Latest news with #CourierMail
Sky News AU
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Sky News AU
New train station to be built for 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games
A new train station will be built alongside Brisbane's new stadium for the 2032 Olympic Games. Leaked government documents seen by the Courier Mail show a plan to build a new Olympic Park train station at the site. Queensland Rail is proposing a three-platform train station to be built at the site to serve attendees of the games. The proposed stadium will be built at the southern end of Victoria Park, while a warm-up athletics track will also be constructed at the eastern end.
Sky News AU
2 days ago
- Sky News AU
Fresh photos reveal major update for squalid home where murdered Queensland teen Pheobe Bishop spent her final days
The squalid home where Queensland teenager Pheobe Bishop lived before she was allegedly murdered by her housemates has undergone an extensive cleanup. Fresh photos, first published by the Courier Mail on Tuesday, have revealed the home in the regional town of Gin Gin near Bundaberg has been transformed from its once-derelict condition. Rubbish seen just last month piled throughout the front yard has been removed, while parts of the property's exterior appear to have been repainted. Dozens of empty bottles of Coke, Mountain Dew and other soft drinks once seen scattered on the front porch have also been taken away. The home Gin Gin home where Pheobe Bishop lived has undergone an extensive cleanup. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass Dozens of empty bottles of soft drinks once seen on the front porch have been taken away. Picture: 7News The development comes after photos in June laid bare the shocking state of the property where Pheobe spent her final days. The images, captured by 7News, showed the floors strewn with what appeared to be furniture debris, clothing and rubbish. Further footage showed stacks of trash on beds, garbage bags on the floor, and dog faeces throughout the home. Earlier in the police investigation, there were reports a number of dead dogs had been removed from the property. The home also appears to have undergone a new coat of paint. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass Pheobe was reported missing from the Gin Gin area after she failed to board her scheduled May 15 flight from Bundaberg to Western Australia to visit her boyfriend. After a large-scale investigation, Pheobe's two housemates James Wood, 34, and his partner Tanika Bromley, 33, were charged with the teenager's murder. Mr Wood and Ms Bromley have also been charged with two counts each of interfering with a corpse. The Gin Gin property was declared a crime scene as detectives probed Pheobe's suspicious disappearance. Pheobe Bishop was first reported missing in May. Picture: Facebook Police declared the Gin Gin property a crime scene. Picture: Adam Head / NCA The landlords previously told 7News that Ms Bromley ticked all the boxes as a tenant when they first met her, but claimed she was on the verge of being evicted after the house failed its last inspection. The landlords, who lived at the address when they were first married, claimed the home had sustained damage like patched holes on walls which were not there prior to Ms Bromley and Mr Wood moving in. "The air tastes dirty and it smells just … I don't know how people can be breathing in this," one landlord said. A GoFundMe page had been created on behalf of the landlords to help support the repairs and clean-up efforts. The fundraiser, which is no longer accepting donations, raised $2,275.
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Shark attack at 'Ant and Dec beach' leaves teenager in serious condition
A shark attacked a boy at Cabarita Beach on Sunday and he is now in hospital with serious arm injuries A teenage boy has suffered serious injuries after being bitten by a suspected Great White shark at a beach in New South Wales regularly used by TV hosts Ant and Dec. Australian emergency services were called to Cabarita Beach, between Tweed Heads and Byron Bay, at 3.50pm on Sunday after the attack. Surfers and two off-duty paramedics rushed to the boy's aid, reportedly applying a tourniquet to help restrict the bleeding. The teen suffered injuries to his arms and hands and was airlifted to Gold Coast University Hospital by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter in a "serious but stable" condition. ITV hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, have regularly been spotted enjoying downtime at Cabarita Beach in Australia during the filming of " I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!". They were seen having lunch together at a local cafe and also have been pictured enjoying the beach with their families including regularly swimming there. In NSW, Australia, shark fatalities are rare but it is thought there have been three deaths since 2021. The recent attack comes just weeks after a 17-year-old girl was mauled to death by a shark while swimming at a popular tourist spot at Bribie Island, north of Brisbane. Emergency services had rushed to the scene, with victim Charlize Zmuda treated for life-threatening upper body injuries. Tragically, she later died. Her devastated family said after the incident that they wanted to focus on "incredible life she lived and not the awful way she died". They said in a statement: "Charlize was loved by many and was such a shining light who truly touched the lives of everyone she met." Local Chris Potter told the Courier Mail at the time of what he saw as the devastating scenes unfolded: "People originally thought she had just been caught in a rip. "It was shocking."
The Guardian
20-06-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
News Corp bets big on AI tools but journalists voice concerns
Journalists at three of Rupert Murdoch's Australian mastheads have reported deep concern after training sessions for an in-house AI tool called 'NewsGPT' . Staffers on the Australian, the Courier Mail and the Daily Telegraph say the tool enables them to take on the persona of another writer, or to adopt a certain style, and NewsGPT will then generate a custom article. Another tool, in which they adopt the persona of an editor to generate story leads or fresh angles, has also been used. But they say the training sessions have not explained what the technology will be used for. Reporters have been told to expect another round of training using an AI tool called 'Story Cutter' which will edit and produce copy, effectively removing or reducing the need for subeditors. The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance said the AI programs were not only a threat to jobs but also threatened to undermine accountable journalism. News Corp mastheads have certainly embraced the use of AI for illustrations recently; and in 2023 the company admitted producing 3,000 localised articles a week using generative artificial intelligence. In March the company's chief technology officer, Julian Delany, unveiled NewsGPT and described it as a powerful tool. A News Corp Australia spokesperson told Weekly Beast: 'As with many companies News Corp Australia is investigating how AI technologies can enhance our workplaces rather than replace jobs. Any suggestion to the contrary is false.' The Guardian's AI policy on the use of AI can be seen here. Kerry Stokes' Seven West Media showed its disdain for the NRL on Thursday with a front-page headline in the West Australian which failed to mention the words State of Origin or NRL. 'One bunch of east coasters beat another at rugby in Perth last night', the dismissive headline said. The report of the match was relegated to page 36 of the sports pages, despite the match being played in Perth. So why ignore a major event in your home town? Seven West Media has a $1.5bn deal with rival code the AFL, and the West Australian has actively campaigned against a new West Australian NRL team, the Bears. While the newspaper claims the NRL is not popular in WA, the match recorded the highest-ever TV total audience for an Origin match in Perth, with 190,000 tuning in and 57,023 attending the match at Optus Stadium. Journalists who work for Stokes at his newspaper empire had some bad news on Thursday in the form of an email with the dreaded words 'operational review' and 'redundancies' at West Australian Newspapers. The company is offering voluntary redundancies across the West Australian, Perth Now, and the regional and community papers, and is asking for expressions of interest, by Friday 20 June. On Tuesday, staff will be informed which roles will be made redundant and those folk will leave the same week. Editor-in-chief of WA Newspapers, Christopher Dore, has been approached for comment. On Monday, Australian Story will examine the Rachael Gunn story – but Raygun's voice will not be heard after the breakdancer declined to participate. While this is a departure for the award-winning program, which conventionally tells first-person stories, it's not unheard of. Australian Story's executive producer, Caitlin Shea, told Weekly Beast the format is broad enough 'to examine ideas, issues, and cultural phenomena as well as the more personal profile'. Shea points to episodes that examined Cliff Young's race, the ABC TV show Race Around the World and true crime stories about Kathleen Folbigg, the Somerton Man mystery and Lyn Dawson. The episode is not a profile but 'examines the Raygun phenomenon to try to understand why it created such a storm and why Gunn remains such a polarising figure'. Murdoch's New York Post launched a new podcast this month from the 'legendary political columnist Miranda Devine', an Australian journalist who relocated from Sydney's Daily Telegraph to New York in 2019. An unashamed right-wing cheerleader, Devine's first guest was unsurprisingly Donald Trump. Videos of Devine laughing in a cosy chat with the president in the White House have been shared widely on social media. Sign up to Weekly Beast Amanda Meade's weekly diary on the latest in Australian media, free every Friday after newsletter promotion Among the scoops she claimed from the debut Pod Force One was Trump saying all rioters found to be burning the US flag should earn an 'automatic' one-year jail sentence. The chat started off with the following exchange. Devine: 'Mr President, thank you so much for doing this, our very first podcast, especially, I mean, I know how much you have on your plate. I mean, how do you juggle it all? Trump: 'I've got wars. I've got war and peace, and I have you. And I heard it was your first, so this is your first [podcast]. It's gonna, it's an honour to be on your show.' When Trump falsely claimed Joe Biden allowed immigrants to come in to the US 'from jails and prisons all over the world … [and] from mental institutions' Devine replied: 'Why did he do that, it's so destructive?' The ABC put out a media release this week announcing it was 'delighted' Kyle Hugall had been appointed 'Head of Made'. There was little in the release to explain what this role at Made might entail or indeed what Made was, although Hugall was described as a creative leader who had worked in advertising. The title reminded us of a letter written by senior presenters to the board in 2016 that condemned new layers of 'preposterously named executives' which would have been at home in an episode of the ABC satire on bureaucracy, Utopia. Titles included 'Head, Spoken' (Radio National manager) and 'Classical Lead' (manager of Classic FM). Despite the failure of her 'official' endorsement of Peter Dutton before the last election, Sharri Markson has issued her own symbolic sanctions on Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong. 'I'm going to start tonight by issuing my own symbolic sanctions against the two most damaging figures in the Albanese government, the prime minister and the foreign minister,' the Sky News Australia host said. 'I sanction Wong and Albanese for their antagonistic and extreme rhetoric which, over the past 20 months has only inflamed anti-Israel sentiment and contributed to the dangerous rise in antisemitism in our country.' An apparent suicide of a young man at a public place in the Adelaide CBD on Sunday has been extensively reported by the Advertiser, much to the dismay of the South Australian Police and the man's family. A spokesperson for the police told Weekly Beast that despite the police advising all media outlets on Sunday 15 June that the incident was 'a mental health matter, and we will not be reporting on it any further', some members of the media went ahead anyway and the family was 'extremely distraught'. The Advertiser published several stories in the newspaper and online, as well as a video. The content included multiple photographs of the location, the manner of suicide and the man's private photographs. The Australian Press Council has specific guidelines for the reporting of an individual suicide, which say it should only be done if it is in the public interest and the journalist has the consent of the family. The manner of suicide should not be disclosed. This individual was not a public figure. Late on Thursday, with another article published in the Advertiser, the South Australian police took the unusual step 'on behalf of [the] family' of asking the media to remove all the content. We 'formally request all media remove any articles, social media or any media relating to his death', SA police said. 'The reporting and media articles are causing further unnecessary distress and harm to the family and friends of [the deceased]. We trust that all media will adhere to this request on behalf of the family and actions its requests immediately.' The editor of the Advertiser, Gemma Jones, and the editor of the Daily Mail, Felicity Hetherington, did not respond to requests for comment and the stories remain online at the time of publication.
Sky News AU
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Anthony Albanese suggests NSW and Victoria should be considered to host major 2032 Olympic events, sparking stern rebuke from Qld officials
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has suggested consideration should be made for two 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games sports to be held outside of Queensland. The 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games plot has continued to thicken after the Labor leader said the tennis and rowing could potentially be held in New South Wales and Victoria and that the Sunshine State lacked the appropriate facilities to host the two sports. Appearing on the most recent episode of the Two Good Sports podcast uploaded on Friday, Mr Albanese said there was a 'bit of a debate going on' over the venue plan. 'I've been meeting with (2032 Organising Committee President) Andrew Liveris as well as with the Queensland Premier (David) Crisafulli about where it goes,' he told the podcast. 'For example, are we really going to do rowing in Rockhampton on the Fitzroy River when there are some pretty good facilities at Penrith (in Sydney's west)?' The PM, who has flown to Canada for the G7 summit, cast doubt on Queensland's ability to accommodate the two sports and questioned why taxpayer funds would be used to develop new facilities when there were existing amenities in Sydney and Melbourne. 'There's a debate over tennis and what's needed there in Brisbane as well," Mr Albanese told the Melbourne-based podcast. 'You have pretty good tennis facilities." However, the Crisafulli state government was quick to pounce on the unexpected comments, vowing that Brisbane would host all Olympic events. A Queensland government spokesperson told the Courier Mail on Friday that 'we are working with all levels of government to implement the 2032 Games Delivery Plan, which will see Rowing in Rockhampton and Tennis played at the upgraded Queensland Tennis Centre.' Mr Crisafulli previously stated that his government would guarantee 'Melbourne will not be taking the tennis from Brisbane'. Tennis Queensland CEO Cameron Pearson also weighed in on the stoush, and resoundingly backed his home state, saying 'the Premier confirmed in March that Olympic and Paralympic tennis will be played in Brisbane, and we've had productive discussions since'. Yet, despite vocal protest from high-ranking Queensland officials, the Prime Minister added 'it might be that you just can't do everything in one spot in the future' and that it was 'legitimate for there to be proper discussion'. Hosting the rowing in the notoriously crocodile "infested" waters of the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton has attracted ridicule and furore, with a recent hydrological study also concluding the river drops to almost zero flow in the winter months when the games are due to be held. A Brisbane 2032 spokesperson reiterated the venue master plan process was still ongoing and that many details were still yet to be determined. 'Delivering world-class fields of play that provide an optimal performance environment for athletes remains key for Brisbane 2032 and ensuring International Federations are involved in planning and delivery will help achieve this outcome,' a Brisbane 2032 statement read. In response to the row, an Albanese government spokesperson said there needed to be a 'common sense approach' in the planning of the games and that any changes to the scheduling would be decided in tandem with the Queensland government.
