Ariana Grande venues tighter security for Australian shows, all bags banned

ALL bags, even the tiniest clutch, will be banned from Ariana Grande’s concerts in Australia next week in the wake of the terrorist attack after her Manchester Arena show in May.

The venues hosting her Dangerous Woman concerts in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane next week, have been instructed to introduce tight security measures for the Australian leg of the tour.

All sizes of bags are strictly prohibited, with fans allowed only to bring essential items such as keys, wallet and phone in a clear plastic carry bag.

“This event is strictly a NO BAG event. Should you need to carry personal items, a clear plastic carry bag no larger than (H) 20cm x 25cm x (D) 10cm where contents are visible is acceptable,” the ICC Sydney theatre has posted on their website.

“Laptops, tablets, iPads, professional cameras with detachable lenses, bottles of any kind and all items on the prohibited items list will not be permitted in to the event.”

There will be no cloak room open at the venue for fans to be able to store their bags at these concerts.

Fans will also have to go through personal checks with metal wands and pat-downs.

And parents who are dropping off or picking up their children have also been asked to “please do not bring a bag”…

Source: Ariana Grande venues introduce tighter security for Australian shows

Sharapova wows US Open crowd in first major match since doping ban – BEATS no.2 Halep

Five-time major champion Maria Sharapova made an assured return to New York’s Flushing Meadows Monday night with a 6-4, X-X win over World No. 2 Simona Halep in her first competition in 15 months. ORWorld No. 2 Simona Halep denied five-time major champion Maria Sharapova a fairytale return to New York’s Flushing Meadows Monday night with a 6-4, X-X, win over the former US Open winner.

The Russian produced a dominant display which often combined agility with sheer power and athleticism, overwhelming the Romanian in three sets, taking the final one despite Halep’s best efforts to fight back.

The 30-year-old Sharapova’s mental game was on point during the thrilling match as she stretched, screamed and powered her way to what was ultimately her competition to lose.

In what was one of the most thrilling first-round matches in recent US Open history, the Russian continued her winning streak over her opponent — she’s never lost to Halep in a half-dozen previous head-to-heads.

Halep, overpowered and outplayed for much of the two-hour, 43-minute match, refused to give up and clawed back sets beginning at 4-2 down in the second set, when she convincingly broke Sharapova’s serve.

Halep dug deep in the second set to win five straight games in a row, but it was not to be and Sharapova’s closed out the match with a tense third set in front of a strongly pro-Sharapova crowd.

Fatigue was setting in as Sharapova held her nerve in the final set, feeding off the crowd’s vocal encouragement of the Russian during her return to the Arthur Ashe Stadium…

Source: Sharapova wows US Open crowd in first major match since doping ban – CNN

‘Quiet’ cop was working overtime… and took down four terrorists; Should double his pay!

THE hero police officer who shot dead four terrorists in Spain intent on attacking people with knives was a former elite soldier and expert marksman.

The policeman, who has not been named for security reasons, had served with the Spanish Legion, a crack infantry unit of the Spanish army.

It is a “rapid reaction force” which bears the nickname “Bridegrooms of Death’, and is modelled on the legendary French Foreign Legion.

The married father, highly trained in firearms and marksmanship, is now part of the Catalan police force, Mossos d’Esquadra, The Telegraph reports.

As the world reels at news that seven-year-old Australian Julian Cadman is among those murdered in Barcelona last week, the officer who shot four of the terrorists down just wants to get back to work.

He had joined the police force looking for a more stable and less dangerous life, and wasn’t meant to be working last Thursday when terrorists struck the heart of Spain, in Barcelona.

He offered to work overtime in Cambrils, about 120km from Barcelona, when security was beefed up in the wake of the Barcelona attack earlier in the day

Source: Police officer who gunned down Spain terrorists was former special forces soldier

Double amputee teenager Billy [Whizz] Monger returns to the race track after crash

Billy Monger had both legs amputated after he collided with a stationary car while driving at 120mph during a race in April.

A teenage British racing driver is back behind the wheel less than three months after having both legs amputated following a crash.

Billy Monger, who turned 18 just days after the collision, returned to a racing car at Brands Hatch, Kent, on Tuesday.

Known as “Billy Whizz”, the champion racer was left in a critical condition after colliding with a stationary car at 120mph during a Formula 4 championship race in April.

He was trapped inside his vehicle for more than 90 minutes before being taken to hospital and put in an induced coma.

Doctors were unable to save his lower legs.

But the teenager, from Surrey, has stuck to his vow to return to the track by getting to grips with a specially-adapted golf cart.

Billy’s story spread all over the world with £1m raised online to help with his recovery, while Formula 1 champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have given their backing to the teenager.

Source: Double amputee Billy Monger returns to the race track after crash

Three-quarters of world has little or no confidence in Trump, Pew study finds

Indonesian Muslim preacher named as porn case suspect

Indonesian police have named a controversial hardline Muslim preacher as a suspect in a pornography case.

Rizieq Shihab is accused of exchanging graphic messages and nude pictures in text conversations with a woman….

Indonesian Muslim preacher named as porn case suspect https://t.co/RRvd2AhpfX

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 30, 2017

 

Truck roll over on Stirling Highway, Fremantle causing traffic chaos

A TRUCK carrying grain has rolled on Stirling Highway, Fremantle, causing traffic chaos.

The vehicle rolled in southbound lane at High Street.

The driver has been taken to hospital but isn’t seriously injured.

Motorists are being advised to avoid the area.

Source: Truck roll over on Stirling Highway, Fremantle | Perth Now

Kim Beazley: No sleuth to assume the motive behind Trump’s sacking of James Comey FBI Director

IT doesn’t take a sleuth to assume the motive behind American President Donald Trump’s sensational sacking of FBI Director James Comey, Kim Beazley says.

The former Australian Ambassador to the US described Mr Trump’s move as “of enormous significance”, as Washington reels from the news.

“I don’t quite know what the public reasons are associated with it but certainly the inquiry the FBI is currently conducting into the relationship of Trump’s campaign team, maybe Trump himself, and the Russians is such that it may have reached the point where somebody would want to be able appoint an FBI director to suppress the investigation,” Mr Beazley told a PwC breakfast in Brisbane this morning.

“That (investigation) carries the biggest threat of impeachment for Trump. You don’t have to be too much of a sleuth or a suspicious fellow to assume that there is a linkage here.”

The White House confirmed Mr Comey had been “terminated and removed” at the President’s direction, in relation to his investigation of the Hillary Clinton email controversy.

“The president has accepted the recommendation of the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General regarding the dismissal of the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in a statement.

Mr Comey was leading the agency charged with investigating the Trump campaign’s ties with Russia and that country’s apparent interference with the election.

That fact has prompted outage from Democrats and some Washington observers.

Former federal prosecutor and respected legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin launched an extraordinary attack on the move during an appearance on CNN, describing it as “a grotesque abuse of power”.

“This is the kind of thing that goes on in non-democracies, that when there’s an investigation that reaches near … the leader they fire the people who are in charge,” Mr Toobin said.

In a letter, Mr Trump told Mr Comey: “You are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately.

“While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.

It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission.”

The decision was pinned on the FBI Director overstating the number of Clinton emails top aide Huma Abedin forwarded to her husband, during his testimony last week to a Senate committee, according to several reports.

MORE HERE: Donald Trump fires FBI Director James Comey after Hillary Clinton emails | Perth Now

Best-Selling Author Jean Stein Dies in New York Aged 83, jumping from a building

Cuban military says plane crashes, 8 dead

Eight people have been killed in the crash of a Cuban military plane in the western province of Artemisa, an official says.

A source briefed on the situation says the plane belongs to Aerogaviota, an airline run by the Cuban military that serves Cuban government agencies. Those include state-run tourism companies and the Cuban oil company.

Aerogaviota was confirming the crash to Cuban officials without releasing details. The person briefed on the situation spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to release the information.

Aerogaviota’s fleet includes the 39-person Soviet-made An-26 and the French-made ATR-42, which carries up to 50 people.

Source: Cuban military says plane crashes, 8 dead | Perth Now

Producers were desperate to get people to have sex on the show: 7 Year Switch participant Jackie Martin SLAMS Kaitlyn Isham

Bride’s nightmare 23-hour journey on Jetstar for wedding – 9 hour bus ride

A simple trip from Gold Coast to Queenstown turned into a 23-hour ordeal for an Australian bride travelling to New Zealand to get married.

Olivia Wardrop and 11 members of her bridal party – which included her fiancee and one-year-old daughter – endured a nightmare journey following a series of complications by their aircraft carrier, Jetstar.

Problems initially started when the group’s direct flight from the Gold Coast to Queenstown, which is a three hour flight time, was delayed by four hours on March 18.

Mrs Wardrop felt a sense of relief when the plane finally took off at 10am but it was short-lived.

As they were about to land, it was revealed by the captain they would be diverted to Christchurch – almost 500km away from Queenstown – because of faulty landing equipment.

Shockingly the group were notified over the intercom they would not be getting a connecting flight to the original destination – but that they would be completing the rest of the trip ‘on land’ from Christchurch.

Half of the bridal party traveled by van and half by bus…

MORE: Bride’s nightmare 23-hour journey on Jetstar for wedding | Daily Mail Online