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Obama’s final $39,000 haul of gifts revealed in official disclosure forms

FORMER US president Barack Obama accepted personal gifts worth $39,000 ($US30,000) during his final year in office, newly released disclosure forms reveal. Mr Obama took in 11 gifts, including a five-volume set of his family genealogy from the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — at a value of $10,890 ($US8300), the most expensive present of the bunch, the forms reveal. The second most expensive gift was a “large wooden map case with vintage maps inside” from the National Geographic, worth $9185 ($US7000), the New York Post reports. Rounding out the top three was a framed photograph of boxer Muhammad Ali worth $6889 ($US5250), given to him by comedian Whoopi Goldberg. His haul also included: • A “replica Vince Lombardi trophy” [the trophy awarded each year to the NFL team that wins the Super Bowl] worth $3280 ($US2500) • A “signed and framed photograph of President John F. Kennedy” worth $1837 ($US1400) • A “signed baseball bat” from former Major Lea...

Give young Australians a capital grant when they turn 25 — and a future, says union official

A RADICAL idea to help young people afford to buy their first home, start their own business or pay off their university fees, is being floated by a senior union official. In a speech on Wednesday night, Tim Ayres, the NSW Secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union is expected to back a proposal to give every Australian a one-off capital grant when they turn 25. Mr Ayres is supporting a suggestion made by “rock star economist” Thomas Piketty last year that Australia introduce an inheritance tax to pay for the grants. The French economist visited the country in October and highlighted how unusual it was for Australia not to tax those who inherited multi-million dollar properties, unlike the US and Europe which taxed them at between 40 and 45 per cent. “According to the Community Council of Australia — a 35 per cent estate duty on all estates over $10 million would raise at least $3.5 billion in government revenue, while affecting only a fraction of the top 1 per cen...

Janitor earning $327,000 a year caught ‘slacking off’

THIS janitor clocked so much overtime that he took home $327,000 in a single year — but was allegedly caught out hiding in a closet for hours. Liang Zhao Zhang earned a base salary of $75,874 ($US57,945) in 2015 for cleaning San Francisco’s Powell Street station. But once overtime was taken into account, his salary and benefits added up to a whopping $327,000 ($US250,000)— giving his earnings a boost of $212,190 — revealed in public records released by Transparent California. An investigation by local broadcaster KTVU found that Mr Zhang was paid for working 17 hours a day for 18 days in a row in July 2015, and clocked fulltime hours during his annual leave. This superhuman feat prompted the station’s 2 Investigates program to take a closer look at just what Mr Zhang was up to during these marathon-length work days. What they say they found raised “serious questions” about the municipal transport authority’s oversight of its employee timesheets. Investigative reporters examine...

Battle to keep guns from former Queensland policeman with PTSD

IT’S been almost 10 years since Ben Alexander Ephraim Dyball left the Queensland police under a cloud of trauma and allegations of bizarre behaviour. He’s had a tough time letting go of the past. That was apparent when officers from Warwick Police — where Mr Dyball was once stationed — raided his Elbow Valley property and allegedly found a stash of old police uniforms, official police notepads, gun holsters (including one of the concealable variety), handgun and rifle ammunition, several police identification cards, two pairs of police handcuffs and 450g of marijuana. A weapons licence Mr Dyball had previously declared stolen and a number of rifle bolts were also seized. The officers had waited until the 49-year-old was at the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) in Toowoomba appealing the suspension of his weapons licence, to exercise their search warrant. The Queensland Weapons Licensing Unit revoked Mr Dyball’s licence in September 2015 following a bizarr...

How Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner could keep their father in check

A SURPRISING pair in the White House inner circle could be the key ingredient to keep the President in check. Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner may have only just moved to Washington, but they’re already exerting considerable influence over some of their father’s policies. Not to mention, they’re one of the most powerful couples in the world. While Ms Trump has no official role in the administration, her influence over her father was well-documented over the course of the campaign, and she shaped a number of his key decisions during his run. Mr Kushner does have a senior role in the White House, and it’s believed he will serve as the antidote to the more conservative members of Mr Trump’s team. But sources suggest the real estate investor, who, like Mr Trump, has no prior experience in government or politics, is not having the smoothest time adjusting to his new role. Now the question is: just how successful will the pair’s interventions be? ...

Young people to lose access to unemployment benefits as part of welfare reforms

YOUNG people will not be able to get unemployment benefits until they turn 25 under reforms introduced by the Turnbull Government today. The coalition has unveiled wide-ranging welfare reforms in parliament today, including changes to the Newstart program. It hopes to stop people aged 22 to 24 getting Newstart or the Sickness allowance, and they will instead be shifted to the Youth Allowance payment. This will reduce the amount of money that they will be able to get, costing a single person living away from home about $90 a fortnight. They will also be required to study in order to qualify for the payments. “The key aim of this measure is to provide incentives for young unemployed people to obtain the relevant education and training to increase employability,” according to an explanatory memorandum for the bill. However, it says Youth Allowance does allow students to earn a higher amount of money from part-time or casual work than Newstart, before this begins imp...