Month: August 2022

Categories
Business

Commonwealth Games 2022 continues; ACCC warns over gas supply; NSW COVID cases grow, Victoria COVID peak ends; John Barilaro-Stuart Ayres saga continues;

Commonwealth Games 2022 continues; ACCC warns over gas supply; NSW COVID cases grow, Victoria COVID peak ends; John Barilaro-Stuart Ayres saga continues;

NSW Trade Minister Stuart Ayres has gone on radio in an attempt to defend his role in John Barilaro’s appointment to a lucrative $500,000 posting in New York.

Ayres has come under increased scrutiny in recent days after a cache of internal documents revealed he helped develop a candidate shortlist with department boss Amy Brown.

NSW Trade Minister Stuart Ayres.

NSW Trade Minister Stuart Ayres. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

The trade minister told 2GB only one person within his own party had asked him to stand aside after the revelations and said he had the “full support” of NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet.

“He has been really supportive through this whole exercise,” he said.

As previously reported, documents have revealed that Ayres texted Barilaro an advertisement of the trade role he was subsequently appointed to. But the trade minister has insisted he told the former NSW deputy premier that he would need to apply as a private citizen.

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This morning, Ayres said if he could go back in time he would tell Barilaro it would be too politically sensitive for him to apply for the role.

“I would love to be able to go back and say to him, you probably shouldn’t do this, but it still would have been his call and he still, regardless of what you have taken place, [he] should be afforded the right to apply for a role which is available to anyone in the community,” he said.

Categories
Technology

Spotify wants users to pay for separate ‘Play’ and ‘Shuffle’ buttons – TechCrunch

Spotify wants users to pay for separate 'Play' and 'Shuffle' buttons – TechCrunch

Spotify is updating its app to address a long-standing user complaint with music playback — but it’s asking customers to pay for the fix. The company announced today it will introduce, at last, a separate Play Button and a Shuffle Button at the top of albums playlists to make it easier to play the music the way you like. This will replace the combined button available before, which had been inconsistent across platforms and frustrating to use. However, streamers may be disappointed to find out that what should be an app update in favor of better usability is oddly being sold to them as a reason to upgrade to Spotify’s paid tier — the company says the new button is only being offered to Spotify Premium subscribers.

This seems a bizarre choice given that customer complaints had correctly identified an issue with the overall design of the Spotify app’s interface and its user experience. As one review posted last year to Spotify’s Community forums had noted, the button offered was even different across Spotify’s apps. On mobile, playlists had the combined Shuffle/Play button, but on the desktop, the button was just a regular Play Button. This was confusing for users who switched between platforms, the post pointed out. The user suggested Spotify simply offer two separate buttons so people could choose how they wanted to stream music, instead of having to tap into Now Playing screen to enable or disable Shuffle mode.

The post received 647 upvotes and pages of comments from others who agreed. It was not the only complaint of this nature on the forum site. Others posted similar requests for separate Play and Shuffle buttons or even different solutions to the same problem. For example, one person asked Spotify to allow users to configure which button appeared in the app to make it a user’s choice.

Spotify has been working on this problem for awhile. It first introduced the Shuffle/Play icon in 2020 to reduce streaming to just a click, it said, and last year made Play Button the default button on all albums for Spotify Premium users (at Adele’s request, as you may recall). With this upgrade, the Play Button will remain the default, and Shuffle will be a separate option across the mobile Spotify experience.

While arguably a minor change to the app — it’s literally just a button — it’s clearly a feature that was in need of a fix in users’ minds not a premium offering. Other major music streaming apps, like Apple Music and Amazon Music, already include separate Play and Shuffle buttons, for instance.

It’s uncommon for app makers to charge for something like a different button, especially when the reason for the change is because users were unhappy with the app’s functionality and design. One somewhat related example could be Twitter’s subscription service, Twitter Blue, which allows users to customize the bottom bar of the app with buttons of their choosing. But in that case, the option is more about personal preference and quick access to favorite features — not usability. Even without paying, Twitter’s features are still easy to get to in the main navigation on the left side of the app.

Spotify tells us the idea to charge for the button has to do with how it perceives the benefits associated with a Premium Subscription. At its core, Premium users are paying for the option to listen to any song they want, on-demand. The button is somewhat of an extension of that, as it’s allowing users to choose to listen on-demand in any way they want.

Categories
Entertainment

Christy Turlington, 53, and husband Ed Burns, 54, make the rare move of posing with kids

With teens: Nineties supermodel Christy Turlington, 53, was seen with her adult children while in Greece this weekend with husband Ed Burns, 54. Together the beauty and the filmmaker have two children: daughter Grace, 18, and son Finn, 16

Nineties supermodel Christy Turlington, 53, and her husband Ed Burns, 54, don’t often pose with their two children.

But this weekend the 53-year-old beauty and the 54-year-old filmmaker were seen with their teen kids while in Greece; they have daughter Grace, 18, and son Finn, 16.

The family was enjoying dinner at a restaurant in Greece named The Island when they posed with several of the employees who gifted them a coffee table book.

With teens: Nineties supermodel Christy Turlington, 53, was seen with her adult children while in Greece this weekend with husband Ed Burns, 54. Together the beauty and the filmmaker have two children: daughter Grace, 18, and son Finn, 16

With teens: Nineties supermodel Christy Turlington, 53, was seen with her adult children while in Greece this weekend with husband Ed Burns, 54. Together the beauty and the filmmaker have two children: daughter Grace, 18, and son Finn, 16

Christy wore a black and white dress with black sandals as she pulled her hair back.

Beautiful daughter Grace had on a black and white mini dress that was off her shoulders as she had on black sandals and her hair back. She added cute red earrings.

Son Finn wore a pink striped polo shirt with dark slacks and his blonde hair in curls.

And Ed wore a blue shirt with gray slacks.

The family was gifted the Athens Riviera & Greek Islands book by Chrysanthos Panas.

Friends: (L-R) Leo Vrondissis, Constantine Georgiopoulos, Kara Young, Alkistis Poulopoulou, Peter Georgiopoulos, Chrysanthos Panas, Christy, Grace, Finn and Edward

Friends: (L-R) Leo Vrondissis, Constantine Georgiopoulos, Kara Young, Alkistis Poulopoulou, Peter Georgiopoulos, Chrysanthos Panas, Christy, Grace, Finn and Edward

With the famous family was Leo Vrondissis, Constantine Georgiopoulos, Kara Young, Alkistis Poulopoulou, Peter Georgiopoulos and Chrysanthos.

This comes after she shared a sweet photo with her eldest child Grace — and they look more like sisters than mother and daughter.

While both rocking beautiful black gowns for a night out, the supermodel made sure to snap an iconic family photo with her carbon copy, who was wearing a white corsage on her wrist.

Future model: Beautiful daughter Grace had on a black and white mini dress that was off her shoulders as she had on black sandals and her hair back. She added cute red earrings

Future model: Beautiful daughter Grace had on a black and white mini dress that was off her shoulders as she had on black sandals and her hair back. She added cute red earrings

In 2013: Christy with her kids almost a decade ago in the West Village in New York City

In 2013: Christy with her kids almost a decade ago in the West Village in New York City

In the photo, the teenager can be seen beaming as she stood between her famous parents as her mother sweetly held onto her arm.

‘Our girl,’ the mother-of-two captioned the picture, which showed her in a sleeveless, floor-length dress and light brown hair cascading down her back.

The post comes nearly three months after Grace landed her first magazine cover, in which she sported a $6,400 red lace sheath dress by Prada and a ‘Graceland’ trucker hat.

Turlington celebrated the milestone achievement by posting the issue of POP Magazine, featuring her lookalike, with a heartfelt caption.

Happy family: Turlington shared a sweet photo with her eldest child Grace — and they look more like sisters than mother and daughter

Happy family: Turlington shared a sweet photo with her eldest child Grace — and they look more like sisters than mother and daughter

Got it from her mama: The teen closely resembles her supermodel mom who was part of the '90s modeling cohort dubbed the 'Magnificent Seven'

Got it from her mama: The teen closely resembles her supermodel mom who was part of the ’90s modeling cohort dubbed the ‘Magnificent Seven’

‘Can’t take any credit or responsibility for this, other than having birthed this wonder to the world and given her the family name she carries with its full meaning and representation,’ Turlington captioned the image. ‘Once again, welcome to the world @graciebrns I love you, Kiddo.’

Grace was photographed by Clara Balzary for the cover shoot, and with her light brown hair, arched brows, and green eyes, she is the spitting image of her mother.

Turlington, along with Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen, Claudia Schiffer, and Elle Macpherson, was famously a part of the ’90s modeling cohort that the New York Times dubbed the ‘Magnificent Seven.’

With her light brown hair, arched brows, and green eyes, Grace is the spitting image of her mom

Turlington is pictured in 1991 at age 22

With her light brown hair, arched brows, and green eyes, Grace (left) is the spitting image of her mother. Turlington is pictured in 1991 at age 22 (right)

The beauty has appeared on the cover of countless magazines over the years, and it looks like her daughter is following in her footsteps.

Grace’s first cover got the stamp of approval from plenty of her mother’s famous friends, including Campbell, who called herself a ‘proud auntie’ in the comments of Turlington’s post.

‘Amazing!’ wrote Crawford, whose 20-year-old daughter, Kaia Gerber, is also a model, while Christensen shared heart eyes emojis in response.

Meanwhile, on Friday Christy proved she is still in top shape.

The Vogue favorite who came to fame 35 years ago as a Calvin Klein model was seen performing a difficult yoga move as she also flashes her toned tummy.

The photos were for a new ad campaign with Athleta as she posed with members of her family including her mother.

Not easy: Turlington proved on Friday that she is still in top shape. The Vogue favorite who came to fame 35 years ago as a Calvin Klein model was seen performing a difficult yoga move

Not easy: Turlington proved on Friday that she is still in top shape. The Vogue favorite who came to fame 35 years ago as a Calvin Klein model was seen performing a difficult yoga move

The pal of Carre Otis looked radiant in the photo shoot as she modeled exercise clothing.

In one snap the Versace muse wore a black tank top that showed off her sculpted arms and slender waistline.

And in another shot she had on a black bra top with purple workout pants and black sandals.

Her tribe: The beauty said in her caption she asked her family to join her for the ad. 'The thing I missed the most over the last two years was our family trips to the East Coast,' began the pal of Cindy Crawford

Her tribe: The beauty said in her caption she asked her family to join her for the ad. ‘The thing I missed the most over the last two years was our family trips to the East Coast,’ began the pal of Cindy Crawford

The Walnut Creek, California native was seen walking next to her mother María Elizabeth Turlington who was a chic in a blue zip-up hoodie and black sweatpants.

The beauty said in her caption she asked her family to join her for the ad.

‘The thing I missed the most over the last two years was our family trips to the East Coast,’ began the pal of Cindy Crawford.

‘When @athleta called, I knew I had to get my mom, sisters, and niece involved—we had the most wonderful weekend connecting, reminiscing, and enjoying being in the moment.

‘Thank you, Athleta, for bringing us together to create these beautiful memories. I love that we share a passion for empowering women to take care of themselves—mind, body, and soul. #powerofshe.’

In love: Turlington made the rare move of posing with her husband Ed Burns on the red carpet at the Chanel event in NYC in June

In love: Turlington made the rare move of posing with her husband Ed Burns on the red carpet at the Chanel event in NYC in June

Her fellow 90s supermodel pal Linda Evangelista – who has come back to work after suffering a botched fat freezing procedure – said, ‘♥️ This is LOVE.’

Tom Hanks’ singer and actress wife Rita Wilson shared, ‘I can feel the love and energy!’

And actress Rebecca Gayheart shared ‘❤️.’

In June Turlington glowed in gold at the Chanel event in NYC.

The star had on a stunning gown with her brunette hair down.

And the cover girl made the very rare move of bringing her actor director husband of almost 20 years, Ed Burns, with her on the red carpet.

The two looked like a NYC power couple as they stood side by side. Burns is best known for starring in Saving Private Ryan and 27 Dresses. He has also directed several films such as ella She ella ‘s The One.

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Categories
Australia

Australia breaking news today, live coronavirus updates and latest headlines August 2, 2022:

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says it looks like the state may have already faced the worst of the current wave of COVID-19.

The forecast winter wave of combined COVID-19 and flu has been seen in hospitals struggling around the country.

“We had modeling done, quite comprehensive modeling, that showed the end of August would be our peak,” Palaszczuk told Today.

“However, what we have seen over the last couple of days is a decline in the hospitalizations of people going into hospital, of course with COVID and with flu.

“So look, we are going to monitor that over the next couple of days and fingers crossed, we may have been through the worst of it, but time will tell. We just need a few more days to get a handle on those numbers.

“The premier said hospital pressures were being felt right across the country, and defended her decision to sink $220 million into a dedicated quarantine facility that Queensland Health now says is unnecessary.

“At the time we had to build it, it absolutely was (a good investment) because we knew that there were pressures on our hotel quarantine,” she said.

She said the government had spent $9.75 billion in its latest budget on building three new hospitals and expanding health facilities throughout the state.

“It is the largest hospital boost ever,” she said.

Categories
US

Bipartisan senators introduce bill to codify abortion rights

Bipartisan senators introduce bill to codify abortion rights

A bipartisan group of senators on Monday introduced legislation that would codify the right to an abortion into federal law, but it faces an uncertain future.

The bill from Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) comes after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights case, and left the authority to regulate the procedure to individual states.

“After the Supreme Court gutted a woman’s right to make personal health care decisions, Congress must restore that right,” Kaine said in a statement.

The bill aims to prevent states from enacting laws that impose an “undue burden” on access to pre-viability abortions, while also allowing some “reasonable” limits on post-viability abortions, so long as they don’t impact life and health of the mother.

The bill does not define viability, or what would constitute a danger to the life and health of a mother.

The bipartisan legislation is an attempt to find a middle ground on abortion rights after a Democratic-only effort, the Women’s Health Protection Act, failed twice on the Senate floor this year.

That legislation would have codified gnaws while also expanding abortion access. Every Republican voted against it, as well as Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.).

Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, dozens of states have either completely banned abortion or severely restricted access to the procedure.

The bipartisan legislation also ensures access to contraception. Abortion rights advocates are concerned Republican state legislatures emboldened by the decision overturning Roe could try to outlaw some contraceptives such as Plan B and intrauterine devices.

There is also concern that Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court case that granted a personal right to contraception, could be overturned.

“For five decades, reproductive health care decisions were centered with the individual — we cannot go back in time in limiting personal freedoms for women,” Murkowski said in a statement.

But it’s not clear if the bipartisan bill will be brought to the Senate floor. It’s likely to get opposition from Democrats for being too conservative, and from Republicans who don’t want to allow any abortion rights.

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Categories
Business

Victorian Big Battery drives Neoen’s profit in stunning debut

Victorian Big Battery drives Neoen's profit in stunning debut

Surging electricity spot prices in the east coast market have also contributed to profits in the first six months of the calendar year, with EBITDA from Australian solar jumping to €27.9 million, up from €17.7 million, and earnings from Australian wind farms increasing to € 38.5 million from €27.2 million.

Xavier Barbaro, Neoen’s chairman and chief executive, said after the release the battery business was “really mutually beneficial when we make good money because we provide great service”.

Valuable service to the grid

“The good money that we make in Australia is well deserved because we provide very valuable and innovative services to the grid compared to what they had to pay in the past to get the same services from diesel generators.

“There are many things that we do with storage. I mean, we can provide backup to the grid. We can stabilize the frequency of the grid. We can provide inertia, that’s something that we launched very recently,” Mr Barbaro said, referring to the Hornsdale battery generating world-first “inertia” which is normally provided by coal power stations to stabilize the grid.

Neoen’s worldwide group earnings surged 39 per cent to €175 million in the first six months of the year, and it lifted earnings guidance.

“The upward adjustments reflect the performance observed in the second quarter, in particular for the storage business, notably in Australia; the pace of progress of the projects under construction; and a favorable market price environment,” Mr Barbaro said.

Neoen stock has jumped 5 per cent over the last week to €42.87, as the results spurred French bank BNP Paribas to raise its target price to €42.5 from €37.8, and US investment bank Stifel to raise its target price to €36 from € 32.

Shopping centers

Separately, Westfield owner Scentre Group has inked a long-term green power supply agreement with Queensland’s state-owned utility to cut the shopping center behemoth’s carbon footprint.

The agreement with CleanCo will electrify six shopping centers in the sunshine state from 2025 through to 2030. The agreement set to start in 2024 with the supply of non-renewable energy.

Scentre Group CEO-elect Elliott Rusanow said the power purchase agreement (PPA) would help it meet its 50 per cent emission reduction target by 2025 and was a key plank of its plan to reach net zero by 2030.

Queensland malls set to be powered by green electricity include Westfield Coomera, Westfield Chermside, Westfield Garden City, Westfield Northlakes, and Westfield Carindale. In 2021, these centers attracted 66.5 million customer visits.

Renewable electricity will be provided for Scentre Group primarily from the Western Downs Green Power Hub, Kaban Green Power Hub, and the Dulacca Wind Farm, where CleanCo has power purchase agreements in place.

Mick de Brenni, Queensland minister for energy, and Mr Rusanow agreed to CleanCo’s unique remit as a government-owned corporation helped the duo strike a deal.

“This is a great example of how government and private enterprise can actually work together to transition energy needs or energy usage towards green renewable sources,” Mr Rusanow said.

Categories
Technology

Diablo Immortal player spends $140,000, can’t match with others

Diablo Immortal player spends $140,000, can't match with others

A Diablo Immortal player dropped a heavy amount of money into the game — over $140,000 AUD — and is unable to match up with other players. The reason, the player claims, is that their power level is “so high” that they “literally can’t get a battleground.”

Youtuber “jtisallbusiness” posted a video debating refunding their expenses on Diablo Immortal, which they claim to be over $140,000 AUD. In the video, they said “I can’t do things that I spent money on this character to do, and I have no time frame of when things are going to actually be fixed, or even know if things are going to be fixed because I am the only player in the entire world with this problem.”

Diablo Immortal uses a matchmaking system that bases itself on your character’s power level. Players can spend real money on loot boxes in the game for a chance to win legendary items to increase that power level far beyond what they would obtain by playing the game for free — and spending over $140,000 on a character will bring it beyond what other players can attain.

Jtisallbusiness mentioned that they had requested help from Blizzard via their official forums and through Twitter, but the response they got was lacklustre. The developer stated that it was “aware of the issue,” but nothing has been done since. Thoroughly upset, jtisallbusiness mentioned in their video that they were considering bringing in attorneys to help iron out the business.

Previously, Blizzard CEO Mike Ybarra defended the microtransaction systems in Diablo Immortal, stating that the “vast majority” of players don’t spend any money on the game. “The philosophy was always to lead with great gameplay and make sure that hundreds of millions of people can go through the whole campaign without any costs.”

The expenses needed to “max out” your character haven’t stopped players from spending big on Diablo Immortal. It reached $140 million in revenue in the two months since its release. In other Diablo news, fans of Diablo can secure access to Diablo IV — if they get a tattoo. World famous tattoo artists will be visiting Sydney and Melbourne this September if you’re looking to demonify your skin.

Original reporting by Eurogamer.

Written by Junior Miyai on behalf of GLHF.

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Categories
Entertainment

Pat Carroll — who voiced iconic Disney villain Ursula in The Little Mermaid — dies, aged 95

Pat Carroll — who voiced iconic Disney villain Ursula in The Little Mermaid — dies, aged 95

Pat Carroll — best known for voicing underwater villain Ursula in Disney’s 1989 The Little Mermaid — has died, aged 95.

Carroll’s daughter, Tara Karsian, confirmed the actor’s death on Instagram with a post praising her mother’s iconic laughter.

“We ask that you honor her by having a raucous laugh at absolutely anything today (and everyday forward) because besides her brilliant talent and love, she leaves my sister Kerry and I with the greatest gift of all, imbuing us with humor and the ability to laugh … even in the saddest of times,” Ms Karsian said.

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The actor’s other daughter, Kerry Karsian, said Carroll died at her home in Cape Cod, in the US state of Massachusetts on Saturday.

Carroll’s first film role came in 1948, in Hometown Girl, but she found her stride in television.

She won an Emmy for her work on the sketch comedy series Caesar’s Hour in 1956, was a regular on Make Room for Daddy with Danny Thomas, a guest star on The DuPont Show with June Allyson, and a variety show regular stopping by The Danny Kaye Show, The Red Skelton Show and The Carol Burnett Show.

However, she’s best known for her role as Ursula in The Little Mermaid, with her throaty rendition of Poor Unfortunate Souls making her one of Disney’s most memorable villains.

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Carroll would often say that Ursula was one of her favorite roles.

She said she saw her as an “Ex-Shakespearean actress who now sold cars.”

“She’s a mean old thing,” Carroll said in an interview.

“I think people are fascinated by mean characters.

“There’s a fatal kind of distraction about the horrible, mean characters of the world because we don’t meet too many of them in real life.

“So, when we have a chance, theatrically, to see one — and this one, she’s a biggie — it’s kind of fascinating for us.”

In a statement on Twitter, Disney Music said “we are deeply saddened” by Carroll’s death.

“We will forever treasure and remember her iconic portrayal of Ursula and performance of Poor Unfortunate Souls,” it said.

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AP/ABC

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Categories
Australia

YouTube sensation Lego Joe turns childhood passion into unique career on the tracks and online

YouTube sensation Lego Joe turns childhood passion into unique career on the tracks and online

Joe Dietz has loved trains ever since riding the railways of Europe on family holidays as a child.

As a young man now living in Cairns, he has turned his boyhood passion into a unique career on and off the tracks.

His day job is driving locos during the far north Queensland sugarcane crushing season, which stretches from May to November.

man leans on cane train with load of sugar cane in background
Joe Dietz has been driving cane trains, or locos, in far north Queensland since finishing high school.(Supplied: Joe Dietz)

Mr Dietz, aka Lego Joe, says winding his way through the neighborhoods and farmlands on the cane train tracks of far north Queensland is a dream job.

“I’ve just always had a thing for trains,” he says.

“I’ve always wanted to work on the railways.”

Mr Dietz’s family moved to the region when he was in high school.

“I was just lucky that, after graduating, I ended up getting a gig on the cane locos,” he says.

“You get the best of the city life, but you also have the countryside too and making connections with the farmers and the community in those areas is something unique.

“I’m living the best of two worlds.”

Mr Dietz is also living in two worlds when it comes to train driving — the real world and the online world.

Young man in high vis at controls of train
Joe Dietz says driving trains is his dream job.(Supplied: Joe Dietz)

During the other half of the year, he drives miniature Lego trains on intricate tracks around his family home, and millions upon millions of people watch him do it.

Seven years ago, I started the YouTube channel TrainGuy 659.

His unique work-life balance has allowed him to build a massive audience and become a professional YouTuber.

“When I first started, I wasn’t getting paid or anything from YouTube, so every season, I go back [to the cane trains],” Mr Dietz says.

“The YouTube audience grows every year because I have that time off, so I’m just lucky to work six months on, six months off.

“The YouTube thing pays the bills but isn’t something I can live off independently… but there is more potential.”

Massive miniature feats of engineering

Mr Dietz became an internet sensation when he began producing his annual Christmas Lego train videos, all of which have attracted audiences in the tens of millions.

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These involve constructing about 120 meters of Lego train track around his parents’ home, across obstacles including the backyard swimming pool, and even through the neighbours’ yard.

Lego train runs across bridge built in pool
Joe Dietz’s train videos involve constructing around 120 meters of Lego train track through various obstacles.(Supplied: Joe Dietz)

Mr Dietz says it is a painstaking process that can be up to a month of work.

“It’s like building an actual railroad but in miniature,” he says.

“It takes three to four weeks to set up. It takes about a week or two to film, and it’s packed up within three days.

“There’s a lot of trial and error, and you do a lot of testing too. There’s a lot of time that goes into it.”

Mr Dietz says there is no shortage of derailments during the shoots, which have resulted in some highly entertaining blooper reels, usually featuring cameo appearances from the family pets.

Blue Healer cattle dog sitting next to Lego rail track and bridge.
The Dietz family’s dog, Matilda, has been responsible for numerous Lego train derailments, which appear in the TrainGuy 659 blooper videos.(Supplied: Joe Dietz)

“We’ve got a blue heeler, and you know what cattle dogs are like… they go after the train… [in one video] she’s nipping at it, she’s knocking it over,” he says.

“They actually end up doing better than the main video — everyone loves bloopers.

“There’s one time the train accidentally fell in a pool, which was like, ‘Oh no!'”

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He says the odd, stray Lego piece also poses hazards for his supportive but long-suffering family.

“The amount of sore toes around the house during Christmas and New Year’s, it’s not funny,” Mr Dietz says.

The secret building blocks of internet stardom

Mr Dietz’s YouTube channel has amassed 660,000 subscribers, while his combined views are in the tens of millions.

Young man in pool with Lego set
Joe Dietz is a professional YouTuber having attracted an audience in the tens of millions who watch his Lego train videos online.(Supplied: Joe Dietz)

He’s often asked what the secret is to becoming internet famous. His answer to it is relatively simple.

“Find something that’s unique that hasn’t been done before,” he says.

“And if you’re doing something that’s already out there, find what makes you stand out to make it different to the others.”

In addition to his annual Christmas specials, Mr Dietz began producing a series of Lego train road trip videos.

“I started doing these tunnels with some PVC pipe, the Lego train goes through this, and it’d transition to a different scene,” he says.

“I did this one around Australia, and that really took off.”

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The initial concept film in 2019 was well-received, attracting 10 million views, but his grand plans were ultimately derailed by COVID-19.

Now that national and international borders have re-opened, Mr Dietz says he’s planning to get his Lego train road trip dream back on track with plans to take his train set through Europe during the crushing is over next season.

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Categories
US

Top Qaeda Leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, Said to Have Been Killed by US Strike

Top Qaeda Leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, Said to Have Been Killed by US Strike

WASHINGTON — The United States killed the top leader of Al Qaeda, a key plotter of the Sept. 11 attacks, in a drone strike in Afghanistan over the weekend, according to current and former US officials.

Ayman al-Zawahri, who took over the leadership of the group after the death of Osama bin Laden, was killed in the strike in Kabul, the first attack in Afghanistan since American forces left last year and a significant victory for the Biden administration’s counterterrorism efforts .

Mr. Zawahri was the No. 2 in Al Qaeda on Sept. 11, and American officials considered him a central plotter of the attacks. While I have lacked the charismatic leadership of Bin Laden, I have profoundly shaped Al Qaeda and its terrorist movements with his writing and arguments from him.

US officials said the strike was not conducted by the military. A former official said the operation was carried out by the CIA Agency officials declined to comment.

A senior administration official said that the operation was successful and that there were no civilian casualties. The White House was expected to brief reporters later Monday night, a second administration official said.

“The strike that killed Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri is a major success of US counterterrorism efforts. A result of countless hours of intelligence collection over many years,” said Mick Mulroy, a former CIA officer and senior Pentagon official. “He likely believed we would never be able to track him down. But he was wrong.”

Mr. Zawahri had avoided Afghanistan for years. His return from him to Kabul with the Taliban takeover raises questions about the group’s commitment to keeping Al Qaeda out of the country.

With the fall of the Afghan government to the Taliban, the CIA began a secret effort to redouble efforts to find Mr. Zawahri, guessing that the Taliban’s return to power would cause him to let down his guard, according to a person briefed on the effort .

A statement from the Taliban condemned the operation and said the strike was conducted on a residential house in Kabul’s Sherpur area, a wealthy downtown neighborhood that officials from the Taliban government have frequented. An investigation by Taliban authorities concluded that the attack was carried out by American drones, the statement said, though it provided no evidence to support the claims.

Taliban officials believe the Doha agreement — which outlined the terms for the American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan — prohibits American strikes, something US officials dispute. Residents in Kabul blamed Pakistan for possibly helping with the airstrike.

According to one American analyst, the house that was struck was owned by a top aide to Sirajuddin Haqqani, a senior official in the Taliban government whom American officials say is close to senior Qaeda figures.

The analyst said pictures of the strike posted on social media suggested a strike by an RX9, a hellfire missile armed with long blades aimed at killing targets with kinetic energy to minimize major collateral damage.

In the months since the United States withdrew from Afghanistan, American military and diplomatic officials have been discussing with allies where to reposition American forces for strikes on high-value targets in Afghanistan. This so-called over-the-horizon strategy is still in its infancy, and talks about positioning forces in neighboring Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have proceeded slowly.

As the United States was evacuating people from Afghanistan, a drone strike based on bad information in Kabul killed 10 civilians. The United States did not initially acknowledge the error, doing so only after reporting by The New York Times. Since then, the Pentagon and the Biden administration have been taking more precautions to prevent civilian casualties in the strikes.

Even without nearby bases, the United States has plenty of capability to send unmanned drones as well as manned attack aircraft within striking distance of Afghanistan, from land bases along the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean and even the United States.

Three US officials reached on Monday said that the strikes were not carried out by the Defense Department or United States Central Command, the combatant command with responsibility for Afghanistan, leaving open the possibility that the strike was carried out by the CIAJ Todd Breasseale, the acting Pentagon press secretary, declined to comment on the strike.

The US government is currently reviewing its policy on drone strikes against terrorist targets. While the military generally conducts strikes in established war zones, the CIA carries out the operations in areas where the United States wants a measure of secrecy over its actions.

Because the Taliban government opposes any drone strikes in its territory, the United States may have preferred to use the CIA to conduct the operation.

While the CIA has its own drones, it will also use military drones, with authority of the strikes handing over to the agency as the aircraft enters into airspace where Defense Department aircraft are not authorized to operate.

Yaqoob Akbary contributed reporting from Kabul.