Daily News Round-up

MONDAY 6th December 2021

Grant Denyer has had a significant win in his war against New Idea, with the tabloid magazine publicly apologising for their recent “false” front cover story about him.

And the TV presenter has revealed he’s also received a “confidential settlement” for the story, which suggested he was having an extramarital affair with his Dancing With The Stars dance partner Lily Cornish.

Denyer posted a photo of the mag’s public apology to his Instagram account today. Titled “Apology to Grant Denyer, Chezzi Denyer and Lily Cornish,” the note published in the latest issue of New Idea admits that Grant’s wife Chezzi was “heartbroken” as a result of the “false” article.

“Are Media and New Idea acknowledge that Grant Denyer and Lily Cornish are not having an extramarital affair. They have never had an affair,” the statement reads, ending with an apology for “the hurt and embarrassment caused by the article.”

Announcing the win to his Instagram followers, Denyer wrote that “while we can’t ever remove the front cover from circulation, we hope this sets a serious precedent for the future”.

“Thanks to each and every one of you who have sent us letters, emails and messages of support throughout this, and to all of those who passed on their distain (sic) to New Idea and boycotted the magazine, we thank you from the bottom of our heart. Without your support the 3 of us may not have been brave enough to take on this media giant.”

The initial article was published in mid-October and featured photos of Denyer, 44, with his hand on Cornish’s thigh, alongside captions like “Grant Denyer caught out” and “Chezzi’s heartbreak.”

The Denyers said Cornish (left) was “like our adopted daughter.”

Grant and Chezzi have now received an apology.

The Denyers didn’t waste time in refuting the story, with Chezzi writing on social media that the photos had been taken wildly out of context.

“Right before this little ‘she’ll be right’ leg pat … I was on the phone with them also consoling Lilz,” she wrote, explaining that Cornish is a close friend of the couple’s.

“Lilz is like our adopted daughter. We grew extremely close during her month long stay with us here in Bathurst. We absolutely adore her!”

In a radio interview that week, Grant described it as “a horrible made up story that’s embarrassing for everyone.”

“I just feel bad that I’ve put everyone in this position … I’ve given her a tap on the leg letting her know everything’s gonna be OK after we’ve just divulged our lives to each other as we’re having a DWTS meltdown, and now I’ve embarrassed my family in this situation where I’ve not even done anything wrong,” he said at the time.

New Idea soon removed the online version of the story from their website, but it remained plastered on news stands for the week the magazine was on sale.

In today’s Instagram statement, Grant revealed that he and Chezzi had employed the services of a lawyer “with every intent of suing but have since reached a suitable confidential settlement outside of court which includes, most importantly, a public apology and admission that the story and headline were false.

“Writing false stories should be ILLEGAL but it’s not,” he wrote.

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Pope Francis has condemned the exploitation of migrants for political purposes during a visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, branding the global indifference to their plight the “shipwreck of civilisation”, reports newsagency Reuters..

The pontiff walked through the Mavrovouni camp — which holds about 2,300 people — stopping to greet dozens of refugees and giving a high five to a young African boy.

He first visited the island, one of the main entry points for migrants, in 2016 and took 12 Syrian refugees back to Italy with him. He lamented that “little has changed” since then.

The Mediterranean — where thousands have died trying to make the crossing from north Africa to Europe — was still “a grim cemetery without tombstones”, he said.

“Please, let us stop this shipwreck of civilisation,” Pope Francis said.

For the second straight day, the pontiff chided those who used the migration crisis for political ends.

“It is easy to stir up public opinion by instilling fear of others,” he said, adding that people who were anti-immigrant failed “to speak with equal vehemence” about the exploitation of the poor, wars and the arms industry.

“The remote causes should be attacked, not the poor people who pay the consequences and are even used for political propaganda,” he said.

Mavrovouni camp — set up in an old army firing range — is made up of dozens of prefabricated structures, some similar to shipping containers and other, smaller ones made of plastic.

The spaces between the structures were like streets of a bleak village where people lived in limbo. Prams and children’s tricycles leaned on the home of one Afghan couple.

Departing from his prepared address, Pope Francis said it was “distressing” to hear that some European leaders wanted to use common funds to build a wall and put up barbed wire to keep immigrants out.

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Are you using buy now, pay later (BNPL) services to buy your Christmas gifts this year?

You could be in for a bad debt hangover, financial counsellors warn.

In its annual survey, Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) found a sharp increase in people with bad BNPL debt seeking help from financial counsellors in the past 12 months, reports the ABC.

Some of the more popular BNPL companies include Afterpay, Zip Pay, Latitude and Sezzle.

Eighty-four per cent of financial counsellors said that about half, most or all clients had BNPL debt at the time of the survey.

That’s compared to 31 per cent just a year ago.

And 61 per cent of those surveyed said most or all clients with BNPL debt were struggling to pay other living expenses.

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A treasure trove of emeralds, rubies and sapphires buried for decades on a glacier off France’s Mont Blanc has finally been shared between the climber who discovered them and local authorities, eight years after the gems were found.

The mountaineer stumbled across the precious stones in 2013.

They had remained hidden in a metal box that was on board an Indian plane that crashed in the desolate landscape some 50 years earlier.

“The stones have been shared this week” in two equal lots valued at around 150,000 euros ($242,000) each, Chamonix Mayor Eric Fournier told He said he was “very happy” that events had been brought to a conclusion, in particular for the climber who he praised for his “integrity” in turning his find in to police as required by law.

Two Air India planes crashed into Mont Blanc in 1950 and in 1966.

Over the years, climbers have routinely found debris, baggage and human remains from the aircraft.

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Tasmanian broadcasting and gardening identity Peter Cundall, who hosted ABC TV show Gardening Australia for 18 years, has died aged 94, reports the ABC.

His family has released a statement saying he passed away peacefully after a short illness, surrounded by his loved ones.

“On Sunday 5th of December 2021, Peter Cundall passed away peacefully after a short illness, surrounded by his family.

“Peter’s privacy, and the privacy of his family, is to be respected during this very sad time.

“Peter’s family does not wish to be contacted.

“While he was loved by many, as per Peter’s wishes, there will be a private cremation and no memorial services will be held.”

His family requested no images of Mr Cundall be published with the announcement of his death.

Mr Cundall hosted Gardening Australia from 1990 to 2008. He also answered gardening questions on radio talkback from the late 1960s until 2018.

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Victoria has recorded 1,073 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths.

There are now 16,503 active cases of the virus in Victoria, and 560 people have died during the current Delta outbreak.

There are 310 people in hospital with COVID-19, of whom 45 are in intensive care and 19 are on a ventilator.

The health department said a further 45 people were in intensive care but their infections were no longer considered active.

The new cases were detected from 56,337 test results received yesterday.

There were 1,513 doses of vaccine administered at state-run sites yesterday, as well as more vaccinations at GP clinics and other venues.

ENDS