Boris Johnson is sorry he brought the cheese and wine to an illegal party
All the news that's fit to mint
All the news that's fit to mint
Baz Luhrmann's long-anticipated film Elvis had its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival overnight.
The Australian director - wearing a sparkly homage to belt Elvis - was joined by titular character Austin Butler, Australian Olivia DeJonge who plays Priscilla Presley, and Priscilla herself.
Tom Hanks, who dons a fat suit and prosthetics as The King's manager Colonel Tom Park in the film, held onto Elvis' ex-spouse Priscilla on the red carpet.
The film reportedly received a noisy 12-minute standing ovation, which Variety called "the longest of this year's festival so far".
The reviews have started to roll in. The Times called it "Baz Luhrmann's best movie since Romeo + Juliet", and gave it 4 out of 5 stars, while the Guardian claimed the film was "shaking no one up" and "off-key", with a 2 out of 5 star rating.
Queen of Australian pop Kylie Minogue was also in attendance, wearing a sheer Versace corset dress.
Everybody needs good neighbours
While prime minister Anthony Albanese and foreign minister Penny Wong were meeting, and making friends, with leaders from the US, Japan and India at the Quad this week, the Chinese government - not a part of the Quad squad - was finalising a tour of some countries just off the Australian coast.
The Chinese Communist Party Pacific tour is the opposite of Harry Styles' upcoming shows as no one really wants this to happen.
The Australian - the Harry's House era to our 1D - reported: "Beijing is seeking a deal with 10 Pacific countries offering policing, security, and cyber support and a new China-Pacific free-trade agreement, dramatically escalating [Chinese President] Xi Jinping’s grab for regional influence."
The CCP is planning on kicking off the roadshow of its proposed new deal next Thursday when it convenes a meeting of Pacific Island foreign ministers in Fiji and embarks on an "unprecedented" regional eight-nation trip taking in places like Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and East Timor.
Wong heard about this while flying home from Japan with Albo.
She barely had enough time to grab fresh clothes before she took off again to Fiji where she'll meet with leaders there today.
Senator Wong said “after a lost decade we’ve got a lot of work to do to regain Australia’s position as the partner of choice in the Pacific, in a region that’s less secure and more contested”.
Party(gate) is over
Our friends and family in the UK have had a terrible couple of years. Meghan and Harry moved out and Covid moved in.
The health system and front line workers were under incredible stress and pressure. Lockdowns were strict and stretched into months. The rules were tough, people were forced to say goodbye to dying loved ones on FaceTime. Many people died - more than 179,000 - and heaps of people lost their jobs amid rising costs of living and a sluggish economy.
At least their politicians had a good time. During lockdown, there were 16 "events" held at Downing Street - the Prime Minister's office - parties the PM Boris Johnson, and even his wife Carrie, attended.
To one, BoJo even provided the wine, cheese and biccies.
Before a report into what the hell happened, a separate police investigation resulted in 83 people getting hit with fines, including Johnson - making him the first British prime minister ever found to have broken the law while in office.
As you can imagine the calls for him to resign are louder than a Spice Girls gig at Wembley Stadium. Johnson has continued to rebuff those suggestions. He's continued to apologise and said he didn't know he was breaking the rules, rules his government implemented.
A review, led by senior public servant Sue Gray, was published late Wednesday night and highlighted how "bring your own booze" parties and regular "wine-time Fridays" were held in the PM's office at the height of the pandemic.
At one leaving event for an official in June 2020, Gray said there was "excessive alcohol consumption" which led to one person being sick and a fight between two others broke out.
At another, held the night before Prince Philip's funeral in April 2021, staffers partied into the early hours, breaking a kid's swing used by Johnson's son in the garden out the back.
After the report was handed down, the government tore itself apart in the House of Commons.
"I'm being heckled by my own people"
— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 25, 2022
Tory MP Tobias Ellwood asks his fellow colleagues how long they are willing to defend the behaviour of the prime minister given the "erosion of the trust with the British people".https://t.co/Z0wkwjwN0n
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 pic.twitter.com/SeMbSnasfU
His own party members are now morphing into the non-fiction Malcolm Tucker:
A snap poll, conducted early this morning by YouGov, found three in five Brits say Johnson should resign.
And 74% believe the PM "knowingly lied" about breaking lockdown rules, including the majority of his Conservative Party voters.
Holy HECS
There's a huge deadline looming for almost 3m Aussies saddled with student debt.
There's just six days before HECS bills are turned. Prepared to be more shocked that a surprise AfterPay withdrawal.
From June 1, the indexation rate applied to HECS and HELP loans will jump to 3.9% - the highest rate in a decade.
Last year, the rate was just 0.6 per cent.
And we thought lacklustre lettuce was exxy.
Brace for impact
New Treasurer Jim Chalmers has told us to "expect bad news" since he's had a few days to look under the hood of his new department.
After campaigning on a platform that a Labor government will work to lower power bills "longer term" through "boosted investment in renewable energy", Dr Chalmers said over the next few months we better be prepared for "a spike in power prices that will make it harder for Australian families to make ends meet".
He said he'll tell us more in June or July or whenever parliament returns.
It is looking like to be July as Albo flagged he'd like to wait til after the school holidays to make it easier for MPs (MPs on $200,000 tax payer funded salaries mind you) who have families.
Pregnant pause
WA is getting a brand new $1.8b hospital especially for women and babies. Great news right?
Totally, except for one minor detail.
During Budget Estimate hearings this week - basically when politicians go over the Budget papers with fine tooth combs and do their own sums before grilling Ministers - the WA health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said no decision had been made yet if the state of the art, flagship health campus will even have a family birthing centre.
According to opposition health spokesperson Libby Mettam, the WA government couldn't say whether the centre would be included on the site.
Sanderson said the "vibe" of how she feels is that "I am not sure if it should be in a tertiary health campus."
Queen B
In the latest season of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Billie Eilish joins old school late night TV host David Letterman and talks about how she is living with Tourette’s.
Letterman apologises for bringing attention to her tics, but Eilish appears happy to talk about it and explains how tired she gets from it.
“I actually really love answering questions about it because it’s very, very interesting,” Eilish said, while adding she doesn't know what her trigger is.
“What’s funny is so many people have it that you would never know,” she said before mentioning that she's met other singers and celebrities (who she doesn’t mention by name) that have been diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome.
“It’s not like I like it, but I feel like it’s part of me,” she says. “Now, I’m pretty confident in it.”
Happy anniversary
Today marks five years since the Uluru Statement from the Heart was handed down.
Professor Megan Davis, the Balnaves Chair in Constitutional Law and the Uluṟu Dialogue co-chair, is optimistic about what's to come for recognition and reconciliation this year and beyond with the new ALP government.
"We know Australia is ready for this and we’re confident we have the impetus and momentum to turn the Uluru Statement proposal for a Voice to Parliament into tangible action. Next steps are confirming a timeline for the referendum and the drafting of a Bill," Prof Davis said.
"History is calling, and we will continue to work towards creating a better future for all Australians by working alongside the Federal Government on a date for a referendum."
19 kids dead
More American kids, as young as 7-years-old, have been shot and killed at a school in Texas.
Nineteen little ones are dead.
Two teachers were also murdered by an 18-year-old kid.
There are no words.
There's even less action being taken by politicians.
Steve Kerr on today's tragic shooting in Uvalde, Texas. pic.twitter.com/lsJ8RzPcmC
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 24, 2022
It's the second massacre in less than two weeks where the death toll of innocent people just going about their lives was more than 10.
Steve Kerr, an eight-time NBA champion and coach of the Golden State Warriors, has had enough.
Kerr's father was killed by a gunman in 1984 and he's been a vocal supporter of a Bill that calls for tighter rules around gun ownership.
Before his team's playoff match between the Dallas Mavericks in Texas on Wednesday, instead of giving a pre-game interview he refused to talk about basketball and instead delivered a passionate speech condemning gun violence.
Meghan Markle’s favourite face gym is opening in Australia, Greta Thunberg publishes Andrew Tate’s contact details
All the news that's fit to mint.
Emily Ratajkowski joins the competitive world of online dating, Nick Kyrgios quits at the last minute
All the news that's fit to mint.