Good morning, hello, and welcome to another Monday and another week, the third last week of 2022. If that makes you squirm, well, it should because this year has gone inordinately quickly and none of us are quite ready for 2023.
To catch you up to speed on what’s been going on while you’ve been snoozing, here are the top headlines on December 12.
Brue Lehrmann is In Talks for a Sit-Down TV Interview
Bruce Lehrmann, the former Liberal party staffer who has been accused of sexually assaulting Brittany Higgins in Parliament House has spoken with at least two television networks to discuss a long-form, sit-down interview to tell his version of events.
This would be the first time that Lehrmann has commented publically on the allegations since the alleged assault that took place in March 2019. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Lehrmann has spoken with both the Nine Entertainment Co and Seven West Media for an exclusive.
The news comes as Lehrmann is reportedly considering taking legal action against multiple media outlets for the way that they covered the Higgins trial. The trial, in which Lerhmann was facing charges of sexual assault on Higgins, collapsed at the start of the month as prosecutors felt it would have too great an impact on Higgins’ mental health to proceed.
The discussions are understood to be in the preliminary stages and Nine have said that an interview will not take place if Lehrmann requests payment while Seven have said that money has not been discussed.
Twitter Will Relaunch Its Paid-For Blue Tick Service
Ever since the world’s sometimes richest man, Elon Musk, took over the reins at one of the largest social media platforms on the planet, things have gone from bad to weird to worse.
After launching a paid-for blue tick programme, in which users could pay USD$8 per month to receive a blue badge next to their name usually reserved for ‘verified’ users of reputation, Twitter scrapped the idea when the site was flooded with imitation accounts. Users pretended to be everyone from Musk himself to large multinational companies, sending offensive and misleading tweets that saw businesses having to apologise and, ultimately, pull ad revenue from the site.
Now Twitter has relaunched the programme, at the cost of USD$8 for Android users while iPhone users will have to pay USD$11 per month for the honour of the blue tick.
we’re relaunching @TwitterBlue on Monday – subscribe on web for $8/month or on iOS for $11/month to get access to subscriber-only features, including the blue checkmark 🧵 pic.twitter.com/DvvsLoSO50
— Twitter (@Twitter) December 10, 2022
‘Twitter Blue’ subscribers will not only receive the coveted badge but will also be able to edit their tweets, post longer videos to the platform, and have their tweets prioritised in other people’s timelines.
Twitter has said that it will get around the imitation problem by having each subscription account reviewed before a blue tick is granted, while businesses will receive a gold checkmark. Government accounts will also receive a grey checkmark. Anyone with a blue check will have their account reviewed again if they change their name or profile picture to make sure they are who they say they are.
In related news, Musk has also confirmed that Twitter will increase its character limit for tweets from 240 to 1000.
According to Twitter’s website, the blue tick service is “currently available on iOS only in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, with plans to expand”.
Emu’s Barred from Outback Pub Return with Backup
In a quintessentially Aussie tale, two emus made international headlines after they were barred from an outback pub in 2020. The emus, named Kevin and Carol, were raised by the landlord of the Yaraka Hotel, the only pub in the town of Yaraka in Central Queensland.
The pair quickly became local celebrities as they frequented the watering hole but were eventually barred after their rowdy antics and frequent droppings became too much for local residents and the publican, Leanne Byrne.
“Emus have been banned from this establishment for bad behaviour. Please let yourself in through the emu barrier,” read the sign at the entrance of the Yaraka Hotel.
However, after the ban, Kevin and Carol vanished from Yaraka, with locals concerned about their welfare.
Now, Byrne has said that she’s managed to track down the pair and discovered that they have four baby chicks with them. Although the ban is still in place, she is keen for the emus to stay away from the pub and the local town as other animals have previously been hit by cars.
“With all this rain, there’s lots of waterholes and everything,” she told the ABC.
“When I got the chicks it was quite drought-affected out here. I think they’ve got enough food and water and everything now”.
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