” Senator Lambie told Sky News earlier.
“I don’t give a stuff about the platform.”
Read more here.
- Tom Flanagan
Chopping down rainforests could increase virus risk for humans
Researchers have discovered animals in an African forest have been eating bat poo laden with viruses, offering a daunting insight into how new infections could jump to humans.
The study by the University of Stirling and the University of Wisconsin-Madison saids animals like chimpanzees were eating the poo as a result of deforestation in Uganda.
According to the peer-reviewed study, which features in the Nature journal, guano is an "alternative source of crucial minerals" for the animals after the the palm trees they once consumed were "harvested to extinction".
Lab analysis of the poo identified several viruses, including one related to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the Covid-19 pandemic.
"It remains unknown whether the betacoronavirus found in the guano (bat excrement) is transmissible to humans, but it does offer an example of how new infections might jump species barriers," a press release said.
Read more here.
- Tom Flanagan
Australia's biggest ever vape seizure revealed
Cops have made Australia's biggest ever seizure of vapes, confiscating more than $15m worth of illicit product at a Melbourne warehouse.
A search last week unearthed 500,000 vapes which will now be kept from the illegal Australian market.
Health experts have previously warned Australia is in the midst of a vaping "epidemic", particularly affecting younger generations.
Read more here.
- Tom Flanagan
Studio apartment comes with its very own cell
While the cost-of-living crisis has some Aussies fearing they can only afford prison-like accomodation, one agent in the UK is charging good money for someone to live with an actual cell.
A studio apartment in a converted police station near the English city of Birmingham comes with its very own holding cell which developers decided to leave in.
The agents are calling the studio, listed for £750 ($1,340) a month, a "fantastic and unusual opportunity". What do you think? Read more here.
Obsessed that the old Dudley police station has been converted to studio flats, and for one of the advertised lettings they’ve kept the holding cell as a “feature”. pic.twitter.com/RcIeZdomWg
— Liam (@L4nkyLi4m) April 21, 2024
- Tom Flanagan
Elon Musk takes swipe at Anthony Albanese
Elon Musk continues to take aim at Australia over requests to remove vision of the Wakeley church stabbing on his social media platform X.
The matter has ended up in court, with the Australian government arguing Musk has not gone far enough to comply with the Online Safety Act, ordering videos of the attack to be removed globally, not just in Australia.
“Global takedown orders go against the very principles of a free and open internet and threaten free speech everywhere," X said of the request.
Musk continues to mock Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the platform, thanking him for what he suggests was inadvertent praise for X.
Read more here.
I’d like to take a moment to thank the PM for informing the public that this platform is the only truthful one https://t.co/EM0lF6n7SC
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 22, 2024
- Tom Flanagan
Cop accused of double murder doing it 'a bit tough' in custody
The lawyer of the police officer accused of murdering a Sydney couple says it's currently a "a bit tough" for his client.
Luke Davies and his partner Jessie Baird were allegedly murdered in Sydney's east when Beaumont Lamarre-Condon shot them with his service weapon while off-duty in February.
The 28-year-old senior constable was sacked from the NSW Police Force after being arrested and charged with both men's murders.
He remains in custody and is yet to make a plea to the double murder charge.
His lawyer John Walford appeared before Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday, offering an update on Lamarre-Condon. "It's a bit tough for him at the moment," he told reporters.
Read more here.
- Tom Flanagan
Concerning photo amid reports of surging e-bike problem among kids
Following our story on Monday about a rise in children using non-compliant e-bikes in an unsafe manner on our footpaths and roads, one reader in Sydney's Northern Beaches has sent us a concerning photo of one 'fat' bike "loaded to the max".
The picture shows four school kids somehow riding on the bike which was "zooming" along the footpath.
Have you seen something similar on our streets? Let me know at tom.flanagan@yahooinc.com
- Tom Flanagan
Tesla slashes prices as sales decline amid Chinese competition
Tesla has slashed the prices of its electric vehicles in a host of countries including the US as it battles declining sales amid increased competition from Chinese manufacturers.
And while there is no news as of yet prices in Australia will drop, Yahoo News reported on Elon Musk's biggest rival in the EV market, BYD, which plans to be Australia's biggest car seller by 2030.
Read more about the Chinese EV giant's plans in Australia here.
- Tom Flanagan
Rebel Wilson nearly lost virginity at drug-fuelled orgy with Royal
Rebel Wilson says she nearly ended up in a drug-fuelled orgy with a mystery member of the Royal family after she was invited to an exclusive 'tech billionaire's party'.
The Australian actress, who recently revealed she lost her virginity when she was 35, made the claim in her memoir Rebel Rising and recalls how she was left with a big call to make when realising what was going on.
She described the unnamed Royal as being “fifteenth or twentieth in line to the British throne”.
Read more about the moment here.
- Tom Flanagan
Project host asks mum to hand baby to husband after Arj Barker controversy
A breastfeeding mum, who was kicked out of a gig by comedian Arj Barker for what he says was her distracting baby, embarked on a media blitz Monday night to share her side of the story.
However Trish Faranda's appearances on Nine's A Current Affair and Ten's The Project didn't go as smoothly as producers might have anticipated with seven-month-old baby Clara full of energy as the cameras rolled.
Mum Trish Faranda stressed to ACA host Ally Langdon her daughter was quieter during the gig than her appearance on TV, with it difficult at times to hear both Faranda and Langdon.
At one stage, The Project host Sarah Harris asked if Clara could be handed to her father off-screen.
Barker claimed to Yahoo Lifestyle he did not know Faranda was breastfeeding when he ordered her out of his Melbourne gig.
A breastfeeding mother was asked to leave Arj Barker’s Melbourne comedy show on Saturday after the comedian alleged that her child was interrupting his performance.
Trish Faranda, who says she was intimidated by the comedian, joins us to explain how the incident unfolded. pic.twitter.com/Xp5f9fcjf4— The Project (@theprojecttv) April 22, 2024
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