Hi there. It's Wednesday, October 5 and you're reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of today's news.
Let's start here: Brittany Higgins's trial
The second day of the trial against her alleged rapist, Bruce Lehrmann was held before a jury in the ACT Supreme Court today. Here are some of the key developments:
- The court heard Ms Higgins did not seek medical treatment after she was allegedly raped in Canberra's Parliament House, but took a pregnancy test weeks later while working on the federal election campaign in Perth
- Much of today's hearing involved the court being played recordings of Ms Higgins's police interviews from 2021
- The jury heard in those interviews that Ms Higgins considered herself "disposable" at work and there was a "huge" power imbalance between herself and Mr Lehrmann
- The court also heard Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann did not discuss the alleged incident when they saw each other several days later at work, and she said he "did not seem ashamed" or "upset"
- Mr Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty and denies he had sex with Ms Higgins
- The trial will continue in the ACT Supreme Court tomorrow
We heard more about Hawthorn and the AFL's investigation
A fair bit has unfolded in the last few hours, so let's unpack it:
- The AFL has announced Bernard Quinn KC will chair a panel that includes barristers Tim Goodwin, Julie Buxton and Jacqualyn Turfrey
- The proposed investigation will examine incidents alleged to have occurred at Hawthorn between 2008 and 2016
- Two of the families involved in the investigation have confirmed to ABC Sport that they only learned of the four-person panel via media reports
- Lawyer Judy Courtin, who represents one of the Hawthorn families, said an inquiry established and funded by the AFL could not hope to be independent
- The AFL says its panel had "a strong and diverse mix of experience and skillset as well as First Nations representation" and expects the findings will be made public in December
- Meanwhile AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan says he's "optimistic" the complainants in the Hawthorn cultural review will participate in the external investigation but there are no guarantees
News alerts you might have missed
- Football Australia has banned a fan for life after they were shown performing what appeared to be a 'fascist' salute at the Australia Cup final on Saturday
- Harvey Norman is being sued by the corporate regulator for misleading customers about "no deposit" and "interest-free" payments
- Chess grandmaster Hans Niemann has been accused of cheating more than 100 times by a major online platform
What Australia has been searching for online
- Byron Bay Bluesfest. Six more acts have been announced to hit the stage at the 2023 event, including The Doobie Brothers and Counting Crows. They're joining an already mammoth line-up, with headline acts of Elvis Costello, Gang of Youths and Xavier Rudd.
- Angelina Jolie. The actress and filmmaker has revealed new details about the abuse she and her children allegedly experienced from her ex-husband Brad Pitt on a private flight in 2016. (A warning though, it's distressing content.)
One more thing
Sick of having to carry around different chargers for your different devices? Then the European Parliament has the solution for you.
They've voted to introduce a single charging port for mobile phones, tablets and cameras by 2024 — which is likely going to cause headaches for Apple.
It means USB-C connectors will be the standard across the European Union, which means Apple will need to change its charging ports for its devices (aka, rest in peace the lightning cable).
That said, it's been widely speculated that Apple is working on developing an iPhone with a dedicated USB-C charging port that could potentially hit the market next year.
As for those of us here in Australia, we can hold onto our lightning cables (and all the other charging cables we need) for a little while longer yet — the change only impacts the EU, for now.
You're up to date
We'll be back to do it all again tomorrow.
ABC/wires
