Paris Olympics opening ceremony quick hits — Lady Gaga, heavy metal beheadings, Celine Dion, and a queer polycule

Users of the X social media platform experienced multiple outages, with over 40,000 users reporting no access during the early hours of Tuesday AEDT. Outage reports spiked again later, with 56% of problems reported for the X app and 33% for the website. Despite the ongoing issues, X has not provided any comment on the situation. Full Article

The Parramatta Eels have confirmed that five-eighth Dylan Brown will be leaving the club at the end of the season, with reports indicating he will be offered a record deal by the Newcastle Knights. Brown, 24, has agreed to a 10-year, $13 million deal with the Knights, making it the largest in NRL history. Despite his impending departure, Brown remains committed to the Eels for the 2025 season before joining the Knights in 2026, having...

Star Entertainment, an embattled operator of casinos in Brisbane, Gold Coast, and Sydney, has received a $250 million cash injection from US casino giant Bally's Corporation in exchange for a 50.1% controlling stake. The offer comes as Star was in negotiations with Hong Kong-based investors to offload its stake in the Brisbane Queen's Wharf casino. Bally's strategy includes keeping Star's current businesses intact, and the board is considering the offer which could help the company...

Donald Trump has stated that his administration is currently in contact with four different groups regarding the sale of Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok, with all options being considered good. The fate of TikTok has been uncertain since a law requiring its owner ByteDance to sell it on national security grounds or face a ban took effect on January 19, with Trump signing an executive order to delay enforcement for 75 days after taking office...

Israel has ordered an immediate halt to Gaza's electricity supply to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages, amid talks on the future of the truce. Hamas calls the move "blackmail" as Israel seeks negotiations for the ceasefire's second phase. The first phase saw the exchange of hostages and aid deliveries, with talks ongoing for further agreements. Full Article

Last night, damaging wind gusts up to 100km/h north of Brisbane caused trees to fall and roofs to be ripped off homes, with one occupant sleeping through the destruction. About 300,000 homes and businesses in Queensland, along with 13,000 in New South Wales, are without power due to ongoing thunderstorms and tree damage. Emergency warnings have been issued, with hundreds of schools closed and residents in certain areas advised to take caution due to flooding...