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Kansas Result Suggests 4 Out of 5 States Would Back Abortion Rights in Similar Vote

Kansas Result Suggests 4 Out of 5 States Would Back Abortion Rights in Similar Vote

There was every reason to expect a close election.

Instead, Tuesday’s resounding victory for abortion rights supporters in Kansas offered some of the most concrete evidence yet that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has shifted the political landscape. The victory, by a 59-41 margin in a Republican stronghold, suggests Democrats will be the energized party on an issue where Republicans have usually had an enthusiasm advantage.

The Kansas vote implies that around 65 percent of voters nationwide would reject a similar initiative to roll back abortion rights, including in more than 40 of the 50 states (a few states on each side are very close to 50-50). This is a rough estimate, based on how demographic characteristics predicted the results of recent abortion referendums. But it is an evidence-based way of arriving at a fairly obvious conclusion: If abortion rights wins 59 percent support in Kansas, it’s doing even better than that nationwide.

It’s a tally that’s in line with recent national surveys that showed greater support for legal abortion after the court’s decision. And the high turnout, especially among Democrats, confirms that abortion is not just some wedge issue of importance to political activists. The stakes of abortion policy have become high enough that it can drive a high midterm-like turnout on its own.

None of this proves that the issue will help Democrats in the midterm elections. And there are limits to what can be gleaned from the Kansas data. But the lopsided margin makes one thing clear: The political winds are now at the backs of abortion rights supporters.

There was not much public polling in the run-up to the Kansas election, but the best available data suggested that voters would probably split fairly evenly on abortion.

In a Times compilation of national polling published this spring, 48 percent of Kansas voters said they thought abortion should be mostly legal compared with 47 percent who thought it should be mostly illegal. Similarly, the Cooperative Election Study in 2020 found that the state’s registered voters were evenly split on whether abortion should be legal.

The results of similar recent referendums in Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and West Virginia also pointed toward a close race in Kansas — perhaps even one in which a “no” vote to preserve abortion rights would have the edge.

As with the Kansas vote, a “yes” vote in each of those four states’ initiatives would have amended a state constitution to allow significant restrictions on abortion rights or funding for abortion. In contrast with Kansas, the initiatives passed in all four states, including a 24-point victory in Louisiana in 2020. But support for abortion rights outpaced support for Democratic presidential candidates in relatively white areas across all four states, especially in less religious areas outside the Deep South.

It’s a pattern that suggests abortion rights would have much greater support than Joe Biden did as a candidate in a relatively white state like Kansas — perhaps even enough to make abortion rights favored to survive.

It may seem surprising that abortion supporters would even have a chance in Kansas, given the state’s long tradition of voting for Republicans. But Kansas is more reliably Republican than it is conservative. The state has an above-average number of college graduates, a group that has swung toward Democrats in recent years.

Kansas voted for Donald J. Trump by around 15 percentage points in 2020, enough to make it pretty safely Republican. Yet it’s not quite off the board for Democrats. Republicans have learned this the hard way; look no further than the 2018 Democratic victory in the governor’s race.

Even so, a landslide victory for abortion rights in Kansas did not appear to be a probable outcome, whether based on the polls or the recent initiatives. The likeliest explanations for the surprise: Voters may be more supportive of abortion rights in the aftermath of the overturning of Roe (as national polls imply); they may be more cautious about eliminating abortion rights now that there are real policy consequences to these initiatives; abortion rights supporters may be more energized to go to the polls.

Abortion rights supporters may not always find it so easy to advance their cause. They were defending the status quo in Kansas; elsewhere, they will be trying to overturn abortion bans.

Whatever the explanation, if abortion supporters could fare as well as they did in Kansas, they would have a good chance to defend abortion rights almost anywhere in the country. The state may not be as conservative as Alabama, but it is much more conservative than the nation as a whole — and the result was not close. There are only seven states — in the Deep South and the Mountain West — where abortion rights supporters would be expected to fail in a hypothetically similar initiative.

If there’s any rule about partisan turnout in American politics, it’s that registered Republicans turn out at higher rates than registered Democrats.

While the Kansas figures are still preliminary, it appears that registered Democrats were likelier to vote than registered Republicans.

Overall, 276,000 voters participated in the Democratic primary, which was held on Tuesday as well, compared with 451,000 who voted in the Republican primary. The Democratic tally amounted to 56 percent of the number of registered Democrats in the state, while the number of Republican primary voters was 53 percent of the number of registered Republicans. (Unaffiliated voters are the second-largest group in Kansas.)

In Johnson County, outside Kansas City, Mo., 67 percent of registered Democrats turned out, compared with 60 percent of registered Republicans.

This is a rare feat for Democrats in a high-turnout election. In nearby Iowa, where historical turnout data is easily accessible, turnout among registered Democrats in a general election has never eclipsed turnout among registered Republicans in at least 40 years.

The superior Democratic turnout helps explain why the result was less favorable for abortion opponents than expected. And it confirms that Democrats are now far more energized on the abortion issue, reversing a pattern from recent elections. It may even raise Democrats’ hopes that they could defy the longstanding tendency for the president’s party to have poor turnout in midterm elections.

For Republicans, the turnout figures may offer a modest silver lining. They might reasonably hope that turnout will be more favorable in the midterms in November, when abortion won’t be the only issue on the ballot and Republicans will have many more reasons to vote — including control of Congress.

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Business

$51m Maitland pub sale sets national record for regional hotel

$51m Maitland pub sale sets national record for regional hotel

In addition, he said the existing operator had done a “really good job” with the Windsor Castle Hotel.

“It’s a big pub with a good bistro, a strong local following and diversified earnings, which will continue to grow,” Mr Cornforth said.

Harvest Hotels are not the only ones seeing value in pubs in regional towns.

Rich Listers the Laundy family and Merivale boss Justin Hemmes have also been buying hotels outside the major capital cities in places such as Wagga Wagga and Narooma.

So has private equity-backed Black Fox Property, which purchased the Australian Hotel in Ballina on the NSW North Coast in June for $9.5 million. Byram Johnston, the former CEO and chairman of funds administrator Mainstream Group, bought the 150-year-old Tarana Hotel near Lithgow in central-western NSW for $5 million in May.

Also looking towards the regions is syndicator Nick Quinn who along with his investment partners – Wagga Wagga publishes Sean O’Hara and Michael Ireson – were the vendors of the Windsor Castle Hotel. The trio purchased the Manning River Hotel in Taree on the NSW Mid North Coast for about $20 million last month.

The acquisition of the Windsor Castle Hotel – a two-storey venue at 78 Lawes Street in East Maitland that comes with 30 gaming machine entitlements, a public bar, large bistro, beer garden, drive-thru bottle shop and accommodation rooms – takes Harvest Hotels ‘ portfolio to eight venues worth about $210 million and held in two funds.

In May, The Australian Financial Review‘s Street Talk column reported that Harvest Hotels was pitching a third fund at investors targeting venues in Adelaide and seeking to raise about $50 million.

Total returns of 17 per cent and a cash yield of 8 per cent were on offer, Harvest Hotels said, as it looked to acquire a $250 million portfolio within five years.

The sale of the Windsor Castle Hotel was brokered by JLL pub specialists Ben McDonald and Kate MacDonald.

“This transaction highlights the market’s willingness to pursue assets underpinned by robust trading fundamentals in key growth locations,” Mr McDonald said.

The sale follows JLL selling the leasehold to the Glenquarie Tavern in Macquarie Fields for $28 million last month – NSW’s largest ever leasehold transaction – and after the real estate firm listed The Oaks Hotel in Neutral Bay with price expectations of more than $175 million.

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Technology

Amazon Luna joins Google Stadia and Xbox on Samsung’s Gaming Hub

Achievement unlocked: Samsung Gaming Hub adds Amazon Luna, completes roster

Amazon Luna is now available on Samsung Gaming Hub. The games streaming service joins others already available through Samsung’s platform such as Xbox’s TV app, Nvidia GeForce Now and Google Stadia.

Samsung Gaming Hub only launched at the end of June. The platform is available on Samsung’s 2022 smart TVs and monitors, and allows gamers to get their gaming fix without a console. Its big coup was being the exclusive home to the Xbox TV app, letting Xbox fans play without the need for an Xbox Series X/S (though they will need an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription).

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Entertainment

Disney World visitors stuck on ‘It’s a Small World’ ride for over an hour

For a group of parents visiting DisneyWorldtheir trip became that much more excruciating when their families got stuck on the ‘It’s a Small World’ ride.

A video shared by TikTok user @hazeysmom22 revealed visitors were stuck on the notoriously annoying ride for over an hour after one of the boats began sinking.

When operating normally, ‘It’s a Small World’ takes visitors on a scenic boat trip around a miniature version of the world populated by animatronic dolls dressed in costumes from different cultures. Throughout the trip, robots sing a loop of the Sherman Brothers’ song ‘It’s a Small World’.

READMORE: Ioan Gruffudd granted three-year restraining order against Alice Evans, includes social media posts about him

Disney World visitors stuck on ride.
Disney World visitors got stuck on the ‘It’s a Small World’ ride for an hour. (Tik Tok)

READMORE: Melanie Lynskey says she was ‘starving herself’ after being body-shamed while filming Coyote Ugly

The TikTok user called the experience “torture.”

“[Staff] didn’t realize for like 45 mins, everyone was stuck on a boat so we sat there for about an hour stuck with the song on repeat!!”

The ride has been an integral part of the Disney World experience since the 1970s and has garnered a significant amount of hate over the decades.

One TikTok commenter wrote, “I have such a deep hatred of this ride after an incident in the CA park when I was 12. I’m 31 now.”

Another said, “No joke, this legitimately happened to me when I was a kid in the late 80s! They never turned the music off, I can’t hear that song without cringing!”

Disney World visitors stuck on ride.
A TikTok video showed young babies were also stuck. (Tik Tok)

READMORE: Brad Pitt praises daughter Zahara on college acceptance days after making rare comment about other daughter Shiloh

“My dad got stuck on this ride for hours when he went to Disney World for spring break in the early 70s,” said one TikTok user. “To this day, I can’t stand to hear the song.”

This isn’t even the first ride sinking this year.

According to the new york post, this is the park’s third sinking incident in two years. A few weeks ago, video footage showed guests climbing out of a car on Splash Mountain because it started sinking.

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Lonely Planet unveils the Ultimate Australia Travel List

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Sports

Give Annemiek the Alpe – CyclingTips

Give Annemiek the Alpe - CyclingTips

It’s barely been three days since the Tour de France Femmes wrapped up atop the Planche des Belles Filles. Is that too early to start thinking about next year’s race?

Maybe, but one person who 2023 on their mind already is yellow jersey winner Annemiek van Vleuten, and the 39-year-old has some notes.

Naturally, as the Olympic time trial champion, she would like to see a race against the clock included. But aside from that, one thing she has been vocal about is her desire for her to race up an iconic Tour climb like Alpe d’Huez.

“Actually I would hope, because next year will be the last year [for Van Vleuten, who is retiring], that we can maybe have Alpe d’Huez,” she told the press after her win. “Being Dutch, that would be super cool to have that back. Also, in the history of the Tour de France Femmes it was also a big battle on the Alpe d’Huez. So it would be really cool to have that back.”

Such mountains would give, and possibly take away. Some have argued that the Dutch rider’s style of racing and strength in the high mountains would seem to create a certain inevitability around her taking the win, yet the Tour can not truly be the Tour without such icons.

It is possible, even probable, that Van Vleuten would run away so emphatically with the win that it would make a mild mockery of the rest of the bunch. Much as she did on stage seven this year. But Van Vleuten’s dominance of her, while more predictable than some would like, is elevating the level of those who are coming up behind her.

To put it simply, she deserves a shot at Alpe d’Huez.

The iconic Dutch corner. Photo: Gruber Images

Van Vleuten has unequivocally confirmed her retirement at the end of 2023. Her career spans 14 years and myriad achievements of a stature that most riders can only dream of. She is also the master of the comeback. From her horror crash in the road race in Rio to standing on the podium in Tokyo with silver in the road race and gold in the time trial.

Even during the Tour de France, she went from battling a stomach bug that left her barely able to pack her own suitcase to attacking after 60km and winning by a margin of 3 minutes and 26 seconds on the first of two back-to-back mountain stages.

Such is her longevity that she has won Flanders twice, ten years apart. She is a two-time world road race champion and two-time time trial world champion.

She says the span of her career and her age are the keys to her success. At the Tour de France Femmes, when faced with questions around just how she manages to do as she does, her message from ella to fans and colleagues alike was “do n’t try this at home.”

“I’m a bit older than the other girls, so can do a lot of training,” Van Vleuten said after winning stage seven. “I want to make something clear. It’s not that my colleagues don’t train as much as I do. It has something to do with training years.”

When the going gets tough, Van Vleuten thrives. She pulls off crazy and gutsy moves such as riding away from the peloton after 45km at the world championships in Yorkshire in 2019 never to be seen again. Moves which, while they may leave people groaning that she has neutralized the race, are incredible feats of athleticism and must be celebrated as such.

As of last weekend, she is the first woman to do the Giro-Tour double for 22 years and she already threw down the gauntlet for the Vuelta in her post-race press conference on Sunday.

Outside of racing, Van Vleuten has long been a vocal advocate for her sport and is keen to emphasize the need to enjoy riding when racing for a living. Having witnessed 14 years of development within women’s cycling, she is as experienced as anyone in the progress that has been made, and what is still missing.

Her aim for 2023, she has stated, is to play a role in the growth of her team, Movistar, in order to leave a legacy of professionalism.

She, like many others, will have dreamed of flying up the famous switchbacks of Alpe d’Huez one day, possibly wearing yellow, definitely on her way to winning the stage. In the closing season of such a monumental career, it is only fitting that she should be afforded the chance to live out that dream.

When she retires she will leave a legacy, and a gaping hole at the top of the sport. The competition to fill that hole will be fierce. That’s the Annemiek effect, she brings up the quality of the entire platoon as they strive to solve the conundrum of how to beat her.

She has blazed a trail for those riders who might be just one or two switchbacks behind her. They will have plenty of time to catch up to her elevation de ella after 2023 but for now it is still the Age of Annemiek and to watch her own de ella the race on the closest thing to a stadium our sport has would be a fitting end to a fantastic career.

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Australia

David Elliott seeks NSW deputy leadership

David Elliott seeks NSW deputy leadership

NSW Transport Minister David Elliott says he will nominate for the deputy leadership of the Liberal party to support an “under the pump” premier after the position was vacated by embattled former minister Stuart Ayres.

Elliott is set to take on Treasurer Matt Kean in the contest for the role after the former trade minister resigned on Wednesday over his potential involvement in the John Barilaro trade job fiasco.

Transport Minister David Elliott is seeking to become deputy Liberal leader in NSW.

Transport Minister David Elliott is seeking to become deputy Liberal leader in NSW.Credit:Brook Mitchell

Skills and Science Minister Alister Henskens and Metropolitan Roads Minister Natalie Ward are also contenders for the position, which will be decided in a party room vote next Tuesday.

The transport and veterans affair minister – who is also one of the government’s most outspoken ministers – on Thursday said he was “very sad to see” that Ayres had to stand down in the circumstances and was only reluctantly offering to take his place.

“He’s been a superior servant to the party, he’s a great member for Penrith, and he’s been a wonderful minister for Western Sydney… It’s one of those occasions where I don’t put my name forward, or I don’t canvasses support, out of excitement or enthusiasm,” Elliott said on radio station 2GB on Thursday morning.

“The premier’s under the pump at the moment. The easiest thing for people to do at the moment, I think, is to walk away or to keep their head down because, you know, the premier is dealing with a number of difficult issues.

“But that’s just not my style. If a mate needs a hand, I’m putting mine up to give him that assistance.”

Premier Dominic Perrottet’s government has faced rolling crises since Barilaro was appointed to a plum $500,000-a-year trade posting in late June. Perrottet lost two ministers to scandal this week alone: ​​former fair trading minister Eleni Petinos amid bullying allegations, as well as Ayres.

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US

Pythons are eating alligators and everything else in Florida. Snake hunters stand poised to help.

Pythons are eating alligators and everything else in Florida. Snake hunters stand poised to help.

The first python Siewe nabbed measured more than 10 feet. “I caught it by myself, wearing flip-flops,” Siewe said, noting she found it in the middle of a Florida highway.

She disoriented the snake by placing a pillowcase over its head, then put the snake in the trunk of her Camry.

The largest python Siewe has caught was 17 feet, 3 inches, and weighed 110 pounds.

“I jumped on her in a ditch on the side of the road, all 17 feet of her,” Siewe said. “She had the biggest snake head I had ever seen. That was a real battle of strength.”

Among those facing off against Siewe in this year’s Florida Python Challenge: fellow professional python hunter, and defending challenge champion, Dusty Crum. A Florida native, Crum, 42, snagged the longest python in the competition’s professional category last year, catching a 16-foot python. In 2016, he was part of a three-man team that took top honors in the challenge, catching 33 pythons.

“A lot of it is luck, but it’s also about being in the right place at the right time,” Crum said. “It’s anybody’s game.”

Snake hunters use a variety of equipment to get the job done, ranging from snake hooks to special carry bags to an array of lights that can spot the reptiles in the dark of night.

To prepare for this year’s challenge, Crum is employing his carefully curated collection of snake-catching technology.

“When it comes to the challenge, it’s guns blazing,” Crum said. “I’m trying to utilize all my equipment: little geo-trackers, four-wheelers. I’ve got swamp buggies, monster trucks with big tires on them. We outfit those with lights on and I’ll be able to access places the general public can’t get to.”

Dusty Crum holds a snake in Florida in 2017.
Dusty Crum holds a snake in Florida in 2017.Courtesy Lisette Morales McCabe

Python hunting, Crum and Siewe said, is not for the faint of heart. While pythons aren’t venomous, they are powerful—and known to bite.

“They’ve got hundreds of teeth, and when they bite you it’s like needle pricks,” Crum said. “The worst thing that can happen is when the tooth breaks off and gets stuck in you, and it gets infected.”

Siewe said she’s been bitten too many times to count. “A 14-footer bit me on my hand. I’ve been bitten on my butt, on my calf. Thankfully, I haven’t been bitten on my face.”

Like Crum, Siewe says she works to repurpose portions of the pythons she catches. “I use the leather to make Apple watch bands,” she said.

Crum and Siewe both say they’re “in it to win it” when it comes to this year’s challenge.

Neither plan on getting much sleep during the competition, as pythons are nocturnal, meaning the best time for hunting is late at night.

Still, they said, the real goal of the challenge has less to do with any individual victories they might score, and far more to do with the greater cause both say they’re fighting — and hunting — for.

“This isn’t a trophy hunt or a sport hunt,” Crum explains. “This is an environmental hunt. It’s hunting to save our environment. It’s a special feeling when it’s man versus beast, fighting for the environment.”

No humans in the US have been killed by pythons, but plenty of pets have, and wildlife officials worry pythons will destroy entire populations of Florida native species if they’re not stopped. Among the mammals in the Everglades that pythons are decimating: marsh rabbits, raccoons, foxes, deer and bobcats.

“The Burmese python is one of the largest snakes in the world, capable of reaching 20 feet long, and because of our climate the pythons are able to thrive in Florida by preying on our wildlife,” Kirkland said. “In some regions of Florida, up to 95% of fur-bearing animal populations have disappeared.”

The pythons are even eating Florida alligators.

Python incentives and education specialist Robert Edman demonstrates how to catch a python during an event promoting the Florida Python Challenge on Dec. 5, 2019.
Python incentives and education specialist Robert Edman demonstrates how to catch a python during an event promoting the Florida Python Challenge on Dec. 5, 2019.Al Diaz/Miami Herald via Getty Images file

“The pythons are generalists,” said McKayla Spencer, Florida’s Interagency python management coordinator. “They’ll eat anything.”

Pythons made their first appearance in the Everglades in the 1970s, likely a result of a pet snake being released into the wild, but the population did not explode until the 1990s.

That’s when Hurricane Andrew struck Florida, destroying, among other things, several python breeding facilities. Kirkland said there’s no definitive proof that the destruction of breeding farms is responsible for the explosion of Florida’s python population. “But it didn’t help,” I acknowledged.

There’s no official estimate of how many pythons there are in Florida, owing to their stealth nature.

“They are very hard to find,” Spencer said. “For every one python we find, there are 99 more out there.”

Increasingly, Spencer said, pythons are showing up in people’s yards and boats, as the snakes literally swallow more and more Florida territory.

That’s where human hunters come in.

“I have always had this obsessive fascination with snakes and reptiles since I was little and my dad taught me to catch fish,” Siewe said. “I thought, ‘Why isn’t this passion [for] puppies or kittens or something normal?’ It’s not — it’s snakes.”

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Business

Next-generation Volkswagen Golf in doubt – report

Next-generation Volkswagen Golf in doubt – report

The costs and timing of new emissions regulations may kill plans for a next-generation Volkswagen Golf, due in 2027.

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There may not be another volkswagen golf – one of Europe’s best-selling cars – if new emissions regulations prove too expensive to meet, too soon.

Speaking to German publication weltnew Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schafer said a decision will be made on whether to develop a ninth-generation Golf within the next 12 months.

“We will have to see whether it is worth developing a new vehicle that does not last the full seven or eight years [before emissions regulations force a switch to electric power],” Schafer said.

Developing a car with a short lifespan is “extremely expensive”, the executive said, adding: “We will know more in twelve months.”

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The current Volkswagen ‘Golf 8’ launched in Europe at the end of 2019, before production ramped up in 2020 – so if Schafer’s suggested seven to eight-year life cycle is followed, the Golf 9 is not due in European showrooms until sometime in 2027 .

If the car is launched at the end of 2027, that would leave seven years before the European Union plans to ban the sales of petrol and diesel cars – and five years before Volkswagen’s earliest target date to go fully electric, from 2033.

In the meantime, a facelifted version of the current Golf 8 is in development, Schafer says – which may arrive next year, or in 2024, based on the timing of mid-life updates for other Volkswagen models.

Schafer’s comments indicate Volkswagen has taken a step back from its announcement in early 2021, when it confirmed plans for a new Golf were underway, powered by a plug-in hybrid system offering up to 100km of claimed electric range.

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“We will still need combustion engines for a while, but they should be as efficient as possible, which is why the next generation of our core products – all of which are world models – will also be fitted with the latest generation of plug-in hybrid technology, with an electric range of up to 100 kilometres”, former VW passenger cars boss Ralf Brandstätter said at the time.

While they may not be required to go electric-only until mid next decade, European car makers have signaled the difficulty in developing new small cars beyond 2025 – for a profit, and at a price point attractive to a consumer.

This is attributed to the cost in developing engines to meet the latest Euro 7 emission rules – and the size of the battery pack required to achieve a long electric driving range and lower CO2 emissions ratings.

Instead, car brands are targeting fully-electric power for their next small cars – which are planned to become more affordable as battery costs come down, while emitting zero emissions (from the car itself, at least).

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If the Golf is axed, Volkswagen would join a range of other car makers ditching their iconic small-car nameplates, irrespective of powertrain.

The Ford Focus and Renault Megane look unlikely to get new generations – as SUVs increase in popularity – while reports suggest the Hyundai i30 and Mercedes-Benz A-Class will not be replaced.

The Peugeot 308 is safe with petrol and hybrid power until around 2028 or 2029 – while a new Audi A3 is planned, but with full battery power.

Volkswagen’s range of ID electric vehicles currently contains a Golf-sized hatchback, the ID.3 – though it will expand from 2025 with a smaller electric city car sized similarly to a Polo.

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The small Volkswagen – now indicated to wear the ID.2 badge – will form part of a project led by VW’s Spanish subsidiary Cupra, and will spawn four similarly-sized twins under the skin: the VW ID.2, the Cupra UrbanRebel, a version from Skoda, and according to welta second Volkswagen model.

Volkswagen was previously said to be targeting a base price below €20,000 ($AU29,600) – however this has seemingly increased to €25,000 ($AU37,000) amid rising material and production costs, based on Schafer’s comments.

“We plan to offer the ID.2 for less than 25,000 euros. In three years’ time, that will be a super attractive price for an electric vehicle,” said Schäfer, adding that the 350km to 400km claimed ranges the new cars will offer is “the psychological sell point at the moment.”

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The executive has ruled out the return of budget-priced €10,000 ($AU15,000) petrol-powered micro cars, as the cost to build petrol engines to meet Euro 7 emissions standard in force from 2025 is €3000 to €5000 ($ AU4400 to $AU7400) than it is today.

“With a small car, these additional costs can hardly be absorbed. So entry-level mobility with combustion engines will be significantly more expensive,” Schafer said. “[But] individual mobility is a basic need and must remain achievable in the future.”

Volkswagen Australia’s electric vehicle rollout is expected to begin next year, with the ID.4 and ID.5 mid-size SUVs. Sister brand Cupra is due to launch its version of the VW ID.3, the Cupra Born, early next year.

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Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines as a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family.

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Entertainment

American Pie star Jennifer Coolidge’s wild sex confession

American Pie star Jennifer Coolidge's wild sex confession

Jennifer Coolidge has revealed she’s slept with 200 people due to her infamous role in the 1999 movie american piereports the new york post.

While she’s also known for her role in Legally Blonde and most recently in white lotusthe 60-year-old told Variety that american pie brought her more satisfaction than just fame.

“I got a lot of play at being a MILF and I got a lot of sexual action from ‘American Pie,’” she said. “There were so many benefits to doing that movie. I mean, there would be like 200 people that I would never have slept with.”

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While she’s played similar characters since “Stifler’s Mum,” her role as Tanya McQuoid in white lotus has earned her a first Emmy nomination and a fast pass to the second season as the only main character who got the part sans audition.

“Some jobs, I’m sort of going, ‘Wow, this isn’t worth working for.’ Mike [White] wrote, I was staying up late every night,” Coolidge admitted, referring to the white lotus creator who convinced her to be a part of the series.

In fact, the actress revealed she nearly talked herself out of playing the part. Now, she’s gearing up for its sophomore season, which airs in October 2022.

“I have done one thing really right in my life,” she said. “I’ve picked great friends. If Mike was never successful, and we just did ‘White Lotus’ as a play in a little theater where everyone paid 10 bucks to see it, it would still be one of the greatest things that ever happened to me. Because it was a killer job that no one else thought I could do.”

The HBO series is shot entirely in a single location — the first season being set in Hawaii, and the second set in Italy — due to the uncertainty of the pandemic. Coolidge’s character of her, so it seemed, was written perfectly for her.

“Whenever I’m lying in bed thinking about what I want to make Jennifer do, I know it’s something that she would not want to do,” White dished, nodding to the actress’ willingness to do just about anything on set. “One minute, she seems fragile, like it’s all going to fall apart, and the next minute she’s sturdy and doing hilarious riffs. Just when you think all hope is lost, she knocks it out of the park.”

White’s chance on Coolidge brought her out of her “obtuse” reputation and entered her into the role of “den mother” — and her remodelled image has bought her more opportunity despite her decades in the business.

“Maybe I got this special attention because people saw me as Stifler’s mum or the Legally Blonde woman. So if they see something else…” she said, which proved to be true.

“People that I could never get in the door — all of a sudden they’re asking me to be part of their things.”

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission.

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Sports

Swans respond to report linking Lance Franklin to rival

Swans respond to report linking Lance Franklin to rival

Brisbane has reportedly emerged as a genuine contender to sign Sydney champion Lance Franklin.

According to Wide World of SportsFranklin has informed the Swans that he will depart the club at the end of the 2022 season.

The report also says Franklin and his wife Jesinta are keen to move north for family reasons.

The out-of-contract 35-year-old is yet to agree on a new deal with the Swans.

Sydney CEO Tom Harley has told sports day co-host and Swans champion Gerard Healy that the Franklin report is “news to him.”

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“It worries me that Tom Harley isn’t quoted, and it worries me that he’s said that he’s informed the Swans – because he hasn’t informed the Swans,” Healy said on sports day.

“That’s all I know. If this is true, he hasn’t informed the Swans.

“That element of it is untrue which then tends to tell me that most of it’s untrue.

“Tom Harley says it’s news to him. I just spoke to Tom. He said, ‘news to him’.

“If he has (told the Swans), he must’ve told the boot-studder because he hasn’t told the CEO.

“He hasn’t heard that, so it puts a question mark on that story.

“If may well prove to be right, but elements of it right now are wrong.”

Franklin has booted 1036 goals across a decorated 335-game career.

The four-time Coleman Medalist has kicked 41 goals from 17 games in 2022.

Sydney Swans Brisbane Lions





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