source : the age
Welcome to our rolling coverage of all the latest news and developments from around Australia and the world. It’s Monday, September 21.
The head of Converse promised to review internal processes and told employees he will make any necessary changes following a recent advertisement that was widely criticised as evoking the Ku Klux Klan and lynching.
“The images should not have been used, and we began removing them from all channels as soon as the concern was raised,” Converse chief executive officer Aaron Cain said in a memo to employees that was seen by Bloomberg News.
“The leadership team and I are taking a hard look at our internal review process and the critical lens we apply to our work.”
The Nike-owned footwear and apparel brand drew outrage online for a recent ad campaign criticised as racist, with one image showing the lower half of a person wearing a white garment and holding a pair of shoes. A number of social-media users said the garment appeared to resemble a KKK hood due to lighting and shadows, while the shoes evoked a person being hanged.
A US immigration agent shot and wounded a man in Austin, Texas, authorities said.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer rammed the man’s car then got out of his federal vehicle and opened fire at least five times on Sunday (Texas time), said Mike Siegel, who represents Austin’s District 7.
The shooting occurred in the early afternoon on the city’s north side, and police and the mayor later spoke about the details of the incident.
The man was taken to a hospital in unknown condition, Siegel said. Authorities were releasing additional information at an afternoon news conference.
Fuel excise would be halved when Brent crude passes $US100 ($140) a barrel under a Coalition proposal to lower prices at the bowser, by making cigarettes cheaper.
The excise would be halved for three months when the average over a two-week period passes the trigger price, sunsetting after three months.
“It’ll provide relief at the bowser at a time when there’s great pain,” Opposition Leader Angus Taylor told Nine’s Today program this morning.
“This is a method by which we can shield Australians from the volatility of fuel prices. Because let’s face it, fuel is not a luxury,” deputy Opposition Leader Jane Hume earlier told News24.
Polling has shown Labor’s primary vote falling further, approaching a record low, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese retains the support of the party despite the figures, which reflect “a really difficult time for many Australians”.
The Newspoll, conducted last week by Pyxis Polling & Insights for The Australian newspaper and published on Monday, showed Labor’s primary vote collapsing to a near record low of 27 per cent.
It’s the lowest rating since 2012 and a precipitous fall from 37 per cent this time last year. Labor polled at 29 per cent in the previous Newspoll in August. Its record low rating of 26 per cent came in September 2011.
“The polls are obviously not great, but we are not focused on the polling,” Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek told Seven’s Sunrise program this morning.
“JF”, read the raw ink inscription on the left wrist of the woman beside me. Her name was Rebecca, and she reckoned she’d seen John Farnham at least 50 times since her mum took her to a show as a 10-year-old in the Whispering Jack years.
Rebecca got her first tattoo that morning, she told me, right after she heard the news that Farnham wasn’t well enough to attend the evening’s sold-out celebration concert at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena.
“I wanted to do it while he was still with us,” she said.
Nobody who managed to snag a ticket to this massive, all-star arena gig could have felt otherwise. Despite handling the not inconsiderable demands of his repertoire to the likes of Jimmy Barnes, Kate Ceberano, Tina Arena and Richard Marx, the absent legend was with us in every sky-piercing note of the three-hour, 26-song show.
US President Donald Trump says the massive arch he wants to build in Washington would become a “top-grade military complex” able to host drones and snipers while storing ammunition.
Posting on social media, Trump said he had agreed, at the “strong request” of the military, to convert the planned 76-metre-high memorial arch “into a top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch, to house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage.”
The arch is proposed for a circle adjacent to the Memorial Bridge, which is a heavy traffic area as one of a handful of connecting bridges between the nation’s capital and northern Virginia. Groundbreaking for the project was due to take place at the start of this month, but it has not yet received final planning approval.
The Pentagon said it had no information beyond the president’s statement.
The arch is one of several projects Trump is pursuing to leave his lasting imprint on the US capital. Among the others are the White House ballroom, renaming and renovating the Kennedy Centre, and refurbishing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
AP
Welcome to our rolling coverage of all the latest news and developments from around Australia and the world. It’s Monday, September 21.
