Global Pulse

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大洋洲

  • ‘Security blanket’: Daniel Tupou won’t sign with another NRL club if he can’t secure a new deal with the Roosters

    ‘Security blanket’: Daniel Tupou won’t sign with another NRL club if he can’t secure a new deal with the Roosters

    For 14 seasons, Daniel Tupou has been a staple on the left wing of the Sydney Roosters, and as the veteran winger approaches two of the biggest milestones of his legendary National Rugby League (NRL) career, he has made his long-term future clear: he will not play for any other NRL club.

    At 34 years old, with his 35th birthday set for June, Tupou is showing no signs of slowing down, putting together the kind of consistent form that would allow him to extend his tenure with the Roosters through to the 2027 season if a new contract is finalized. When asked about the possibility of a move to a rival NRL side, the towering winger, who has represented New South Wales, Tonga, and Australia at the international level, ruled it out entirely.

    “I’m too mature to go to another team and start all over again. It’ll be hard on the body. We’ll see what happens and we’ll go from there,” Tupou told reporters, adding that contract talks with his agent and the club are ongoing, with a resolution expected in the near future. A switch to rugby union remains a vague alternative option, but Tupou’s priority remains locking in another deal to stay where he has built his entire first-grade career.

    Tupou’s NRL journey began back in 2012, when he announced himself with a stunning hat-trick in just his second senior appearance. When current head coach Trent Robinson took the helm the following year, Tupou faced a make-or-break battle for a starting wing spot opposite rising star Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, fighting off competition from fellow winger Michael Oldfield to hold his place. Looking back on that high-stakes pre-season contest, Tupou says his focused work ethic ultimately won out.

    “I think the pre-season I had was just me putting my head down and focusing on myself to put my best foot forward. I think I showcased that in the pre-season and I was lucky enough to get that starting spot and hold onto that,” he recalled. That opportunity led to a breakout 2013 campaign, where Tupou scored 14 tries, including a gravity-defying match-winning try in the grand final that has become the defining play of his career.

    Robinson has since described Tupou as a “security blanket” on the left wing, a reliable playmaker and lethal finisher who has been one of the most consistent outside backs in the entire competition over his 14-year tenure. Tupou says he remains grateful for the chance he earned back in 2013, which set the trajectory for his Hall of Fame-worthy career.

    “I’m definitely feeling it, but I guess I’ve got a mad poker face on. Fourteen years is a long time, so I’m blessed that I’m still playing and using this gift to play on the big stage with the boys. It’s truly an honour,” he said.

    In the coming weeks, Tupou will hit two historic career milestones, achievements that cement his place among NRL greats. He currently sits on 189 career first-grade tries, just one behind Melbourne Storm legend Billy Slater for third place on the competition’s all-time try-scoring list. After bagging a double in the Roosters’ dominant Anzac Day win over the St. George Illawarra Dragons, Tupou is on the cusp of overtaking Slater, and is on track to become only the third player in NRL history to hit the 200-try mark. He joked that he would have already matched Slater’s tally if not for a dropped ball with a clear try line open earlier this season, a missed opportunity both he and Robinson have lamented.

    Tupou is also closing in on the 300-game milestone, a mark he is expected to hit when the Roosters face the Storm in Round 13. Roosters fans, who have watched Tupou dominate for nearly a decade and a half, have celebrated the veteran’s loyalty and historic run, as he continues to add to his legacy with one of the league’s most iconic clubs.

  • Jerome Powell: Fed chair who stood up to Trump set to finish tenure on top

    Jerome Powell: Fed chair who stood up to Trump set to finish tenure on top

    For a soft-spoken, careful-worded central banker, Jerome Powell has carved out an unexpected place in modern U.S. political history: one of the few public figures to stand firm against relentless pressure from former (and current) President Donald Trump, and emerge on top as he prepares to wrap up his tenure as Federal Reserve Chair. On Wednesday, Powell will take the podium for what is widely expected to be his final press conference as head of the world’s most influential central bank, closing out a turbulent term marked by repeated attacks from the Republican president that many observers now agree Powell ultimately prevailed against.

    The turning point came last week, when the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would drop the unprecedented investigation into Powell and the Federal Reserve over alleged cost overruns on a headquarters renovation project. The probe was first revealed by Powell himself in January, when he warned that the inquiry was part of a broader pattern of threats and pressure from the Trump administration. The investigation gained new traction amid Trump’s attempt to oust sitting Fed Governor Lisa Cook over unproven mortgage fraud allegations, but key Republican Senator Susan Collins (per internal reporting) vowed to block any Trump nominee to replace Powell unless the probe was terminated. Powell also hardened his position in March, announcing he would refuse to step down from the Fed’s Board of Governors — where his term as a member runs through January 2028, regardless of his chair tenure — as long as the investigation remained open.

    Now that the probe has been dismissed, all attention shifts to Powell’s next move: whether he will remain on the Fed Board after stepping down as chair, an unusual but not unprecedented move that would block Trump from filling the board seat with his own nominee. EY-Parthenon chief economist Gregory Daco argues that Powell is more likely than not to stay on, noting that the decision would be driven by a desire for institutional continuity, not partisan gain. “The rationale is institutional continuity, not politics,” Daco explained.

    Powell’s path to this moment has been marked by tumult from start to finish. A 73-year-old former investment banker with deep cross-partisan policy experience, he was first tapped to lead the Fed by Trump in 2018, replacing outgoing chair Janet Yellen. It did not take long for tensions to emerge: Trump attacked Powell repeatedly for raising interest rates to cool a overheating economy, hurling verbal insults that were unprecedented for a sitting president attacking an independent central bank.

    When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Powell led the Fed in a dramatic, swift response, cutting benchmark interest rates to near zero and rolling out sweeping emergency support measures that are widely credited with preventing a far deeper global economic collapse. After President Joe Biden nominated Powell for a second term in 2021 — a nod to his commitment to central bank independence even from the opposite party — Powell oversaw another tough policy turn: a series of aggressive rate hikes starting in 2022 to curb post-pandemic inflation, followed by cautious rate cuts beginning in 2024 as inflation cooled and the Fed adjusted to the economic impact of Trump’s new sweeping tariffs.

    After Trump won re-election and returned to the White House, the attacks on Powell resumed, with Trump branding the Fed chair a “numbskull” and a “moron,” and even suggesting he could be dismissed over “fraud” linked to the $2.5 billion renovation project that formed the basis of the now-dismissed Justice Department probe. In recent months, Powell has shown willingness to compromise on certain policy priorities aligned with the Trump administration, most notably rolling back the Fed’s climate-related financial oversight work. But his refusal to back down on defending the Fed’s independence, experts say, has already cemented his legacy.

    “He will be seen as the guy who stood up for the independence of the Fed, and the rule of law,” Brookings Institution senior fellow David Wessel told AFP, adding that Powell’s resistance will leave a lasting mark as “a Fed chair with a spine.”

    Prior to joining the Fed as a governor in 2012, an appointment from then-President Barack Obama, Powell worked as a scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center, and earlier in his career he served as a Treasury Department official under Republican President George H.W. Bush.

  • AFL 2026: Western Bulldogs wrestle with mixed news out of the medical room ahead of Fremantle clash

    AFL 2026: Western Bulldogs wrestle with mixed news out of the medical room ahead of Fremantle clash

    The Western Bulldogs have delivered a mixed batch of injury updates heading into their upcoming clash against Fremantle, with one star forward avoiding a catastrophic injury to earn his spot in the round’s squad, while another key midfielder remains sidelined by ongoing concussion symptoms.

    AFL club head coach Luke Beveridge confirmed that fan-favourite key forward Aaron Naughton has escaped any long-term damage after a scary fall last Thursday, during the Bulldogs’ defeat to Sydney. Naughton was stretchered off the playing field after a dangerous aerial collision while contesting a mark, with immediate fears raised about potential neck and concussion damage. However, after thorough medical assessments, the 27-year-old was cleared of any structural neck injuries and showed no signs of post-traumatic concussion.

    Calling the outcome nothing short of miraculous, Beveridge lauded Naughton’s remarkable resilience, joking that the forward is a “hyper-malleable Indian Rubber Man” who has bounced back from the incident far faster than anyone expected. “It’s amazing that he’s OK,” Beveridge told reporters. “Once the medical team completed their initial checks and confirmed he hadn’t damaged anything in his neck, everything came up clear. He bounced out of that pretty well, and the great thing is he had no concussion concerns whatsoever. He’ll get through training this week, and I fully expect him to line up this weekend.” The coach added that he intentionally avoided watching a replay of the fall, saying “it’s one of those things you don’t really want to see, because you already know how scary it was when it happened. I was genuinely surprised he walked away completely unscathed.”

    Unfortunately, the news is far less positive for hard-nosed midfielder Tom Liberatore, who suffered a concussion in a match against Geelong two weeks ago and remains under the AFL’s strict concussion protocols. The 31-year-old will definitely miss Friday night’s matchup against Fremantle, as he continues to deal with lingering post-concussion effects. Beveridge said the club’s decision to hold Liberatore out combines both his ongoing subtle symptoms and his long-term history of concussions, with player safety the top priority.

    “He’s not ready, he’s not quite himself yet so he’s not up for selection this week,” Beveridge explained. “He’s sleeping fine, and he doesn’t really have headaches anymore, but it’s common for concentration issues to hang around after head knocks. We’re still seeing those difficulties pop up in his day-to-day, so we’re not going to rush him back until he’s totally on top of everything. Once he gets through a full main training session without issues, he’ll probably be right to play. We’re hoping that can happen over the next week or two, but for now he’ll stay on the sidelines.”

    The update also touched on two other key Bulldogs players, with captain Marcus Bontempelli expected to line up despite a persistent niggling knee injury that he has been playing through for weeks. Bontempelli showed no signs of being slowed by the complaint in last week’s match against Sydney, and Beveridge confirmed the skipper “should be right” to front up again this round.

    Star ruckman Tim English, who has been sidelined through injury for several weeks, is also edging closer to a return to the senior side. While he is not guaranteed to play this week, Beveridge said English is much closer to match fitness than he has been, and his selection will depend on how he gets through full training sessions this week. “We won’t rush him back if he’s still underdone,” the coach added, “but if he gets through all of his work, there’s a solid chance he’ll be available for selection.”

  • World Cup to get cash boost as FIFA unveils red card crackdown

    World Cup to get cash boost as FIFA unveils red card crackdown

    Ahead of its 2025 Congress in Vancouver, global football governing body FIFA has announced two major updates for the 2026 World Cup: a historic increase in financial distributions to participating teams and sweeping new rule changes designed to crack down on unsportsmanlike conduct, including aggressive anti-racism measures.

    Following widespread pushback from FIFA member associations, who warned that soaring travel, tax, and operational costs would leave many national teams out of pocket for competing in the expanded 48-team tournament co-hosted by Mexico, Canada and the United States, FIFA has raised total financial distributions from the $727 million figure announced last December to $871 million. The cash boost includes direct increases to key payments: every qualified team will now receive $2.5 million for preparation costs, up from the previous $1.5 million allocation, while the qualification bonus has been raised from $9 million to $10 million. Additional funding will go toward covering team delegation expenses, and participating squads will also receive expanded ticket allocations for their staff and supporters.

    In a statement accompanying the announcement, FIFA President Gianni Infantino highlighted that the increased payout is made possible by the organization’s current unprecedented financial stability. With the current four-year World Cup cycle projected to generate roughly $13 billion in revenue — a record high for the tournament — Infantino emphasized that the cash injection is a clear example of how FIFA reinvests its resources directly back into the global football ecosystem. This latest increase follows a 50 percent jump in total prize money from the 2022 Qatar World Cup, marking the largest year-over-year increase in tournament payout history. Even with the new funding for teams, FIFA continues to face criticism over exorbitant public ticket prices for fans, as well as sharp hikes in public transport costs imposed by local host authorities in parts of the United States.

    Alongside the financial boost, FIFA confirmed a series of new law changes that will take effect at the 2026 tournament, which kicks off June 11 in Mexico City. The most high-profile change introduces red card sanctions for players who cover their mouths during confrontations with opponents, a rule change crafted directly to address hidden racist abuse that has plagued the sport in recent years.

    The new policy comes in response to a high-profile controversy during a February 2025 Champions League match, where Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni was accused of repeatedly using a racial slur against Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior while covering his mouth to avoid being detected by broadcast microphones and match officials. Though Prestianni denied the racial abuse allegation, he ultimately received a six-match ban (three suspended) for homophobic conduct arising from the incident. The new rule gives competition organizers discretion to issue a direct red card for any mouth covering during confrontational interactions between players.

    Two additional major rule changes are also being rolled out: players who leave the pitch in protest of a referee’s decision will now receive an automatic red card, and any team that causes a match to be abandoned will forfeit the result automatically. This update follows the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final controversy, where Senegal’s players, coaching staff, and support personnel walked off the pitch in Rabat after Morocco was awarded a late stoppage-time penalty. Senegal went on to win the match 1-0 in extra time, but Confederation of African Football (CAF) stripped them of the title in a shocking ruling last month. The new FIFA rule is designed to eliminate similar disruptive incidents at the World Cup.

    Finally, FIFA has adjusted yellow card sanction rules to avoid punishing star players with unnecessary suspensions for key knockout matches. Going forward, all single yellow cards accumulated during the group stage will be cleared after the round concludes, and a second clearing of accumulated single yellows will happen after the quarter-finals. The adjustment ensures that players cannot be suspended for the final or semi-final stages of the tournament based on minor bookings picked up in earlier rounds of the competition.

  • ‘I’ve got a plane’: Pauline Hanson gifted private plane amid Rineheart criticism

    ‘I’ve got a plane’: Pauline Hanson gifted private plane amid Rineheart criticism

    Australia’s controversial One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has announced she will now travel via a privately donated Cirrus G7 aircraft, valued at up to $2 million, after a coalition of high-profile donors pooled contributions to gift the plane to the party ahead of the 2028 federal election. In an exuberant social media post shared Wednesday, Hanson confirmed the full donation of the single-engine aircraft, highlighting that the new asset will let her expand outreach to regional communities across Australia. “Yes it was donated. Yes I’m super happy. Yes it’s fast. Yes it’s amazing. Yes it means I can visit more regional towns across the country more often,” Hanson wrote in the post, describing the sleek Cirrus G7 aircraft as “sexy” in subsequent remarks. The $2 million plane was funded through three blocks of major contributions: a $1 million “investment” from Melbourne-based stockbrokers Angus and Sarah Aitken, who Hanson called “patriotic Australians”, followed by $500,000 donations each from former Northern Territory chief minister Adam Giles and prominent geologist and climate sceptic Ian Plimer. Both Giles and Plimer are currently employed by billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart, a long-time backer of conservative and climate-skeptic political causes in Australia. Hanson made clear the donated plane is a critical boost to One Nation’s campaign preparations ahead of the 2028 federal poll. “Their faith and investment in One Nation is an enormous help towards our next federal campaign and I can’t thank them enough,” she said, adding that the party still needs to raise additional funds before the December donation cutoff to challenge what she labelled the ruling “uni-party” establishment. The announcement comes after Hanson faced widespread public criticism and journalistic scrutiny over her previous use of Rinehart’s private jet. British-Australian newspaper The Guardian previously reported that Hanson failed to declare five private flights on Rinehart’s jet over a six-month period, a violation of federal political disclosure rules. In her Wednesday announcement, Hanson leaned into the tension with the publication, joking, “Yes it’s going to annoy the Guardian”. She also added a characteristically provocative line about the new aircraft, saying she would not be conducting a Welcome to Country ceremony every time the plane lands at a regional airport. The donation renews debates over large-scale private funding of Australian political parties, particularly from high-net-worth donors with strong ideological positions on climate and resource development policy.

  • Energy giant Woodside sees revenue jump despite production fall amid cyclone

    Energy giant Woodside sees revenue jump despite production fall amid cyclone

    Against a backdrop of escalating global geopolitical turmoil and local operational disruptions, Australia’s biggest energy producer Woodside Energy has defied market expectations to deliver a surprising uptick in revenue for the March quarter, new corporate disclosures show.

    In its mandatory filing to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) this week, Woodside reported that operating revenue for the three months ending March 31 climbed 7% quarter-over-quarter to hit US$3.26 billion (equivalent to AU$4.54 billion). The company’s average selling price for its full product portfolio — including natural gas, liquid oil, and ammonia — jumped 11% to US$63 per barrel of oil equivalent, or AU$87.67.

    This quarterly gain follows a US$3.035 billion (AU$4.22 billion) revenue result in the final quarter of 2023, though the latest figure still comes in slightly below the US$3.315 billion (AU$4.61 billion) revenue Woodside recorded in the same period a year earlier.

    The impressive price growth driven by international market shifts was partially offset by an 8% drop in overall production during the quarter, caused by severe operational shutdowns triggered by Tropical Cyclone Narelle that hit Woodside’s Western Australian upstream assets. Even with the production decline, markets reacted positively to the earnings release almost immediately: Woodside’s share price rose 1.64% in immediate after-announcement trading to settle at AU$32.93 per share.

    The price surge that boosted Woodside’s top line traces directly to escalating conflict between the United States and Iran, which disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow 50-kilometer maritime chokepoint that links the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea. Before the outbreak of recent hostilities, nearly 20% of the world’s total oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies passed through the strategic waterway. When conflict halted commercial traffic and raised widespread fears of widespread supply shortages across Asian and European markets, global crude and LNG prices spiked sharply.

    Woodside chief executive Liz Westcott framed the quarterly result as a modest but solid portfolio performance shaped directly by the market upheaval from the Middle East conflict. She noted that additional gains from current elevated spot prices will flow through to future quarterly results for the company’s LNG segment, due to the structure of its tagged contract pricing that links contract prices to delayed spot market benchmarks.

    Westcott confirmed that the Middle East conflict has not caused any disruptions to Woodside’s own global trading operations, with all the company’s scheduled shipping movements continuing to operate according to plan. She also expanded on the impact of the Western Australian cyclone, crediting the company’s emergency response team for protecting staff, physical assets, and the surrounding environment during the mandatory shutdown and subsequent restoration of production activities.

    Looking ahead, Westcott said Woodside will sharpen its focus on organizational efficiency and enhanced capital management, seeking to strike a careful balance between funding ongoing growth projects and delivering solid returns to shareholders. “Cost discipline is essential to sustained shareholder value creation,” she said. “We are commencing a structured review of our business to streamline decision making, reduce complexity and improve accountability.”

  • AI fakes of accused US press gala gunman flood social media

    AI fakes of accused US press gala gunman flood social media

    In the wake of Saturday’s assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at Washington D.C.’s White House Correspondents’ Association gala, the digital sphere has been flooded with low-effort AI-generated forgeries falsely linking accused suspect Cole Tomas Allen to dozens of high-profile public figures, laying bare the growing threat of unregulated “AI slop” spreading across major social platforms.

    When gunfire erupted on a floor above the event’s main ballroom after the 31-year-old California native tried to sprint past security, Trump and other senior administration officials were immediately evacuated. Within hours of authorities publicly identifying Allen as the suspect, doctored AI images began circulating rapidly on Facebook, depicting the accused alongside A-list celebrities, world leaders, and media personalities, with baseless claims that he had worked for them as a driver, personal assistant, or production crew member.

    An investigative inquiry by AFP found that more than 50 public figures have been falsely tied to Allen through these forgeries. The list ranges from Hollywood stars Tom Hanks and Sydney Sweeney to chart-topping musicians Chris Brown and Taylor Swift. Even political figures including former U.S. President Barack Obama and Canadian opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie, and Pope Leo XIV have been incorrectly implicated in the fabricated posts. A separate wave of false content has also claimed Allen was employed by more than 40 professional and collegiate sports teams, with AI-generated images showing him wearing team apparel from leagues across the NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA, and NASCAR. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has not issued any immediate response to AFP’s request for comment on the spread of the fakes.

    Experts say most of these fake images are built from a single legitimate photograph of Allen: a picture from a December 2024 tutoring company post naming him “teacher of the month.” Unlike the early days of generative AI, which required large volumes of existing reference material of a subject to create convincing fakes, today’s tools can produce believable forgeries from just one source image.

    “Two years ago, you probably wouldn’t have been able to make those images of him, because we could only really make compelling fakes of celebrities who had a large digital footprint from which the AI systems had been trained,” explained Hany Farid, a computer science researcher at the University of California, Berkeley and chief science officer at cybersecurity firm GetReal Security. “Now, all I need is a single image of you.”

    Independent journalist Aaron Parnas, whose own likeness was incorrectly added to AI posts falsely claiming Allen worked for him, publicly pleaded on Facebook for users to report what he called “completely fake” content, warning that the spread of these forgeries is “extremely dangerous.”

    Digital literacy researcher Mike Caulfield noted that the template-driven, mass-produced nature of the fakes mirrors the clickbait output of traditional low-quality content farms, only accelerated by generative AI capabilities. “This looks a lot like the same content farm behavior, just with AI,” he told AFP.

    Recent advances in generative AI have dramatically lowered the barrier to creating convincing visual fakes, reducing common telltale errors such as distorted hands or mismatched proportions that once made forgeries easy to spot. “AI makes it trivially easy to take existing photos and change their clothes, environment, or to swap out someone else’s face,” said Jen Golbeck, a professor at the University of Maryland’s College of Information. “As soon as someone gets an idea, they can make it a visual reality.” Where manual photo editing would have allowed bad actors to create only a handful of fakes years ago, modern AI can generate hundreds of forgeries in a matter of hours, leading to the mass spread seen in the Allen case.

    This outbreak of AI disinformation is not an isolated incident: researchers have documented identical waves of fake content following other major breaking news events in recent months, including the reported U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January and the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk in 2024. Experts warn that these mass-produced fakes are intentionally designed to drive viral engagement, and social media algorithms are primed to amplify them, creating significant profit for the bad actors who produce them.

    Farid cautioned that the problem is unlikely to abate as AI tools become more accessible. “Every time there’s a world event, we are just flooded with this kind of nonsense. I don’t think that’s going away,” he said. Researchers also warn that the constant flood of AI-generated disinformation risks desensitizing social media users, who may grow fatigued of constant fact-checking and ultimately become unable to distinguish verified information from harmful forgeries.

  • LIV Golf postpones New Orleans event

    LIV Golf postpones New Orleans event

    In a recent announcement made public on Tuesday, Saudi-backed LIV Golf confirmed it is delaying its planned June championship event in New Orleans, shifting the tournament to a later date in the fall. The LIV Golf Louisiana tournament was originally slated to take place from June 25 to 28 at Bayou Oaks, located within New Orleans’ City Park. The venue had already received $2 million in state-funded infrastructure upgrades specifically to accommodate the professional golf series.

    LIV Golf Louisiana representatives noted in an official statement that the decision to reschedule was made in close coordination with Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry and the state’s Economic Development department. “This shift allows us to avoid the peak summer heat and the crowded global sports calendar while ensuring the course is in the championship condition our fans and players expect,” the statement read.

    A major overlapping event factored into the scheduling call: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada across June and July, creating a packed global sports landscape that would have drawn audience and infrastructure attention away from the golf tournament.

    “We’re grateful for the continued partnership and flexibility of the state of Louisiana as we work together to deliver a world-class debut this fall,” the statement added. “We look forward to sharing finalized dates in the near future.”

    Governor Landry confirmed that the state had already disbursed $1.2 million in incentive funding to LIV Golf as part of the hosting agreement, and the series has committed to returning the funds ahead of the rescheduled event. “We appreciate LIV’s good-faith efforts and look forward to maintaining our partnership as we continue conversations around an event later this year,” Landry said.

    The postponement comes amid growing uncertainty around LIV Golf’s long-term operations. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the primary backer of the breakaway golf series, recently announced it is revising its investment portfolio, leaving LIV’s future funding unclear as organizers actively seek new outside investors.

    For the 2025 season, LIV Golf’s next scheduled event – and the only tournament set to take place in the United States before August – will run from May 7 to 10 at Trump National Golf Club in the Washington D.C. suburbs.

  • ‘Nightmare situation’: Rebel Wilson denies making up narrative to divide young actor and producer after alleged complaint, defamation trial told

    ‘Nightmare situation’: Rebel Wilson denies making up narrative to divide young actor and producer after alleged complaint, defamation trial told

    Hollywood star Rebel Wilson has pushed back against allegations that she manufactured a false sexual harassment narrative to create conflict, describing the ongoing defamation lawsuit against her as an unforeseen ‘nightmare situation’ that derailed preparations for her first directorial project. The Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids actor took the witness stand for a second consecutive day on Wednesday at Sydney’s Federal Court, where she is being sued by Charlotte MacInnes, a co-star in Wilson’s upcoming coming-of-age female-led comedy *The Deb*.

    At the heart of the legal dispute are a series of social media posts Wilson published that MacInnes argues falsely implied the young performer had initially made a sexual harassment complaint against the film’s producer, Lauren Ghost, then withdrew the claim to advance her career. The incident in question centers on a September 2023 shared bath at Ghost’s Bondi penthouse, where both Ghost and MacInnes wore swimsuits while warming up after Ghost experienced a medical episode during a sunset swim at Bondi Beach. MacInnes has repeatedly denied ever making any formal or informal sexual harassment complaint connected to the incident.

    During cross-examination from MacInnes’ barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC, Wilson was accused of creating the chaotic ‘nightmare situation’ through a sequence of deliberate lies, just five weeks before *The Deb* was scheduled to begin principal photography. The actor forcefully rejected this characterization, calling the claim completely nonsensical. She told the court that when she was first allegedly told about the incident, it came as a devastating shock that dropped into her lap at the worst possible moment.

    As a first-time director who spent years developing *The Deb* as a project rooted in female empowerment, Wilson stated it would never have served her own interests to invent a sexual harassment allegation involving two key production team and cast members. She told the court: ‘This is an absolute nightmare situation for me, who’s a first time director, making a movie that is essentially a girl power movie. It would not at all be in my interest to make up a sexual harassment complaint between those two very important people.’

    Wilson also pushed back against claims that she mistreated female cast and crew during the production of the film, reaffirming that she has long viewed herself as a champion for women in the entertainment industry. Entering the Sydney courthouse Wednesday morning, the actor publicly thanked the cast and crew of *The Deb* for their ongoing support throughout the legal process, noting that she could not discuss the details of the ongoing trial out of respect for the Australian legal system. The blockbuster defamation trial is ongoing, with further testimony and developments expected in the coming days.

  • Ex-FBI chief Comey charged with threatening Trump’s life in Instagram post

    Ex-FBI chief Comey charged with threatening Trump’s life in Instagram post

    On Tuesday, U.S. law enforcement officials announced a new criminal indictment against former FBI Director James Comey, who is now facing accusations of willfully threatening the life of sitting President Donald Trump. This legal action marks the second time Comey has been charged in recent months, coming five months after a separate federal case against him was thrown out by a judge on procedural grounds.

    The current charges stem from an Instagram post Comey shared in May last year, where he published an image of seashells arranged to spell out the numbers “86 47”. In comments on the post at the time, Trump, who claims to be the 47th U.S. president, argued that “86” is widely recognized slang for assassinate or kill, framing the image as a deliberate threat against his life. The grand jury indictment returned by a North Carolina jury echoes this framing, stating that the numerical sequence constituted a “serious expression of an intent to harm the President of the United States.”

    Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former personal lawyer to the president who was appointed to the role earlier this month following the ousting of previous Attorney General Pam Bondi, detailed the charges Tuesday. Comey faces two counts: one count of willful threat against the president’s life and bodily integrity, and a second count of transmitting an interstate threat. Each offense carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison.

    “I think it’s fair to say that threatening the life of anybody is dangerous and potentially a crime,” Blanche said in a statement following the indictment. “Threatening the life of the president of the United States will never be tolerated by the Department of Justice.” Blanche pushed back against claims of political motivation, noting that while many of the current department investigations target people the president has clashed with, pursuing such cases is a legitimate presidential duty.

    Comey has long pushed back on the accusation, issuing an apology immediately after sharing the post. He claimed that he was unaware of the violent association some groups attach to the number 86, and that he opposes all forms of political violence. He removed the post from his Instagram account hours after it was published, he has confirmed.

    This indictment arrives against a tense backdrop of escalating political violence: just three days prior, authorities arrested a suspect accused of attempting to assassinate Trump at a Washington D.C. dinner hosted by the White House Correspondents’ Association. It also coincides with a court ruling that allows Comey’s daughter, former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, to move forward with a wrongful termination lawsuit claiming she was fired from her role for political reasons related to her father’s conflicts with Trump.

    The first case against Comey, brought in September, charged him with making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional investigation. Critics widely characterized that prosecution as political retribution by Trump against a high-profile political opponent. In November, a federal judge dismissed the entire case, ruling that the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney who brought the charges had been unlawfully appointed to the role. That same ruling also threw out a separate case against another top Trump critic, New York Attorney General Letitia James. Another former Trump administration official and outspoken critic, ex-national security advisor John Bolton, has also been indicted in recent months on charges related to alleged mishandling of classified information.

    Democratic lawmakers have been quick to denounce the new indictment, framing it as another example of the president weaponizing the Department of Justice to target political opponents. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin called the charges “baseless” and dismissed the action as “petty retribution.” “This is another case of a weaponized Justice Department lashing out on behalf of a vengeful president,” Durbin said in an official statement.

    Comey’s long-running conflict with Trump dates back to 2017, when Trump fired Comey from his role as FBI director amid the agency’s investigation into alleged collusion between the 2016 Trump presidential campaign and Russian government actors seeking to influence the election outcome. Comey was originally appointed to lead the FBI by former Democratic President Barack Obama in 2013.

    The September charges against Comey came just days after Trump publicly pressured then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue legal action against Comey and other perceived political opponents, a break from longstanding norms that bar White House interference in Justice Department casework. Bondi was fired from her post earlier this month, with multiple reports indicating that her failure to secure indictments against Trump’s political critics was a key factor in her dismissal.

    Since taking office for his second term, Trump has implemented a series of punitive measures against individuals and institutions he views as disloyal or hostile. These actions have included purging dissident government officials, targeting law firms that have represented opponents in legal cases against him, and pulling federal research and education funding from universities that have drawn his criticism.