Tag Archives: oceania

'Crazy' demand for Matildas kit leaves Socceroos sales in dust

The Matildas are winning and the cash tills are ringing.

Coveted Matildas jerseys and team apparel is flying off the shelves, eclipsing the Socceroos, as the side gets set for a crunch World Cup quarterfinal against France.

"There's definitely been a huge increase in sales," a store worker from Melbourne specialty outlet SPT Football told 9news.com.au. He wished to remain anonymous.

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Fans are snapping up Matildas kit  and apparel

"The team's popularity is crazy, but it's something that (our store) completely understands because they have always been popular."

For a number of years, Matildas jerseys have outsold the Socceroos, he said.

Asked why, he replied: "I think the fact that they're pretty good. As Aussies we like a winner, and like to jump on board".

In the last five World Cups, the Matildas have reached the quarterfinals, and are threatening to go even deeper at this tournament.

It's been a tougher struggle for the Socceroos, making it to the round of 16 twice and eliminated three times in the group stages at their last five cup outings.

Thirst for the Matildas kit was boosted by the team's on field success and co-hosting the World Cup with the Kiwis, but there has always been demand from a faithful fanbase, the worker said.

"The Matildas, from a pure sales point of view, have always been more popular than the Socceroos," he said, reflecting on his six years working in the SPT store.

Retail operations manager Rodrigo Alvim described a similar scenario at Ultra Football, a retail Sydney outlet which sells football apparel.

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Australia celebrates after beating Denmark.Australian fans celebrate as the Matildas beat Denmark

"It's just been massive, it's been huge," Alvim said when asked about sales, adding that "you can't even really compare" demand for Matildas and Socceroos jerseys, even factoring in the men performing well and qualifying for the round of 16 last year in Qatar.

"I think the Matildas are really well known in the country and people believe they are more capable than the men, in terms of how far they can get in a World Cup.

"It's very good for the game, and especially women's football."

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Fans At Sydney's FIFA Fan Site watch the Matildas FIFA World Cup game

Alvim said scarves, jackets, key rings and caps were selling well.

"Anything that is related to the cup and the Matildas, people are coming for it."

Yuan Orpia, a store worker at Sydney shop Mick Simmons Sport, said Sam Kerr jerseys were selling like hotcakes, mostly to "Gen Z and millennials".

"Everyone is looking for Matilda products," he said.

The SPT worker said mostly young women were buying the replica jerseys in-store, and online the women's cut of the jersey was outselling the men's and kid's cuts.

Cheaper, basic items – like t-shirts and beanies – were also big movers, he said.

"People want to be part of it … showing the green and gold."

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US rapper sentenced over shooting of Megan Thee Stallion

A US judge sentenced rapper Tory Lanez to 10 years in prison today for shooting and wounding hip-hop superstar Megan Thee Stallion.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Herriford handed down the sentence to the 31-year-old Lanez, who was convicted in December of three felonies: assault with a semiautomatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.

The sentence brings an end to a dramatic trial that created a cultural firestorm in the hip-hop community, churning up issues including the reluctance of Black victims to speak to police, gender politics in hip-hop, online toxicity, protecting Black women and the ramifications of misogynoir, a particular brand of misogyny Black women experience.

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Tory Lanez

Herriford said it was "difficult to reconcile" the kind, charitable person and good father many people described Lanez as being during the sentencing hearing with the person who fired the gun at Megan.

"Sometimes good people do bad things," Herriford said.

"Actions have consequences, and there are no winners in this case."

Megan testified that Lanez fired the gun at the back of her feet and shouted for her to dance as she walked away from an SUV in which they had been riding in July 2020, after leaving a pool party at Kylie Jenner's Hollywood Hills home. She had to have surgery to remove bullet fragments.

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Megan Thee Stallion

"Since I was viciously shot by the defendant, I have not experienced a single day of peace," Megan said in a statement read by a prosecutor on Monday.

"Slowly but surely, I'm healing and coming back, but I will never be the same."

Lanez asked Herriford for mercy just before the judge delivered his sentence. Lanez requested either probation or a minimal prison sentence.

"If I could turn back the series of events that night and change them," I would, Lanez continued.

"The victim was my friend. The victim is someone I still care for to this day.

"Everything I did wrong that night, I take full responsibility for."

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Tory Lanez

Before the sentencing, Lanez's father, Sonstar Peterson, choked back tears as he talked about how the rapper's mother died when he was 11, just days after she first showed symptoms of the rare blood disorder that would lead to her death.

"I don't think anybody ever gets over that," he said of their youngest child, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson. "But his music became his outlet."

Lanez began releasing mixtapes in 2009 and saw a steady rise in popularity, moving on to major-label albums. His last two reached the top 10 on Billboard's charts.

Megan Thee Stallion, now 28, was already a major rising star at the time of the shooting, and her prominence has surged since. Born Megan Pete, she won a Grammy for best new artist in 2021, and she had No. 1 singles with "Savage," featuring Beyoncé, and as a guest on Cardi B's "WAP."

The elder Peterson, who is a Christian minister, was one of several people who gave statements on Lanez's character and charitable giving — as did the mother of Lanez's young son, who spoke in court about his qualities as a father. Dozens more wrote letters to Herriford, including rapper Iggy Azalea, who asked the judge to hand down a sentence that was "transformative, not life-destroying."

Herriford said Lanez's son, who is about six years old, also sent in a handwritten letter, but the judge did not describe it further.

Lanez's family and supporters have packed the courtroom; during the trial, they contended his prosecution was unjustly brought on by Megan and powerful figures in music. After the verdict was read in December, Lanez's father denounced the "wicked system" that led to his son's conviction; on Monday, Sonstar Peterson apologized to Herriford for the outburst.

Megan Thee Stallion

Lanez has been jailed since his conviction. A chaplain from Los Angeles County jail said Monday in court that Lanez has led daily prayer groups that have eased tensions in the protective custody unit where he has been held.

Herriford denied a motion from Lanez's defence attorneys for a new trial on May 9. Such motions immediately following a conviction are common and rarely succeed. Attorneys for Lanez had argued that there was insufficient evidence to convict him, and some of the evidence presented to jurors should not have been allowed.

The lawyers argued Megan's testimony that Lanez urged her not to go to police because he was on parole and would be in serious trouble was both untrue and an improper allowance of prior bad acts. And they said DNA evidence that prosecutors used to argue Lanez was the likely shooter fell well short of industry standards.

Lawyers for Lanez had said in a sentencing memo that he should get only probation and be released from jail to enter a residential substance abuse program. They plan to appeal the conviction.

Herriford found earlier Monday that Megan was an especially vulnerable victim when she was shot, but that Lanez was not especially cruel or callous in firing at her.

"She has permanent scarring, physically," Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott said in court.

"And she certainly will have emotional scarring for the rest of her life."

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Harry went from sleeping under a bridge to running a multi-million dollar company

He's a 25-year-old millionaire running a global technology company with more than 80 employees – but Harry Sanders' rise to success started with humble beginnings as homeless 17-year-old.

In the infancy of his entrepreneurship, Sanders was sleeping under a bridge in Melbourne and searching for gyms that would let him use their shower.

But through hard work and incredible determination he was able to found and lead Studiohawk, the largest dedicated SEO agency in Australia.

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But he also wants others to know the important role that kindness and generosity from others played in his success.

"You can look at it on paper and think, 'It's going from homeless to building a $10 million business'," Sanders told 9News.com.au.

"But I had help from so many people along the way.

"We all need someone to help us."

Sanders was a 17-year-old student at University High School in Parkville when he was kicked out of home and found he had nowhere to go.

He found himself living on the streets of Preston with just his phone and his laptop – armed only with some online skills he taught himself when he was 13.

Once he became homeless, he tried to cancel a business name he'd previously bought to try to get a $80 refund from ASIC so he could afford to live.

It was only when he got the support of social workers and some mentorship from a kind businessman who he met at a free networking breakfast that he decided to try to get the business going.

"They gave me the confidence to go out there."

From there, Sanders worked hard to try and pitch his SEO services to potential clients.

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Actor says her 'body aches' from men's 'sins' in poetry book launch

Get ready for Megan Fox, the poet.

The debut poetry collection by the Jennifer's Body actress titled "Pretty Boys are Poisonous," is set for release in November. Gallery Books, a division of Simon and Schuster, will publish.

According to the official synopsis, Fox "shows fans her wicked humor through a heartbreaking and dark collection of poetry.

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Megan Fox

"Over the course of 80-plus poems Fox chronicles all the ways in which we fit ourselves into the shape of the ones we love, even if it means losing ourselves in the process."

In a statement Fox said, "These poems were written in an attempt to excise the illness that had taken root in me because of my silence. I've spent my entire life keeping the secrets of men, my body aches from carrying the weight of their sins.

She continued, "My freedom lives in these pages, and I hope that my words can inspire others to take back their happiness and their identity by using their voice to illuminate what's been buried, but not forgotten, in the darkness."

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In the past, Fox has been in at least two highly public relationships. She was married for Beverly Hills, 90210 star Brian Austin Green from 2010 until 2021, and the pair share three sons.

More recently, Fox has been in a high profile, on-and-off relationship with singer Machine Gun Kelly that they made public in 2020.

The poetry book will simultaneously be published as an audiobook from Simon and Schuster Audio, read by Fox.

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Adelaide woman accused of poisoning parents granted bail

An Adelaide woman accused of fatally poisoning her elderly parents a year apart has been granted bail.

Raelene Polymiadis was charged with two counts of murder over the deaths of her elderly parents Brenda and Lynton Anderson.

Detectives allege the 62-year-old deliberately administered medication to the 94-year-olds on separate occasions.

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Raelene Polymiadis has been charged with two counts of murder.

The court heard on Monday tranquilisers and insulin was allegedly found in the toxicology reports of the couple.

It is alleged the insulin used belonged to Polymiadis, who has reportedly suffered a number of diabetic episodes since her arrest and has previously been taken to hospital from court.

Yesterday's hearing was briefly adjourned by the alarm on her blood sugar monitor.

The court heard CCTV showed Polymiadis was the last person to visit her elderly father's Hackham home before a carer found him unconscious.

9News can now reveal prosecutors have also accused Polymiadis of sabotaging her medical treatment in prison by consuming large amounts of sugar.

But the judge said on Friday she is convinced the accused woman's health would be at risk were she to stay behind bars.

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She was granted home detention bail with a number of strict conditions including a ban on her contacting anyone at Noarlunga Hospital where her mother was treated or Flinders Medical Centre where the Andersons died.

Polymiadis is also banned from speaking with any of the paid carers who attended to her father or talking with her three siblings.

She will live with one of her sons who is lodging a $310,000 surety with the court to guarantee her release which is on top of $50,000 by Polymiadis and a $250,000 stake in their Craigmore home.

Polymiadis will face court again in December.

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Son's heartfelt tributes after mum's body found in house fire

The heartbroken sons of a woman killed in a house fire in Victoria's Central Highlands and Goldfields region have remembered their mum as a kind soul who was "full of love".

Maree Vermont died after she a "suspicious" fire tore through her home in Goldie on Saturday night.

A 60-year-old man has since been arrested and charged with murder and criminal damage by fire.

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Darcy, Harrison and Lachlan Vermont today gathered outside the home where their 60-year-old mother died.

"She was full of love and she always taught us to be full of love to not be angry and hateful," Darcy told 9News.

"Us three boys and our dad are grieving our mother's loss right now heavily. She was so kind and so much fun always fun, always supportive," Harrison said.

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Timothy Loosemore appeared before court Melbourne Magistrates' Court today, where he did not apply for bail.

He will next appear in court in January.

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Sacked worker admits going shopping while 'working from home'

A Sydney insurance worker's claim she was unfairly sacked after the activity on her laptop was tracked as she worked from home has been dismissed.

Suzie Cheikho was a consultant for Insurance Australia Group Services Australia Ltd (IAG) from May 2005 and one of her responsibilities as part of the outbound comms team was work from home compliance.

The company claimed when it logged her computer keystrokes there was "significant periods where no or minimal keyboard activity was present," which Cheikho disputed after she was fired in February this year over misconduct claims.

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IAG said Cheikho, who worked from home almost permanently, failed to "work as required" from October to December 2022.

Cheikho claimed there was a "premeditated plan" to remove her from the business, and denied the results of the cyber review of her keyboard, according to a Fair Work report on the decision.

Cheikho didn't work her rostered 7.8 hours for 44 out of 49 working days, the review said.

When she did log on, checks found "very low keystroke activity".

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"Sometimes the workload is a bit slow but I have never not worked," she said.

"I may go to the shops from time to time but that is not for the entire day." 

During November 2022, Cheikho only did an average of 34 keystrokes per hour and had 143 hours when she did no typing at all, the report said.

The company told Fair Work they would expect upwards of 500 keystrokes per hour for her job, which included data entry.

Cheikho said she was "confused and shocked" about the data and doubted the accuracy.

She also said she had been going through "personal issues".

After being sacked, she filed an application for unfair dismissal with Fair Work Australia, and wanted compensation.

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The company also told Fair Work she turned up to a Teams meeting with her manager over claims she didn't complete a task which resulted in the company being fined, with the work f–k written on her hand.

A Fair Work Australia found the dismissal was valid and not "harsh, unjust or unreasonable."

IAG declined to comment.

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READ MORE: Detectives probe house fire that killed five kids and dad