Luke Combs didn’t mince words about his top priority – family.
The “Days Like These” singer would much rather trade the glitzy, schmoozy events for time at home. Combs can be a homebody when he’s not touring, playing sold-out shows.
“If that means I piss off people by not hanging out with people I don’t even know, so other people think I’m cool, then who the f— cares?” he told GQ. “If that’s the reason I don’t win a Grammy or CMA award, then f—ing do I even want one?”
Combs made a promise to his wife, Nicole Hocking Combs, to be an equal partner and a present father to his kids.
Luke Combs said he doesn’t care about losing awards if it means getting to spend more time with his family.(Getty Images)
“My wife has supreme belief in me,” he said. “I could put both kids in the car right now and say, ‘Hey, we’re driving to Florida, and I’m going to spend a week with the kids by myself,’ and she wouldn’t worry if I could take care of them.”
Combs previously revealed he wants his three kids to grow up with a normal childhood before they can understand the “very strange circumstances” that come with fame. The 36-year-old father of three considers himself a “stay-at-home” dad – at least during the week between shows.
“I’m home four days a week, every week, full-time,” the country music star said during an appearance on “The MeatEater Podcast.” “Sun-up, sundown most days. Getting the kids up, changing diapers, doing baths, cooking dinners, cooking lunches, cooking breakfasts. That occupies a lot of my time, but that’s what I want.”
“I want my kids’ childhoods to feel as normal as they can given the very strange circumstances that it will ultimately become.”
Luke Combs shares three kids with wife Nicole Hocking Combs.(Getty Images)
To create that childhood for his kids, Combs and his family live in a normal home.
“We live in a 2,000-square-foot house. It’s two bedrooms,” the musician said. “Me and my wife have a room, and the boys share a room. We’re always close together, we’re always tight in there.”
The most normal thing Combs can teach his kids is responsibility, which the “Fast Car” singer said is a priority in his household.
“The living room is the playroom. All the kids’ toys are in there. We let them destroy it. But every night, ‘Alright, we’re all cleaning up now,'” Combs explained. While his kids are still a little too young to actually help out much, Combs said they understand.
Nicole Hocking Combs and Luke Combs met in 2016.(Michael La Brecht / Getty Images)
Luke Combs has made a commitment to being a present dad.(Joshua Applegate/WireImage/Getty Images)
Combs met his wife and mother of his three children by chance. The two first crossed paths at the 30A Songwriters Festival in January 2016 despite both living in Nashville. After returning home, Combs and Nicole shortly began dating.
“I could tell she was different than anybody I had ever met,” Combs later told Nashville Lifestyles.
Nicole added, “I realized we could hang out and just be ourselves in front of each other. I could wear no makeup and be my weird self – because we’re all weird, but we get to choose who to share that side of us with. We could be each other’s weird in front of each other. That’s when it was like, ‘You know what? This guy’s a keeper.'”
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Angela Rayner has said the very survival of the Labour party is at stake and warned Keir Starmer that he “cannot go through the motions” in the face of declining support.
In a speech at campaign group Mainstream’s spring reception, the former deputy prime minister said she believed the government was “running out of time” to show it can deliver the change that the public needs.
In what will be seen as a major intervention, Rayner said it was “un-British” to move the goalposts on indefinite leave to remain, putting her at odds with the government’s key immigration proposal of increasing the standard qualifying period for permanent residence from five to 10 years.
Rayner said on Tuesday evening in London: “It is down to us to rebuild this nation and this party – the question is are we up for this fight? I know we in this room are.
“As a party, and as a movement, we cannot hide, we cannot just go through the motions in the face of decline. There’s no safe ground and we’re running out of time.
“The change that people wanted so desperately needs to be seen, it needs to be felt. And we have to show that it is a Labour government that will deliver it.”
Currently, people can apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years, giving the right to live, study and work in the UK permanently.
On the planned changes to the immigration system, Rayner said: “We cannot talk about earning a settlement if we keep moving the goalposts. Because moving the goalposts undermines our sense of fair play. It’s un-British.
“Let us be a country that has sustainable economic migration rules, but one that upholds the British values we want all who live here to respect.
“Not special treatment. But the stability and a fair pathway forward after the sacrifices many have made to build a lawful life in the UK.”
Rayner also condemned the policies of Reform and the other opposition parties, which she accused of pitting “people against one another for political gain, and who stoke fear through blame”.
The MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, who resigned as deputy prime minister and housing secretary last September, said: “Our very flags twisted into symbols of division, not the unity our values embody. This rhetoric isn’t just false – it’s deeply dangerous.
“And we know why they want it to be the national conversation. Because when it comes to our economy, they have no answers. Promises but no plans. Not for change. Not for fairness.
“They will agree the system is rigged, but they are on the side of those who rigged it.”
Last month, Maryam Eslamdoust, the general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, called for Rayner to replace Starmer as Labour leader.
Last month the Guardian revealed an unfinished website claiming to launch Rayner’s Labour leadership campaign had been published temporarily in January, prompting further speculation that the former deputy prime minister could be gearing up for a contest to replace Starmer.
Seven men have been sentenced for being part of a group that carried out a series of smash-and-grab raids at luxury stores across London.
The defendants stole more than £100,000 worth of goods from several high-value stores over four months in 2025, the Metropolitan Police said.
Using bricks, sledgehammers and a Ford Fiesta to ram into the doors of the shops, the robbers took watches, jewellery, fine art and safes containing cash, before using stolen vehicles as getaway cars.
Across the group, five successful burglaries of shops in London were committed between May and July 2025, Kingston Crown Court previously heard, with a total of £146,356 worth of items stolen.
The court heard there were also two unsuccessful burglaries on an apothecary in Marylebone and a watch shop in Westminster.
The group consisted of Christopher Gibbs, 43; George O’Hare, 42; Paul Hughes, 42; Anthony Munday, 40; Lee James McCready, 46; Matthew Windrass, 50; and David Rigelsford, 37.
McCready was on licence for murder committed in 2005 when he took part in a robbery during which almost £60,000 worth of watches and jewellery were stolen from a store on Edgeware Road in west London.
CCTV footage shown in court showed two men, identified as McCready and Windrass, rushing up to the shop front wearing balaclavas before snatching watches and jewellery through the windows and running back to a “getaway driver” in a silver Jaguar identified as Munday.
In another burglary involving Gibbs, O’Hare and Hughes, CCTV showed the robbers using a Ford Fiesta to smash through the doors of a Fendi store on Sloane Street in central London, before grabbing designer handbags and escaping using a motorbike and silver Mercedes.
Image:Christopher Gibbs
Image:George O’Hare
Image:Paul Hughes. Pics: Metropolitan Police/PA
Gibbs was also sentenced for using a “paving block” to smash through the locked front door of Clarendon Fine Art, before going on to steal two pieces of framed art collectively valued at £66,500, along with an unknown man.
What were defendants convicted of and what were their sentences?
• Gibbs, of Bayswater, west London, was convicted of four counts of burglary and one of attempted burglary. He was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment.
• O’Hare, of Shepherd’s Bush, west London, was convicted of one count of burglary, possession of Class A drugs and breach of a serious crime prevention order. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.
• Hughes, of Westminster, central London, was convicted of two counts of burglary. He was also convicted of an unrelated robbery. He was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.
• Munday, of Hyde Park, west London, was convicted of one count of burglary. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years and 150 hours unpaid work.
• McCready, of Uxbridge, west London, was convicted of one count of burglary. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.
• Windrass, of Ascot, Berkshire, was convicted of one count of burglary. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.
• Rigelsford, of Kilburn, north London, was convicted of two counts of burglary. He was sentenced to three years and nine months’ imprisonment.
Detective Chief Inspector Scott Mather, from the Met’s Flying Squad, said: “We realise these attacks on luxury stores have had a significant impact on business owners and the communities around them.
“Our detectives worked quickly, establishing common patterns between the attacks to link them to one criminal network. Forensic analysis and fast-paced CCTV inquiries were then able to identify the suspects.
“This is a clear message to anyone who thinks they can carry out smash-and-grab raids in London – we will identify you, we will track you down and we will bring you to justice.”
A judge last month ordered the “Even Stevens” actor to return to drug and alcohol rehabilitation after he was charged with two counts of battery over an alleged assault that took place on Feb. 17.
In an interview on “Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan” shared on YouTube, LaBeouf admitted he was ready to face the music for his actions, but refuted the idea of treatment as a solution.
“It’s not nice to hurt people – ever, it’s f—ing lame. People got hurt, we’ve gotta deal with that. I’m gonna deal with that in full,” he said of the Feb. 17 arrest. “I’ll eat it all. It was on me, not on them. It was on me. I f—ed up.”
Shia LaBeouf was arrested and charged with simple battery on Feb. 17 in New Orleans.(Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office)
LaBeouf suggested that “clout chasing” was what sparked his Mardi Gras brawl last month. Authorities responded to a simple battery on the 1400 block of Royal Street at approximately 12:45 a.m. Feb. 17, when two male victims reported being assaulted, the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) told Fox News Digital.
“I was drunk, and then I felt infringed upon… like in terms of my proximity. But I wasn’t in my right mind and so it’s on me.”
He continued, “I said words that are not OK to say. I don’t want to hurt nobody’s feelings.”
LaBeouf was reportedly “causing a disturbance and becoming increasingly aggressive at a Royal Street business” the night of his arrest. When a staff member attempted to eject the actor from the establishment, LaBeouf allegedly used “his closed fists on the victim several times,” police said.
Multiple people allegedly attempted to hold LaBeouf down outside the business in the Faubourg Marigny district, and he was eventually let up in hopes that he would leave.
The “Even Stevens” actor was ordered to return to drug and alcohol rehabilitation after being charged with two counts of battery over an alleged assault from Feb. 17.(John Phillips)
The “Disturbia” star allegedly struck the same victim again with “closed fists to the victim’s upper body” before allegedly assaulting another person by punching them in the nose.
“LaBeouf was again held down until police arrived,” police said. “He was taken to a hospital for treatment of unknown injuries. Upon release, he was arrested and charged with two counts of simple battery.”
Tracy Wright is an entertainment reporter for Fox News Digital. Send story tips to Tracy.Wright@fox.com.
The Scottish parliament has voted against legalising assisted dying after critics and religious groups led a concerted campaign to block the measures.
MSPs voted 69 to 57 to reject the proposals in a late night vote on Tuesday – a larger margin than expected, despite a series of last-minute amendments designed to placate critics of the private member’s bill.
The bill’s defeat followed four days of intense debate at Holyrood last week about whether disabled and infirm people were properly protected from coercion. In May last year, Holyrood had voted to allow the bill to go forward for scrutiny by 70 votes to 56.
In the biggest concession, Liam McArthur, a Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP, agreed last week to limit access to people judged to have six months left to live, despite previously arguing that a time bar was too arbitrary, in an effort to placate wavering MSPs.
Speaking in the final debate on Thursday evening, McArthur said rejecting his bill would increase the numbers of those suffering intolerable pain and those travelling overseas to access assisted dying clinics, and urged MSPs to support it.
Describing a “no” vote as “unforgivable”, McArthur said the no campaign was being driven by unfounded fears raised by opponents of the bill, as the conscientious objections, no detriment clauses, and training provisions were robust. “This bill is tightly drawn, heavily safeguarded and legally defensible,” he said.
Defeat for this bill would “leave ever increasing numbers of dying Scots more at risk, isolated and vulnerable. This issue isn’t going away, but by refusing to take this opportunity to act, parliament will simply force people to travel overseas, take decisions behind closed doors with no safeguards, no protections, no support or condemn them to suffer.”
The parallel bill for England and Wales, which was passed by a majority of MPs in the Commons last year, is now expected to fall because of concerted opposition in the Lords, where more than a thousand amendments have been tabled, leading to accusation of filibustering by peers.
It will mean no part of the UK will have rights to assisted dying in the near future, despite its widespread popularity among voters, and its growth in other wealthy nations, including the US and Australia, as well as recent legalisation votes in Jersey and the Isle of Man.
Sandesh Gulhane, a Scottish Conservative MSP and the only practising GP in Holyrood, who also chaired the bill’s medical advisory group, said he backed the legislation because it was a “a good bill, a sound bill”, as did 81% of Scottish voters.
“Choice matters,” he said. “This bill represents years of work, consultation and scrutiny. It offers compassion, safeguards and dignity for those facing the end of life. If it falls today, [it] will be a lost opportunity to help those suffering and dying who have no voice.”
Numerous MSPs spoke against the bill during a lengthy and passionate debate, including the SNP MSP Jamie Hepburn, who said he had changed his mind because it altered the patient-doctor relationship. Brian Whittle, of the Scottish Tories, said he believed cuts to social care made it too unsafe to support the bill.
Edward Mountain, a Scottish Tory MSP, said this measure meant doctors would be empowered to offer death to people. “Pathways to care are rightly the top priorities but this bill will now give doctors the right to say in terminal cases death is available. I believe the last thing we should be doing is suggesting that ending life is a form of treatment,” he said.
Jeremy Balfour, an independent MSP and one of two disabled MSPs campaigning against the bill, said disabled Scots would be “terrified” listening to the debate. “The protections in this bill are not good enough. They can never be good enough.”
But George Adam, an SNP backbencher, said his wife Stacey, who was watching from a wheelchair in the public gallery, had multiple sclerosis and wanted the right to die. “If the worst should ever come to her, if she was ever facing that unbearable suffering at the end of life, she would want a choice,” he said.
While the Scottish government is officially neutral, the first minister and SNP leader, John Swinney, made clear last year he opposed the legislation and would vote against it, as had Nicola Sturgeon, the former first minister, and Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader.
The 175 amendments agreed to by MSPs last week included contentious decisions to remove clauses which gave Scottish ministers the power to regulate the training and qualifications of medical staff involved in assisted dying, because those powers belong to the UK government and Westminster.
Royal medical colleges said these safeguards had to be included in the bill at this stage, and rejected written assurances from UK ministers that Westminster would pass those powers to Holyrood without any attempt to water them down.
Tom Arthur, a Scottish health minister, told MSPs the Scottish and UK governments had engaged in “timely, constructive and good faith” discussions to ensure the necessary powers would be made available to Holyrood.
Patrick Harvie, a Scottish Green MSP and former party co-leader, said the bill had built-in safeguards because it could not become law until the Scottish parliament agreed that the training and qualifications powers being provided by Westminster were the right ones.
The UK and Scottish governments, which were officially neutral on the proposals, agreed earlier this year to a section 30 order which has given Scotland the powers normally controlled by Westminster to use legally restricted drugs and equipment. Those powers came into force on 11 March.
Rona Mackay, the SNP’s chief whip, urged MSPs to back the bill. “We in this chamber have a choice. Terminally ill people who are terrified of what they may face at the end of their lives do not. Who are we to deny them that choice,” she said.
“We know that many terminally ill Scots face a bad death and are forced to contemplate a series of desperate, traumatic decisions. Decisions which do not belong in a compassionate 21st-century Scotland.”
Senegal has been stripped of the African Cup of Nations after misconduct in the tournament final, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has ruled.
The CAF Appeal Boardsaid that Senegal is “declared to have forfeited” the final in January, which will be recorded as a 3-0 win for Morocco, the tournament hosts.
During the match at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, Senegalese fans tried to storm the pitch and Senegal players walked off in protest after Morocco were awarded a penalty in the 98th minute.
After a lengthy delay, the players and coach returned to the pitch where the penalty was saved by Senegal’s goalkeeper, and Senegal went on to win the game 1-0 in extra time.
From January: Jubilant crowds celebrate Senegal’s AFCON victory
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation said after the match it would “pursue legal action”, saying the walk-off “had a significant impact on the normal course of the match and on the players’ performance”.
FIFA boss Gianni Infantino hit out at the “unacceptable scenes on the field and in the stands” as he criticised the behaviour of some “supporters” as well as Senegal players and staff.
A comedy club owner who reportedly had terminal cancer is dead after gunning down his ex-father-in-law and attempting to kill his ex-wife outside her Alaska business.
Anchorage police had launched a manhunt to search for 61-year-old Mathew Thomas Becker after he killed his former father-in-law, Romaine Clark, and attempted to murder his ex-wife on Saturday, March 14, according to Anchorage Daily News.
Becker was reportedly a suspect in the killing, and faced first-degree murder and third-degree assault charges after he attempted to shoot his ex-wife outside her self-owned hair salon on Saturday morning. Police said he then gunned down Clark inside a nearby residence just minutes later, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Police say Mathew Thomas Becker killed his former father-in-law, Romaine Clark, and attempted to murder his ex-wife in Anchorage, Alaska on Saturday, March 14, 2026, according to Anchorage Daily News.(Anchorage Police Department )
Becker’s ex-wife told police that he appeared next to her in a vehicle as she was arriving at work before exiting his car and shooting at her as she tried to unlock the doors to the business, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the outlet.
The woman was reportedly able to hide from Becker and quickly called 911 to tell police she feared for Clark’s safety. Shortly after her 9:30 a.m. phone call, officers located Clark inside his Alder Drive home with an apparent gunshot wound.
“Based on preliminary evidence it appears the suspect went to the rear of the residence, fired a couple of rounds through a plate-glass window, striking and killing the victim and then fleeing the scene,” Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case said, according to KTUU.
“[Officers] were hailed by friends who were waiting to meet up with the victim and they went inside the residence because he hadn’t come out yet,” Case said. “And they discovered the body, and then they notified us.”
The body of 61-year-old Mathew Thomas Becker was discovered by authorities in the woods in Eagle River, Alaska, around 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 15, 2026, according to KTUU.(iStock)
The shooting sparked a manhunt within the area, with the investigation coming to an abrupt end after Becker was found dead in a wooded area on Sunday – one day after the shootings.
His body was discovered by authorities in the woods in Eagle River around 10:30 a.m., according to KTUU. Officials are still working to determine his cause and manner of death.
His brother reportedly said Becker was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer, and was living in Arizona while owning a comedy club called Chuckleheads.
Julia Bonavita is a U.S. Writer for Fox News Digital and a Fox Flight Team drone pilot. You can follow her at @juliabonavita13 on all platforms and send story tips to julia.bonavita@fox.com.
Turnbull says Trump ‘lashing out’ at Australia and other allies
Malcolm Turnbull said Donald Trump was “lashing out” and had been left “furious” that the US’s allies, including Australia, weren’t assisting with the war in the Middle East.
The former prime minister spoke to RN Breakfast this morning:
It really just underlines … the importance of Australia being more independent, exercising our own sovereignty and recognising that the course we have been undertaking, really since the Morrison government, of becoming more and more dependent on the United States, is absolutely the wrong course, because we are making ourselves more dependent on the US at a time when the US is less dependable.
Turnbull added that Trump’s remarks show he “doesn’t respect” his allies.
This is a guy that does not respect smaller countries. He believes might is right, he makes no bones about that. He believes he should be able to do and get whatever he wants.
Turnbull and Trump, seen in 2018. Photograph: REX/Shutterstock
Key events
Guardian Australia’s Amanda Meade has a full report into the Kyle Sandilands contact saga, and his abrupt fall from grace.
You can read more about that here:
National cabinet to meet on Thursday over fuel supply crisis
Tom McIlroy
National cabinet will meet tomorrow as federal and state governments struggle with fuel supply questions amid the ongoing Middle East war.
Anthony Albanese will hold a virtual meeting from Tasmania with state premiers and chief ministers. The prime minister made the announcement during a speech to the Australian Automotive Dealer Association.
Anthony Albanese. Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images
Albanese said the meeting would work “to ensure that coordination, that’s occurring right across our country, maximises the benefit for business, for farmers, for our communities”.
The federal government is under increasing pressure on the question of fuel supplies as strikes in the strait of Hormuz slow some deliveries around the world and panic buying in Australia makes petrol hard to get in some communities.
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, said on Tuesday that all expected deliveries of fuel were arriving as planned and that fuel retailers had told the government there was no concern about supply into next month.
The transport minister, Catherine King, will hold a fuel security roundtable with key stakeholders from the transport industry today.
Penry Buckley
NSW police release CCTV of three sought for questioning over alleged kidnapping and murder of Sydney grandfather
The NSW police have released CCTV footage of three further men sought for questioning in relation to the alleged kidnapping and murder of Sydney grandfather Chris Baghsarian last month.
Two men, Daniel Stevens, 24, and Gerard Andrews, 29 have been charged with murder and taking or detaining in company with intent to ransom, occasioning actual bodily harm. Police allege the 85-year-old was kidnapped from his North Ryde home last month in a case of mistaken identity. His remains were found at a golf club on 24 February.
In footage released today as part of a public appeal for more information, another three men are pictured walking towards what police allege was the kidnappers’ stronghold in north-western Sydney on the night Baghsarian went missing, 13 February. In CCTV from the following day, a blue Hyundai sedan with a missing hubcap on its left side is seen arriving at and leaving the Dural address just after 12pm.
The NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, told ABC Radio Sydney this morning:
We believe these males may be involved. It’s important that we identify who they are and either rule them in or eliminate them from our inquiries. I think we’ve indicated we’re going to be incredibly thorough with this investigation. The CCTV also indicates a blue coloured Hyundai sedan which is missing a hubcap on the left hand side. That vehicle was seen to go out to a house that we believe Mr Baghsarian was held captive during his ordeal.
NSW police have released CCTV footage of three men sought over the alleged kidnapping and murder of Sydney grandfather Chris Baghsarian. Composite: NSW police
Luca Ittimani
Australian households fear double whammy of rate hikes and higher petrol prices will lead to recession
Surging interest rates and petrol prices have stripped more than $1bn a month from Australian household budgets as economists warn of recession risks.
Consumers are preparing for rates to surpass their recent highs after the Reserve Bank delivered back-to-back hikes ahead of an inflation spike driven by the US war on Iran.
Dougal Warby was among the thousands of Australians who bought their first homes when the RBA was expected to cut its target interest rate from 4.1% to 3.1% or lower by today.
Dougal Warby. Photograph: supplied
On Tuesday, as he approached the one-year anniversary of buying his Brisbane apartment, rates rebounded back to 4.1%, adding more than $200 to his monthly repayments.
“We’ve seen two drops, two raises, which pretty much brings us back to square one,” he said. “Unsettled is the word.”
Read more here:
Benita Kolovos
The Victorian Greens will today call on the state government to make public transport free next month to provide immediate relief from cost of living pressures and shift people away from cars as petrol prices soar.
The party’s state leader, Ellen Sandell, says the short term measure should be introduced next month while the government works on longer term cost of living relief. A parliamentary budget office commissioned by the party found that making public transport free for a month would cost the government approximately $79.4m but could save a commuter household up to $500 from their family budget for that month.
She said Victoria had among the most expensive public transport in the country, while other states such as Western Australia and Queensland had lowered their fares.
Sandell said:
Petrol prices are surging and people across Victoria are feeling the pain. Making public transport free for the next month is something the state government could do right now to immediately help people with cost-of-living pressures.
Andrew Hastie, the shadow minister for industry, said Donald Trump’s criticism of Australia was a “petulant” remark.
Hastie spoke to RN this morning, where he was asked about the US president’s statement that the country did not need or “desire” assistance from Australia, Japan, South Korea or Nato allies during the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East. He said:
Look, I thought it was a petulant post from a president under immense pressure. … Relationships that are longstanding, you show respect and I don’t think it was a respectful post at all.
We’ve got a proud history, and I just don’t think that’s how you treat allies. I think it’s a reflection on his character more than us.
Andrew Hastie. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Greens senator says party ‘pleased’ Labor open to CGT reform
Greens senator Nick McKim is railing against the capital gains tax discount this morning.
McKim said the Greens were “pleased” that the government is considering options for reform, saying the discount remained the “most unfair tax break on the books”, skewing housing towards investors.
He told RN:
It blows overwhelmingly to wealthier older Australians and it is time for change. This is a historic opportunity for government and we hope they take it.
The evidence is overwhelming that the capital gains tax has not only skewed the mix of the housing stock in Australia away from owner-occupiers, which means that renters trying to buy their first home just can’t get in to the market. But it’s also contributed to rising house prices, which is again taking the Australian dream of owning your own home further and further away from more and more.
Nick McKim. Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images
Turnbull says Trump ‘lashing out’ at Australia and other allies
Malcolm Turnbull said Donald Trump was “lashing out” and had been left “furious” that the US’s allies, including Australia, weren’t assisting with the war in the Middle East.
The former prime minister spoke to RN Breakfast this morning:
It really just underlines … the importance of Australia being more independent, exercising our own sovereignty and recognising that the course we have been undertaking, really since the Morrison government, of becoming more and more dependent on the United States, is absolutely the wrong course, because we are making ourselves more dependent on the US at a time when the US is less dependable.
Turnbull added that Trump’s remarks show he “doesn’t respect” his allies.
This is a guy that does not respect smaller countries. He believes might is right, he makes no bones about that. He believes he should be able to do and get whatever he wants.
Turnbull and Trump, seen in 2018. Photograph: REX/Shutterstock
ARN confirms Kyle Sandilands contract terminated
ARN just issued a statement confirming Kyle Sandilands’ contract had been terminated and the Kyle and Jackie O show cancelled.
The broadcaster said the decision came after it first said this month it considered Sandilands’ behaviour as “serious misconduct and a breach of ARN’s services agreement with Quasar Media, under which Mr Sandilands presents the Kyle and Jackie O show”.
ARN said Sandilands was given 14 days to remedy the breach.
Kyle Sandilands says his ARN contract has been terminated – but he ‘doesn’t accept it’
Kyle Sandilands said this morning his contract has been terminated by ARN.
In a statement, the radio host said:
ARN has just announced that they’ve terminated my contract. I don’t accept it.
My lawyers told them last week this would be invalid. And guess what? It is.
Sandilands described his conflict with former co-host Jackie “O” Henderson as a “blue on air. That’s it”, saying ARN had used the situation as an opportunity to “try and burn the place down”.
They sacked Jackie. They suspended me. They wouldn’t even let me pick up the phone to call her or anyone else on the show. Then – and this is the bit that gets me – once they’d made it impossible for the show to go on, they turn around and say, “You didn’t fix it. You’re fired!”
Kyle and Jackie O. Photograph: Steven Markham/Publishd/Shutterstock
He said he had apologised to Henderson, but said the apology didn’t mean he would “stand by”.
ARN knew exactly what they were getting when they signed my deal. They’ve worked with me for over a decade. They knew how I work, they knew the show, and they were happy to pay for it – because I delivered.
Chalmers says government firm on not sending defence resources to strait of Hormuz
Jim Chalmers said Australia’s commitments to the Middle East conflict were “clear”, but those obligations would not include any military effort in the strait of Hormuz.
The thoroughfare is a major channel for oil and has been effectively blocked by Iran, leading to a surge in worldwide fuel prices.
Chalmers said:
It is not something we have been considering. We have made the nature of our commitment clear. … We have a different kind of commitment.
Chalmers says rate rise not the decision ‘Australians were hoping for’
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said the government would continue to tackle inflation, but said yesterday’s rate rise would increase pressure on Australians already reeling amid a cost of living crisis.
Chalmers told ABC News this morning:
This is not the decision that a lot of Australians were hoping for, at a time when they were already under significant pressure.
The treasurer said the government was still pushing cost of living relief measures, including upcoming tax cuts, efforts to slash student debt and making medicines cheaper.
There’s a whole range of things that we’re doing in the responsible way that we can.
Chalmers would not comment on any changes to the capital gains tax discount, but said the government was “considering its options on tax reform”.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Good morning, it’s a rainy one over in Sydney. Nick Visser here to take you through the day’s news. Let’s get to it.
Benita Kolovos
Victoria to release final planning controls for inner-Melbourne ‘activity centres’
The Victorian government will today release the final planning controls for the first 25 activity centres near train and tram stations in Melbourne’s inner-city suburbs.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, and the planning minister, Sonya Kilkenny, will release the maps for areas including North Brighton, Middle Brighton, Hampton and Sandringham stations along the Sandringham line.
The duo first unveiled the plan in Middle Brighton, leading to a much-publicised protest led by Liberal MP James Newbury.
Five of the 25 maps were released to the media ahead of today’s announcement. These include maps for a large stretch of Sydney Road from Coburg through to Brunswick, where the proposed height limit increased from 16 storeys in the draft to 20 in the final planning controls.
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan (right) and planning minister Sonya Kilkenny speaking to media at Parliament House in Melbourne. Photograph: James Ross/AAP
In Middle Brighton, Oakleigh and Kew Junction, the plans are largely unchanged from the drafts.
The government has said it letterboxed from more than 140,000 Victorians and received feedback from 12,500, which “directly shaped the final plans” including changes to height limits.
Allan said in a statement:
For years, some of Melbourne’s best-connected suburbs have been locked up and it’s pushing young people and families out. We’re changing that. These reforms cut delays and give clear rules – so more millennials get into a home faster.
Here’s what we wrote when the drafts were released last year:
Cyclone Narelle forms in Coral Sea
Adeshola Ore
A tropical low developing in the Coral Sea off Queensland’s coast has been declared a cyclone.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Bureau of Meteorology confirmed that the area of low pressure, which is heading for the state’s far north coast, had developed into a cyclone called Narelle.
It could intensify to a category four system when it makes landfall later this week.
Narelle could cross Queensland’s Cape York as early as Friday before moving into the Gulf of Carpentaria over the weekend, according to the BoM.
It is then expected to head towards the Northern Territory, which has been hit by record-breaking floods this month.
Trump lashes out at Australia over absence of allies against Iran
Donald Trump has listed Australia among the allies he appears to be bitterly disappointed with, for not wanting to get involved with his war against Iran.
In a social media post overnight the US president said his country “has been informed by most of our Nato ‘allies’ that they don’t want to get involved … despite the fact that almost every country strongly agreed with what we are doing”.
“I am not surprised by their action,” he said, because he always considered Nato a “one way street – we will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need”.
Because of the fact that we have had such military success [against Iran], we no longer ‘need’ or desire the Nato countries’ assistance – we never did!
Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea.
In fact, speaking as president of the United States of America, by far the most powerful country anywhere in the world, we do not need the help of anyone!
It is unclear whether he has asked for assistance from Australia. On Tuesday the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, said Australia had not received any formal request for help in the strait of Hormuz.
US president Donald Trump during the Friends of Ireland luncheon at the US Capitol on Tuesday. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA
Chalmers downplays RBA’s warning of possible recession
Adeshola Ore
Jim Chalmers has sought to downplay the Reserve Bank of Australia’s warning that a recession may be unavoidable after a second consecutive rate rise.
On Tuesday, the RBA increased interest rates to 4.1% amid a global energy shock that threatens to push Australian inflation towards 5%. The RBA governor Michelle Bullock said if the central bank could not bring inflation down it would have to deal with the possibility of a recession.
Speaking to the ABC’s 7.30 on Tuesday night, the federal treasurer said:
That’s not something that we’re anticipating or forecasting or expecting.
We’re running a lot of scenarios at the moment as you would expect …. in the numbers we’re running right now we’re not expecting that outcome.
Chalmers said the government would do the “best” it could with available forecasts amid global uncertainty due to the Middle East conflict.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Nick Visser will take the reins.
After a day of grim headlines yesterday, with economists forecasting recession for Australia, Jim Chalmers has come out fighting, telling 7.30 last night “that’s not something that we’re anticipating or forecasting or expecting”. Read more in a moment.
And Donald Trump has named Australia among the allies he appears to be disappointed don’t want to get involved in his war against Iran. On the other hand, he insisted in capital letters, “we do not need the help of anyone!”
The White House is digging in against congressional Democrats, revealing several compromises the administration has been willing to make on immigration enforcement in order to end the government shutdown.
In a letter from a White House official obtained by Fox News Digital, the administration laid out five key concessions to congressional Democrats, who have continued to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a bid to get stringent reforms to immigration operations.
It’s the first peek behind the closely guarded veil of the funding stalemate and comes after congressional Democrats broke the ice with yet another counteroffer to the White House late Monday night, which the administration balked at as the shutdown entered its 32nd day.
The White House unveiled a list of compromises made to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats as the DHS shutdown drags on into its 32nd day. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)
“The Democrats have once again responded with a counteroffer that does not indicate the seriousness that this moment needs,” a senior White House official said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., countered that the White House wasn’t negotiating seriously, either.
“The issue is, they’re not getting serious,” Schumer said. “The key issues of warrants when you bust into someone’s house, the key issue of identity of police and no masks, they haven’t budged on those.”
The letter, sent to Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Katie Britt, R-Ala., included compromises on several demands that have been a top priority for Schumer and Democrats, but notably lacked requirements for agents to obtain judicial warrants and demands that agents go maskless.
“The use of administrative warrants is a long-standing practice for administrations, and ultimately that will be a subject of future conversations, but the administration is unwilling to return to the Biden status quo of open borders,” the official said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., warned that Senate Democrats’ refusal to fund DHS would have consequences. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Still, the letter did check off several asks for Democrats, including expanding the use of body-worn cameras for DHS agents, save for agents in undercover operations, coupled with plans to hold onto the footage to allow for more congressional oversight.
The Trump administration also offered to limit immigration enforcement at sensitive locations, including hospitals and schools, with exceptions to national security, flight risks, and public safety. The administration also plans to adhere to congressional oversight of DHS detention facilities, and vowed to enforce the use of visible identification for DHS agents.
Another compromise was to ensure that any U.S. citizens are not deported, and plans to codify not “knowingly detaining a U.S. citizen, except when the person violates a state or federal law that makes the citizen subject to arrest.”
Democrats’ counter did little to move the needle for Republicans, too.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., characterized the White House’s compromises as going “above and beyond,” and noted that the administration had made offers to plus up spending on body-worn cameras to $100 million and “include audits by the Inspector General, you know, and reviews for non-compliance.”
“I mean, there’s a whole bunch of stuff in there that they’re just things that, in my view, have been significant gives on the part of the White House, but the Democrats seem intent on dragging out this political issue,” Thune said.
And Britt, who Thune tapped to lead negotiations on behalf of the GOP, said she was still trying to get Democrats in a room to negotiate.
Britt told Fox News Digital that she believed “that there are many of my Democratic colleagues” that wanted to find a way out of the shutdown, too, and noted that during the 43-day shutdown there had been talks happening the whole time.
“I mean, it’s past time for us to do that, and so I’m going to keep pushing it,” she said. “But do you realize that, how many days into this — and we have yet to sit down and talk about it — I mean it’s actual insanity.”
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
