YouTube is trialling a feature that will allow users to ‘pinch and zoom’ in on a video, similar to how you can on an Instagram post.
The feature, brought to our attention by 9to5Google, allows ‘premium’ YouTube subscribers to zoom into a video on-screen, even in landscape mode.
As explained by YouTube, to use pinch and zoom, the user can simply “Pinch the video player with two fingers to zoom in and out”.
Rather than filling your screen, pinch to zoom allows you to use two fingers to zoom into the video player. Once zoomed in, as the report explains, you can move around and look at parts of the video closer.
Image: YouTube
It will be available until September 1 for testing by premium users – a little under a month for the platform to get its ducks in a row and potentially roll it out across its userbase.
If you’re a YouTube Premium subscriber, you can find the new zoom feature by heading to the settings menu (either on your phone or desktop browser). The feature is under the “try new features” section.
YouTube Premium is a solid option if you want to pay to skip through its often harrowing advertising. But it’s $14.99 a month, with a 30-day free trial also available. A student plan will set you back $8.99 a month and a family plan will cost $22.99 a month. With family, you can add up to five users. The price includes access to YouTube Music, offline downloads and background playback.
But for everyone else who doesn’t want those extras, we’ll just have to hope pinch and zoom eventually makes its way down to the free, ad-riddled version of YouTube.
Kylie Jenner has hit back at haters who criticized her recent lab photos for being “unsanitary”.
But in the process of defending herself, the 24-year-old US makeup mogul has been forced to admit an embarrassing detail.
The Kylie Cosmetics founder uploaded a string of glamorous photos of herself working on cosmetics while wearing a lab coat, telling Instagram followers she was “in the lab creating new magic for you guys.”
The photos were called out by cosmetic developer Kevin James Bennett in an Instagram post, in which he slammed her for not wearing “a hair net, shoe covers, [a] mask … and disposable GLOVES.”
Jenner was quick to argue with Bennett, writing in the comments section, “Kevin — this picture is not taken in a manufacturing facility. i would never bypass sanitary protocols and neither would any other celeb or beauty brand owner.”
The reality star wrote that she was in a “small, personal space” in the pictures, which was strictly “for content.”
“[I was] creating my own fun samples and taking pictures for content nowhere near the mass manufacturing,” the kardashians alum went on to write. “No one is putting customers at risk!”
She concluded, “Shame on you Kevin for spreading false information !!!!”
In Bennett’s reply to Jenner, he accused the star of “serious[ly] gaslighting” her followers.
“So you were standing on a platform, looking into an expensive homogenizing kettle that had processed at least 50 liters of a complexion product (the product still covering the mixing paddles) without PPE or your hair tied back, wearing a lab coat? But this is not a cosmetics manufacturing facility?” I have asked. “It’s a personal space?”
Sources exclusively told Page Six that Jenner was not on the production floor when the pictures and videos were taken as she was simply reviewing colors and ideating on new concepts.
However, this was not made clear to Jenner’s fans, who have mixed feelings about the lab visit.
“Many brand owners take those pictures. Ella she’s not doing anything wrong and we have zero way to know how involved she is in formulation, ”one Instagram user wrote.
Another added, “I’ve seen all kinds of scenarios in development labs, but uncovered hair near a kettle in production would never happen. full stop.”
Jenner founded Kylie Cosmetics in 2014 and began selling products the following year, going on to also launch Kylie Skin and Kylie Baby in 2019 and 2021, respectively.
This story originally appeared on New York Post and was reproduced with permission
Gold Coast forward Izak Rankine has a decision to make.
According to SEN’s Sam Edmund, the Suns livewire has been offered a $4 million, five-year deal to return to South Australia and join the Adelaide Crows.
Edmund understands the Suns would demand Adelaide’s first-round pick to be involved in any deal for the out-of-contract 22-year-old.
speaking on SEN BreakfastDavid King has urged Gold Coast to “take a stand” and play hardball with Rankine.
“Brave from Adelaide – tick – love the adventure,” King said.
“It just never ends at the Gold Coast, does it? It just never ends.
“Just when you think they’ve got perfect harmony between on-field performance, the unity you can see, this list building together, they’ve signed probably six of their top eight players over the last six months and you sort of expected Izak will sign. It’ll be a reasonable deal and he’s only 22 years of age.
“It’s incredibly tough for the Gold Coast and I just wonder if they would say, ‘You know what? We’re not doing this deal. We’re going to take a stand. We’ve got enough first-round picks. We’ve got enough future picks coming in’. Let’s dig our heels in and say, ‘You know what? You want to leave? You can go in the draft’.
“Why not? They did it with Jack Martin – why not?
“I’m just wondering what the Gold Coast do. Do they say, ‘Do we just draw a line in the sand again?’ Because this is going to continue to happen if they allow it to happen. I think they’ll take a stance.”
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SEN Breakfast co-host Kane Cornes also weighed in on Rankine’s links to the Crows.
“I’m speculating here that Adelaide knew that the Eddie Betts information was going to come out and they needed some good news,” Cornes said.
“They have then gone, ‘Izak Rankine hasn’t re-signed… we’re going to give him an offer that he cannot refuse’.
“They’ve had issues with their Indigenous program and criticism from Andrew McLeod and of course the issues that happened with Taylor Walker.
“Let’s get a star Indigenous player on a contract that he cannot refuse because we know we’re about to get smashed with the Eddie Betts (fallout) and the damage that’s going to do to the club.”
King wonders if Rankine can handle the pressure of being a highly paid Crows player in a two-team town.
“Can I throw another angle at you? This guy is 22 years of age, so from his management point of view of him, is this the right thing to do by your client at 22 years of age to send him to a two-team town on top dollar? The dual All-Australian said.
“The pressure would be enormous.
“He’s a forward pocket, he’s not Chris Judd as a breakaway midfielder. Is this the way you should handle a young man?”
Cornes replied: “It’s an excellent point because he looked to have turned the corner with his footy and he looked to be really happy. He looked to be in an exciting group and away from the spotlight.
“He’s going to have that many eyeballs on him. You will not believe the scrutiny that Izak Rankine is going to be under in South Australia being the highest paid player in the town and one of the biggest names.
“Can I cope with that? I don’t know. He’s been an inconsistent player to this point.
“Is it the right move? It’s a lot of money to reject.”
Rankine, the third pick overall in the 2018 National Draft, has kicked a career-high 27 goals from 16 games in 2022.
Moving “violent young offenders” out of Western Australia’s only youth detention center to a separate unit at an adult prison has “worked”, the WA government says.
Key points:
The government says Banksia Hill is running well following the transfer
Figures show there has been a dramatic rise in self-harm at the facility
A former children’s court president has spoken out about conditions at the center
The comments follow widespread criticism of conditions for children being held in detention, in both the existing Banksia Hill Detention Center and an ad hoc facility set up in a section of Casuarina — one of the state’s maximum security male prisons.
Last month the Department of Justice moved 17 children, including one aged 14, to the unit at Casuarina, dubbed “Unit 18.”
Their hands and ankles were reportedly shackled during the move.
The young offenders were moved to Casuarina Prison after they damaged cells at Banksia Hill Detention Centre.(Supplied: Department of Justice)
The department said the move was prompted by widescale damage to cells at Banksia Hill, and detainees had to be relocated so the cells could be repaired.
Reports of self-ham emerge following transfer
There have been subsequent reports of four of those children being taken to hospital after attempted self-harm.
The West Australian has reported four children harmed themselves with shards of broken glass, something the ABC has been unable to immediately verify.
The Department of Justice declined to provide figures on the number of children at Unit 18 that had self-harmed or attempted suicide since they were moved there on June 20.
The department said there were now 16 children inside Unit 18.
Corrective Services Minister Bill Johnston said he would not comment on individual cases, but added the “good news” was that Banksia Hill was now running well.
“While we still have this difficult to manage cohort at Unit 18, for the overall majority of young offenders who are at Banksia Hill, they’re now in a much better environment,” he said.
“It was not functioning to have these young offenders causing violence at Banksia Hill, and so that the other kids who were not being violent, were not acting out, were not getting the services they need because the facility was constantly going into lockdown.”
Improvements in behavior following move
He said there had not been any significant disturbance at Banksia Hill since moving those children on July 20.
And the Minister said some of the young offenders at Unit 18 were starting to improve their behaviour.
“Now, it’s not sustained and I’m not going to comment on individual cases but as we are confident those young offenders can reintegrate into Banksia Hill, we’ll continue to bring them back,” he said.
But he granted the Intensive Supervision Unit (ISU) at Banksia Hill was not “fit for purpose”.
The head of the Perth Children’s Court described Banskia Hill as a “dehumanizing” environment. (Supplied)
“We know we need to improve the ISU so it has a more therapeutic environment,” he said.
“At the moment we have violent and disturbed offenders in ISU, that’s completely unacceptable.”
He said a new unit would be constructed at Banksia Hill to provide a more therapeutic environment.
According to figures provided to WA Parliament during budget estimates, the average hours children at Banksia Hill spent outside their cells each day was 9.37 in 2020-2021, falling to 7.6 hours in 2021-2022.
The exercise yard at Banksia Hill has been likened to a cage.(Supplied)
Self-harm on the rise at Banksia
There has been a dramatic rise in suicide attempts and self-harm incidents in the past three years.
There were two recorded suicide attempts, one of which was serious, and 105 minor self-harm incidents at Banksia Hill in 2020.
That compares with 31 suicide attempts – six of them serious – and 314 minor self-harm incidents in 2021.
In 2022, there had already been 20 suicide attempts and 285 self-harm incidents by June 20.
The longest-serving president of the Children’s Court of WA, retired Judge Denis Reynolds, has told the ABC the transfer of children to a unit at Casuarina represented a “broken” system.
He said the court had lost confidence in the state’s justice system.
Judge says likely figures tip of the iceberg
The former judge said the 20 suicide attempts so far this year likely only represented the type of the iceberg.
“We need to also look at those children who have also gone back into the community,” he told ABC Perth.
“Many of them turned 18 and subsequently committed suicide in the community, or perhaps in an adult prison facility.
He believes in excess of 100 young lives of former Banksia Hill detainees had been lost to suicide in the community in the past two decades.
The WA government has committed $7.5 million to building a crisis care unit at Banksia Hill and an additional $2.6 million will be spent on fencing and “hardening works” for Jasper Unit at Banksia.
Another $3.5 million will be spent on preventing children from being able to climb onto the roofs at the facility, and another $2.5 million on upgrading the CCTV system.
The department told Parliament it had recently developed a new operating philosophy for Banksia Hill that would have a greater emphasis on rehabilitation and therapeutic models.
Recidivism rates for young offenders have been on a downward trend since 2017-18, falling from 58.7 per cent of offenders to 49.2 per cent in 2021-2022.
ALBANY — A day after she blamed judges for rising crime in New York City, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday ruled out any serious discussion of changes to state bail laws until January at the earliest.
The decree comes despite ongoing calls for action from Mayor Eric Adams, a fellow Democrat, as well as from small business owners and her Republican challenger amid rampant crime, often committed by repeat offenders.
“I’m willing to revisit everything, but let’s see whether or not the system can start functioning the way we intended,” Hochul told reporters at an Albany press conference.
“The legislature meets again next January and by that time we’ll be able to assess the real impact of our changes,” she added.
That timeline leaves laws current in place ahead of the Nov. 8 election pitting Hochul against Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin, who has made toughening up the state’s criminal justice system a key plank of his candidacy.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has said that a change to New York’s current bail law is off the table until after she’s re-elected in 2023. Ron Adar/SOPA Images/Sipa USA via AP
Hochul also urged criticism to remain patient following the enactment of slight bail law tweaks that she has previously said hit the “sweet spot,” and which were included in the state budget passed last April.
The situation has even had Democrats like Mayor Adams calling for an extraordinary session of the state Legislature, whose regularly scheduled 2022 session ended in June. But she has rebuffed those calls for action.
Lorenzo Mclucas is arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court after he was arrested for shoplifting for the 230th time.Gabriella Bass
“There should be a special session called today to give judges discretion on far more offenses to weigh dangerousness, flight risk, seriousness of the offense and past criminal record,” Zeldin said in a statement to The Post Thursday, echoing the plea made by Adams .
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Major crimes like murders and shootings have increased by 40% over the past year, according to the NYPD, with some high-profile cases involving alleged repeat offenders like 10 “worst of the worst” recidivists accounting for nearly 500 arrests since new limits on pre -trial detention took effect in 2020.
“When asked about overhauling the far-left, pro-criminal cashless bail law, Hochul says there is no data to support that action, and when confronted with the data she still punts and refuses to act. She could not be more wrong, ”Zeldin said in the statement.
The GOP standard-bearer is hardly the only notable pol calling on Hochul to back legislative action on bail laws months after Albany Democrats made additional offenses bail eligible while loosening some rules on how judges could jail repeat offenders.
Adams, who has endorsed Hochul for a full term in office, on Wednesday highlighted stats showing more than 80% of people charged with carrying guns in New York City over the past year were released after their arrests.
Harold Gooding has been busted a total of 101 times, with 88 coming since bail reform was enacted.Facebook
“The judges have tools that they are not using, but they do need more tools,” he told reporters at a press conference, when asked about Hochul’s deflection to judges.
“This conversation is about that small number of dangerous people who are repeated recidivists who have made up their mind that ‘we can do whatever we want in this city and nothing is gonna happen to us,’” Adams added.
Such arguments have not convinced Hochul – whose strongest support lies with liberal-leaning voters in New York City, according to recent polling – to back calls to agree lawmakers to deal with bail laws.
“How much longer will the Governor and Legislature wait? We need a special session to repeal their disastrous bail laws and restore public safety to our state NOW,” state Senate Republican Minority Leader Robert Ortt tweeted Thursday after Hochul said an extraordinary session was a no-go.
Members of the state Senate and Assembly are not slated to return to Albany until next year, but they could reconvene if Hochul and legislative leaders called them back.
That happened earlier this summer when Albany Democrats, who have supermajorities in both chambers, struck a deal with Hochul on tightening state laws on carrying concealed weapons following a controversial decision by the US Supreme Court.
Mayor Adams and Hochul’s Republican opponent in the upcoming election have both expressed desires to change the law. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Hochul claimed Thursday that current bail laws could prove their worth with more time, especially alongside other initiatives aimed at reducing crime like an ongoing anti-gun effort overseen by state police that has seized 795 illegal weapons this year.
“It’s not a simple this over that. That’ll never be my strategy,” Hochul said while noting crime increases in other areas of the country.
She also insisted that even if she wanted to change bail laws in the short-term her hands are tied by state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie — who both support the current laws.
“You bring back the special session when the legislature is willing and an agreement going into certain changes. Otherwise, they gavel in, they gavel out. OKAY?. That’s the reality. I have to deal with realities here,” she told The Post Thursday.
Ford has axed its popular Fiesta and Focus hot hatches as it focuses on utes and SUVs.
The brand ditched the regular Focus and Fiesta some time ago but continued to import the ST performance models in limited numbers. So far this year the pair has attracted only 183 buyers.
Ford President Andrew Birkic says the decision recognizes the fact that buyer tastes have shifted in recent years. He also hinted there would be performance-car replacements in other segments.
“Both the Focus ST and Fiesta ST have been segment defining hot hatches for Ford Australia and have put smiles on the faces of enthusiasts across the country and we want to thank those fans for their passion,” he says.
“But with semiconductor-related supply shortages and our focus on emerging areas of growth, we’ve made the difficult decision to call time on these iconic hot hatches in Australia. We look forward to sharing more about the next era of our performance vehicle line-up soon,” he says.
The move comes as somewhat of a shock as the brand has just started imported updated versions of both cars.
Ford says it has secured just 40 Focus STs for the remainder of the year, but Fiesta supply is likely to be more than that. The company will also look at trying to secure more vehicles from the plant in Germany if demand warrants it.
The move continues Ford’s shift away from traditional passenger vehicles to utes and SUVs, in particular the Ranger and the Everest wagon, which is based on Ranger underpinnings.
Between them, the Ranger and Everest made up roughly 85 per cent of Ford sales this year. The percentage would have been higher but sales have tapered off as buyers waited for the new models.
The new Ranger was launched last month and the Everest will follow shortly.
A new version of the Ranger Raptor will also arrive soon. It is powered by a potent twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine putting out a V8-like 292kW of power and 583Nm of torque.
Ford will also take the covers off an all-new Mustang at the Detroit motor show next month.
“The Ford Mustang remains the country’s most popular sports car and we’re preparing for the launch of the next-generation Ranger Raptor, which sets a new performance benchmark for dual-cab utes in Australia,” Birkic says.
Both vehicles could become sound investments for those buyers who snap them up, as discontinued performance vehicles have been attracting big prices from car collectors.
Second-hand versions of the Subaru WRX STI EJ25 Final Edition, which launched last year for $62,440, are selling for between $125,000 and $170,000.
When it comes to bicycles there are an endless number of component incompatibilities. And anyone attempting to mount a new road-style flat mount disc brake caliper onto an older or less-road-focussed frame (or fork) with post mount tabs will have likely experienced such an issue. In most cases, the simplest answer is to mix mountain bike brake calipers with road levers, but there may be a better option.
Today, bicycle component manufacturer Wolf Tooth has announced an adapter, the sole purpose of which is to let you mount a flat mount brake caliper onto a post mount fork or frame. And it’s a welcomed product given that the latest road and gravel groupsets from Shimano, SRAM, and Campagnolo are only available with flat mount style calipers. This black anodized machined aluminum adapter is intended to be as simple as it sounds, but there are a few stipulations.
One adapter is required for each brake.
Firstly, the limited clearance available through mixing these two standards means the adapter requires you to add 20 mm to your rotor size. If the post mounts on your frame or fork are native to a 140 mm rotor, then using this adapter will require a 160 mm rotor. If your frame/fork was intended to be a direct fit for a 160mm rotor, then you’ll need a 180mm rotor with this adapter. And so on.
The other stipulation is that you need at least 13 mm of clearance beneath the height of the post mount tabs. Some frame and fork designs will clear this with ease, while others will see the adapter rendered unusable by bottoming out on the frame.
The adapter sits below the line of the post mount. This minimum required clearance may present issues on a small number of frame/fork designs.
On paper, Wolf Tooth’s design doesn’t appear to add anything substantially new to the pre-existing and relatively unknown flat mount adapters from Canadian-based ASSolutions. And while Wolf Tooth just simply offers one adapter, the original creator builds on the idea with several more specific solutions that aim to keep your rotor size unchanged (frame clearance providing).
However, what Wolf Tooth does bring to the table is a more established distribution network that will hopefully mean this compatibility issue will stump fewer people. Wolf Tooth’s appropriately named “Post to Flat Mount Brake Adapter” retails for US$30, while ASSolutions have the original concept at CA$40.
Keanu Reeves is taking on his first big television role.
Reeves, 57, is set to star in Hulu’s The Devil In The White Citywhich is being executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese as well as the John Wick star.
The show, written by Castle Rock producer Sam Shaw, has been in development for over a decade after DiCaprio took on the project in 2010. The streaming service only announced on Thursday that it would be moving forward.
Based on Erik Larson’s bestseller of the same name, Reeves will portray Daniel H. Burnham, a young architect who helped develop early skyscrapers.
Deadline reported that the limited series will begin production in 2023 and will be released the following year. A representative for Hulu did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
The series will be a meeting for DiCaprio and Scorsese. The duo worked together on gangs of new york in 2002, Shutter Island in 2010 and The Wolf Of Wall Street, all of which Scorsese directed and DiCaprio starred in.
Aside from Reeves’ four-decade-long acting career, the Matrix star has experience in producing as well. He is currently executive producing John Wick: Chapter 4which is set to be released next March.
Reeves has played the iconic action hero John Wick for nearly a decade, but the role was originally intended for an older actor such as Clint Eastwood or Harrison Ford.
One of the John Wick producers, Basil Iwanyk, revealed in the new book, They Shouldn’t Have Killed His Dog: The Complete Uncensored Oral History Of John Wick, Gun Fu, And The New Age Of Action by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, that the legendary assassin was supposed to be played by a 75-year-old man.
Iwanyk said in the book that one of his best friends sent him a script from Derek Kolstad — the creator of the John Wick franchise, according to Entertainment Weekly.
“The lead was a 75-year-old man, 25 years after being retired. It was the fun of watching Clint Eastwood kick a**. I thought, ‘OK, there’s probably one or two names you could do this with: Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford,’” Iwanyk said.
Reeves has been dominating the big screen since he landed his first major film part in 1986’s Youngblood. The Devil In The White City will mark the actor’s first big TV role.
This story originally appeared on Fox News and is republished here with permission
When Erin Clark’s eleven promising rugby league career stalled in the months following his 20th birthday, he knew something drastic would need to happen for him to ever want, or have the chance, to return to the NRL arena.
His rise to first-grade as a teenager with the Warriors in 2017 was quick, but so too was the subsequent fall, and months later Clark made a mid-season switch to the Raiders.
That too was ill-fated and lasted just months before he was released without playing a single NRL game for the Green Machine.
His return to Auckland appeared to signal the end of any professional rugby league prospects, but instead over the next two years Clark slowly discovered a new level of self-awareness and purpose back at his junior club the Manurewa Marlins.
Now set to play his 50th Telstra Premiership on Friday night against the Storm, the 24-year-old Titan credits the two-year stint back home in Auckland for getting his life and career back on track.
“I’m glad I had those two years off because they kinda molded me into who I am today, the father I am, the person I am,” Clark told NRL.com.
“Just making me appreciate what I have. If you do this from so young it feels like more of a job than something you love, which was the point it got to.
“We all have our journey and I’m happy those two years came, because I needed it to refresh and reflect.”
A flashy halfback growing up, Clark was better than most he came up against in Auckland and he knew it.
Named by the Warriors as the Player of the Tournament at the New Zealand secondary schools nationals in 2014, he was hot property well before making his National Youth Competition debut with the club as a 17-year-old the following year.
But with a mouth to match his fast feet, Clark had a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way at times, according to former Manurewa coach Ben Phillips.
“I used to go down and watch his high school games and think ‘look at this cocky little prick’, that’s how I used to see him,” Phillips told NRL.com
“I quickly found he was actually a nice fella, you just had to get past that arrogance.
“Don’t get me wrong, even when he came back [to Manurewa in 2018] he had a bit of a big head.
“I think a few of the boys sort of pinned him down a bit and that’s when the real Erin turned up and started contributing.”
When he looks back now, Clark said his mindset at the time was never going to cut it in the NRL.
“I was just young, arrogant, thought you had it all. But looking back I had nothing,” Clark said.
“I had good backing, good parents, so it wasn’t that. They always kept me grounded.
I just think those two years back home built me to who I am today, so I don’t think [I’d be here now] otherwise.
Erin Clark
A change in outlook
After experiencing life at both the Warriors and Raiders, and playing on the international stage with Samoa, it was back in the Auckland club environment, where most play for the love of it and maybe an occasional fuel voucher, that Clark rediscovered his passion for the game.
Surrounded by his childhood friends, the desire to give it another crack at the highest level started to return.
“That was one of the reasons I went back there, just to have that social side of footy, play with my mates, like we all do when we are younger,” Clark said.
“Even just to have a beer after the game with a few of your friends, that was something I enjoyed.
“I had good people around me and they always kept whispering in my ear ‘bro, you shouldn’t be here, you know where you should be’, so that kept me striving to get back to the NRL.”
Phillips said during that time Clark also benefited from the presence of Manurewa’s head coach at the time, Neccrom Areaiiti, who played a lone NRL match for South Sydney back in 2012 and could relate to the situation better than most.
“When [Erin] came back his head wasn’t in a good place,” Phillips said.
“He just wanted to play with his mates and be with all his boys again. He found the love again for the game because he was playing with all his mates again.
“Neccrom had been in that environment the same as Erin, and Neccrom was always on him, not pressing him, but guiding him and encouraging him.
Once he had his first game with us he went to another level. All of us, from the players to the coaching staff, we said ‘he’s not going to be here long’.
ben phillips Former Manurewa Marlins coach
“We are just so stoked for the guy now; we are so proud.”
Making the most of a second chance
As he approaches game 50 at NRL level, Clark also finds himself firmly in the frame for New Zealand selection at this year’s World Cup.
His Kiwis prospects will have only improved in recent weeks too, with Clark showing an ability to play as a middle forward as well as a hooker for the Gold Coast.
Kiwis coach Michael Maguire said Clark had been on his radar for some time before he picked him in the wider squad for the mid-year Test against Tonga.
“To have Erin come in and have a look at what is required at this level, it’s up to him now to step it up and take it forward,” Maguire told NRL.com.
Clark was included in the New Zealand squad for the first time in 2022.
“He wants to grow his game, that’s what I have always got from Erin.
“He’s talking to Issac Luke, he looks at other players to grow his game. It takes time to understand how to play that role at the highest level.”
Clark now has the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of his mum Temepara – who played for New Zealand in netball – in representing his country of birth, having already had the chance to play for Samoa.
The head of Resilience NSW says it would be “inappropriate” for him to comment on reports the disaster agency will be scrapped after its response to Lismore’s devastating floods earlier this year
Key points:
Shane Fitzsimmons was appointed to head up the new agency only two years ago
Resilience NSW’s role in the flood response has been examined as part of an independent inquiry
The inquiry’s findings were handed to the Premier five days ago
Resilience NSW was heavily criticized for its response to the floods in the Northern Rivers during February and March and was under review as part of a recent independent flood inquiry.
The inquiry’s recommendations, led by NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer Mary O’Kane and former police commissioner Mick Fuller, were handed to Premier Dominic Perrottet five days ago.
The inquiry was commissioned to investigate the preparation for, causes of and response to the catastrophic floods across NSW earlier this year.
The ABC understands a proposal to dismantle Resilience NSW will now be presented to cabinet.
The Lismore community is hoping the findings of the report will help with flood recovery.(ABC North Coast: Ruby Cornish)
Resilience NSW is headed up by Shane Fitzsimmons, who led the government’s response to the Black Summer bushfires as Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service (NSWRFS).
Mr Fitzsimmons has so far refused to comment on the report or its outcome.
“It would be inappropriate for me to comment at this stage regarding the independent report,” he told the ABC this morning.
“It is a matter for the government to consider the details of the report and make their decisions.
“We have been asked to provide comment and feedback as part of their deliberations.”
Labor MP for Lismore Janelle Saffin said reports of the disaster agency’s dismantling were welcome but speculative.
Ms Saffin was one of those who recommended Resilience NSW be abolished in the wake of the floods.
She has called on Mr Perrottet to release the report as a matter of urgency so the Lismore community can get on with its recovery.
“I submitted a report to the Legislative Council inquiry and the independent inquiry — one of my recommendations was the abolition of Resilience NSW,” she told ABC RN’s Patricia Karvelas.
“[And] replace it with a NSW reconstruction authority akin to the Queensland reconstruction authority, that all people in the field say is the best model.
“It actually causes more trauma by not having it released [the report]I would consider a week is long enough.”
Opposition Leader Chris Minns said he would support the dismantling of the agency, which is within the Department of Premier and Cabinet.
However, the Deputy Mayor of Byron Shire Council, Sarah Ndiaye said Mr Fitzsimmons had shown commitment to helping north coast flood victims.
Ms Ndiaye said she personally worked with the agency during the February and March floods.
“They were there from six in the morning till 10 at night. [They were] incredibly dedicated and I was really saddened to hear that this is what’s come of the inquiry,” she said.
Mr Fitzsimmons has also been shown support by former Transport Minister Andrew Constance who posted a video on social media on Thursday night.
“For goodness sake. This is a bloke who saved lives, was there for my community and our state during Black Summer, and I think he deserves a little bit better than these guys.” Mr Constance said.
