
Afternoon Update: black box recovered after US plane crash; email stuff-up mocks doctors; and David Beckham's underwear shoot
The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have been recovered from the plane involved in a fatal mid-air collision with a US military helicopter in Washington DC.
All 67 people onboard both aircraft died, with as many as 14 skaters and coaches, including two 16-year-olds and a married pair of world champions, believed to be on the American Airlines plane.
Authorities said it was too soon to determine the causes of the disaster, despite earlier claims that the staffing levels in the air traffic control tower at the time of the fatal collision were 'not normal'. The National Transportation Safety Board has pledged to release a preliminary report within 30 days.
Australian music festival Groovin the Moo cancelled for second year in a row
'Doing this to ourselves': misinformation threat is local, Australian Electoral Commission warns
Human Rights Commission considers discrimination complaint against Peter Dutton over Gaza comments
Police charge man allegedly behind famous 'Pam the Bird' graffiti on Melbourne landmarks
UN chief urges evacuation of 2,500 children from Gaza as doctors warn of 'imminent risk' of death
Four years after the coup, chaos reigns as Myanmar's military struggles
We look at some of the most striking images from January – including this photograph of Lisa Ashdown cutting kangaroo paw to sell from her property in rural Victoria, which was razed in bushfires last year.
'God help us in the future. We are going to have a workforce of clinical marshmellows!'
An email calling resident doctors 'a workforce of clinical marshmellows [sic]' has been sent in error by a medical administration manager at a New South Wales hospital. The local health district apologised for the stuff-up, as the doctors' union called the message 'tone-deaf' and 'unacceptable'.
Sign up to Afternoon Update
Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters
after newsletter promotion
Authorities have texted thousands of potential victims targeted by online scammers, who used dating apps to trick them into fake relationships, and deceive them into transferring money.
David Beckham is modelling in his underwear again, this time at 50. Tim Dowling believes the move will cause 'a shift in the acceptable minimum standards for the male physique', just when he thought that maybe the dad bod was back in style.
Today's starter word is: RAKE. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
If you would like to receive this Afternoon Update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here, or start your day with a curated breakdown of the key stories you need to know with our Morning Mail newsletter.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


NBC News
18 hours ago
- NBC News
Australian reporter shot with rubber bullet during L.A. protests
Video shows the moment Australian reporter Lauren Tomasi was shot with a rubber bullet while covering the L.A. protests. 9News said in a statement that Tomasi and her crew were safe and would 'continue their essential work' covering the 9, 2025


The Herald Scotland
20 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
This is why you should never trust a man with three names
Robinson's 'big lie' was to convince his customers that some of the world's finest teas could be grown, not in Sri Lanka or China, but here in Scotland. Last week Robinson – also known as Thomas O'Brien and Tam O'Braan – was convicted of fraud, after a court heard he imported sacks of bog-standard commercial tea from abroad, and passed it off as exclusive, specialist varieties, grown on his 'plantations' in Perthshire and Dumfries and Galloway. Never trust a man with three names. Read More Among his victims, duped out of almost £600,000, were some of the UK's top hotels and exclusive retailers like Fortnum and Mason. In a world where avoiding being fleeced by ever more audacious and resourceful online scammers has become a daily challenge, nothing is any longer safe or sacred – not even the good old British cuppa. The media is awash with stories of people being left high-and-dry after going along with a plausible story, or an inviting opportunity, only to learn when it is too late that they have been cleaned-out by shadowy and amoral swindlers. Some of the most heart-wrenching examples are of people who lost their pensions or life savings, after being smooth-talked into investing in dubious schemes. Banks are notoriously unsympathetic to people who have willingly handed over their funds to people they have only just met, only to learn that they are not what they seemed. And yet, as we have seen, some of the most suggestible marks for fraudsters and scammers are not pensioners, but large commercial enterprises who really should know better. Among the most watched shows currently streaming is the Netflix documentary The Search for Instagram's Worst Con Artist and the new Apple series, Cider Vinegar. Both tell the story of the disgraced Australian wellness influencer, Belle Gibson, who built a huge online following, and made a fortune, by falsely claiming to have cured her brain cancer through alternative therapies. Gibson rose to fame in 2013 by documenting her fabricated cancer battle on Instagram, gaining more than 200,000 followers. She later launched The Whole Pantry, a wellness app and cookbook, which earned her more than $400,000 AUD. Arguably more shocking than her deception was the way in which large companies lined up to associate themselves with her and her story, seemingly without doing even a modicum of due diligence. Taken in by her tale of courage and survival against-the-odds, Penguin offered her a lucrative book deal, while Apple featured her app on its new watch. Both will have eyed the potential profits to be made in the emerging success of the wellness industry. However, a 2023 study found that many influencers promote unscientific or unrealistic health claims. Speaking to any oncologist worth their salt would have raised alarm bells at Apple and Penguin, given the planet-sized holes in Gibson's story. The hotels and shops where Robinson's teas were sold were doubtless seduced by his claims to have developed a "special biodegradable polymer" that allowed his plants – which had names like White Dalreoch, Scottish Antlers and Highland Green - to grow in half the usual time in the inclement Scottish climate. The court was told it looked like a black bin liner. Prosecutor Joanne Ritchie said: 'When you look at what he was actually doing, the suggestion that this was genuine Scottish tea, or these were Scottish-grown plants, is almost laughable.' Whether it's a sharp-talking fraudster, an eye-catching ad on social media, or a plausible politician promising simple solutions to complicated problems, we seem willing to drop our defences at the first hint of a likely story. The notion that the leaves in your teapot were teased into existence on the drizzly hills of a verdant Perthshire hillside was enough to convince customers to shell-out a hefty premium, even though the liquid didn't taste any different to a cup of Typhoo. Robinson even boasted that tea he had supplied to London's Dorchester Hotel was "the Queen's favourite". Kerching. It's significant that he wasn't rumbled by anyone who had tasted his tea, but rather by trading standards officials who became suspicious when he couldn't produce any import documents. A growing source of fraud is social media adverts posted by companies that don't exist, or which deliver products that are wildly different from what is featured online. One Scottish couple was promised a hot tub for the bargain price of £20, but instead received an inflatable children's rubber ring. Such scams prey on the assumption that most people will be too embarrassed to admit they genuinely believed they would receive a hot tub for such a modest amount, and that they will write-off the loss. Such a lack of critical application extends well beyond online adverts. The phenomenal rise of Reform UK as the country's dominant political force, less than a year after Labour's landslide general election victory, says much about the willingness of voters to entertain the blandishments of false prophets. It should come as no surprise that Donald Trump failed to follow through on his range of promises – to end the Ukraine War, solve the Israeli Palestinian conflict, and bring down the price of eggs – all on the first day of his presidency. And yet, his approval ratings have plummeted, as a result. In our collective desire to improve our lives, we have apparently lost sight of an important maxim, that if a story sounds too good to be true, then it probably isn't . Anyone who took the time to read the tea leaves could have reasoned that Robinson's cha empire was a figment of his creative imagination, and you can put the kettle on for that. Carlos Alba is a journalist, author, and PR consultant at Carlos Alba Media. His latest novel, There's a Problem with Dad, explores the issue of undiagnosed autism among older people


Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Scottish Sun
Moment LA cops shoot reporter on live TV while Brit photographer is hospitalised by rubber bullet during street anarchy
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THIS is the moment a TV journalist was shot live on air as she reported on the violent immigration riots in Los Angeles. Australian reporter Lauren Tomasi was covering the protests for Nine News when she was blasted at close range by a rubber bullet, collapsing in agony mid-broadcast. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Lauren Tomasi was reporting live from the streets of LA amid the violent protests in the city 2 The Australian reporter was shot with a rubber bullet by riot police live on air Credit: X 'The LAPD are moving in on horseback and firing rubber bullets at protesters,' Tomasi told viewers, as loud bangs echoed across Downtown LA. Suddenly, a police officer swung his weapon towards her, and a cloud of smoke erupted near the correspondent. Caught on camera, Tomasi doubled over in pain, live on air. 'You just f***ing shot a reporter!' a furious protester screamed at police, as others rushed to help the injured Aussie. Despite the shocking moment, Tomasi managed to yell back, 'I'm good, I'm good.' Her network later confirmed she was 'left sore but otherwise unharmed' by the impact — but the image of a journalist being targeted has already sparked outrage. It comes after a British photojournalist was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery when a 'sponge bullet' tore through his thigh during the same night of violence. Nick Stern, 60, from Hertford, said he had made himself clearly visible as a member of the press when he was shot while photographing a standoff between protesters and riot cops. 'I felt this horrific shooting pain impacting my leg. I felt down immediately and felt this large lump … protesters came to help and I was just saying, 'Sit me down, sit me down'… then I blacked out,' he told The Times. More to follow... For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos. Like us on Facebook at TheSunUS and follow us on X at @TheUSSun