The Ombudsman has launched an inquiry into the MIQ booking system, saying it was prompted by hundreds of complaints. Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier said the complaints fitted into four broad categories – claims the allocation system…
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How 'Squid Game' is earning Netflix billions
Netflix now has 213.5 million subscribers globally, having added 4.4 million subscribers in the third quarter of 2021, thanks in large part to its biggest ever show "Squid Game".
That number beat the streaming service's own expectations as well as those of analysts. The company also forecast that it would have 222 million subscribers for the next quarter.
The results immediately sent the company's stock up by as much as 2 per cent in after hours trading before going negative nearly as much as the night went on.
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Netflix's third quarter profit was $US 1.4 billion ($1.87 billion), up from $US 790 million ($1.05 billion) in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue jumped 16 per cent, to $US 7.4 billion ($9.89 billion).
This isn't a blowaway quarter for the company, which has had much bigger subscriber growth in the past. But after two consecutive sluggish quarters, the third quarter showed that Netflix appears to be somewhat back on the right track.
The report comes as Netflix is dealing with controversy over a Dave Chappelle comedy special as well as watching the growing popularity of "Squid Game" — a fictional drama from South Korea that has taken the streaming world by storm since its September 17 debut.
"Netflix is a global, direct-to-consumer service which enables creators to reach broader audiences — and gives our members an even greater choice of stories to enjoy," the company said in its letter to investors on Tuesday.
"There is no better example of this than 'Squid Game.'"
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The company announced earlier this month that the dystopian series, in which contestants desperately in need of money play deadly children's games to win cash prizes, was it's "biggest-ever series at launch."
The company said Tuesday that 142 million member households have watched the show in its first four weeks.
Elsewhere in the earnings report, Netflix reported that it added roughly 70,000 subscribers in the US and Canada — an improvement from the second quarter's loss, but only up about 1 million subscribers from last year's totals in those countries.
The company still has about 74 million members in the US and Canada, but the region has become very saturated, stagnating Netflix's growth there.
This is why the company has made its global expansion a point of emphasis.
READ MORE: No way home for stranded Aussies with unrecognised vaccines
Case in point: the company's biggest growth in the third quarter was in the Asian-Pacific region, which accounted for roughly half of Netflix's gains.
Away from its numbers and "Squid Game," Netflix finds itself in the middle of a media firestorm as it continues to defend Chappelle's new comedy special "The Closer."
The special has been criticized as transphobic by some LGBTQ+ advocates, artists and employees. It premiered earlier this month.
Netflix fired an employee for sharing "confidential, commercially sensitive information" outside of the company about the stand-up special.
The unidentified employee was an organizer of an upcoming walkout by the company's trans employees, according to media reports.
No way home for stranded Aussies with unrecognised vaccines
Exclusive: Many Aussies stuck overseas might have an easier path home from November 1 when NSW opens its international borders after hitting the 80 per cent vaccination rate.
But for people like James Cater, 30, from Shoalhaven in NSW, who haven't had a vaccine recognised by Australia's authorities, the pain continues.
He could only get a Russian vaccine called Sputnik Light after more than 18 months stranded in the country.
READ MORE: How to get your international travel vaccine passport
It means he'll still have to battle for a flight – NSW will only allow 210 unvaccinated people in per week with tight caps remaining in the rest of the nation – and pay $4000 for hotel quarantine with his partner Anna, 27.
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"I wish the TGA would just accept Sputnik vaccines as an emergency measure," he told 9news.com.au.
There are 47,300 Aussies now registered with DFAT as wanting to come home.
But they can only fly into NSW from November 1 with no quarantine if they've had vaccines made by Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson (Janssen), Coronavac (Sinovac) – used by China – and Covishield, mostly used in India.
Other jabs, such as Sputnik and Sinopharm, are not recognised and do not allow their recipients to come home quarantine-free.
Mr Cater has been stuck in Russia since the borders closed in March 2020.
READ MORE: International flight caps lifted for returning Aussies
He had only planned to be away for a couple of months and because he's not a Russian resident, he could only get the Sputnik Light vaccine.
Russia's other jab, Sputnik V, was rejected for listing by Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and Sputnik Light has not been considered.
He is in Novosibirsk, Siberia, and was visiting Anna when the borders closed over 18 months ago.
He has had four flights home cancelled and has spent his life savings of $30,000.
Now he says he's "fatigued" at the latest hurdle.
READ MORE: How NSW's new quarantine rules will work
"Many Russians are travelling to the Balkans to get their shots so they can travel in Europe on 'vaccine tours' but as an Australian, this is not really set up for me, as all of the tours are return flight packages – my current status would not allow me to return to Russia," he said.
Meanwhile, Russian COVID-19 cases are surging.
"A lot of Russians suspect the death statistics have been diluted quite a bit from the official reporting," he said.
"Anecdotally, our friend's father died in June and I suspect one of our neighbours did in March this year."
Stranded Aussies also face further hurdles still if their destination is not NSW.
While NSW is removing all quarantine with a negative test on arrival, anybody who wants to travel to other states must abide by whatever domestic travel rules are in place at the time.
While Victoria has removed tests and quarantine for NSW arrivals, for other states that could include quarantine or in the case of WA, an outright ban, with the state indicating it will remain closed to states with cases even by Christmas.
The Department of Home Affairs has also indicated families with unvaccinated children over 12 will have to do quarantine when they return to Australia – but not all nations are vaccinating children.
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A DFAT spokesman said: "We are doing everything we can to assist Australians who remain overseas to return."
The Department of Health said: "The ATAGI definition of fully vaccinated applies for all those eligible to be vaccinated in Australia with TGA approved or recognised vaccines.
"Children under the age of 12 are not currently eligible to be vaccinated, and as such would be exempt from vaccination requirements.
"Decisions around quarantine remain a matter for the respective states and territories under their reopening plans.
"Information related to TGA approved and recognised vaccines is available online.
"Both ATAGI and the TGA continue to review the evidence and will update advice as information comes to hand."
Real estate heir Robert Durst faces grand jury over death of his wife
New York prosecutors have gone to a grand jury as they seek to indict millionaire real estate scion Robert Durst for the death of his former wife, Kathie Durst, who vanished in 1982.
The grand jury in Westchester County was empanelled last week and has started hearing witness testimony, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorised to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.
The grand jury process is expected to take several weeks.
READ MORE: US real estate heir sentenced to life for murder of best friend
The news was first reported by News 12 in Westchester and the Journal News, which reported seeing a witness in the case entering the grand jury room Monday.
A message seeking comment was left with a spokesperson for Westchester District Attorney Mimi Rocah. Messages were also left for Durst's lawyer and Kathie Durst's family.
Robert Durst, 78, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole for murdering a confidante whom prosecutors say helped him cover up Kathie Durst's killing.
Los Angeles prosecutors say Durst shot Susan Berman in 2000 as she was preparing to confess her role to police.
Durst, who has numerous medical issues, sat in a wheelchair during much of the sentencing hearing and in the days since has been hospitalised on a ventilator after testing positive COVID-19, one of his lawyers said.
Kathie Durst was 29 when she vanished on January 31, 1982.
READ MORE: Robert Durst hospitalised with COVID-19, his lawyer says
Her body was never found.
At the request of her family, she was declared legally dead in 2017. Robert Durst divorced Kathie Durst in 1990 citing abandonment.
He has never been charged in her disappearance despite several efforts over the years to close the case. Authorities reopened the case in 1999, searching a lake and the couple's home.
Passengers, crew survive Texas plane crash
All passengers and crew have survived a plane that crashed in Texas after it rolled through a fence and caught fire.
The Boston-bound aircraft carrying more than 20 people crashed while taking off at Houston Executive Airport on Tuesday morning (US time), officials said.
All passengers and crew were safely removed with at least one minor injury, Waller County Judge Trey Duhon reported via Facebook.
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"The information we have at this time indicates that the plane did not attain altitude at the end of the runway and went across Morton Road, coming to a rest in the field just north of the airport, where it caught on fire," the judge said.
One person reported back pain, according to the post. Another person had respiratory issues, according to Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Sergeant Stephen Woodard, who was at the crash site.
Both were transported to a hospital but later returned to the airport.
"This is a good day. This is actually a day of celebration for a lot of people," Sgt Woodard said.
The McDonnell Douglas MD-87 "rolled through a fence and caught fire in a field" just after 10am. while attempting to depart, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.
Sgt Woodard said there were 18 passengers, two pilots and an attendant on board. He had earlier said there were 22 people on the plane.
The youngest passenger was 10 years old, according to the sergeant.
The fire has been extinguished, Sgt Woodard said.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will be investigating, with the NTSB as the lead agency.
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Victoria construction company admits to breaking laws that led to employees' deaths
A Ballarat construction company has admitted it broke workplace laws, leading to the deaths of two young tradies in a trench collapse.
Construction company Pipecon pleaded guilty to failing to provide supervision to ensure a safe workplace before the County Court today.
The court heard that by failing to provide the supervision, the company led to the death of Charlie Howkins, 34, and Jack Brownlee, 21, when a trench collapsed at Delacombe in 2018.
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The men had been ordered to carry out high-risk excavation work.
Statements from the victims' families read to the court said the men would still be alive if their bosses had not failed to keep them safe.
Mr Brownlee's father Dave recalled arriving at the scene of the trench collapse on the outskirts of Ballarat in March 2018.
"It was like a horror movie," his statement read.
"I wish I could have swapped places with my boy."
Prosecutors told the court the sewerage project for the Winterfield Housing Estate where the men died was understaffed and without trenching shields or a manhole cage.
"It was inevitable a collapse would occur," the prosecutor said.
Other workers realised something was wrong after the men failed to show up for smoko.
They found Mr Howkins unresponsive and Mr Brownless asking for help to get out of the collapsed trench.
The colleagues tried to dig the pair out using their hands and a shovel.
A statement from Mr Howkins' widow said his bosses didn't even bother to call her until that evening.
"There was no care for us then, and there hasn't been ever since," her statement read.
Pipecon is facing a fine of more than $1.4 million.
Prosecutors said they wanted the sentence to send a message to others in the industry that if they fail to mitigate the risk for workers, they too would face a significant punishment.
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