Emily Ratajkowski joins the competitive world of online dating, Nick Kyrgios quits at the last minute
All the news that's fit to mint.
All the news that's fit to mint.
What's happening in (The) Oz:
🎾 Novak Djokovic has come back to us even after we kicked him out
👋🏻 Nick Kyrgios kicks himself out
🙅🏻♂️ Anthony Albanese shuts down protestors during his Woodford set
🏏 Cam Green can't pick his nose or bowl for the Australian cricket team now
🙏🏻 Abbie Chatfield makes cancelling plans fashionable (finally)
👩🏻🎨 Kate Moss' little sister turned The Hangover into a doco
🤯 A US politician appears to have made up his entire life, now claims he isn't Jewish, just 'Jew-ish'
💰 Welfare payments to increase from January 1
🛬 Jetstar flies directly into Capricorn season, does a u-turn away from Bali
It's the final Thursday of the year
And about that time where we should start listing things that can stay in 2022.
I'll go first - face tattoos.
I don't care if you're a baby bikie or Kate Moss' little sister - the only permanent thing on your face should be eyebrows.
Speaking of regrets, the federal government had a few about 'The Joker'
Novak Djokovic has landed in Adelaide as he prepares for another tilt at a 10th Australian Open crown a year after having his visa revoked and deported like a criminal due to his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid on the eve of his title defence earlier this year.
The 21-time major winner has been listed to play at the Adelaide International, starting January 1, after the Australian government granted his visa to compete.
The tournament is a warm-up ahead of the Australian Open that'll descend on Melbourne from January 16.
Ready for the summer of tennis 🌞@DjokerNole has arrived in Adelaide and kicked off his first practice session. pic.twitter.com/IhCdbt32n3
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) December 28, 2022
What a difference a few months (and a change of government) has made for Djokovic. He was facing a possible three-year ban from our shores after being detained and then deported last January because of his stance against the Covid vaccination.
But immigration minister Andrew Giles confirmed last month the 35-year-old Serbian tennis star had been granted a visa to compete in Australia this coming January.
We've since lifted strict rules for unvaccinated travellers.
Djokovic has won the Australian Open a record nine times, including the last three times he played.
Rafael Nadal won the 2022 title in Djokovic’s absence.
Meanwhile, one of the most vocal critics turned supporters of Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios has once again set a cat amongst the pigeons.
The enfant terrible of tennis has pulled out of the United Cup, set to take place in Sydney. He's wanting to work on some "fitness issues ahead of the Australian Open" but only gave the organisers 10-minutes notice.
His team members didn't even know the news when they fronted a media conference - Kyrgios was meant to star in - on Wednesday.
“We literally just found out 10 minutes ago,” Australian captain Sam Stosur said.
"We're just going to put our head down and work - that's what we do."
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) December 28, 2022
The Aussies are all smiles in Sydney as they prepare for their #UnitedCup campaign 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/PgSHyp6Kzt
The Australian team is now de Minaur, Kubler, John Peers, Ajla Tomljanovic, Zoe Hives, Maddison Inglis and Sam Stosur.
This is how you cancel plans
DJ Albo makes a rare cameo on the festival circuit
Albanese kitted out in an Akubra and sophisticated black polo instead of his favoured off-duty band T-shirts, took to the stage in front of - what he thought was a friendly audience.
But a gang of performative protestors, decked out in the Greens unofficial uniform of “Stop Adani” garb, wanted to mount their own show. The prime minister was having none of it.
“I think you might want to show some respect for what I have to say next,” he said, turning to the small group who had been heckling him, responding with “bulls..t” at nearly every stat and achievement he mentioned, and interjecting for more than 20 minutes.
It was a great honour to speak at @Woodfordia today. [1/5] pic.twitter.com/nu48huAd5R
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) December 28, 2022
He warmed up with some gags, poking fun at his predecessor Scott Morrison and paying homage to Woodford's most ardent fan, Hawkie (who attended 10 times).
“At the heart of Bob Hawke was a prodigious dedication to work and to detail, and an energy that he channelled into making life better for his fellow Australians. An extraordinary leader who knew that no true leader stands alone. His ministry was one of depth and breadth, and each of those ministers was fully trusted with their portfolios.
“Bob relied on them for their expertise and for their judgement – and he didn’t secretly help himself to any of their portfolios along the way,” Albanese said to chuckles and cheers of the mostly supportive crowd.
An audience which included his colleagues, including minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney, arts minister Tony Burke, and Hawke’s wife, Blanche D’Alpuget.
They rose to their feet many times to support Albanese after being cleansed by the PM's curtain raiser - Alysha Brilla, a self-described "sound healer", at the annual folk festival nestled deep in the heart of one of Australia's most progressive pockets about an hour north of Brisbane. A patch of Australia still reeling from months of damaging weather events.
But the set did not go to plan. Albanese should have requested a sage smudging as a support act.
One that would rid the room of the reality of the gas crisis that has dogged his government in recent months.
Pray for Tinder
Online dating apps beware, they may soon melt.
Pete Davidson and Emily Ratajkowski are already over.
“Their fling has moved into the friends zone,” a source told Page Six, and that's “fine with both of them.”
The My Body author was previously married to Bear-McClard for four years and the former couple share 1-year-old son, Sylvester.
She announced recently on her High Low podcast that she joined a dating app.
“I was like, ‘F..k it,’” she explained.
“I was feeling defiant because so many people told me not to get it.”
The Cam Green news is enough to make you flip the bird
Hero of the first innings bowling earlier this week, Cameron Green has a broken finger and Australia finds in a commanding lead but two bowlers down in the Boxing Day Test (yes, it's still going).
Highlights from Australia's short bowling session this afternoon.
— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) December 28, 2022
📺 Watch #AUSvSA on Ch. 501 or stream via @kayosports https://t.co/x3WmKIJJ5N
âœBLOG https://t.co/MHolPpxIB6 🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/VWSOJuubJi pic.twitter.com/ebnxQhH4un
Mitchell Starc also has a significant ligament injury to his middle digit and cannot bowl.
Green is not expected to bat or bowl.
"The 23-year-old took 5-27 in the best performance of his career on day one of the Test and picked up $3.15m at the IPL auction on Friday," The Australian's Peter Lalor said.
READ THIS ALSO BY PETER LALOR: Australia's best 20 beers of the year
In some rare good news for people needing welfare
As well as cheaper medicines, welfare payments are set to increase on January 1.
A move that'll impact about 1 million Australians.
The payments are set to increase six per cent in line with indexation as rising inflation forces cost of living to soar.
"Youth Allowance payments will increase by approximately $19 to $40 per fortnight while those on the Disability Support Pension will receive an increase of $27 to $40 per fortnight. People on Austudy will see increases from around $32.40 to $41.40 a fortnight," The Australian reported.
Carer payments, mobility allowance and single parents payments are also expected to see increases.
The $9 billion cheaper plan for childcare that was unveiled earlier this year will not come into effect until July.
Jetstar has flown straight into Capricorn season
And it is messing with people's travel plans. A lot.
On Wednesday a flight from Melbourne to Bali had to make a U-turn back to Australia because of a "miscommunication" with local authorities.
The flight turned around over Broome - about an hour out from landing at Denpasar - because the plane, which had been swapped for a larger carrier, had not been approved by the local regulator in Indonesia.
"Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication, the aircraft swap was not approved by the local regulator in Indonesia," a Jetstar spokesperson said.
The flight returned to Melbourne, and passengers were rebooked on later flight.
Customers have been provided with hotel rooms and meal vouchers while they wait, the spokesperson said, and Jetstar will "cover additional airport transport costs", and offer a $200 travel voucher for their patience.
"We know this has been an extremely frustrating experience for customers and sincerely apologise for what happened," the spokesperson said.
"We’ve begun a review to understand how the miscommunication happened so we can prevent it from occurring again."
The audacity....
Of politicians should never surprise. Nor should it about aspiring ones.
Like a newly elected Republican congressman in the US who has admitted fabricating his education and work experience.
George Santos, 34, who prised New York’s third congressional district away from the Democrats to help give the Republicans a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, had claimed that he worked for two Wall Street banks and attended university.
None of that was true.
He is now faces allegations that he lied on his CV to win his seat. But has said he'll take the oath next week when he's sworn into parliament.
The self-proclaimed “embodiment of the American dream”, he claimed to be the gay son of Brazilian immigrants and that he was a “seasoned Wall Street financier and investor” with a real estate portfolio of 13 properties.
Santos also claimed that he was Jewish and that his grandparents had “survived the Holocaust”.
However, Santos’s story quickly began to unravel when reporters smelled a rat.
— George Santos (@Santos4Congress) December 19, 2022
This excerpt from his interview with the New York Post is just. It was where he admitted that he “never worked directly” for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and that the fabrication had been down to a “poor choice of words”.
He also confessed that he did not attend Baruch College, as he had claimed, nor any other university.
“I didn’t graduate from any institution of higher learning. I’m embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my resume,” he said. “We do stupid things in life.”
His claim that his grandparents were Ukrainian Jews who fled to Brazil to escape the Nazis also fell apart.
The Forward, a Jewish news site, found that there were no records of Santos’s grandparents at the International Center on Nazi Persecution.
“I never claimed to be Jewish,” he backtracked to the Post.
“I am Catholic. Because I learnt my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish’.”
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.
Anthony Albanese’s friend Shaq copies the PM’s diet and lifestyle choices
All the news that's fit to mint.