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News.com.au
23 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Our picks of the best Amazon Prime Day deals for 2025
Amazon Prime Day has kicked off with a bang, bringing epic discounts across everything from luggage and tech to cleaning, groceries, fashion and beauty. Running from July 8 to 14, there's thousands of items on sale and discounts as high as 72 per cent off to take advantage of. But with so many deals on offer, it can feel like a bit of a minefield to get through. That's where we come in. We've sifted through the lot and separated the hot from the not so you can really reap the savings. Let's get started, shall we? First up: tech. Apple rarely goes on sale but if you're in the market for an iPad the 2025 edition is 25 per cent off at $449. AirPods and watches have also been slashed by 24 per cent with the AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) - which one customer says are "the best I own. End game as they say" - are down to $305 ($399), while the Apple Watch Series 10 now $496 (was $649) If you've yet to get an e-Reader, the super small, super lightweight Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (16GB) is now $229 (was $299). For anyone who loves to draw or annotate their texts, the Amazon Kindle Scribe (32GB) is also on the chopping block at $479 (was $679). On the hunt for travel luggage and accessories? Samsonite's best-selling Oc2lite range has is 47 per cent off, hitting a starting price of just $179 and my favourite Bellroy Tokyo Tote is less 20 per cent, now $135.20. One of the best travel pillows, the Cabeau Evolution S3, has also taken a price beating, falling a whopping 43 per cent down to $37.50 and a Bcozzy travel pillow dupe is just $21. To keep comfy on the plane, UGGs are a incredible 72 per cent off at $46.50 (was $169) and these snazzy Bonds women's trackies are 49 per cent off, at $33.90. Also worth adding to your travel kit is this handy UGREEN Bluetooth Transmitter Adaptor. Loved by over 2000 customers, it'll set you back just $27.99. Four-piece sets of Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 are also wildly affordable at $90 (down from $369) and perfect for taking the stress out of flying. Then there's the Philips Sonicare DiamondClean 9000 Black + Pink Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush Bundle which has been described as "the best toothbrush I've ever owned" and is now $303.31 (down from $619). For the home, robovacs are still trending and if you've been waiting for the right time to invest now is a good one. For a basic vacuum the ECOVACS DEEBOT N20 is 60 per cent off, down to $299 (from $749). To add more bells and whistles, the popular ECOVACS DEEBOT T30 Omni Robot Vacuum Cleaner with Wiping Function is a crazy 54 per cent off, down to $799 (was $1749). More of a manual vacuum person? The Dreame H12 Pro Cordless Wet Dry Vacuum Cleaner has been knocked back to $399 (was $799). With over 3000 reviews, this workhorse can get the job done, not least because it has a fabulous 35 minutes of runtime. Air fryers are also trending and Amazon has shaved some hefty dollars off a few, including the Sunbeam Multi Zone Air Fryer Oven which has single and dual cooking zones and a 4.7 customer star rating. It's down to $199 (was $299). Getting your music sorted Bose QuietComfort Ultra Bluetooth Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones are 40 per cent off at $389 (down from $649) while Apple AirPods Pro 4 are 24 per cent less, down to $166 (from $219). Amazon Prime Day runs from July 8-14 2025 and is available to all Prime Members. Not a member? Don't fret. Membership costs $9.99 a month and you can sign up in minutes. Plus, if you've never been a member before you'll score a free 30-day trial which you can cancel at any time. As you can imagine, items as selling out fast. So now that you're across all the nitty gritty, here's a breakdown of our picks of the best deals by category. JUMP TO: Editor's Picks: Best Amazon Prime Day deals overall Best Amazon Prime Day travel deals Bellroy Lite Totepack, $151.20 (down from $189) Shoe Bags for Travel, $8.72 (down from $11) travel inspira Luggage Scale, $11.67 (down from $15.99) American Tourister Curio 2, from $116 The North Face Unisex Adult's Base Camp Duffel Bag, $154.99 (down from $250) High Sierra Composite V4 Wheeled Duffle, $198 (down from $330) Best Amazon Prime Day home and appliance deals Best Amazon Prime Day tech deals Best Amazon Prime Day fashion and beauty deals Best Amazon Prime Day toy deals What is Amazon Prime Day? Amazon Prime Day is an annual sales event that is often held in July and gives Amazon Prime members exclusive access to big discounts. A wide variety of categories are included in the sale, from travel and fashion to tech and homewares - making it an event to stock up on basics or buy that big-ticket item for less. Despite the name, the event runs for seven days, with deals dropping constantly. To get in on the action, sign into your Prime account and get shopping. If you've never been a member, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial here. If you were a previous member, you can sign up for $9.99 a month, which you can cancel at any time. When is Amazon Prime Day? The 2025 Amazon Prime Day runs from 12.01am AEST July 8 and ends at midnight July 14. What do I get from an Amazon Prime membership? Amazon Prime memberships cost $9.99 per month, or $79 a year. On top of access to sales events, you'll get free shipping locally on most items, access to movies and TV shows on Prime Video, games through Prime Gaming, ad-free music and podcasts through Amazon Prime Music and thousands of e-books through Prime Reading. New customers can tap into a free 30-day trial and if you don't feel it's for you, you can cancel at any time.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's move to save cash amid luxe lifestyle
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have reportedly laid off a number of employees in an effort to save cash amid their luxury lifestyle. According to Page Six, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have cut ties with their PR team. The move comes after several other employees left, including their two in-house reps. The outlet reported up to 25 staff members have either exited or been cut since the royal couple relocated to the US in 2020, with some departures not yet publicised. The Sussexes' Netflix deal – reported to be worth up to $US100 million ($A152 million), though sources say it's actually closer to $US20 million ($A30 million) – is also set to expire this year. 'It's the same old story – they cycle through staff as quickly as normal people cycle through toilet paper. Milk lasts longer than their employees,' a royal source told Page Six. It is not known whether Harry and Meghan are experiencing financial problems, despite their hit docu-series, 'Harry & Meghan,' and Meghan's Netflix show, 'With Love, Meghan'. But the couple has less success with documentaries 'Heart of Invictus' and 'Polo'. The streaming giant is reportedly now prioritising 'first look' deals rather than overall exclusive contracts, which means they could re-sign for significantly less money than their current deal. This could prove a headache for the pair, who have a heap of expenses – from travelling to an annual security bill believed to be around $US2 million ($A3 million). According to Page Six, the Sussexes splashed out $US14.65 million ($A20.9 million) on their home after moving to the US – it's now believed to be worth around $US27 million ($A41 million). Deeds showed they took out a $US9.5 million ($A14.5 million) mortgage to be paid back, plus interest, by the year 2050, indicating they put down a $US5 million ($A7 million) deposit. They also have to pay a huge yearly property tax of $US288,000 ($A439,000). They also foot the bill for their staff in communications alongside their personal office, the Archewell Foundation, production, as well as employees at their estate in Montecito, Calfornia. The Sussexes also pay for a portion of their 'faux foreign tours', which have seen them visit Nigeria and Colombia. Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, have now lost hardworking Kyle Boulia, their Los Angeles-based deputy press secretary, and Charlie Gipson, who had been serving as the couple's European communications director. They also lost Deesha Tank, Archewell's director of communications and Lianne Cashin, formerly head of operations at Archewell. Markle's social manager and a personal assistant, who have not been named, have also departed. Meredith Maines remains the couple's chief communications officer after coming on board in February after their last PR boss, Ashley Hansen, left to start her own consultancy firm. The only other in-house rep is Emily Robinson who, ironically, worked on Netflix royal drama 'The Crown'. Maines has also hired a team from Method Communications to help. 'As the Duke and Duchess's business and philanthropic interests grow, I have made the strategic decision to move toward a more traditional communications structure of specialist agency support,' Ms Maines said in a statement. 'Transitioning from a team of two to an agency support staff of eight, operating across five different time zones, will give international media and stakeholders better access, and critically, faster response times to inquiries,' she added. 'In a financial sense, it's cheaper to employ a PR firm, as opposed having to full-time staff,' an industry expert said. There have, of course, been a myriad of reports that Harry, and Meghan are not exactly the easiest to work with. Insiders told us the couple was infuriated and upset by an unflattering Vanity Fair cover story in January, which claimed Meghan could be cold and withholding to staffers at the drop of a dime if 'something went poorly'. It was 'really, really, really awful. Very painful,' an unnamed staff member who worked with Markle on media projects alleged, as another said she would throw employees 'to the wolves'. 'It was unfair, what could their staff truly do about it?' said a source in the know of the VF story, 'the sources were anonymous and things could not be refuted'. The Sussexes were also unhappy with a Hollywood Reporter exposé last September which claimed 'everyone's terrified of Meghan,' regarding her staff. A source added, 'She belittles people, she doesn't take advice. They're both poor decision-makers, they change their minds frequently. 'Harry is a very, very charming person — no airs at all — but he's very much an enabler. And she's just terrible.' Multiple sources told Page Six Harry was furious at the story and desperate to protect his wife, pushing his staff to work on a US Weekly cover story quoting former staffers saying they had loved working for the pair. Alongside this, Harry and Meghan's former communications secretary Jason Knauf famously filed an official complaint in 2018, accusing the mom-of-two of bullying her staff at Buckingham Palace. In emails leaked to the Times of London, he claimed the former 'Suits' star drove two personal assistants out and undermined the confidence of a third staff member. A Sussex rep hit back, saying, 'Let's just call this what it is — a calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation', while Markle's lawyer, Jenny Afia, later told the BBC: 'What bullying actually means is improperly using power, repeatedly and deliberately to hurt someone physically or emotionally. 'The Duchess of Sussex has absolutely denied doing that. That said, she wouldn't want to negate anyone's personal experiences.' The results of the palace's probe have never been made public, but Knauf, who is now the CEO of the Earthshot Prize, launched by Harry's brother Prince William, recently told '60 Minutes Australia,' he 'wouldn't change a thing' about raising his concerns. Meghan debuted her rosé wine on Tuesday, on what would have been Princess Diana's 64th birthday, a move which did not go unnoticed by fans and royal experts. 'A source close to the royal household told me, it's not lost on Prince William that Meghan has launched an alcohol brand on his mother's birthday, the very mum he lost in a drink-driving tragedy,' royal reporter Kinsey Schofield told The Sun. Harry, meanwhile, is concentrating on his philanthropic endeavours – and trying to mend fences with his estranged family, including his cancer-stricken father, King Charles. In May, he spoke out yet again about his family rift after losing his fight for government-funded security for his family in the UK. 'I would love reconciliation with my family,' Harry told the BBC, 'There's no point in continuing to fight anymore. Life is precious. I don't know how much longer my father has.' The Telegraph reported there are some moves within the palace to bring Harry and Charles together, claiming that Harry, Markle and their two children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, are being included within Charles' funeral plans. Regardless of what happens with their Netflix deal, a TV producer told us, 'I can see Meghan's show coming back for a third season, easily. People just love to hate her.'
ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
Jeffrey Epstein 'client list' does not exist, US Justice Department says
The US Justice Department says Jeffrey Epstein did not maintain a "client list" and it will not be releasing any more files publicly about the wealthy financier's sex trafficking investigation. The acknowledgement that the well-connected Epstein did not have a list of clients to whom underage girls were trafficked represents a public walk-back of a theory the Trump administration had helped promote, with Attorney-General Pam Bondi suggesting in a Fox News interview earlier this year that such a document was "sitting on my desk" for review. Even as it released video from inside a New York jail meant to prove definitively that Epstein killed himself, the department also said in a memo that it was refusing to disclose other evidence investigators had collected. For weeks, Ms Bondi had suggested more material would be revealed. "It's a new administration and everything is going to come out to the public," she said. However, the first document dump angered US President Donald Trump's base by failing to deliver any new revelations. Far-right influencers were invited to the White House in February and provided with binders marked "The Epstein Files: Phase 1" and "Declassified" that contained documents that had mostly already been in the public domain. After the first release fell flat, Ms Bondi said officials were poring over a "truckload" of previously withheld evidence she said had been handed over by the FBI. In a March TV interview, she claimed the Biden administration "sat on these documents, no one did anything with them". "Sadly, these people don't believe in transparency, but I think more unfortunately, I think a lot of them don't believe in honesty," she said. But after a months-long review of evidence in the government's possession, the Justice Department determined that no "further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted". It said in a memo that much of the material was sealed by a court to protect victims and "only a fraction" of it would have been aired publicly if Epstein had gone to trial. "One of our highest priorities is combating child exploitation and bringing justice to victims," the memo said. "Perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein serves neither of those ends." The two-page memo bore the logos of the Justice Department and the FBI but was not signed by any individual official. Conservatives who have sought proof of a government cover-up of Epstein's activities and death expressed outrage on Monday over the department's position. Far-right influencer Jack Posobiec posted: "We were all told more was coming. That answers were out there and would be provided. Incredible how utterly mismanaged this Epstein mess has been. And it didn't have to be." Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones wrote that "next the DOJ will say 'Actually, Jeffrey Epstein never even existed,'" calling it "over the top sickening". Elon Musk shared a series of photos of a clown applying makeup, which appeared to mock Ms Bondi for saying the client list did not exist after suggesting months ago that it was on her desk. Among the evidence that the Justice Department says it has in its possession, and will not be releasing, are images of Epstein, "images and videos of victims who are either minors or appear to be minors", and more than 10,000 "downloaded videos and images of illegal child sex abuse material and other pornography". The memo does not provide details on what was in the videos, when they were taken, or whether they were newly discovered by investigators. Multiple people who participated in the criminal cases of Epstein and socialite former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell said they had not seen and did not know of a trove of recordings along the lines of what Ms Bondi had referenced. Indictments and detention memos also do not allege the existence of video recordings, and neither Epstein nor Maxwell were charged with possession of child sex abuse material, even though that would have been easier for prosecutors to prove than the sex trafficking counts they faced. AP found a reference in a filing in a civil lawsuit to the discovery by the Epstein estate of videos and pictures that could constitute child sex abuse material. But lawyers involved in that case said a protective order prevented them from discovering the specifics of that evidence. The Justice Department did not respond to questions about the videos. Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in August 2019, weeks after his arrest on sex trafficking charges, in a suicide that foreclosed the possibility of a trial. The department's disclosure that Epstein took his own life is hardly a revelation, even though conspiracy theorists have continued to challenge that conclusion. In November 2019, for instance, then-attorney-general William Barr said he had reviewed security footage that revealed that no one entered the area where Epstein was housed on the night he died and expressed confidence that Epstein's death was a suicide. More recently, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino have insisted in television and podcast interviews that the evidence was clear that Epstein had killed himself. AP
