LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Oscar Piastri’s rift with Alpine has also forced a change of plan at Williams and could have a knock-on effect around the Formula One paddock.
While the main focus has been on Renault-owned Alpine and McLaren, who both want the 21-year-old Australian to drive for them next season, tail-enders Williams have had to reassess their next step.
Alpine’s original plan was to loan their reserve, and last year’s Formula Two champion, to Williams for at least a year and possibly more until he returned as Fernando Alonso’s replacement.
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The principle was the same as when Mercedes placed George Russell for three seasons at Williams to learn the ropes before bringing him back as team mate to seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Talks were so far advanced that the Australian had a seat fitting at Williams and a contract for 2023 was drawn up between the two teams, with Alpine having already agreed on Piastri’s salary.
Then Alonso decided to race for Aston Martin next year and Piastri, offered the Alpine seat, said no — with a McLaren deal apparently more tempting. read more
Piastri would have replaced Canadian Nicholas Latifi at Williams, the only driver on the starting grid who has yet to score a point in 13 races this season, alongside British-born Thai Alexander Albon.
Latifi brings sponsorship and could potentially retain the seat, with many of the potential replacements lacking such financial clout.
With Alpine currently fourth in the championship and Williams last, the seat spurned by Piastri is the most attractive.
If Alpine do not take McLaren’s soon-to-be-discarded Australian Daniel Ricciardo, then they may be in the same market as Williams.
One possibility who stands out is current Formula E champion and 2019 Formula Two title-holder Nyck de Vries, a Mercedes F1 reserve who has already taken part in Friday first practice with Williams.
De Vries, 27, is also looking for a seat for 2023, with Mercedes pulling out of Formula E after selling their championship-leading team to McLaren.
Williams have 21-year-old American Logan Sargeant on their books, with team boss Jost Capito saying last month that he saw the F2 driver as a prospect for the future, but it may be too early for him. read more
The future of Mick Schumacher, currently with Ferrari-powered Haas, has yet to be determined while China’s former Alpine academy driver Guanyu Zhou is having a solid first season at Alfa Romeo.
Alfa, run by Swiss-based Sauber with former Renault team boss Fred Vasseur at the helm, have 18-year-old French F2 prospect Theo Pourchaire on their books as a talent for the future.
Beyond that there are racers looking for a way back into Formula One and others, such as India’s Jehan Daruvala, hoping for a door to open from the junior series.
“I’ve had all sorts of people (calling),” Alpine principal Otmar Szafnauer told Reuters this week. “Some of the guys in the junior formulas, some of the Formula E guys. Maybe eight or 10.”
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Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Barilaro returns to give evidence at trade job inquiry
Mr Barilaro will give evidence at the second time.(AAP: Bianca De Marchi)
Today former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro will again front a parliamentary inquiry into his appointment to a lucrative US-based trade job.
Mr Barilaro is at the center of a controversy engulfing the state government about possible political interference in the selection of the senior trade and investment commissioner to the Americas.
Mr Barilaro was selected for the position in April despite the fact senior bureaucrat Jenny West had already been offered the job by the body responsible for hiring, Investment NSW.
When Mr Barilaro gave evidence to the inquiry on Monday he was told to prepare for questions on Friday about his girlfriend and former media adviser, Jennifer Lugsdin.
Ms Lugsdin got a job at Investment NSW after a recommendation from Mr Barilaro and was included in an email chain about the US trade job.
The Public Service Commissioner previously told the inquiry she never would have signed off on Mr Barilaro’s appointment had she known of the level of ministerial involvement.
Mr Barilaro withdrew from the $500,000-a-year job in June, saying it was no longer “tenable” given all the media scrutiny.
Rail industrial action to continue as negotiations fail
Next Wednesday’s rail strike and other industrial action throughout August will go ahead. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)
The rail union and state government have failed to come to an agreement overnight confirming industrial action will continue throughout August.
The two sides have had ongoing disagreements over a new enterprise agreement and safety concerns over the new intercity fleet.
Today cleaners are banned from using vacuums and scrubbing machines, while another strike is planned for Wednesday.
Rail, Tram and Bus Union Secretary Alex Claassens said the government needed to commit to fixing the intercity fleet.
“I made it very clear that our industrial action for August will continue unabated, exactly as per our program until I’ve got a document that we feel satisfied with before we make any decisions about dialing back any industrial action,” he said.
However, Minister for Employee Relations Minister Damien Tudehope said the union kept changing its list of demands.
“The meeting started on the premise that the industrial activity was taking place because the government would not enter into a deed evidencing their commitment to the alterations of the fleet,” he said.
“We have now given that commitment and yet now there are other reasons why the industrial action will take place.”
Report on parliament’s workplace culture due today
The report on parliament’s workplace culture and practice will be realized on its website.(Facebook: Parliament of NSW)
A report investigating the culture within New South Wales parliament will be released today.
Since last year, former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick has led the independent review looking into bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct at state parliament.
Its findings are expected to add to the list of woes plaguing Premier Dominic Perrottet’s government.
Speaking about the report earlier this month, the Premier said it would be an “eye-opener” for the political sphere in NSW.
They also come after the sacking of minister for small business and fair trading Eleni Petinos over bullying allegations which she denies.
The report, commissioned by former premier Gladys Berejiklian, will be published on the parliamentary website.
A separate review in 2021 found the parliament’s sexual assault complaints processes were unclear, ineffective and inadequate, according to the report’s author, former sex discrimination commissioner and former NSW minister Pru Goward.
‘New era’ for casino regulation
The new body overseeing the state’s casinos will be operational from September 5.(ABCNews)
New South Wales’ new independent casino regulator will begin operations from next month after the state government passing laws yesterday.
The creation of the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) is part of a suite of reforms hailed as marking a “new era” in how the state’s two casinos are monitored for money laundering and other criminal activity.
Minister for Hospitality and Racing Kevin Anderson said the NICC’s unprecedented powers would allow it to “take strong disciplinary action against operators and individuals who engage in misconduct”.
“This essential reset will give the people of NSW confidence that the state’s casino operators will be held to the highest possible standards,” he said.
“Its (the NICC’s) first major task will be to consider the findings of the review into The Star casino, with Adam Bell SC due to hand down his report by the end of the month.”
The NICC, which will be funded by a levy paid by the casinos, will take over responsibility for Crown Sydney’s conditional opening of its gaming areas.
A chief commissioner will head the new agency with the support of four commissioners, including one with anti-money-laundering experience.
Prison officers strike in support of colleague
Thousands of Corrective Services officers in regional NSW will strike for 24 hours today.(Facebook: Dept of Communities and Justice)
Operations at courthouses and prisons across regional New South Wales will be impacted today as thousands of Corrective Services officers walk off the job.
Public Service Association (PSA) union members will strike for 24 hours in response to a prison officer who is facing an upgraded murder charge over the fatal shooting of an inmate trying to escape custody in 2019.
Operations, including escorting inmates to court, as well as staffing within jails, will be affected.
The union’s David McCauley said staff were supporting the charged officer, who he said was just doing his job.
“It’s beyond belief. Murder must be intent. How can this person have intent when he’s just doing his job?” he said.
“No-one goes to work in the morning with the attempt to murder somebody. That’s ridiculous.”
In a statement, a Corrective Services NSW spokeswoman said all prisons across the state would continue operating securely during the strike, with essential services maintained.
However, centers would not facilitate family visits or court appearances, she said.
The department is also seeking the assistance of the Industrial Relations Commission to return staff to work.
lion cubs turn one
The birth of the five cubs in 2021 was the first at the zoo in 18 years.(Supplied: Taronga Zoo)
Taronga Zoo is celebrating the first birthday of its five lion cubs today.
The birth of the litter last year was the first time in nearly two decades there had been lion cubs at the Sydney zoo.
The pride will get to play with heavy-duty toy balls and eat some of their favorite food as a treat to mark the special occasion.
They are named Khari, Luzuko, Malika, Zuri and Ayanna.
Social media model Courtney Clenney has been arrested in Hawaii on a charge of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon
ByAssociated Press via
This photo provided by the Hawaii Police Department shows Courtney Clenney. Law enforcement in Hawaii on Wednesday.
AP
HILO, Hawaii — Law enforcement in Hawaii on Wednesday arrested social media model Courtney Clenney on a charge of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon.
Hawaii County police said in a statement they assisted the US Marshals Service as they arrested the 26-year-old in Laupahoehoe, which is on the Big Island. Officers used an arrest warrant issued by Miami-Dade County, Florida.
She’s being held at the East Hawaii Detention Center while she waits for her initial court appearance in Hilo District Court on Thursday, police said.
The police statement gave no details about the accusations against her, but the Miami Herald reported that Clenney is accused of fatally stabbing her boyfriend in April.
Her Miami defense lawyer, Frank Prieto, told the Miami Herald that she was in Hawaii while in rehabilitation for substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I’m completely shocked, especially since we were cooperating with the investigation and offered to voluntarily surrender her if she were charged,” Prieto said. “We look forward to clearing her name in court.”
Thomas Randle will continue on in the Repco Supercars Championship with Tickford Racing in 2023, Speedcafe.com can confirm.
The now 26-year-old signed a multi-year deal with the team starting in 2021, but was unable to secure a permanent place on the main game grid that year given the Ford squad shrunk to three cars.
For the 2022 season, Tickford obtained a fourth Teams Racing Charter (TRC) — formerly known as a Racing Entitlements Contract.
That paved the way for Randle’s long-awaited full-time step up to Supercars Championship in the #55 Mustang as part of the now four-car operation.
Speedcafe.com understands his drive for next year is part of the original multi-year deal, confirming Randle’s place at Tickford until at least the end of 2023.
While Randle’s continuation was expected, the confirmation means the Campbellfield squad’s four seats have been locked away for next season.
Cameron Waters, James Courtney, and Jake Kostecki are all on multi-year deals that would see them remain at Tickford until at least the end of the 2023 season.
Randle first became a Tickford driver in 2018 when he stepped into the Dunlop Super2 Series, earning his first race wins in the following season.
He had his main game debut with a wildcard outing in 2019, the same year he stood on the podium at the Sandown 500 as a co-driver for Lee Holdsworth as part of the Pirtek Enduro Cup.
The Melburnian spent a year away from Tickford in 2020, in which he won the Super2 title in an MW Motorsport Altima and performed co-driving duties with Brad Jones Racing at Bathurst.
Randle returned to the Tickford fold in 2021, competing as a wildcard in select Supercars rounds and sharing with James Courtney at Bathurst.
In 2022, the #55 qualified on the front row for Sunday morning’s race at The Bend Motorsport Park, his career-best starting position ahead of a fourth-place grid slot in Race 9 at Albert Park.
The Randle news means that current Tickford Super2 driver Zak Best, who impressed in a recent wildcard outing for the squad, will have to look elsewhere if he wants to secure a spot on the main game grid in 2023.
As reported earlier by Speedcafe.com, Team Principal Tim Edwards says he will not stand in Best’s way should the Benalla driver get an opportunity at another team.
Supercars’ next round is the Penrite Oil Sandown SuperSprint from August 19-21.
Five days a week, Karl* goes to work as a high school teacher, planning lessons, marking tests, and dealing with admin. Then, on Sundays, he puts on his uniform and works a sixth day at a local shop.
It’s a long week even though, technically, he’s a part-time teacher.
Despite only being contracted to work two full days at the school — and three half-days — the amount of unpaid overtime needed to prepare for the next day’s classes quickly fills the spare time.
Which is exactly why Karl chose not to take on full-time teaching when he recently graduated, despite a widespread shortage of Australian teachers.
“I kept hearing horror stories of the first-year — early teachers they burn out, they struggle, and I was concerned about it,” he says. “I haven’t sat through a degree so I can do a job for a couple of years and then burnout. I want to do this for a long time, so I need to pace myself.”
Horror stories, like those that led Karl to choose his phased entry into the profession, have become all too common in the teaching industry.
Correna Haythorpe, the national president of the Australian Education Union (AEU) which represents public school teachers across the country, believes the attrition rate for teachers could be as high as 30 per cent within the first five years in some parts of the country.
The cause is often chalked up to “burnout”, a far-reaching condition that can be driven by ballooning workloads, the expansion of responsibility and periods of high stress, like the COVID pandemic.
“The big word that I would use to describe what’s happening to teachers is demoralisation,” says Gabbie Stroud, a former teacher (or “recovering teacher”, as she describes it) and author of a book about her own burnout.
Former teacher Gabbie Stroud recently answered the call to return to casual teaching due to staff shortages. (Supplied: Gabbie Stroud)
“But how that’s happening is broad and varied: it’s increasing workload, it’s data collection, administration and standardization, and all of those activities that take teachers away from the core business of teaching.”
These issues and more will form part of a roundtable discussion between national, state and territory education ministers on Friday, as they look for ways to attract new teachers to the profession, retain existing staff and stem the chronic shortages plaguing schools.
It comes as Department of Education modeling revealed demand for high school teachers was set to outstrip graduates by more than 4,000 over the next three years.
An issues paper published by the department ahead of the meeting described the staffing challenges as “unprecedented” and the “single biggest issue” facing all school sectors.
While COVID had exacerbated the issue, it said that it was only one part of the problem and perceptions of low pay, unfavorable working conditions, and increasing workloads were also partly to blame.
All these factors contributed to Karl’s decision to go part-time, despite choosing to get into the industry precisely because he saw an opportunity for increased job security.
Even in his first year on the job, he says he’s regularly working upwards of five hours above what he is contracted for each week — a situation he describes as a “pretty common story.”
“I’ve got a lot of teachers around me, and even when they’ve got 10 or 20 years experience, they’re going: ‘yeah, wow, this is nuts’,” he says. “There’s a lot of dazed looks, I don’t want to overstate it, but people are walking around like the walking dead, really knocked around.”
How did we get here?
While teacher shortages — especially in certain regions and for particular subjects — aren’t new, Haythorpe says the current situation “is like nothing we’ve ever seen before.”
“We’re in a perfect storm right now and this is happening right across the nation. It’s not only schools in rural and regional locations that are experiencing shortages,” she says. “There’s no doubt that we’re at crisis point.”
Stroud, who left her job as a primary school teacher in 2016 due to what she believed was burnout, says she prefers the term “teacher drought” to shortage, because “when we think about a drought then we start to think about what’s happening in the environment to cause this”.
Teachers are reportedly often working in excess of 50 hours a week.(AAP: Mick Tsikas)
“I suspect that if everyone who held a teaching degree went back into teaching, we would not have a shortage. So, something has driven them out,” she says. And what’s particularly alarming, she says, is how quickly early career teachers are tapping out.
So, what’s causing it? People we spoke to for this story repeated that workload is the major — if not the number one — issue. According to Haythorpe, teachers are frequently working in excess of 50 hours a week (the standard full-time working week is 38 hours), a figure which is only growing. “COVID exacerbated that but it didn’t create the problem,” she says.
Many teachers also report feeling unprepared to enter the classroom, she says, due to increased expectations to deal with behavioral issues and the need to keep up with changing curriculums.
Earlier this year, a Grattan Institute survey of more than 5,000 teachers and school leaders found more than 90 per cent of teachers felt they didn’t have enough time to prepare adequately for classroom teaching and many said they felt overwhelmed by expectations.
It’s a familiar story to Chris*, who left his job in a mainstream high school after almost 30 years due to a case of burnout that left him in need of psychological treatment. Asked what led him to that point, he rattles off a long list: loss of status, bureaucracy, isolation, and as always, workload.
“If people didn’t have mortgages to pay, there would be no senior teachers left,” he says. “It’s not about the money, it’s about the workload … smaller classes, less administrative burden.”
Stroud echoes a similar sentiment, that more money isn’t the answer for teachers already in the deep end. “Burnout is burnout, demoralization is demoralization,” she says. “The day I left that classroom, you could have told me it was a million dollar a year job and I still would have left.”
How does pay stack up?
The reality, however, is that when it comes to employment money does matter — especially when it comes to attracting high-achievers to the profession and retaining experienced teachers with a myriad of transferable skills.
It’s also part of the equation for Karl as he considers when he might want to make the move to full-time. “Do I want to risk burning myself out for $75,000 a year? No. Once I’m worth $100,000 a year, is it worth maybe increasing it then?” he says. “Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it is the extra spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down.”
According to a 2019 report from the Grattan Institute, the starting salary for most classroom teachers in Australia is between $65,000 and $70,000, topping out at just over $100,000 after about a decade in the workforce. While the starting salary is competitive with other professions, over time teachers quickly fall behind their peers in other industries.
Among proposals to be discussed on Friday is a plan to give some senior teachers a 40 per cent pay bump to take on so-called “master teacher” roles. Paid teaching internships for professionals from other industries are also on the table.
New federal Education Minister Jason Clare will meet with his state and territory counterparts on Friday to discuss widespread teacher shortages. (AAP: Aaron Bunch)
“One thing is certain, we’re not going to fix this problem by just doing the same thing time after time,” federal Education Minister Jason Clare told the ABC last week. “We’ve got to look for new ideas that are going to help not just fix the shortage of teachers but also raise the performance of our kids.”
The Grattan Institute has previously recommended a similar framework to retain and attract people to the workforce, including the creation of two new expert teacher roles that would be paid at a significantly higher salary.
“One of the really key strategies, we believe, to support the workforce going forward is to get much better at recognizing teaching expertise,” says Jordana Hunter, education program director at the Grattan Institute.
“We’ve called for several years now for a reboot of the teacher career structure to introduce an instructional specialist position — a person who is able to demonstrate exceptional, subject-specific teaching practice and has the ability to work with other teachers in their school .”
Haythorpe of the AEU acknowledges the need to find ways to attract teachers to the classroom, but worries about proposals that “pit teachers against teachers”.
“One of my concerns with the master teacher proposal is it really focuses on a small, select group of teachers. This is a problem for everyone and we need appropriate pay and conditions for everyone in the profession.”
So, what’s the solution?
When it comes to workload — something Hunter also says she hears time and time again — the Grattan Institute argues there needs to be a rethink of how teachers can best be supported so they’re able to focus on students.
“One of the things we’ve looked at is how we can free up teacher schedules, so they can really focus on teaching,” Hunter says.
This may look like redeploying teaching assistants and other non-teaching staff to take on extracurricular and supervision activities, allowing teachers more time for lesson planning and academic preparation.
Hunter says they also heard from more than half the teachers they surveyed that they feel like they’re expected to “reinvent the wheel” when it comes to lesson planning. “It’s really hitting students hard … this lack of time for teachers to think really carefully about how they’re going to deliver their lessons because instead they’re scrambling on Google and Pintrest.”
One way to alleviate this pressure, according to the Grattan Institute, could be the creation at a school level of high-quality lesson plans that are made available to all teachers to draw upon.
While there are plenty of details to be worked out, Hunter says one thing is clear: there’s no point reaching for a band-aid solution to the shortages without also dealing with the problems on the ground. “Obviously we need to address shortages, but we also have to make it a rewarding job now and keep the great teachers we already have in the classroom,” she says. “Because it’s one of the most important jobs in Australia.”
But while education leaders discuss where to go from here, the reality is already being felt in schools as they scramble for relief teachers and class numbers blow out.
For Gabbie Stroud, that means she could soon find herself somewhere she thought she’d never be again: at the front of the classroom.
A recent newsletter from her child’s school on the NSW south coast included a line begging local parents with a teaching degree to consider coming back to the classroom. “These are heartfelt pleas coming from our schools saying: ‘we’re not coping’,” she says.
So reluctantly, after six years out of the classroom, she’s signed up for casual relief teaching.
“I know it’s the right thing to step up and lend a hand,” she says. “But I don’t feel great about it. This is not the right way, none of this is the right way.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday afternoon spoke for the first time since FBI agents raided former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
Citing “the substantial public interest in this matter,” Garland said the government had filed a motion to unseal the warrant authorizing Monday’s search, which Trump has sharply criticized as a partisan attack.
It was not immediately clear how quickly the judge in the case may release the warrant and federal prosecutors noted in their request, filed Thursday, that it should be granted only “absent objection by former President Trump.”
Garland said that Trump’s attorney had been provided on Monday with a copy of both the warrant and a list of what was taken from Mar-a-Lago by the agents — contradicting past statements by Trump’s son Eric.
In his four-minute remarks, Garland did not discuss any specifics of law enforcement’s work or the larger investigation related to Trump.
“Faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy. Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly without fear or favor,” he said. “Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing.”
Sources previously told ABC News that Monday’s search was in connection to documents that Trump took with him when he departed Washington, including some records the National Archives said were marked classified.
Garland said Thursday he “personally approved” the unprecedented decision to seek a search warrant against a former president but stressed that “the department does not take such a decision lightly.”
“Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search and to narrowly scope any search,” he said.
ABC News reported earlier Thursday that, according to sources, Trump previously received a subpoena in the spring for documents related to what he is believed to have failed to turn over to the National Archives, which had recovered 15 boxes of material from Mar-a- Lake in January.
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, on Aug. 11, 2022.
ABCNews
Garland acknowledged there was still much he could not say — given longstanding department policy not to comment on ongoing investigations and unduly harm those caught in law enforcement’s wake before charges, if ever, are brought.
The search for Trump’s home marked a significant development in one of several legal issues that Trump faces. (He denies wrongdoing in each.)
“All Americans are rightly entitled to the even-handed application of the law, to due process of the law and to the presumption of innocence,” Garland said. “Much of our work is by necessity conducted out of the public eye. We do that to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and to protect the integrity of our investigations.”
Finally, he said, he wanted to “address recent unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors.”
The search for Mar-a-Lago drew a resounding chorus of criticism from Republicans and some others over what the detractors said was a lack of clarity about why such a move was necessary.
“The American people want transparency when you are raiding the home of a former president,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Wednesday. “The FBI is raiding the home of a former president. The American people deserve to know why.”
Speaking at a separate event Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray said of the search, “I’m sure you can appreciate that’s not something I can talk about.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Justice Department Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, in Washington, DC
Susan Walsh/AP
As Trump has many times before, he and his allies cast the federal investigation as a partisan sham. Trump said the search was “not necessary or appropriate”; he has not released any information about the court-authorized search warrant.
“These are dark times for our Nation. … It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024,” Trump said in a statement on Monday night, in the first public confirmation of a search that Garland said Thursday officials had worked to keep out of view.
He also pushed back on the denunciation of law enforcement.
“The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants, every day,” Garland said. He would “not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked.”
“They protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism and other threats to their safety while safeguarding our civil rights,” Garland said. “They do so at great personal sacrifice and risk to themselves. I am honored to work alongside them.”
“This is all I can say right now,” Garland concluded, rebuffing questions from journalists in the room. “More information will be made available in the appropriate way and at the appropriate time.”
In its request to unseal the search warrant, filed Thursday in federal court in Florida, the Justice Department wrote that its decision was made in light of “the public’s clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances.”
The government’s filing notes the warrant was signed on Friday and also requests the unsealing of a redacted inventory of what was taken by agents at Mar-a-Lago.
Prosecutors wrote that Trump “should have an opportunity to respond to this motion and lodge objections, including with regards to any ‘legitimate privacy interests’ or the potential for other ‘injury’ if these materials are made public.”
Court records show that responses will be due in the matter by Aug. 25.
About an hour after Garland spoke, the judge in the case ordered prosecutors to confer with Trump’s lawyers and report back at or before 3 pm ET Thursday as to whether Trump opposes the motion to unseal the warrant.
The head of the Department of Justice’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, Jay Bratt, is one of two DOJ officials who signed off on the request to unseal — along with US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Juan Gonzalez.
The head of DOJ’s national security division, Matt Olsen, was also present in the room for Garland’s remarks Thursday, a reflection of the NSD’s prominent role in the investigation.
ABC News’ Luke Barr, Jack Date, Katherine Faulders, Alexander Mallin, Isabella Murray and John Santucci contributed to this report.
The gold rush continues at the Commonwealth Games, All Blacks defeated and Ian Foster’s job hands in the balance and a New Zealand one-two finish at the latest Indycar race in Nashville – Cheree Kinnear gives the highs and lows of the weekend’s sport all in 90 seconds. Video/Photosport/Sky Sport
Former All Blacks winger Julian Savea has hit out at what he believes has been an irresponsible and hurtful social media backlash against beleaguered coach Ian Foster.
Foster has borne the brunt of criticism over the past month for his team’s historic form slump, with news media, rugby pundits and fans all weighing in with myriad opinions as to what leadership mistakes he may have made.
However, Savea says some of that criticism has gone too far, especially on social media where opinions well outside the realm of Foster’s coaching expertise have been loudly voiced.
“Shocked and disturbed at some of the comments and remarks I’ve seen and heard about Ian Foster on social media lately,” Savea wrote on his Twitter account.
Former All Black Julian Savea says criticism of Ian Foster has gone too far. Photo / Photosport
“In a country where mental health is a big issue, where 72 per cent of suicides are men and a high number of depression amongst men, you would think people would be a bit kinder and think about their words before they make remarks on someone’s integrity , appearance and character, especially when they don’t know them on a personal level.
“I’m ashamed that this is how a human is treated and dragged in the media here in NZ.”
Savea makes his point from a place of experience, having been through his fair share of social media strife; including death threats made toward his baby daughter while playing in France.
That was just one episode from a career he says was full of similar moments, with public judgment and criticism a constant in his time as a professional player.
“Been a constant up and down battle with mental health during my years as a rugby player,” he posted on Instagram in April, 2020.
“From the pressure it brings into my life and personal life to the judgment that is constantly being made about my career.”
Savea’s call for the public to back off when it comes to Foster echoes that of former Scotland coach Matt Williams who said following the side’s series loss to Ireland that the public and media response was embarrassing.
“Ian Foster has suffered far more public criticism and humiliation than any coach should be forced to endure for a sporting defeat,” he wrote in a column for the Irish Times.
“Not for the first time, the reaction to defeat by the New Zealand media and their wider rugby community has exposed a deep flaw of character. The treatment of Foster by his own community has been nothing short of shameful. As a coach, criticism comes with the badge but the personal vilification he has had to endure is simply not acceptable.”
Julian Savea (left) in happier times with Ian Foster in 2012. Photo / Photosport
Foster himself has conceded the criticism leveled towards him is taking its toll, telling media after the first-test loss to the Springboks last weekend that the evidence was plain to see.
“I’m going gray and my hair is receding pretty quickly. It’s never easy,” Foster told media.
He will be hoping, along with millions of New Zealanders, that the All Blacks squad will bounce back on Sunday in their rematch against the Springboks and the social media noise will quieten.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Authorities on Thursday identified the three people killed in a house explosion that rocked an suburban Indiana neighborhood and damaged nearly 40 homes.
Officials were still investigating the cause of Wednesday’s blast but said it was accidental. The Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office released the names of those who died: Charles “Charlie” Hite, 43, Martina Hite, 37 and Jessica Teague, 29.
Surveillance footage from a nearby building showed a burst before debris exploded into the air, followed by a billow of smoke. Evansville Fire Department officials said 11 of the 39 damaged homes were uninhabitable.
The neighborhood was in tatters Wednesday, the splintered remains of homes flung across the road. First responders searched for victims.
One person was hospitalized. There could be more victims as state and local agencies search the area.
Here’s what we know:
Family of couple killed: Sudden loss ‘is hitting hard’
Steve Hite was on his way to his brother Charlie’s home when, one minute before 1 pm, the house inexplicably exploded.
Charlie, 43, and his wife, 37-year-old Martina were inside. Both were killed. A third victim, Jessica Teague, 29, was in a neighboring home and died in the blast.
Steve Hite’s son, Aaron Hite, said his father is devastated.
“He wishes he would have picked him up sooner,” Aaron said. “It’s really hitting him hard.”
Charlie and Martina Hite both worked for Fresh Market, and they had a table at Cowboy Jim’s Flea Market in the city. Charlie also worked as a volunteer performing various tasks for Harrison High School’s football team, including shooting video and handing out equipment.
Aaron Hite said his aunt and uncle were loving and supportive members of his family. Aaron said Charlie helped him move into his first Evansville apartment. Martina Hite, he said, loved the color purple and wearing purple outfits.
“It’s hard, truly,” Aaron said of the loss.
‘Debris flying higher than the trees’
Those who called 911 after the explosion documented the force of the blast, which rattled buildings miles away.
A mail carrier told police the explosion moved his truck.
“I just saw a bunch of debris flying higher than the trees,” he said. “And it shook my whole mail truck.”
People reported feeling the blast from across the city.
Residents said it shook the walls of home and offices, causing people to run outside, thinking the explosion happened nearby.
3 dead and families displaced
Three people died and one person was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries Wednesday, Evansville Fire Chief Mike Connelly said Thursday morning. The victims’ identities were not released.
Of the three victims, two people were inside the house that exploded. The third victim was inside a house next door.
The Red Cross helped about 15 families and provided most with a place to stay in hotel rooms, said Beth Sweeney, executive director of the American Red Cross of Indiana Southwest Chapter. The organization is working to provide families with food, water and clothing.
Wednesday’s explosion:House explodes in Evansville, Indiana, leaving 3 dead and nearby ‘uninhabitable’ homes
Damage renders homes ‘uninhabitable’
The explosion, which was reported just before 1 pm, destroyed the home. Neighboring homes were heavily damaged, and the street was littered with debris.
Connelly said the 11 homes were uninhabitable and would have to be demolished. The fire chief said he didn’t think any remaining homes would collapse but repairs need to be made before families can return.
The search for victims continued Thursday morning. The fire department had not completed a full search for the damage “due to the instability of the structures,” Connelly said.
A secondary search was completed late Thursday morning, and no additional victims were found.
Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said that the FBI informant who tipped the federal agency off with the sensitive information that led to Monday’s Mar-a-Lago search could only be one of six to eight people who are “very close” to former president donald trump
In a Thursday appearance on CNN, Mulvaney said that the informant must have been in Trump’s inner circle, explaining that even he wasn’t aware of the safe at Mar-a-Lago—which Trump said agents broke into—despite being Trump’s chief of staff for more than a year.
“This would be someone handling things on day to day, who knew where documents were, so it would be someone very close to the president,” the former official said. “My guess is there are probably six or eight people who had that kind of information.”
“If you know where the safe is and you know the documents are in 10 boxes in the basement, you are pretty close to the president,” he added.
Mulvaney, who served as Trump’s chief of staff until Mark Meadows took over that role in March 2020, said that he couldn’t float any names because he doesn’t know who is in Trump’s circle these days.
Mick Mulvaney said the FBI informant is likely one of six to eight people in former President Donald Trump’s inner circle. Above, Trump prepares to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the Hilton Anatole on August 6 in Dallas. Brandon Bell/Getty Images
on wednesday, Newsweek reported that the raid was largely based on information coming from a source who was able to identify which classified documents Trump was still holding onto after leaving office and where the records were located.
Two senior government officials said that the search was deliberately timed to happen while Trump was away in New York.
Agents arrived at his Florida property on Monday and seized about a dozen boxes, according to Trump’s lawyer Christina Bobb. It marked the first known search by the FBI of a residence of any US president in connection with a criminal probe.
Back in January, the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes of White House records from Mar-a-Lago that Trump unlawfully took with him when he left office. The search warrant for Monday’s raid indicated that the search was tied to possible violations of laws related to the handling of classified material, the two government sources said.
On Thursday, Mulvaney joined Republican calls for the Justice Department to be more transparent in its investigation, but he added that Trump “probably should” release the search warrant as well as the itemized list of what was taken from Mar-a-Lago.
“Maybe the best thing for everybody to do right now, in order to calm things down and sort of reset the playing field, is for Trump to come forward with the search warrant that he received and the receipt of the documents that were taken, and the DOJ to come forward with the affidavit that they swore out to a judge,” he said.
A sign outside of a hospital advertises COVID-19 testing on November 19, 2021 in New York City. On Friday vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention voted unanimously in recommending a booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccines for all adults in the United States six months after they finish their first two doses.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its Covid-19 guidance on Thursday, saying the virus now poses a much lower risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death compared to earlier in the pandemic.
The CDC is no longer recommending testing to screen people with possible asymptomatic infections in most settings, such as schools. However, screening is still recommended in certain high risk settings such as nursing homes and prisons.
And people who are not up to date on their vaccines no longer need to quarantine if they have been exposed to Covid-19, according to the new CDC guidance. Instead, public health officials now recommend that these individuals wear a mask for 10 days and get tested on day five.
Greta Massetti, a CDC epidemiologist, said the US has the vaccines and treatments needed to fight the virus. As a consequence, the virus now poses a much lower threat to public health, according to the CDC. But it remains crucial for everyone to remain up to date on their vaccines, according to the public health agency.
“This guidance acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives,” Massetti said in a statement.
People with healthy immune systems, regardless of vaccination status, should isolate for five days after testing positive for the virus, but you can end isolation at day six if you have not had symptoms or if you have not had a fever for 24 hours and other symptoms have improved, according to the guidelines.
After leaving isolation, you should wear a high-quality mask through day 10 after your positive test. If you have had two negative rapid antigen tests you can stop wearing your mask earlier, according to the guidelines. But you should avoid people who are more likely to get sick from Covid, such as the elderly and people with weak immune systems, until at least day 11.
People with weakened immune systems, those who have been hospitalized with Covid, or those who have had shortness of breath due to the virus should isolate from others for 10 days. But people with weakened immune systems and those who were hospitalized should also consult a physician before ending isolation.
If you end isolation but your Covid symptoms worsen, you should return to isolation and follow the guidelines from scratch again, according to the CDC.
The US is currently reporting more than 107,000 new cases a day on average, according to the CDC. That’s likely to be a significant undercount because many people are now testing at home and results are not picked up in official data.
About 6,000 people with Covid are admitted to the hospital a day on average, according to the CDC data. Nearly 400 people are still dying a day on average from the virus.
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