The Algorithm Age

Of the five charges Sean 'Diddy' Combs faced trial over, he was only found guilty of two — and they were the least serious ones. A relieved Combs celebrated in court and told his family he would be home soon, but the matter is not over yet. And the verdict is not the end of the road for alleged victims, with dozens of civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual abuse which are yet to be dealt with. Here's what happens next. What was Diddy found guilty of? Two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution These were the least serious charges against Combs. What was Diddy found not guilty of? One count of racketeering conspiracy Two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion One of the trafficking charges was related to Combs's ex girlfriend Casandra "Cassie" Ventura. The other trafficking charge related to another ex-gir...

The Israeli government said Thursday that Donald Trump’s plan to relocate nearly two million Palestinians from Gaza is “still active,” despite widespread opposition from U.S. allies and warnings from rights groups that it would constitute a war crime. “President Trump has made clear that plan is most definitely still active,” Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said in response to a question from The Independent about the plan’s status. “We think it's a good idea. The Prime Minister has praised the idea. It's certainly out-of-the-box thinking,” he added. The White House did not deny the plan was still a possibility when asked by The Independent. “President Trump has long advocated for creative solutions to improve the lives of Palestinians, including allowing them to resettle in a new, beautiful location while Gaza rebuilds,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said. The comments come ahead of a visit from Israeli Prime Minist...

Queensland Police have been handed a covert recording in which it is alleged a representative of a Chinese investment group asks a player at an NPL club to engage in match-fixing – and even provides instructions on how he could manipulate a game without being caught. The audio file has been submitted to Football Australia, Football Queensland and the police as investigations continue into a suspected failed betting scheme at Gold Coast United , the former A-League club previously owned by billionaire Clive Palmer which now participates in the Queensland NPL, the state’s top men’s division. This masthead revealed last week that a match between third-placed Gold Coast United and second-placed rivals Moreton City Excelsior had been called off just hours before it was to begin, as football authorities learned of a suspected plot to lure players into a match-fixing operation. Multiple sources with knowledge of what took place, who spoke to this masthead on ...

A woman walks her dog down a street in Clayfield. It’s windy, but sunny, and tradesmen rush about renovating multimillion-dollar homes. Most of the houses are empty on this weekday afternoon. A scattering of teenagers, having ditched their private school blazers during the holiday weeks, roam palatial properties barefoot and carefree. In a nearby park, small children laugh and squeal in the playground. But just days earlier, flashing sirens and homicide detectives swarmed the streets, slicing through the gentle holiday buzz following reports of a brutal stabbing. Halfway up the road, a towering white wall wraps around a property protecting the home from peering eyes. Behind it is a sprawling home with bay windows lapping up vistas from Brisbane’s city skyline. The events inside this $5.4 million home reverberated beyond the close-knit neighbourhood and captured the nation’s attention. Greg Josephson, the co-founder of clothing chain Universal Store, w...

It’s been a bad week for cruise ships . First there was the young girl who fell overboard in the Bahamas, swiftly pursued by her heroic dad. Then Cannes followed Venice, Nice, Barcelona and Amsterdam in becoming the latest city to ban or restrict giant cruise ships . Finally, Netflix’s new documentary Trainwreck: Poop Cruise told of how in 2013 a fire caused a ship to be cast adrift without power in the Gulf of Mexico. With the toilets no longer flushing, the 4,200 people aboard spent four days defecating into plastic bags. But if that’s the nightmare version of cruising , then Channel 4’s new series Supercruising: Life at Sea is all about selling the dream. This extended advert for a Dutch-American company follows two of their ships: one that is sailing 3,000 passengers from Dover to North Africa, and another that is ferrying a similar number around the Caribbean. The series is very much in the vein of all those other Channel 4 programmes about five-sta...

The Wolves Always Come At Night ★★★ While Berlin-based Australian filmmaker Gabrielle Brady is currently developing her first fully fictional feature, The Wolves Always Come At Night marks her second foray into what she calls “docu-feature”, a hybrid storytelling form that merges observational documentary with elements of fiction, driven by the subjects of the film. Her first was Island of the Hungry Ghosts , which was set on Christmas Island and used the visually arresting annual migration of land crabs as a metaphor for the journeys of asylum seekers across the world. A counsellor called Poh Lin Lee served as a kind of focal point in that movie, helping give individual human shape to stories of mass movement. Lee is involved in the new film too, credited as “narrative therapy consultant”. Also returning is Aaron Cupples, whose work on the ethereal land- and windscape-inspired score is just as impressive as it was on the ...

Ozzy Osbourne is heading to his home to take his final bow with a little help from his heavy metal friends. The self-styled Prince of Darkness announced in February he was getting the band back together for the first time in 20 years for one last concert. The singer and his original Black Sabbath bandmates will reunite on stage to perform as part of a day dedicated to the music. Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello, the show’s music director, said: “This will be the greatest heavy metal show ever.” It will also be a fundraising event for charities chosen by the artist and an opportunity for the 76-year-old, who has Parkinson’s, to bid farewell to fans and the genre he was instrumental in creating. When is the Black Sabbath ‘Back to the Beginning’ gig? Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning concert will be held on Saturday 5 July at Villa Park, the home ground of Aston Villa FC . Osbourne has been a life-long supporter of the club. Gates open at 1...