Iconic toy brand Lego has marked its 90th anniversary this week with a 94,128-piece birthday cake.
Key points:
Lego was founded in 1930 in Denmark by Ole Kirk Kristiansen
The word Lego comes from “Leg Godt”, meaning “Play Well” in Danish
Lego produces roughly 100 billion bricks each year and employs around 24,000 people worldwide
The Danish company unveiled the cake to mark the anniversary and launch a series of events at stores around the world.
The cake, featuring nine layers representing nine decades of Lego play, was built by employees and put on display at the Lego House in Billund — home of the Lego brick.
The family-owned company was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen.
His grandchild Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, born in 1947, often inspired and tested new ideas and appeared in the company’s packaging and marketing.
He went on to become Lego’s chief executive from 1979 to 2004.
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The company name came from “leg godt”, meaning “play well” in Danish.
The company’s core product, the Lego brick, was first produced in its current form in 1958.
“When my great-grandfather founded the company 90 years ago, he recognized that play could change the lives of children,” Thomas Kirk Kristiansen, Lego’s current chairman, said.
Lego produces around 100 billion bricks each year.(ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
“It brings families together and helps children develop skills that can enable them to reach their full potential.
“He only had a small workshop, but he had big ambitions to ensure as many children as possible could experience the benefits that play brings.
“Whether 1932, 2022 or on our 100th anniversary in 2032, we have and will always strive to continue Ole’s legacy by helping all families, wherever they are in the world, to play well.”
Lego produces roughly 100 billion bricks each year and employs around 24,000 people worldwide.
Regardless of where Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 future lies given McLaren’s attempt to drop him for 2023, he needs a stronger second half of the season after a difficult 18 months. But it will take more than the “natural reset” offered by the August break that he talked about after the Hungarian Grand Prix to make that happen.
Ricciardo will certainly benefit from the break given the frenetic pace of the first 13 races of the season. And he deserves time off as, for all his struggles and amid uncertainty about his future, he has remained ultra-professional on and off track and tackled his struggles with dignity and honesty.
But any expectation that the August shutdown will automatically lead to a revival in form would be naive given the depth of those struggles. That’s something Ricciardo himself will be well aware of.
“Switching off normally gives me a natural reset to the point where I imagine 10 days/two weeks into the break, I would have got a holiday out of my system, then I’ll build that hunger back again,” said Ricciardo after his run to 15th in Hungary.
“I naturally think about it after getting time off, that’s normally how it works for me. Again, go out, be with friends, drink some beers, have fun, and then I’ll get to the point where I start to feel not guilty, but just like, ‘All right, time to turn it on again’.
“Then it’s a natural switch that will probably come back in after 14 days.”
Ricciardo might find it a little more difficult to disconnect than he usually would given the question marks over his future. We do n’t know where he sees his future from him and whether what he described last month as “the feeling in my gut” that represents his competitive fire from him really is still there. Perhaps that’s something he is asking himself right now as he considers his options from him?
If it is, then surely he will pursue the chance to return to Alpine. A different car and a new team – albeit one he knows of old – will at least allow him to test whether his struggles were McLaren-specific. If that is his course of him then a stronger second half of 2022 will be the ideal springboard.
If not and Ricciardo is set to walk away from F1 – something he has said he’s not ready to do but has to be taken seriously as a possibility – then he will be determined to go out on something approximating a high over the final nine races. That’s only befitting a driver who has had such a successful grand prix career and it’s hard to see him abandoning his constructive approach just because he knows McLaren no longer wants his services from him.
“Start that second half of the season with a positive bang” and “set some strong intentions” were phrases Ricciardo used about the upcoming post-break restart at Spa. He also admitted that it was “easier said than done”, which is a wise position to take.
After all, last year the August break did appear to have changed things. Ricciardo produced his two best finishes of the season in the post-shutdown triple-header – fourth in the farcical Belgian GP after a strong wet qualifying performance and that famous win at Monza. But the struggles continued thereafter.
The break last year perhaps helped Ricciardo have the fortitude to produce those performances, and he said at Monza that “having some time off in August helped”. But nothing really changed as he struggled for the rest of the season. The break, at best, helped him to rebuild energy levels but didn’t change the story.
So there’s no reason to expect a few August weeks off to change things for Ricciardo this year. What will make the difference is continuing to battle to improve. It’s clear there are characteristics of the McLaren that he does not get on with, but what’s unarguable is that Norris consistently extracts more from the car – one that he also says does not suit his default style.
Ricciardo has long complained about the inconsistency of the car, which not only lacks the turn-in characteristics he requires to achieve the necessary rotation but also appears to catch him out too often.
“There are some lapses that I’ll put together and it kind of makes sense and I’m like, ‘That was sweet’,” said Ricciardo. “But then a couple of lapses later, I might drop four tenths or something.
“It’s still sometimes not [the case that you] start at one, go to two, get to two, you know what I mean? It’s not as simple as a dot-to-dot. There are some hurdles before getting to the next dot, so that’s a little complicated.”
“Today [race day in Hungary] with the wind, these cars are so sensitive that probably does make it more hard to find that consistency.
“When it’s on more of a knife-edge, when there’s more variables, that’s where it starts to become that step more difficult.”
The ‘joining the dots’ analogy is apposite because Ricciardo has looked disjointed as a driver for the past 18 months. At his best, he’s smooth and committed and capable of carrying tremendous speed into corners. But to meet the requirements of the car he’s deconstructed that technique and struggled for pace having done so. He’s learned a huge amount about his strengths and weaknesses from him as a driver but that’s never translated into the moment when everything clicks and he’s back to his best from him.
And while last year’s struggles were primarily down to what he called a “peculiar” McLaren – and that’s a view shared by Norris and predecessor Carlos Sainz – this year Ricciardo’s difficulties are down to a combination of McLaren’s weaknesses and aero inconsistency through the speed range and the generic characteristics of the 2022 cars.
“Certainly one of the most,” said Ricciardo, when asked by The Race if the McLaren-Mercedes MCL36 is the most difficult car he’s driven in F1.
“In a race stint [in the past]you could stay within three tenths probably for a 20-lap stint at time and be very in control, whereas I feel like stint variation is a lot bigger this year.
“Maybe it’s just me, or maybe it’s the whole field. But I’d be surprised if you see someone doing 0.1s, 0.1s, 0.2s etc, so I think they’re just more difficult this year.”
None of these problems are going to vanish in the second half of the year, although McLaren can perhaps make a little progress in ameliorating them.
So Ricciardo faces a long run-in that’s likely to seem very similar to the first 13 races, during which he’s managed only four points finishes, with the August break nothing more than a much-needed temporary respite.
The resignation letter of NSW building commissioner David Chandler has revealed he held concerns about the relationship between sacked minister Eleni Petinos and the property development group that hired former deputy premier John Barilaro.
Key points:
Senior public servant David Chandler abruptly resigned last month
The NSW Opposition called for his resignation letter to be released
The letter has already been referred to the anti-corruption watchdog
In his letter, Mr Chandler detailed how he received calls from both Ms Petinos and Mr Barilaro after he issued a stop work order to the Coronation Property Group.
At the time, Coronation had run into trouble with the building commissioner over compliance at a major residential development in Merrylands in Western Sydney.
A building industry veteran, Mr Chandler abruptly resigned last month after three years in the role, which was created to crack down on building standards in the wake of the Opal Towers and Mascot Towers debacles.
In his resignation letter dated July 7, 2022, Mr Chandler spoke about “problematic” dealings with the office of Ms Petinos and voiced concerns about her relationship with the Coronation Property Group.
Eleni Petinos was sacked from the NSW ministry after allegations of bullying.(AAP: Bianca De Marchi)
He said the problems came to a head over Coronation’s Merrylands development.
“These concerns crystallized at the time of the Stop Work Orders issued under the Design and Building Practitioner’s Act…” he wrote.
“As advised to you I received a call from the Minister’s Office shortly after a draft order was issued on Coronation’s Merrylands Development.”
Shortly after that, I received another message from John Barilaro.
“This contact came to me on my personal phone requesting a meeting with me,” he wrote.
Mr Chandler said he was aware that Mr Barilaro had recently joined the Coronation board.
The building commissioner subsequently met with Mr Barilaro “to answer his questions”.
Mr Barilaro has said the pair met but did not discuss the building ban that Coronation faced.
“We never spoke about the stop work order nor did I request anything in relation to the stop work order,” Mr Barilaro said in a statement today.
The former deputy premier acknowledges meeting with Mr Chandler but denies discussing the building ban.(Facebook: Dave Layzell)
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Mr Barilaro also met with Ms Petinos in the weeks before the stop work order was lifted on July 4, 2022.
Giving evidence at a parliamentary inquiry on Monday, Mr Barilaro said he was no longer employed by Coronation at the time of the meeting with Ms Petinos which he said was to celebrate his appointment as NSW trade commissioner in New York.
Mr Chandler’s parting sentiments were made public after Labor successfully moved a motion in the upper house on Wednesday compelling the state government to produce the letter within 24 hours.
The Premier last month sacked Ms Petinos as the state’s fair trading minister, citing bullying allegations involving her staff, which she denies.
Yesterday, Mr Perrottet stood by his earlier statement that Mr Chandler’s resignation had nothing to do with Ms Petinos.
The resignation letter was addressed to Mr Chandler’s manager, Department of Customer Service Secretary, Emma Hogan.
It’s been revealed that Mr Perrottet spoke to Ms Hogan shortly before sacking Ms Petinos.
In parliament today, the Premier was pressed on the content of those discussions.
“Was one of those issues concerned about the relationship between Minister Petinos, the Coronation Group, or Mr Barilaro?” Labor Leader Chris Minns asked.
“I had a discussion with the department secretary and the main purpose of that discussion was in relation to staff matters,” Mr Perrottet responded.
“The matters raised in relation to the question that the Leader of the Opposition has asked was peripheral.”
The departing building commissioner concluded his resignation letter by stating: “Given where all the above matters now rest, I believe my continued role as NSW Building Commissioner is no longer viable.”
Former President Trump arrives at a rally Friday, Aug. 5, in Wisconsin. Trump has been the subject of several ongoing investigations into his businesses and his actions while in the White House.
Morry Gash/AP
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Former President Trump arrives at a rally Friday, Aug. 5, in Wisconsin. Trump has been the subject of several ongoing investigations into his businesses and his actions while in the White House.
Morry Gash/AP
Agents from the FBI searched former President Donald Trump’s Florida home Monday in what appears to be part of an investigation looking into White House records from the White House that Trump took with him. The records were supposed to be turned into the National Archives when he left office.
The FBI is not commenting on the details of the investigation or the search, and Trump was quick to say he had previously been cooperating with authorities investigating the records, though he did not add any specifics.
This isn’t the only investigation Trump is a subject of at the moment. Authorities have several open on the former president, including investigations into his businesses, his tax returns and his actions leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
These investigations brew as Trump weighs another presidential run. The political consequences of the probes are unclear, as are how, or whether, they would impact his decision.
Here are is a recap of some of the investigations involving Trump.
White House documents
This is the investigation that appears to be connected to the raid at Mar-a-Lago Monday, though there is no official confirmation from federal authorities as to what they were seeking.
In February, the National Archives and Records Administration said they retrieved 15 boxes of White House documents from Mar-a-Lago, a violation of the Presidential Records Act, since those records should have been at the National Archives. Attorney General Merrick Garland said at the time they included classified material.
There’s also a potential violation of a federal statute that dictates how classified material is handled. the Washington Post reported that many of the records were taped together or arrived back at the Archives still in pieces. The records contained letters from foreign leaders like Kim Jong Un and the letter former President Obama wrote to Trump when he came into office in 2017.
The Jan. 6 Capitol riot and the attempt to overturn the 2020 election
The ongoing House Select Committee investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has shown Trump’s involvement in trying to deny the results of the 2020 presidential election and turn them in his favor.
While the House committee can’t prosecute Trump, it can decide to make referrals to do so. The Department of Justice could, though, as part of its probe into what happened on Jan. 6. So far, the department has charged more than 870 people, and it’s investigating those who backed political rallies held ahead of the Capitol attack.
“We will hold accountable anyone who was criminally responsible for attempting to interfere with the transfer, legitimate, lawful transfer of power from one administration to the next,” Garland told NBC News in July.
Also revealed in the House committee’s investigation is that Trump and his campaign misled campaign donors who gave money to fight Trump’s false claims of election fraud. The committee says the former president’s campaign took in $250 million in donations for a legal defense fund that was never created. It’s possible that Trump could face charges of wire fraud.
Meanwhile, Trump is facing another investigation on the state level. In Fulton County, Ga., the District Attorney Fani Willis is looking into whether Trump violated the law in attempting to overturn the 2020 Georgia election results, specifically when he called Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and asked him to “find” enough votes for him .
Republicans in other states, including Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, also sent in fake voter results and it could be another pathway that leads the DOJ close to Trump.
Trump’s businesses in New York
Trump pleaded the Fifth Amendment on Wednesday as part of a civil investigation in the state of New York. That case looks at whether Trump inflated the value of his businesses like golf courses and skyscrapers, misleading tax authorities.
Trump said on social media that “under the advice of counsel” he “declined to answer questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.”
Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, two of the former president’s children, also testified in recent days.
Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan, headquarters of the Trump Organization, the former president’s family business.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan, headquarters of the Trump Organization, the former president’s family business.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
New York Attorney General Letitia James is running that civil probe, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office has also investigated Trump. The fate of the Manhattan probe has been uncertain since two lead lawyers quit earlier this year and the grand jury investigating Trump expired, though DA Alvin Bragg has insisted that he would not end the work.
Trump’s tax returns
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office, as part of that criminal investigation, was able to obtain Trump’s tax returns in 2021 after a lengthy legal battle.
Now, after years of requesting, the House Ways and Means Committee will also be able to obtain Trump’s tax returns from the IRS, according to a court opinion issued Tuesday. Trump may still appeal, but the committee says they are confident they will get the documents quickly.
It’s not so much an investigation as a legal ruling, but Trump is the only president in the last 40 years to not release his taxes, and the documents have been sought after by legislators and voters since he announced his run for the White House in 2015 .
In this high-tech age that we live in, those ASX shares perceived to represent “boring” businesses can be unfairly overlooked.
According to Switzer Financial Group director Paul Rickard, Aurizon Holdings Limited (ASX: AZJ) is a prime example of a company with this perception in the market.
“Boring is, I guess, any business involved in rail, haulage, logistics and coal,” he told Switzer TV Investing.
“But for many investors, they’ve gone to Aurizon for the income — because it’s been a high yielder.”
Share price heavily discounted after dividend announcement
On Monday, the market savaged Aurizon shares after the company revealed its full-year financials.
Investors were disturbed that a stock well-known for its yield was cutting its dividend by 24%. The Aurizon share price plummeted 6% that morning before recovering somewhat in the afternoon.
Rickard feels like that was an overreaction.
“It did cut its dividend, but that was, by and large, expected,” he said.
“It was actually a little bit better than analyst forecasts — but it was still a dividend cut.”
The sell-off, he added, has created “some value” for those dividend hunters willing to buy in for about a 5.6% yield next year.
“The market probably misunderstood what was coming.”
Taking advantage of the market’s misjudgment
Aurizon has two main businesses. One is owning and maintaining a network of train tracks in Queensland, the other is a haulage business that has many interests outside of that state.
While much of its business relies on transporting coal, Rickard reckons Aurizon is shifting away from that to boost the stock’s ESG attractiveness.
“It’s actually diving a part of what’s called East Coast Rail, which is its Hunter Valley thermal coal haulage business.”
The track business, which brings in about 55% of its revenue, can be considered an infrastructure play.
The Aurizon share price closed Wednesday at $3.89.
Aurizon isn’t a stock Rickard would actively chase, but Monday’s dip makes it appealing right at the moment.
“It’s an attractive yield… Markets have probably misjudged what they’re being told to create [buying] opportunities.”
It usually trades within a tight range, and is at the lower side of that spectrum.
“I think at $3.80 to $3.90 it’s reasonable for a dividend payer,” said Rickard.
“I wouldn’t go too much above $4, and I’m not expecting a huge [capital] gain. But I think you can quantify the risks.”
Intel has released 48 benchmarks that show its upcoming Arc A750 GPU should be able to trade blows with Nvidia’s RTX 3060 running modern games. While Intel set its expectations low for its Arc GPUs last month, the company has now tested its A750 directly against the RTX 3060 across 42 DirectX 12 titles and six Vulkan games.
The results look promising for what will likely be Intel’s mainstream GPUs later this year. Intel has tested the A750 against popular games like Fortnite, Controland Call of Duty: Warzoneinstead of the cherry picked handful of benchmarks the company released last month.
“These are all titles that we picked because they’re popular,” explains Intel fellow Tom Petersen, in Intel’s benchmark video. “Either reviewers are using them or they’re high on the Steam survey, or new and exciting. These are not cherry picked titles.”
Intel’s Arc A750 vs. Nvidia’s RTX 3060 at 1080p.Image: Intel
We’ll have to wait for independent benchmarks, but based on Intel’s testing, the A750 looks like it will compete comfortably with Nvidia’s RTX 3060. “You’ll see we’re kinda trading blows with the RTX 3060,” says Petersen. “Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose.” Intel’s performance is, on average, 3 to 5 percent better than Nvidia’s when it wins on titles running at 1080p.
Over on the 1440p side, it looks like Intel wins on more of the benchmarks. On average it’s a win of about 5 percent across the 42 games. Intel has also tested six Vulkan titles, where it seems to be trading blows with the RTX 3060 once again.
“We’re mostly winning at 1080p, and mostly winning at 1440p with Vulkan,” Petersen claims. “On average I’d say this is more like a 3 to 5 percent, maybe a little bit more towards the 5 percent win on Vulkan.”
Intel’s Arc A750 vs. Nvidia’s RTX 3060 at 1440p.Image: Intel
Intel has only focused on modern APIs here, and not older DirectX 11 games. Early testing of Intel’s Arc A770 GPU — a step above the A750 in the Arc lineup — showed a big performance gap between DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 games. Intel is still working on its Arc GPU drivers, and it could be some time before the company is able to improve DirectX 11 performance.
Intel performed these latest benchmarks on identical systems running its Core i9 12900K CPU and 32GB of DDR5 memory. Intel used its own engineering driver and Nvidia’s 516.59 driver for the comparisons. Arc GPUs will require 10th Gen or newer Intel processors, or AMD Ryzen 3000 and above CPUs, all with motherboards that support Resizable BAR (or, as AMD brands it, Smart Access Memory). Resizable BAR is a key requirement for performance on Arc GPUs.
We’re still waiting for Intel to release its Arc A750 GPU later this year, but these latest benchmarks do show it could be ready to compete for the all-important mainstream. Intel hasn’t announced official specifications or pricing for its Arc A750 yet, but leaked slides put it in between $299 and $399.
Intel will need to reach a price point that can compete with Nvidia’s $329 pricing for the RTX 3060, particularly now that GPU stock has greatly improved and there is the option of AMD’s Radeon RX 6600 XT at $379.
All eyes will now be on Nvidia’s plans for its RTX 40-series of GPUs. Nvidia recently slashed the prices of its high-end RTX 30 series GPUs, and the discounts could indicate an RTX 40-series launch is due in the coming months. Rumors had suggested the RTX 4090 could launch last month, but July came and went without any new GPUs.
If Nvidia’s latest preliminary earnings are anything to go by (a $1 billion-plus drop in gaming revenue), it’s unlikely that the RTX 40-series will be priced low when they eventually launch. Nvidia still likely has plenty of RTX 30-series cards after a drop in crypto demand, so Intel could be well placed to compete later this year if it can get its drivers and pricing in check.
The service however will be more of a “concert” rather than a traditional ceremony, celebrating her music and life, Andrews said.
“The family was quite touched at the prospect of Victorians being able to come together and celebrate Olivia’s life.”
Olivia Newton-John died at her Southern California ranch after a long battle with breast cancer. (Getty)
The Melbourne-raised performer died at her ranch in Southern California surrounded by family and friends on Tuesday, aged 73.
After surviving cancer in 1992 and again in 2013, it returned in 2017 and on August 9, 2022, the Grammy-award winning singer lost her battle with spinal cancer on Monday.
Newton-John’s husband John Easterling paid tribute to the beloved actress overnight.
“Our love for each other transcends our understanding,” he said in a post on Instagram post.
Olivia Newton-John and John Easterling. (instagram)
“Every day we expressed our gratitude for this love that could be so deep, so real, so natural. We never had to ‘work’ on it.
“We were in awe of this great mystery and accepted the experience of our love as past, present and forever.
“At Olivia’s deepest essence she was a healer using her mediums of song, of words, of touch.”
Flamboyant Group 1-winning jockey Noel Callow has been hit with a string of betting charges.
As first revealed by Racenet on Thursday afternoon, Callow has been served with seven charges by Racing Victoria stewards after a historical investigation into betting.
In the charge sheet, it will be alleged Callow placed 24 bets adding up to almost $4000 in total when he was riding in Victoria in 2013.
Bets were allegedly placed on races at Moonee Valley, Traralgon, Flemington, Randwick and Cranbourne.
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There is no suggestion that Callow placed bets on horses he was riding, or in races he was riding in.
One charge has been laid under Australian Racing Rule 229 which the stewards’ charge sheet says allegedly refers to “corruption, dishonesty and misleading behaviour.”
The particulars of that charge are that stewards allege Callow made false or misleading statements regarding an unspecified number of alleged “transactions” through his TAB account between November 2018 and March 2019.
Jockey Noel Callow. Picture: Greg Irvine-Magic Millions
There are other steward charges dating back to 2017 in regards to allegedly making false or misleading statements to steward.
In total there are seven charges that five-time Australian Group 1 winner Callow, who has ridden at the elite level all around the world and is currently riding in Queensland, faces from Racing Victoria stewards.
The charges have come after a steward’s investigation alleging Callow “placed, facilitated and/or had an interest in bets on thoroughbred racing and failed to declare betting accounts.”
Contacted by Racenet, Callow point-blank refused to comment.
The Victorian Racing Tribunal has been advised of the matter and will notify Callow of a hearing date.
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News Corp can reveal specifics of the charges as follows:
* Charge 1: AR 83(c) The Stewards charge you with breaching AR 83(c) which reads as follows. AR 83, Every jockey or apprentice may be penalized– (c) If he bet or have any interest in a bet or facilitates a bet on any race, or if he be present in the betting ring during any race meeting. The particulars of the charge You were, at all relevant times, a jockey licensed by Racing Victoria. 2. On 30 April 2013, you opened an account with Sportsbet (the Account). 3. On 6 December 2013, you made and/or facilitated the making of eleven (11) bets on Australian thoroughbred horse races through the Account. 4. Your conduct, as set out in particular 3, constitutes a breach of AR 83(c).
Jockey Noel Callow winning on the Gold Coast.
* Charge 2: Charge 2: AR 83(c) The Stewards charge you with breaching AR 83(c) which reads as follows: AR 83 Every jockey or apprentice may be penalized (c) If he bet or have any interest in a bet or facilitates a bet on any race, or if he be present in the betting ring during any race meeting. The particulars of the charge: You were, at all relevant times, a jockey licensed by Racing Victoria. On 30 April 2013, you opened an account with Sportsbet (the Account). On 8 December 2013, you made and/or facilitated the making of one (1) bet on Australian thoroughbred horse races through the Account. Your conduct, as set out in particular 3, constitutes a breach of AR 83(c)
* Charge 3: AR 83(c) The Stewards charge you with breaching AR 83(c) which reads as follows: AR 83 Every jockey or apprentice may be penalized (c) If he bet or have any interest in a bet or facilitates a bet on any race, or if he be present in the betting ring during a race meeting. The particulars of the charge You were, at all relevant times, a jockey licensed by Racing Victoria. On 30 April 2013, you opened an account with Sportsbet. On 14 December 2013, you made and/or facilitated the making or twelve (12) bets or Australian thoroughbred horse races through the Account. Your conduct as set out in particular 3 constitutes a breach of AR 83(6)
Jockey Noel Callow in action.
* Charge 4: AR 175(gg) The Stewards charge you with breaching AR 175(gg) which reads as follows: AR 175 A person must not: The Principal Racing Authority (or the Stewards exercising powers delegated to them) may penalize. (gg) Any person who makes any false or misleading statement or declaration in respect of any matter in connection with the administration or control or racing. The particulars of the charge you were, at all relevant times, a jockey licensed by Racing Victoria On 18 May 2017, you opened a betting account with Bookmaker (the Account). On 18 July 2017, you submitted a Jockey Betting Account Declaration form (the Form) and failed to declare the Account on the Form Your conduct as set out in particular 3 constituted a breach of AR 175(ag)
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* Charge 5. AR 175(k) (Alternative to Charge Four) The Stewards charge you with breaching AR 175(k) which reads as follows: AR 175 The Principal Racing Authority (or the Stewards exercising powers delegated to them ) may penalize: (k) Any person who has committed any breach of the Rules, or whose conduct or negligence has led or could have led to a breach of the Rules. The particulars or the charge You were, at all relevant times, a jockey licensed by Racing Victoria. On 18 May 2017, you opened a betting account with Bookmaker (the Account), On 18 July 2017, you submitted a Jockey Betting Account Declaration form (the Form) and failed to declare the Account on the Form. Your conduct, as set out in particular 3, constituted a breach of AR 175(k).
Noel Callow is a popular jockey with punters.
* Charge 6: AR 175(gg) The Stewards charge you with breaching AR 175(gg) which reads as follows: AR 175 A person must not: The Principal Racing Authority (or the Stewards exercising powers delegated to them) may penalize. (gg) Any person who makes any false or misleading statement or declaration in respect of any matter in connection with the administration or control or racing. The Particulars of the charge: You were, at all relevant times, a jockey licensed by Racing Victoria. On 28 May 2018, you submitted a Jockey Betting Account Declaration form (the Form). On the Form you failed to declare your betting accounts, being Bookmaker and Ladbrokes. Your conduct, as set out in particular 3, constituted a breach of AR 175(gg).
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* Charge 7: 229(1)(h) AR 229 Corruption, dishonesty and misleading behavior (1) A person must not: (n) make a false or misleading statement or declaration in relation to a matter in connection with the administration or control or racing: Particulars of charge: You were, at all relevant times, a jockey licensed by Racing Victoria. Between 20 November 2018 and 24 March 2019, you made transactions through your TAB betting account (the Account). On 15 June 2019, you submitted a Jockey Betting Account Declaration form (the Form) and failed to declare the Account. Your conduct, as set out in particular 3, constituted a breach or AR 1/5(aa).
Condon argued Elliott felt under pressure and compelled to act, which reduced his criminality.
“We say… Maghnie is the person who has devised the retributive attack,” she said.
Jacob Elliott was found guilty of two counts of murder.
But Justice Andrew Tinney said the jury’s verdict showed it rejected Elliott’s evidence, and it was also plausible that he and Fares devised the plan when contacted by Ali Maghnie. The judge said Nabil Maghnie might have known he was under police surveillance at the time, so he might have wanted to avoid involvement.
Prosecutors have submitted it is open to Tinney to impose life sentences because of the seriousness of the crimes.
Condon said on Thursday that the Love Machine murders were “extremely serious”, but not in the worst category of offending for the crime of murder.
But Tinney said it was hard to see how they could not be classified among the worst, noting the crime was an act of premeditated retribution, the shots were fired from a moving car in a busy street, and the victims were defenseless and shot from close range.
Allan Fares after his arrest.Credit:Nine
“These are dreadful crimes, aren’t they?” the judge asked the barrister. Condom maintained they were “very serious”.
Elliott’s maternal aunt, Karlene Jergens, said she became worried when she saw her nephew develop an attraction in his mid-teens to his father’s lifestyle of “cars, clothing and money”.
Moussa Hamka.Credit:Facebook
“He kind of took on his father’s persona…just very grown up already, too grown up,” Jergens said.
Another aunt, Fay Maghnie, said it was a shock for Elliott to have her brother in his life, as the younger man was raised mainly by soft, gentle women, whereas his father demanded respect and was quick to anger.
Fay Maghnie said she heard her brother had hit Elliott, and the pair didn’t speak for a year.
She said she and her family were sorry for the pain the Arow and Osmani families endured, and knew what it was like to lose someone.
“It was a day that changed so many people’s lives,” she said.
Lawyers for Fares and Moussa Hamka, 28, who was found guilty of assisting them by hiding Elliott’s gun after the shootings, will address the judge on Friday.
The three guilty men have spent more than three years in custody since their arrests.
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Beto O’Rourke on Wednesday railed against Texans’ easy access to AR-style rifles like the one used in May to massacre 19 students and two of their teachers at a Uvalde, Tex., elementary school.
The 18-year-old gunman had legally purchased his rifle, which was “originally designed for use on the battlefields in Vietnam to penetrate an enemy soldier’s helmet at 500 feet and knock him down dead,” O’Rourke told supporters during a campaign rally , imitating a warfighter by dropping to one knee and extending his arm as if lining up a shot.
O’Rourke, the Democratic nominee running to oust Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in November, initially ignored the laughter. He kept stumping, saying that the Uvalde shooter had used the rifle not to fight enemy soldiers off in the distance but “against kids” five feet away.
But then he stopped and pointed at the heckler: “It may be funny to you,” O’Rourke thundered, interjecting a swear word, “but it’s not funny to me.”
One video of the exchange went viral, racking up more than 3 million views by early Thursday, just hours after O’Rourke wrapped up the campaign stop in Mineral Wells — a town some 40 miles west of the Dallas-Fort Worth area and 260 miles north of Uvalde. O’Rourke’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the exchange from The Washington Post late Wednesday.
Shortly after the event, O’Rourke tweeted that he considers nothing more serious “than getting justice for the families in Uvalde and stopping this from ever happening again.”
Beto O’Rourke confronts Abbott in Uvalde: ‘You are doing nothing’
The town hall was part of what’s shaping up to be the most expensive campaign in Texas history, dwarfing the $125 million O’Rourke and Sen. Ted Cruz spent in 2018 in the Democrat’s failed attempt to unseat the Republican incumbent, the Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday. O’Rourke and Abbott raised a combined $52.5 million between late February and June alone, with O’Rourke’s $27.6 million haul setting a state campaign fundraising record, the Texas Tribune reported last month.
Gun control has been a staple of O’Rourke’s platform to defeat Abbott, especially in the wake of the massacre in Uvalde. A day after the shooting, I interrupted Abbott during a news conference at Uvalde High School as the governor updated reporters, The Post reported at the time. As Abbott introduced Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), O’Rourke came up to the stage to declare that the governor and other high-level state officials had dithered for far too long, failing to take action after previous mass shootings in Texas, including those at Santa Fe High School in 2018 and an El Paso Walmart in 2019.
“The time to stop the next shooting is right now, and you are doing nothing,” O’Rourke said. “You’re offering us nothing.”
Moments before O’Rourke interrupted him at the May 25 news conference, Abbott told reporters that tougher gun laws are “not a real solution” to preventing more mass shootings. Instead, a week later, he called on the state legislature to create special committees that would make recommendations about how to take “meaningful action” that might stop something like Uvalde from happening again. At the time, O’Rourke knocked the idea out, imploring the governor to “do your job” by calling a special legislative session to specifically tackle the issue.
Congress wants more red-flag laws. But GOP states, gun groups resist.
At Wednesday night’s town hall in Mineral Wells, O’Rourke promised supporters “common-sense” gun control if he’s elected governor. He mentioned raising the minimum age for buying an AR-style rifle from 18 to 21, implementing universal background checks in Texas and enacting a red-flag law, legislation that allows judges to order law enforcement to seize gun owners’ firearms if convinced that they pose a danger to themselves or others.
O’Rourke ended his pitch by saying that “Democrats and Republicans, gun owners and non-gun owners” — maybe even himself and the heckler — might still find common ground on gun restrictions.
“You either accept that we are inherently evil and violent and deadly and love to kill each other and slaughter kids where they sit,” O’Rourke said, “or that there is something that you and I can do together regardless of the differences between us.”
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