Categories
Sports

Premier League news, lineups, fixtures, Chelsea vs Tottenham, team news, Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo, start time, scores

Premier League news, lineups, fixtures, Chelsea vs Tottenham, team news, Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo, start time, scores

A thrilling opening weekend saw the Premier League return with a bang. Liverpool and Manchester United were stunned, Spurs claimed a statement victory, while Erling Haaland made his mark for Manchester City.

Now attention turns to Matchday 2. Erik ten Hag faces a huge call over Cristiano Ronaldo as the Red Devils seek to get their season off and running, while Spurs visit Stamford Bridge in the first big-six blockbuster.

Here are the big storylines to watch out for this weekend.

Watch the world’s best footballers every week with beIN SPORTS on Kayo. LIVE coverage from Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Serie A, Carabao Cup, EFL & SPFL. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

Reds star savaged over ‘atrocious’ brainfade; Spurs find missing piece of puzzle: PL Talking Pts

Ten Hag booed after United’s horror loss | 01:18

MANCHESTER UNITED SET FOR MORE PAIN?

Manchester United finished last season by losing their final six away games – a nightmare streak that ruined any hope of Champions League football. It was their worst run of road losses since March 1981 – but defeat at Brentford this weekend would make it their worst run since all the way back in 1936, when they lost ten on the trot away from Old Trafford.

But is it a serious prospect against a relative minnow in the Bees? Well, history hasn’t helped United much to start this season – their defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion last week was their first-ever loss at home to the Seagulls.

Christian Eriksen starred for the Bees last season, winning 7 of his 11 games on the park, but struggled in a false nine position for United against Brighton.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival in the second half shifted Eriksen into the midfield, a move which benefited the team immensely.

Whether Erik ten Hag rushes Ronaldo into the starting line-up in search of a maiden Premier League win will be a crucial selection conundrum, especially since the Portuguese legend is still short of fitness.

But after conceding two goals in the first half in the opening week – and it could well have been three if VAR didn’t overrule a penalty early in the second half – ten Hag clearly has just as many problems in defense (especially on set pieces ).

With Brentford adding to their well-earned reputation for fighting out of tricky situations when they fought back for a 2-2 draw against Leicester, this one will likely be battled out until the final whistle sounds. It just might signal more woe for the Red Devils.

‘Feels like a spoof’: Utd wasting millions and going nowhere with ‘simply terrible’ plan

‘Unacceptable situation’: United slammed as giants accused of setting coach up to fail

WRAP: Utd ruined in ‘worst possible start’ as City star sounds ominous $87m warning

Chelsea sell Werner back to RB Leipzig | 01:19

SPURS OUT TO BREAK HORROR RUN

It’s the first big-six clash of the season, and it should be an absolute beauty as Chelsea host Tottenham.

But there’s a heavy weight of history standing in their way: Spurs have won just once in their last 37 matches at Stamford Bridge. No wonder the Blues are favorites for this one, despite their ‘rusty’ 1-0 win over Everton last week – as coach Thomas Tuchel described it.

Spurs, on the other hand, fought back from an early deficit to win 4-1 over Southampton – a result that means they have scored the most Premier League in the 2022 calendar year to date.

Antonio Conte has enjoyed a full pre-season and a big transfer window in Tottenham, and this match will be a true litmus test for just how far they’ve come – and whether they can actually challenge at the pointy end this season.

“I think it’ll be a good test to mark whether they are really in the contest for the title,” former Spurs back Pascal Chimbonda told Sky Sports News.”

Perhaps the biggest key to their improvement is their depth: none of their six signings started against Saints. Some, like Richarlison, could start this time out, while Ivan Perisic might also hope to replace Ryan Sessegnon.

PREDICTED XI: Hugo Lloris; Eric Dier, Ben Davies, Cristian Romero; Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ivan Perisic, Emerson; Heung-Min Son, Dejan Kulusevski; Harry Kane.

Fulham frustrate Reds as Spurs fly high | 02:59

For Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel hasn’t been fully happy with his transfer window so far despite some big-name arrivals in Kalidou Koulibaly, Raheem Sterling, and Marc Cucurella.

Koulibaly and Sterling both started and should start again this time out, while Cucurella came off the bench and could depose Ben Chilwell from the starting role. Christian Pulisic’s impressive bench cameo could also see him introduced to the XI.

If they fail to score from open play again, it could just nudge the new owners to push even harder to complete the signings of targets Frenkie de Jong and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona, ​​or Wesley Fofana from Leicester City – having already missed out on Manchester City’s Nathan Ake and Sevilla’s Jules Kounde.

The first heavyweight bout of the season is here, and it could have huge ramifications on the trajectories of two big-six members.

Predicted Chelsea XI: Edouard Mendy; Thiago Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta, Kalidou Koulibaly; Ben Chilwell, N’Golo Kante, Jorgino, Reece James, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz; Raheem Sterling.

Klopp rages as Liverpool cop HUGE scare; Spurs’ statement in crushing win: PL Wrap

Premier League Monday morning wrap | 03:00

STAGGERING LAMPARD STAT IN BATTLE OF ENGLAND GREATS

Frank Lampard might be a Premier League and England great, but this weekend he meets another man of similar pedigree – his old England teammate Steven Gerrard.

The duo met 34 times during their playing careers, and Lampard had the upper hand with 16 wins compared to Gerrard’s 11. Both will be desperate for victory this weekend in their first-ever managerial meeting.

For Lampard, the biggest worry – among many – is his staggeringly poor defensive record away from home.

In 38 games in charge of Everton and previously Chelsea, his sides conceded 73 goals at an average of 1.92 per 90 minutes. That includes a Blues side that would win the Champions League six months after his departure from him.

There were concerns about Everton’s squad entering this season (having sold star striker Richarlison to balance the books), and those only worsened on opening day when defenders Ben Godfrey and Yerry Mina both copped serious injuries.

Everton have since pulled a late signing swoop for Conor Coady and midfielder Amadou Onana (from Wolverhampton on Monday and Lille on Tuesday, in that order), while they added another solid defender in James Tarkowski from Burnley in pre-season.

Magpies overrun Forest, Leeds pip Wolves | 00:55

After Everton lost to Chelsea 1-0 and Gerrard’s Aston Villa lost to promoted Bournemouth 2-0, the pressure is on.

But where will the Toffee goals come from?

Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Andros Townsend are months away from returning, but Lampard welcomes back-up forward Salomon Rondon to the team after suspension.

And the club is reportedly chasing Southampton’s Che Adams to boost their stingy offence, having missed out on Burnley winger Maxwel Cornet who instead joined West Ham.

“We know there is a void in forward areas, we are short in numbers there,” Lampard said amid a difficult pre-season.

Arresting his poor defensive record on the road will be a key priority – but their lack of firepower up front could be just as worrying down the track.

Klopp laments ‘really bad’ Liverpool | 03:00

.

Categories
Australia

Australia cannot debate this century’s biggest political question

Australia cannot debate this century's biggest political question

It’s doing this for a reason. While this ambiguity remains official policy, the US, in particular, has had several startlingly clear moments of siding with Taiwanese sovereignty. Most spectacularly, this has involved repeated statements from President Joe Biden that the US would intervene militarily if China attacked Taiwan, and even called Taiwan “independent”.

White House officials were then forced to walk back those comments, becoming increasingly unconvincing. Particularly, once you add the fact that American marines have openly trained with Taiwan’s military, and that Donald Trump lifted restrictions on contacts between US and Taiwanese officials, emphasized commitments to Taiwan, and sent it advanced weapons systems.

Meanwhile, Australia’s posture towards China has been more aggressive – sometimes provoked, but sometimes not — as we saw when the Morrison government called publicly for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. And while the Albanese government clearly wasn’t enamored of Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, it would never publicly criticize it.

All of which throws into sharp relief the Chinese ambassador’s pointed remark that “China and Australia should make independent judgments … free from the interference of a third party”. Translation: stop subcontracting out your position to the US. And don’t choose the US over China in the growing conflict between the two.

Here again, China is identifying a position Australia won’t declare, but which everyone knows to be true. Australian politicians might repeat the mantra that we don’t have to choose between China and the US, but should push come to shove, we already have.

loading

That gets sharp around Taiwan because of a question no Australian politician will want to answer until they have no choice: if China invades, and the US decides to send its military, will we join them? Our approach to the US alliance says we probably would.

But the real debate would be whether or not that would be in our national interest. And that would depend on what consequences we’re happy to wear. Are we happy for our economy to grind to a halt? Will we risk an invasion, assuming the US will defend us? Does it change things if Trump is elected in two years?

Circumstances are asking us the question of a century. My reading of China’s language is that it sees us really as US representatives in the Pacific. It would prefer this to change, and will apply pressure to that end, but otherwise is quite prepared to engage with us on those terms. Meanwhile, we’re acquiescing to that role. In doing this, we’re inevitably punting on the kind of unknowable future that foreign policy so often throws up. We’re basically assuming that American power will continue to hold sway, that Chinese power will remain in check, and that in the event of open conflict, we’ll be safest behind American shields.

This is becoming a hotly contested debate in foreign policy circles, between those who insist we stick even closer to the US, and those who think that, whether we like it or not, Chinese ascendance is inevitable and we should respond pragmatically to that fact – a bit like New Zealand is.

loading

But whatever debates are occurring in foreign policy think tanks and universities, there is no democratic debate on the horizon. Our increasingly pronounced US tilt is bipartisan, so the pros and cons of that position never get agitated publicly. Even to do so would seem vaguely seditious at this point.

I understand why. But the problem is that the Australian public has no idea what we’re meant to be walking into or what calculations are being made on our behalf. It may be that doubling down on the US alliance is the right path to take.

But even if that’s true, we are entering an era when that will come with costs. What are they? Or more precisely, what do our political leaders think they will be? What consequences are they signing up to accept? It is hard to think of a weightier political judgment being made in our lifetimes. And it’s extraordinary that if the public can be said to be making it at all, we’re doing so in the dark.

The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up here.

Categories
US

Americans earning $200,000 or more flocking to these states

Americans earning $200,000 or more flocking to these states

Affluent Americans have flocked to Sun Belt states since the pandemic started, with Florida leading the pack by a wide margin, a new analysis reveals.

Looking at migration patterns between 2019 and 2020, the personal finance website SmartAsset ranked all 50 states plus the District of Columbia based on the net migration of households earning $200,000 or more.

Of the 10 states with the largest influx of high-earning households, nine are located in the Sun Belt, including the six-highest ranked states, starting with Florida. For this analysis, SmartAsset defines the Sun Belt as the general geographic region stretching across the Southeast and Southwest.

Here’s a look at the top 10 states, as well as the net number of high-earning households added to each state.

  1. Florida: 20,263
  2. Texas: 5,356
  3. Arizona: 5,268
  4. North Carolina: 4,713
  5. South Carolina: 3,967
  6. Tennessee: 2,743
  7. Colorado: 2,624
  8. Snowfall: 2,331
  9. Idaho: 2,055
  10. Utah: 1,503

Factors leading to the migration to the Sun Belt include lower taxes and warmer weather, as well as more people retiring during the pandemic.

Florida was by far the most popular destination, as the inflow of high earners was nearly four times that of Texas, the next highest-ranked state. Four of the top 10 states — Florida, Texas, Tennessee and Nevada — don’t have taxes at the state level.

The gains made in the Sun Belt come at the expense of mostly Northeastern states. The biggest losers were California and New York, with nearly 20,000 high-earners leaving each state. That’s more than twice the amount of households as Illinois, the third-worst ranked state.

However, it’s worth noting that the states at the bottom of the ranking still have a higher-than-average percentage of households earning over $200,000. The 10 lowest-ranked states’ share of high earners averages 8.79%, compared to 6.82% for all tax filers nationally.

And while many of these states have a high cost of living, they also tend to have higher median incomes than Sun Belt states.

To calculate the ranking, SmartAsset examined households with adjusted gross incomes of $200,000 or more, comparing the location reported in their 2019 tax return with the new location reported in their 2020 tax return. Each state was then ranked by the net inflow of high-earning households.

Sign up now: Get smarter about your money and career with our weekly newsletter

Don’t miss: This 33-year-old mom makes $760,000 a year in passive income—and lives on a sailboat: ‘I work just 10 hours a week’

.

Categories
Business

Cost relief on the way as NBN offers cheaper internet

Cost relief on the way as NBN offers cheaper internet

“If NBN and industry continue to work constructively, Optus is confident we can provide Australian customers with the outcomes they deserve,” he said.

TPG was, however, more critical. While NBN Co has committed to dropping the excess capacity charges on slower entry-level plans – it had already said it would cut them on higher speed plans – by 2026, a TPG spokesman said the network should scrap these fees now if it is serious.

“We remain concerned NBN is focussed on providing cost savings for high-speed users, while pushing price increases across most of its low-speed services,” the spokesman said.

“With cost-of-living pressures continuing to hurt many Australians, it is essential NBN Co continues to support affordable internet access for low-speed users.”

Telstra said the revised proposal included “some positive steps in the right direction” but highlighted there needed to be more attention on service quality.

“We look forward to working constructively with NBN Co and the ACCC in forthcoming workshops to work that through,” a Telstra spokesman said.

“Our ambition through the process will continue to be ensuring the wholesale terms deliver better outcomes for our customers, sustainable industry economics and increased use of an important national asset.”

The details come via NBN Co’s revised pricing submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission after the spectacular withdrawal of its previous controversial proposal because of the intervention of the new Labor government.

NBN will stay in public hands for the “foreseeable future”, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said last month, putting off a potential future privatization that was envisaged when the Rudd government set up the $50 billion infrastructure project.

Returns to be lower, but no hit to budget yet

NBN Co thinks the changes will have big financial consequences for it over the term of the new pricing construct yet believes, with privatization off the table, it will be able to weather the toll and still meet the core funding aims of a government-owned entity .

Ms Rowland said the move away from “unrealistic revenue expectations and reflected a view to privatization” had allowed NBN Co to “focus on delivering improvements to the network” and “keeping prices affordable”.

“[This process] provides the best pathway for delivering regulatory certainty, affordable prices and the continued investment required to improve the network,” she said.

This initial discussion paper, which will be subject to further regulatory and industry consultation later this month, includes new powers for the ACCC to reset the NBN’s revenue and pricing framework from 2032. It includes new caps on the building and infrastructure costs NBN can recover each year too.

The lower expected returns for NBN Co are not expected to have any toll on the federal budget’s bottom line or the $29.5 billion equity value on the government’s balance sheet in the forseeable future, government sources said.

NBN Co does not currently pay dividends and the carrying value of the asset listed in the budget is reviewed annually by the NBN board, the government and independent auditors.

“The government has committed to further investments in the NBN network under the ‘Fixing the NBN’ plan,” a Department of Finance spokesman said earlier.

“The commercial sustainability of NBN Co is central to our ability to improve the network and provide better services and pricing to Australian consumers.

“The value of NBN Co is established independently of government, in accordance with accounting standards.”

The company will have the right to increase its prices with inflation every year under the proposed plan, but if it forgoes an increase in one year it is unable to catch up with a higher increase in the next.

The proposed annual price increase in line with inflation is lower than a March 2022 proposal by the NBN of the inflation rate plus 3 percentage points.

Regarding wholesale price decreases, NBN Co says it is prepared to drop the capacity charges on all of its slower entry-level plans by 2026. It had already conceded to dropping them on the higher speed tiers.

The company is also willing to progressively reduce excess capacity fees that telcos pay when data use is above the monthly allowance they buy from NBN Co.

Categories
Technology

Pro Gamers & Writers On What Gaming Might Look Like In The Coming Decades

7 Pro Gamers And Writers On What Gaming Might Look Like In The Next Few Decades

This article is sponsored by GigaComm.

The future is vast and unknown. But humans have been blessed with many gifts, like drive-through Maccas and razor scooters – but perhaps the best gift bestowed upon us by The Almighty Unknowable Force, is the gift of pontification. That’s right kids, though we may not know the future, we can sure as Scyther speculate.

I often like to sit back and imagine what the future will hold, because I’m deeper than you, and more well-read. I sit back with my pipe and ponder a magical alternate reality where we don’t nuke ourselves into oblivion, or melt the planet, or drown from rising sea levels, or become slaves to The Robots.

In this wonderful future, I see myself playing The Last of Us Remastered (Version 14) in my Mars pod. The game is great, they really nailed this much-needed and super necessary remaster and I’m really looking forward to the next one – the only thing that bothers me is that the game pauses every 30 seconds and asks me to pay a microtransaction in order to continue playing, but that’s OK, it could be worse. At least the internet is ultra fast.

But hey, what do I know! Let’s get some real experts on the line.

JenzTwitch streamers

What do I think of the future of gaming? The big question. Well, ultimately I think we’ll end up in a Ready Player One situation where we plug into VR sets and escape reality to be whatever you want to be in a virtual world. Maybe. It’s hard to speculate what it will be in the future but I think VR will be the big thing – but better than what we know of it now.

There will probably be weird accessories to make gaming in a VR world feel more real. Maybe smell-o-vision can finally be a real thing? That would be cool. It’s great to see companies innovate within the gaming space, like having haptic feedback in our controllers or RGB lights sync up to games to give a more immersive experience. So with how things have been going, immersion will be something that companies in the gaming industry will strive for more and more over the next 50 years.

When it comes to video games, every day is a new video game day.

Video games are always trying to do the next big thing, like letting you kiss the gun before and after shooting it to wish it a good job, or putting more legs on the playable character to make them scuttle like a crab. If I use my psychic abilities (which I have, it’s true) and look exactly 20 years in the future, here’s what’s in store for video games:

  1. Mario is real now, but he has arthritis.
  2. Minecraft is no longer just a game, but a world. You cannot play Minecraft on any platform, you have to take a 14-hour plane trip to Minecraft World (formerly known as ‘Adelaide’) in order to physically exist in the Minecraft world.
  3. The newest Pokemon game has much, much sexier Pokemon. Unfathomably sexual.
  4. Microsoft as a company is just one guy now, his name is Gargus Donk and he does every job at Microsoft.
  5. Skyrim has been remastered for the PlayStation 6.

My hope in the next 10 years is for technology to be in a place where we can enjoy the fun of VR without the physical pain of the headset. I enjoy VR so much, but haven’t been able to experience it as much as I want to because the headset is so heavy.

Also, imagine if 50 years from now we’re able to have VR mods for ALL our favorite games, and develop them in a way where we can overcome the dissonance of our brains going WOAH my body isn’t actually doing that when we’ re head-bobbing around in first-person.

I’m not sure how possible that is without actually rewiring our brains with Matrix-level tech, but… CAN YOU IMAGINE?! My elderly butt is going to be having the best time living a full life, even if my physical body is at a stage where it’s hard to keep up.

matt hopkinsformer Tech & Gaming Editor at Pedestrian.TV

I think in the next 10 years or so graphics are going to become so lifelike that they’re almost uncomfortable. Like shooting someone in a game will look exactly like real life and I’m not sure how people will handle that? It’ll either be a frog in boiling water situation where we just slowly adjust to it, or there’ll be a huge shift away from shooters and violent games to other genres.

Longer term, I think more affordable VR and immersive accessories (haptic feedback suits and what not) will shift more people towards VR gaming.

DrawzaTwitch streamers

I think that one thing about the future of gaming that would be a guarantee, is broken controllers, more rage quits and countless insults over voice chat. In terms of the content, amazing immersive open-world stories with many different possibilities, not just tree branch stories that are set as we have now (think Detroit Become Human) but one that is more like a forest of branches, with every gameplay producing different results, even with the same decision, just like real life. Also, in 50 years: half life 3.

The games industry currently finds itself at the center of many converging ideas and technologies that will shape the landscape in the decades to come. In ten years, one would hope that VR tech will have finally found a more comfortable space between practicality and affordability. Dedicated consoles will become a thing of the past, replaced by cloud gaming and subscription services. Live service games will continue to dominate the AAA space, while indie projects will only grow in scope and ambition as the democratization of dev tools expands.

There you have it folks, but before you scuttle off to your various dens and dwellings, why not bring the future to you? Go on, treat yourself to some seriously fast internet with GigaComm’s low ping (2-4ms average) and speeds up to 1000 Mbps – a proper game changer for gamers. Go on, you’re worth it baby!

Categories
Entertainment

Daniel Andrews’ Olivia Newton-John Gaffe

Daniel Andrews' Olivia Newton-John Gaffe

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews has made an awkward gaffe while posting a tweet announcing a state memorial service for Olivia Newton-John that missed her name.

The iconic Australian singer, who starred in the hit musical Grease, died aged 73 at her home in southern California on Monday, after a long battle with breast cancer.

Ms Newton-John’s death triggered an outpouring of heartfelt condolences from celebrities and fans all over the world and prompted Mr Andrews to offer her family a state memorial service for the star.

“I’m so pleased that Olivia Newton-John’s family have accepted our offer of a State Memorial Service,” Mr Andrews’ official account tweeted.

The spelling error, in which an extra “w” was added to “Newton”, was quickly pointed out by followers who accused the premier of making the service about himself instead of honoring Ms Newton-John.

“It’s Newton NOT Newtown. With the amount we pay for your PR team they could get the spelling right,” one person wrote.

“Her name was Olivia NEWTON John. You’re absolutely embarrassing,” another posted.

Several Twitter users claimed that the error was disrespectful because it allegedly showed a lack of attention to detail.

“At least have the respect to spell her name correctly,” one wrote.

Olivia Newton-John. With respect Premier, please be mindful of the correct spelling,” another advised.

And: “You can’t even get her name right. So much for respect.”

Earlier, Mr Andrews said he spoke to Ms Newton-John’s niece, former Neighbors star, Tottie Goldsmith to discuss plans.

“I can update that I’ve spoken with Tottie Goldsmith this morning and she, on behalf of the family, have accepted my offer of a state service,” he said.

“This will be much more of a concert than a funeral, I think it will be a celebration of such a rich and generous life.

“As I said the other day, Olivia Newton-John was a very special person and to take her cancer journey and to turn that into more research, better treatment, better care and this focus on wellness, is such an amazing legacy and that’s why I think we all feel the pain of her passing.”

Mr Andrews said the family was touched by the Australian public’s outpouring of grief following Ms Newton-John’s death.

“There will be further discussions, those discussions have started today, but there will be further discussions in my department and the family about what’s appropriate,” he said.

“I think giving Melburnians and Victorians and indeed people who travel from other parts of the country and maybe even the world to be here to celebrate such an important, rich and generous life — that was the right thing to do.”

“And I must say, it’s very clear to me the family were quite touched by the prospect of Victorians being able to come together and celebrate Olivia’s life.”

The British-born actor and singer, who moved to Melbourne aged six, identified as Australian and became a devoted advocate for cancer research.

Her family will hold a private funeral for Ms Newton-John in the US – where she has lived for decades.

She is survived by husband John Easterling and daughter Chloe Lattanzi.

.

Categories
Sports

Kevin Durant trade news, ultimatum to Joe Tsai, reaction, updates, Brooklyn Nets, Ben Simmons

Could Kevin Durant be heading down a similar path to Ben Simmons? (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)

Things got ugly for Ben Simmons in Philadelphia and if Kevin Durant is not careful, he could be heading down a similar path in Brooklyn — if he is not already.

But could that be all part of the Nets superstar’s master plan?

Well, Durant certainly got the NBA world talking earlier in the week then he issued an ultimatum that left Nets owner Joseph Tsai in a tricky situation.

Durant, who requested a trade in June, reportedly told Tsai he needs to choose between the 12-time All-Star and the pairing of head coach Steve Nash and GM Sean Marks.

Watch The Biggest Sports from The US with ESPN on Kayo. NBA, NHL, MLB & NFL. Live Coverage Every Week in Season. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

Green dominates Bulls with career high | 02:03

A subsequent report from The New York Post laid out Durant’s specific grievances with the team, including a lack of consultation over the Nets’ firing of assistant coach and director of player development Adam Harrington.

But not everyone in the NBA world seems to think that Durant actually wants Nash or Marks fired from the organization.

That is certainly the opinion of Fox Sports’ Nick Wright, who said on ‘The Herd’ with Colin Cowherd that Durant’s ultimatum is all about achieving one “single goal”.

“I don’t think Kevin Durant actually wants those guys fired,” Wright said.

“I think he just wants to be traded. I think if he wanted Sean Marks and Steve Nash fired, he would have gone to Joe Tsai a month ago when he did the trade demand and quietly and privately said: ‘Listen, if you don’t fire these guys, I’m going to demand a trade’.

“I read this differently than most. I read this as Kevin Durant asking for something he knew he would not get in order to make it untenable for them to bring him back because he was starting to get concerned they were actually going to bring him back.

“This was him upping the ante to a level that is pretty unprecedented. It’s why I think Durant understood Joe Tsai is not going to do it and they also, I don’t believe, can ask Steve Nash to now coach Kevin Durant. I think it was a really smart move if his single goal is to be traded and I think that is his single goal.

Could Kevin Durant be heading down a similar path to Ben Simmons? (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)
Could Kevin Durant be heading down a similar path to Ben Simmons? (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

You see, it is not like Durant has much leverage in this situation, as NBA front office insider John Hollinger explained in a recent article for The Athletic.

Hollinger pointed towards two numbers in particular to prove that point — 34 and four — Durant’s age and how many years he has left on his contract.

“Throwing both his coach and GM under the bus — in many cases for moves that came with a wink and nod from Durant’s camp — certainly makes it less likely the Nets will find it tenable to reunite everyone in the fall,” Hollinger wrote.

“Of course, this gambit offers no guarantees. The trade offers in front of the Nets today aren’t any different from the ones they rejected yesterday, and it’s not clear how or if Durant’s latest demand will compel action.”

What it could do though is lead to a similar situation to the one Simmons found himself in Philadelphia last year, although there are a few key differences as Hollinger also pointed out.

“Seemingly the sharpest arrow left in Durant’s quiver is pure hardball: a holdout, one that would cost him a chunk of his $44 million 2022-23 salary for every day he sat out,” he wrote.

“It would, ironically, be a near carbon-copy of the situation a year ago in Philadelphia with Durant’s occasional teammate Ben Simmons.

“Here’s the thing: The Nets are working on a different timeline than the Sixers were.”

Dad UP for Bronny James alley-oop! | 00:21

Hollinger is right. Philadelphia had to move relatively fast to capitalize on Joel Embiid’s prime and as such was more inclined to reach a swift resolution in the Simmons drama.

The same cannot be said for the Nets though, as Hollinger argued.

“If anything, they would seem to have the opposite motivation,” he wrote.

“Yes, Brooklyn’s first choice would be to run it back with Durant, Simmons and Kyrie Irving (or a suitable replacement). But in the absence of Durant, wouldn’t the Nets’ second choice be to tank the season and try again in 2024? And wouldn’t a Durant holdout do anything more than accelerate the Nets toward that endgame?

“Brooklyn’s best-case scenario may be waiting until midseason, when this summer’s free agents are eligible to be dealt with. It seems less likely they’d let a year of Durant’s contract wither on the vine at his age and wait until next offseason… but it ca n’t totally be ruled out either given the tanking incentive.

Durant has told Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai that he must choose between keeping Durant or head coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks, The Athletic reported on August 8, 2022. (Photo by ELSA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)Source: AFP

What was consistent among a host of voices in the NBA media landscape was a sense of uncertainty, not knowing what exactly was coming next, again similar to the Simmons saga.

“The whole situation is a mess, but the kind of mess Brooklyn might happily sweep under a rug and ignore, if only it could,” The Ringers Rob Mahoney wrote.

“It’s impossible to replace Kevin Durant. Hell, it’s hard enough just to set a fair return for Durant in a trade, much less one suitors can realistically meet. Every ask sounds ridiculous because Durant is a genuinely ridiculous player.

“That might be the only reason he’s still a Net some six weeks after requesting a trade—and maybe the real reason KD is stirring the pot with this ultimatum in the first place. Does he really want Marks and Nash gone? Or is he just looking to send a shock through the Nets’ system?”

Dellavedova to make NBA return! | 00:32

The Athletic’s Alex Schiffer, meanwhile, pointed towards Durant’s strong endorsement of Marks after the Brooklyn’s four-game sweep at the hands of Boston as proof of just how confusing it all is.

“If Durant wanted Nash out but didn’t feel like putting him on blast to the media 10 minutes after the season ended, he could have discussed Nash’s future with an ‘I don’t know’ or ‘Now’s not the time for that’ . But he didn’t,” Schiffer wrote.

Schiffer agreed one “plausible explanation” is that this is Durant trying to force Brooklyn’s hand, to make the situation so untenable that the Nets back down.

Durant wants out of Brooklyn. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

The Heat have been heavily linked to Durant since he first requested the trade but are unlikely to have the assets to make it work, at least in a traditional two-team deal.

The Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang though Durant’s ultimatum was an important point in the drama, even if it still left “plenty of questions unanswered”.

“But in the wake of The Athletic’s report that Durant doesn’t want to work with Nash or Marks, the question is: Will this force the Nets to trade Durant prior to the start of training camp in late September to avoid any awkward tension and drama between the two parties? he wrote.

“That sort of deadline could take away some of the Nets’ leverage as the window to trade Durant before training camp shrinks as each day passes.

“The Nets could also decide to take Durant into training camp if a good enough offer doesn’t present itself, which would force Durant to decide whether to skip practices as he waits to be dealt or play through it.”

Bogut breaks down the Aussies in the NBA | 08:35

NBA insider Brian Windhorst though was not so sure it would pay off, should Durant’s ultimatum have been a ploy to try speed up a trade out of Brooklyn.

“Doing it now is a manoeuvre, a manoeuvre that I don’t think worked because as I talk to teams out there, they don’t think this increased his trade demand. They think this hurt his trade value,” Windhorst said on ‘NBA Today’.

Windhorst brought up Tsai’s tweet earlier in the week as proof of it, in which the Nets owner claimed: “Our front office and coaching staff have my support. We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.”

“I want to point to the second half of the Joe Tsai tweet,” Windhorst said.

“I think it’s obviously important to look at the first sentence which is that he’s not going to fire Sean Marks and Steve Nash. But the second sentence is really the sentence that the league paid attention to it. And it seems benign when he says ‘We make decisions for the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.’

“But I’m going to decode that for you. What he’s basically saying is despite what Kevin Durant is trying to do here, we’re not going to change what our expectations are for a trade and if you are not traded, we expect you to be reporting to camp to continue the four years you have left on your contract.”

At this stage though, we are no closer to either party getting what they want, with Schiffer putting it best in his summation of the drama.

“During’s ultimatum,” he wrote, “opened a chest’s worth of questions while the clock to training camp continues to tick more loudly”.

.

Categories
Australia

The Loop: Why Donald Trump’s estate was searched, John Barilaro to be grilled by inquiry again, and when to see the sturgeon supermoon

The Loop: Why Donald Trump's estate was searched, John Barilaro to be grilled by inquiry again, and when to see the sturgeon supermoon

Hi there. It’s Friday, August 12, and you’re reading The Loop, a quick look at today’s news.

Let’s start here: The latest on the FBI raid of Donald Trump’s estate

the US Department of Justice has filed a motion to unseal the warrant used in the search of donald trump‘s Florida home, as well as the property receipt.

it eats like this US Attorney-General Merrick Garland says federal agents searched the former president’s estate as part of an investigation into whether he illegally removed records from the White House as he was leaving office.

Mr Garland, the nation’s top law enforcement official, said he personally approved the decision to search Mr Trump’s home.

He said the Justice Department asked a court to unseal the search warrant due to “substantial public interest” in the wake of Mr Trump revealing the search was happening.

Attorney General Merrick Garland is speaking into a microphone with his eyebrows raised.
Merrick Garland’s Justice Department has faced fierce criticism following the search of Mr Trump’s home.(AP: Evelyn Hockstein)

Something you’ll be hearing about today: John Barilaro

The former New South Wales deputy premier will give evidence again today at a parliamentary inquiry examining his appointment to a lucrative US trade role.

Here’s what you need to know:

  • The whole day has been set aside to hear from John Barillarowho withdrew from the job after controversy surrounding the recruitment process
  • He last fronted the inquiry on Monday in a session which yielded multiple revelations
  • The NSW opposition has said it will ask questions about Mr Barilaro’s girlfriend Jennifer Lugsdinwho helped get a job at Investment NSW

Today’s evidence will begin at 10am AEST.

A close up of Barilaro with his eyebrows raised during questioning.
John Barilaro first gave evidence to the inquiry on Monday.(AAP: Bianca De Marchi)

News while you snoozed

loading

  • another armed man has been arrested after taking up to 10 employees and customers hostage at a bank in Beirut, Lebanon. The man threatened to set himself on fire with petrol unless he was allowed to withdraw some of his trapped savings from him to pay his father’s medical bills. After hours of negotiations, he accepted an offer from the bank, released his hostages and surrendered

loading

Here’s what Australia has been searching for online

  • Paul Green. ICYMI yesterday, the former rugby league coach and player died aged 49. Players and NRL clubs have paid tribute to Green, who spent a decade playing at the top level

loading

  • Tommy Lee. The Mötley Crüe drummer is back in the headlines — this time for posting a naked photo to Instagram, which was live for a few hours before being removed

One more thing: Today’s the day for the sturgeon supermoon

Today’s sturgeon Moon marks the last time Australians will see a supermoon until 2023.

So when’s the best time to see it?

moonrise is when you’ll be able to get the clearest view of the sturgeon Moon, so — for those living on Australia’s east coast — keep your eyes to the eastern horizon any time after 5:30pm AEST on Friday, August 12.

You can learn more about the sturgeon supermoon right here.

You’re up to date!

We’ll be back this evening with more updates.

loading

ABC/wires

.

Categories
US

Mall of America shooting alleged gunman, accomplice arrested

Mall of America shooting alleged gunman, accomplice arrested

Two suspects charged in the shooting at the Mall of American last week were arrested in Chicago Thursday afternoon after evading authorities for a week.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — A week after shots were fired inside the Mall of America, Bloomington Police Department officials announced the arrests of two suspects, the alleged gunman and an alleged accomplice.

Authorities announced at a press conference Thursday afternoon that around 2:15 pm, 21-year-old Shamar Lark, believed to be the shooter, and an additional alleged accomplice, 23-year-old Rashad May, were arrested in Chicago after a nationwide warrant was issued for their arrests.

Bloomington Police Chief Dr. Booker Hodges, who identified the men in a press conference Monday, said they were coming out of a barbershop when they were arrested.

Hodges said Lark and May were taken into custody without incident in Chicago’s Cook County Jail, where they’ll wait to be extradited back to Minnesota.

“You can’t commit these acts and think you’re going to enjoy the freedoms of a free society,” Hodges said, adding, “It is my hope that Mr. Lark and Mr. May get the help they need to turn their life around after they’re held accountable for their actions.”

According to court documents, Lark is charged with a second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, intentional discharge of a firearm and carrying a pistol without a permit in a public place. May is charged with aiding an offender to avoid arrest.

Three additional suspects, who are also charged with aiding an offender to avoid arrest, made their first court appearances Tuesday. Referee Lionel Norris set bail with conditions for Delyanie Arnold at $40,000, and for cousins ​​Selena Raghubir and Denesh Raghubir at $10,000.

On Thursday, Aug. 4, police said two groups were involved in an argument inside the Nike store at Mall of America around 4:15 pm One of those groups included Lark and May, police said. After briefly leaving the store, police said Lark and May returned to the store and Lark opened fire at the other group of men involved in the initial fight, according to the criminal complaint.

RELATED: Nationwide manhunt launched for alleged MOA shooter, accomplice

No injuries were reported from the shooting, but the incident prompted Mall of America to go into a lockdown and close early for the day.

Bloomington Police said Lark and May were seen on surveillance video running out of the mall and into the IKEA parking lot across the street, and the complaint says, investigators learned they were picked up by a Best Western shuttle and taken to the nearby hotel location just south of the mall

Cell phone records revealed May contacted 23-year-old Delyanie Arnold multiple times immediately after the shooting, and asked him to help them escape from the scene, police said.

Chief Hodges explained at a press conference Monday that Arnold then contacted his girlfriend, 23-year-old Selena Raghubir, who was the assistant general manager at the Best Western. Officials said Selena then sent her cousin, 21-year-old Denesh Raghubir, who worked at the hotel, to drive the hotel shuttle to the IKEA parking lot and picked up Lark and May, the criminal complaint states.

The pair were driven back to the Best Western, at which point Selena drove them to her and Arnold’s residence in Bloomington, police said.

RELATED: Should Mall of America get metal detectors at the door? Security expert weighs in

When officers arrived at the Best Western, police said Denesh Raghubir told them the alleged shooters were still inside the hotel, which police said was misinformation that impacted the investigation.

Court records say police executed a search warrant at Arnold and Selena Raghubir’s residence Aug. 5 where they located shirts worn by Lark and May, which were visible on surveillance camera, inside Selena Raghubir’s vehicle.

Categories
Business

Aussie company collapses up to 50 per cent since April, Creditorwatch finds

Aussie company collapses up to 50 per cent since April, Creditorwatch finds

It’s no secret there has been a “massive rise” in Australian companies collapsing but new findings show they have skyrocketed by a whopping 50 per cent since April.

The construction industry has faced a particular crisis with dozens of firms going under this year, but everything from billion dollar tech starts up to grocery delivery companies have become casualties of this “disturbing trend”.

Overall, companies going into external administration are up 46 per cent year-on-year, while court actions are up 54 per cent year-on-year, the latest data from credit reporting agency CreditorWatch found.

The huge jump has been blamed on interest rate rises causing “cheap money” to dry up, while spooked investors are pulling back on spending their cash on start-ups as valuations have taken a dramatic dive, with a slew of staff cuts battering the sector .

Meanwhile many businesses are already suffering depleted cash reserves as a result of the pandemic and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has ramped up its debt collection, according to the agency.

‘Ramping up legal action’

CreditorWatch has issued a chilling warning that the rise in business insolvencies will continue this year as multiple impacts batter the economy including ongoing supply chain issues, declining consumer confidence, rising interest rates, inflation and labor shortages.

CreditorWatch chief executive Patrick Coghlan said the hands-off approach to debt collection adopted by the ATO and many lenders during the pandemic is clearly over.

“The massive rise in external administrations is certainly a disturbing trend – now up 50 per cent since April. Our data shows that court actions are back to pre-Covid levels and the ATO has also stated that it is ramping up legal action for outstanding debts,” he said.

“With business and consumer confidence declining and inflation and interest rates on the rise, this doesn’t bode well for businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises whose cash reserves were depleted during the pandemic and are now operating on much tighter margins.”

No longer ‘awash with cash’

Aussie start-ups have been particularly hard hit, with the casualties piling up in the tech sector.

The latest was an Australian tech company called Metigy, which left staff “shell-shocked” by its sudden collapse last week, after it planned to raise money with a valuation of $1 billion.

Businesses that are trying to raise money for growth are particularly at risk in the current environment, added CreditorWatch chief economist Anneke Thompson.

“When interest rates were low and the world was awash with cash, investors were hungry for investment opportunities, and willing to move up the risk curve to find good returns,” she said.

“Now that cash is being consumed by ever-increasing prices and debt costs a lot more, the appetite for risk is dropping.

“Start-up businesses or those in the growth phase are always considered riskier. We have already seen this phenomenon hit the tech sector, and many well-known companies are being repriced to reflect this.”

Other recently failed Australian start-ups include grocery delivery service Send, which went into liquidation at the end of May, after the company spent $11 million in eight months to stay afloat.

There was also a Victorian food delivery company that styled itself as a rival to UberEats and Deliveroo that collapsed in July as it became unprofitable, despite making more than $6 million worth of deliveries since it launched in 2017 and had 18,000 customers.

Meanwhile Australia’s first ever neobank founded in 2017, Volt Bank, went under last month with 140 staff losing their jobs, while 6000 customers were told to urgently withdraw their funds.

A venture capital firm issued a sobering message about the state of Australia’s start-up industry, warning that more new companies would go bust and pulling back on funding as a result.

CreditorWatch also identified five regions where businesses are most at risk of going under with the suburbs of Merrylands, Canterbury and Auburn in NSW on the list, alongside Surfers Paradise and Ormeau in Queensland.

Construction collapses to continue

After four consecutive months of increases to interest rates and inflation continuing to rise, it is now clear that a slowdown in demand in many industries is inevitable, added Ms Thompson.

She said construction companies will continue to be impacted by late payments and reduced demand, particularly smaller operators.

The most recent company impacted was Melbourne-based Blint Builder which collapsed this week with approximately $1 million in outstanding debt owed to 50 creditors, according to the liquidators.

It joined smaller operators like Hotondo Homes Horsham, which was based in Victoria and a franchisee of a national construction firm – which collapsed in July affecting 11 homeowners with $1.2 million in outstanding debt.

It was the second Hotondo Homes franchisee to go under this year, with its Hobart branch collapsing in January owing $1.3 million to creditors, according to a report from liquidator Revive Financial.

Others include two major Australian construction companies, Gold Coast-based Condev and industry giant Probuild, which went into liquidation earlier this year.

There was also Norris Construction Group, which was in Geelong, collapsed in March with $27 million in debt. It owes $3.2 million to around 140 staff that it is unlikely to be able to repay, according to the liquidator’s report.

Meanwhile, Snowdon Developments was ordered into liquidation by the Supreme Court with 52 staff members, 550 homes and more than 250 creditors owed just under $18 million, although it was partially bought out less than 24 hours after going bust.

Other casualties this year include Inside Out Construction, Solido Builders, Waterford Homes, Affordable Modular Homes and Statement Builders.

.