mnl777 app download latest version Luigi Mangione, 26, was charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Following his arrest, various claims about him circulated online, including speculation about an online manifesto that allegedly explained his motive for the killing. The post, attributed to "LM" on the blog site Substack, is titled “The Allopathic Complex and Its Consequences" and has been shared in various social media posts crediting Mangione as the author. This is allegedly Luigi Mangione’s manifesto. pic.twitter.com/uOFsGA6Nki VERIFY reader Tony texted us asking if the manifesto published to Substack is real. THE QUESTION Is the viral online post on Substack appearing to be written by Luigi Mangione real? THE SOURCES THE ANSWER No, the viral online post published to Substack appearing to be written by Luigi Mangione isn’t real. WHAT WE FOUND Luigi Mangione had a three-page document with him when he was arrested that police say speaks to his alleged motive at the time of the killing, but claims the manifesto posted online was authored by Mangione are false. VERIFY analyzed excerpts of the handwritten document and found it doesn't match any of the language in the fake online manifesto. Substack also said it removed the account because it violates the platform’s content guidelines, “which prohibit impersonation.” During a Dec. 9 press conference , New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the handwritten document Mangione had on his person when arrested “speaks to both his motivation and mindset.” When asked if the handwritten document was posted online, the New York Police Department’s Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said, “Don’t know if it's online. As of right now, it's a handwritten three-page document.” While police haven’t publicly released the handwritten document, excerpts have been reported by various news outlets such as the Associated Press , The New York Times and CBS . According to these reports, the document was either independently reviewed or described to reporters by sources close to the investigation. The New York Times summarized the excerpts they reviewed, saying the handwritten document called Thompson’s killing a “symbolic takedown” of the healthcare industry and also referenced corruption and “power games.” CBS reported Mangione criticized the disparity between U.S. healthcare costs and life expectancy rates. We compared the quoted excerpts from the reports to the Substack manifesto posted online and found none of the language from the handwritten document appears in the manifesto. The fake manifesto also lacks any reference to healthcare costs or life expectancy rates. Substack didn’t provide details on when the account was removed from the platform, but VERIFY was able to use archived pages captured on The Wayback Machine to determine the account was likely created while Mangione was in police custody. The Wayback Machine allows users to view and access snapshots, or screenshots, of websites. This screenshot archive from The Wayback Machine of the Substack account attributed to Mangione was captured at 9:43 p.m. ET on Dec. 9. Text on the Substack page archived indicates it was created about two hours earlier, during the time Mangione would have been in custody. At around 1:45 p.m. on Dec. 9 , the NYPD announced Mangione had been arrested as a person of interest in Thompson’s murder. He was arraigned on Dec. 9 around 6:30 p.m., according to court records. Related Articles The VERIFY team works to separate fact from fiction so that you can understand what is true and false. Please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter , text alerts and our YouTube channel . You can also follow us on Snapchat , Instagram , Facebook and TikTok . Learn More » Follow Us Want something VERIFIED? Text: 202-410-8808Colombia shares lower at close of trade; COLCAP down 1.26%

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Subscribe to our newsletter Privacy Policy Success! Your account was created and you’re signed in. Please visit My Account to verify and manage your account. An account was already registered with this email. Please check your inbox for an authentication link. Support Independent Arts Journalism As an independent publication, we rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. If you value our coverage and want to support more of it, consider becoming a member today . Already a member? Sign in here. We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. If you value our coverage and want to support more of it, please join us as a member . BERLIN — At the opening reception of her career retrospective This Will Not End Well at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie on November 22, Nan Goldin delivered a speech that reverberated across the world. “Why can’t I speak, Germany?” she asked, denouncing the country’s silencing of criticism against Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza. Goldin began her speech with several minutes of silence in honor of the tens of thousands of civilians killed in Gaza and Lebanon and the 815 Israeli civilians killed on October 7, 2023. Standing next to museum Director Klaus Biesenbach, s​​he emphasized that her art is inseparable from her activism. Two days later, I sat down with Goldin for an interview, first published in German on November 28 in the Frankfurter Rundschau and reprinted in English for the first time below . In our conversation, Goldin discusses her tense experience with the Neue Nationalgalerie, alleging that the museum censored a slide that she asked to add to her acclaimed 1985 slideshow “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency . ” The slide in question, according to Goldin, included a statement expressing solidarity with the people of Gaza, the Occupied West Bank, and Lebanon, as well as Israeli victims of the October 7 attack. After the interview was published, the museum contested Goldin’s account of censorship, saying in a December 6 statement that the slide was inserted without prior consultation with the museum, did not originally name Israeli victims, and was later removed by Goldin’s own studio team. Get the latest art news, reviews and opinions from Hyperallergic. Daily Weekly Opportunities However, an email correspondence between Goldin and Biesenbach tells a more nuanced and ultimately different story. “You may not have used the word censor, but you used coercion,” Goldin wrote to the museum director on December 3, claiming the Neue Nationalgalerie had warned her that including the original slide could jeopardize the institution’s funding. Goldin says that her repeated requests to include the slide were denied by a museum employee despite its mention of Israeli victims. “In what world are these two incidents not coercion?” Goldin wrote in her email to Biesenbach, attaching a photo of the slide and requesting its reinsertion. In a later conversation I had with Goldin, she objected the notion that she should have pre-cleared “sensitive content” with the museum, calling it “outrageous.” “My slide shows are constantly updated with different credit slides,” she added. “Why would I ever ask a museum if it’s okay to update my own work?” Leaked internal emails following Goldin’s heated back-and-forth with Biesenbach show the director consulting with senior staff at Germany’s Ministry of Culture and the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, the federal body overseeing the museum. “Could/should/would the slide be inserted, as it now also names the Israeli victims?” he asked. When I asked Biesenbach whether political pressure was leveled to avoid contentious stances on Israel or Palestine, he directed me to a statement by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. The statement reads: “We do not tolerate any anti-Semitic, racist, Islamophobic, or otherwise inhumane statements or symbols. We reject calls for boycotts, threats, insults, verbal violence, or violent acts.” On December 4, the Neue Nationalgalerie confirmed to Goldin that her proposed slide would be included by December 16. Meanwhile, a debate erupted around a symposium organized by the Neue Nationalgalerie in conjunction with Goldin’s show, titled “ Art and Activism in Times of Polarization: A Discussion Space on the Middle East Conflict ” and held on November 24. Led by Israeli-German writer Meron Mendel and Pakistani-German political analyst Saba-Nur Cheema, the symposium was promoted as a nuanced dialogue around issues of antisemitism, racism, artistic freedom, and expressions of political solidarity within the German cultural sector. Speakers ranged from Austrian journalist Andreas Fanizadeh, notorious for going after pro-Palestine artists, to South African artist Candice Breitz, whose exhibition and conference were canceled in Germany last November over her views on Gaza. After calls by the group Strike Germany to boycott the event, accusing it of being “dominated by genocide-denying Zionists,” speakers including Breitz, Hito Steyerl, and Forensic Architecture’s Eyal Weizman withdrew their participation. Goldin says she never gave her approval for the symposium to be timed with her exhibition and didn’t know about it until a friend sent her the press release. The debate underscores a growing crisis over artistic freedom in Germany, which has escalated sharply since October 7, 2023. State-funded cultural institutions have severed ties with multiple international artists deemed politically risky over their views on Israel and Palestine. When asked whether this could jeopardize future collaborations with artists, Biesenbach stated: “The museum stands by the principle of artistic freedom, as long as it aligns with our Code of Conduct.” I met Goldin at a friend’s apartment in Berlin on November 24. Our conversation, excerpts of which first appeared in Frankfurter Rundschau , began with the controversy surrounding her Berlin retrospective and continued into reflections about her lifetime of art and activism. The interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. Hanno Hauenstein: Your speech at the opening of your Berlin retrospective sparked chants in solidarity, but also lots of criticism in Germany. How are you feeling in light of all this? Nan Goldin: I’m so relieved it worked out. I spent an entire year being nervous about this night. Since I got here, all I’ve done is write. The other night, I realized great speeches are like sermons. They have a call-and-response structure. I thought, that’s what I’ll do . Call and response, questions, answers. HH: You started this speech with minutes of silence in commemoration of killed Palestinians, Lebanese, and Israelis ... NG: ... entire four minutes of silence, yes. I was so amazed that close to 1,000 people were standing together in silence. One baby cried. I found all this very touching. HH: Your art and your activism have been inseparable for decades — yet, in your speech you mentioned the museum, the Neue Nationalgalerie, wouldn’t accept this? NG: We told them so many times. But they kept trying all kinds of control methods the entire year leading up to the show. I said, “Klaus, all you have to do is say: She has a right to speak, even if I disagree.” I had no idea they were setting up an entire symposium to prove that. HH: You weren’t aware that this symposium would take place alongside the show? NG: We knew about one panel. Not of a day-long symposium. And even on this one panel, I had told them explicitly it had to be distanced from me. They still used my show and my name for it. They used me, essentially. It was a setup so that they could prove they didn’t agree with my positions. HH: Just to clarify this: You say you feel used by the museum? NG: I felt disavowed by the museum. They knew who they were inviting. I constantly reminded them of my political stance. They worked hard to prove they didn’t support the artist they are showing. They also censored me, by the way. HH: How so? NG: There is a credit slide at the end of the slideshow for [“The Ballad of Sexual Dependency”] in memory of my 43 friends who are in the show and died, mostly from AIDS. I added one more slide there that reads: “In solidarity with the people of Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon. And the Israeli civilians killed on October 7.” HH: What happened with that slide? NG: Well, I was told I had to take it out. It is an analog show. I wanted to leave a trace that would touch people and would hopefully move them. Not just in the form of a speech. Apparently, the museum didn’t want any indication of my politics in the work — or to allow room for mourning inside the show. HH: What were some of the key messages you wanted to get across in your opening speech? NG: That advocating for human rights isn’t antisemitic. And that anti-Zionism and antisemitism aren’t the same thing. HH: In your speech, you refer to what you call Israel’s genocide in Gaza and a climate of repression around that issue in Germany. What, do you think, lies at the heart of this repression? NG: Memory culture is being used in Germany. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is issuing guidelines that prevent critiques of the Israeli government. Just a few weeks ago, a new government resolution in Germany has reinforced those guidelines. Over 180 artists and cultural workers have been canceled. This climate of repression also goes for making comparisons to the Holocaust — as if there hadn’t been genocides elsewhere. HH: Can you be more specific as to what you mean by that? NG: What’s unique about the Holocaust was the way the killing was done — so planned, so orchestrated. The genocide in Gaza doesn’t have that degree of control. Yes, the Holocaust is unique. But haven’t there been other genocides? Isn’t there a genocide happening in Sudan? The fact that what happens in Gaza is being live-streamed takes it to another level. People can see it. They could still do something about it. HH: As someone who isn’t Jewish and who grew up in Germany, I wonder: Can you understand why some of your positions may be difficult to digest for many Germans? NG: Of course. But the idea that descendants of Nazis would tell me I’m antisemitic is just outrageous to me. That makes me question how ingrained memory culture really is in Germany. Don’t Germans see what is happening in Palestine? I understand feeling guilty about the Holocaust. It’s commendable that Germany has tried to be accountable. But does that give Israel impunity? Why does “Never Again” not count for everybody? HH: Why is it important for you to speak out about these issues in Germany? NG: I wanted to speak out on behalf of all the artists. This issue is so repressed in Germany. One of the most difficult things to me was knowing that many artists and writers have been canceled over Palestine. I saw my opening as a test case. A way to maybe pave a way for others to speak out. HH: What do you expect from Germany? NG: Germany needs to learn how to listen to the public. A large percentage of the German public wants an arms embargo. All this is just so tragic. There’s a genocide happening right now, as we speak. HH: Claudia Roth, Germany’s federal minister of culture, called your speech “unbearably one-sided”; Berlin’s culture senator Joe Chialo described it as “oblivious to history.” What do you make of such comments? NG: Aren’t these kinds of statements just so convenient? Like Klaus Biesenbach reciting his litany on stage, after my speech — to please the powers that be. HH: Has the way in which some politicians and journalists in Germany talked about you and the show hurt you? NG: I care if a friend hurts me. Not these people. HH: What did you make of Strike Germany’s attempt to get the symposium canceled? NG: I myself wanted it canceled, too. Like I said, I never agreed to it in the first place. I first heard about it from people who were invited to be on it. The last time we heard about it was when someone sent me a press release. Museums don’t usually file press releases without letting us see them. HH: Didn’t you have a chance to communicate this to Klaus Biesenbach? NG: All my conversations with him were like, “We’re going to have a beautiful show.” When I wrote to him [about] what happened, he was like, “We’ll talk when we meet.” Well, there was never a discussion. Eventually, Klaus took his name off the show’s announcement just weeks before the opening. We learned that from the invitation. HH: How was your communication with the rest of the museum? NG: One of Klaus’s people asked me on Zoom: “Why are you against Israel?” She tried to paint my positions as a sort of childhood trauma, as if something turned me the wrong way. She implied we were antisemitic. She even started crying! On Zoom, with me and my studio manager Alex, who’s also Jewish. I said, “Sorry, but we can’t work with this person.” Klaus said: “We’re a team.” Ever since, every communication has gone through my Swedish curator, Fredrik Liew. But we suspected the museum wanted me to cancel the show. HH: Did you ever consider canceling it? NG: Many times. HH: What made you go through with it then? NG: The speech. The show is beautiful, but it was secondary to me. HH: Your grandparents fled antisemitic pogroms in Russia, you grew up with this trauma. In your speech, you said this is what you think of when you look at images from Gaza. NG: Undeniably that’s what I think of. I was watching the daily dispatches from Motaz [Azaiza], the Gazan journalist, and Bisan [Owda], this powerful young woman, on Instagram. Now there are less and less images because so many journalists were killed. One hundred and sixty in one year. My algorithms are no longer bringing up these reels. Now it’s mostly just animals. HH: Has being so outspoken affected your position as an artist? NG: For sure. Before signing the Artforum letter [in October 2023], for the first time in my career, I had money. I could give my assistants raises. Since then, things have become more difficult. Many people tried canceling me. I was asked to take my name off that letter. I was asked to apologize. I refused to do any of that. So, this show was huge for me. HH: After October 7, you also began boycotting the New York Times . Why? NG: In the New York Times , people in Gaza just “die” — they’re never killed. They’ve been a propaganda mouthpiece for Israel for the longest time. Even intelligent people around me often don’t fully understand what’s going on in Gaza because to them the New York Times is the paper of record. The media is very responsible for manufacturing consent for the daily deaths we’re seeing on our phones. I worked for the paper for years. When the war on Gaza started, I canceled those gigs. Maybe naively, I thought we could actually stop this. HH: Do you see any parallels to the media’s lack of responsibility during the ACT UP era? NG: Absolutely. The media was very responsible for the AIDS epidemic. They engaged in a campaign of silence and stigmatized people with AIDS. The disease was labeled “gay cancer.” Allegedly, only homosexual men got it. They also made it sound as if those who had it deserved it. This stigma was responsible for thousands of deaths. HH: In Laura Poitras’s film about your life and work, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed , there’s a chapter about a show you curated in New York in the late 1980s titled Witnesses: Against Our Vanishing , for which you collaborated with David Wojnarowicz. That show faced a major backlash. Do you see similarities to what’s happened now in Berlin? NG: I see it as a direct line. It was the first show about AIDS in New York. David Wojnarowicz wrote the catalog piece, in which he called the New York cardinal a “fat fucking cannibal in black skirts.” He also wrote that [former North Carolina Senator] Jesse Helms, who was censoring artists at the time, should be lit on fire. The director of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) decided to pull all the funding. Lots of artists spoke up, it was a huge scandal. In the end, Leonard Bernstein and the Mapplethorpe Foundation gave money. This show was about living with AIDS knowing that there was nothing you could do. There really was nothing at the time. I watched all my friends die. HH: Are you channeling some of that anger today? NG: I don’t need to channel anything, this anger is a big part of me. A couple of years later, when I got an NEA grant myself, I was asked to sign a statement that I wouldn’t photograph gay sex or promote homosexuality. I refused, of course, and didn’t get the money. HH: You also initiated the now-infamous PAIN campaign against the Sackler family’s omnipresence in art collections around the world to highlight their complicity in the opioid crisis. NG: Yes, and that was just 15 of us! Fifteen people bringing down a billionaire family and holding museums accountable. By the way, my battle was never against the drugs. My battle was against the profiteers of the crisis. “Memory Lost,” which is part of the Berlin show, deals with addiction. And how human it is. HH: You’re internationally known as a photographer. This Will Not End Well ventures more into filmmaking ... NG: Well, actually, I’ve been doing slideshows since 1981. But yes, this is the first time I’m having a major show that’s exclusively made of slideshows. My curator Frederik and I had the same vision of this at the same time. Slideshows are what I love and care about. HH: What do you think changes for the viewer? NG: It’s about time and the inability to hold on to an image. It’s closer to life. Many people tell me they find their own story in “Ballad.” HH: “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency” is likely the most famous work in the show. But there’s also the film “Sisters, Saints, Sibyls,” which tells the story of your older sister Barbara, who took her own life at the age of 18. What was your intention behind this work? NG: I wanted people to feel trapped. I wanted to create a situation in which you cannot look away. It was a very deliberate decision. The work deals with the myth of the Christian martyr Saint Barbara. It was created for the chapel of the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris in 2004, as an installation with wax figures on the ground. There are two minutes of me burning myself in this film. A lot of people fainted at the initial screening. Jean-Martin Charcot used to do all his famous work on women and hysteria at the Salpêtrière. It was the perfect place for this piece. HH: When you watch “Sisters, Saints, Sibyls” today, what does that do to you? NG: Sometimes it breaks me up. Sometimes I’m just looking at it almost technically. But most of the time it still hurts. Same goes for “Ballad.” The other pieces in the show don’t hurt that much. HH: What draws you to film as a medium? NG: I watch a film a day. My favorite experience of watching a movie is to become who I’m watching. To be fully transported inside. HH: What was it like watching the architecture of the show come together in Berlin? NG: So far, we’ve shown the pavilions only in dark rooms without windows or natural light. It’s exciting to have the city be part of the architecture of the show. I started coming to Berlin in 1984. I always loved that museum so much. HH: Your work addresses topics often still considered taboo. Would it be right to say that your art is part of a struggle against shame? NG: I let the work tell me what it wants to say. But yes, it is a struggle against what cannot be said. Like the stigma around drug use, mental illness and suicide, and around words. I made it my project to fight all that stigma. My work is also about paying homage to the people I’ve loved, and about preserving their memories. We hope you enjoyed this article! Before you keep reading, please consider supporting Hyperallergic ’s journalism during a time when independent, critical reporting is increasingly scarce. Unlike many in the art world, we are not beholden to large corporations or billionaires. Our journalism is funded by readers like you , ensuring integrity and independence in our coverage. We strive to offer trustworthy perspectives on everything from art history to contemporary art. We spotlight artist-led social movements, uncover overlooked stories, and challenge established norms to make art more inclusive and accessible. With your support, we can continue to provide global coverage without the elitism often found in art journalism. If you can, please join us as a member today . Millions rely on Hyperallergic for free, reliable information. By becoming a member, you help keep our journalism free, independent, and accessible to all. Thank you for reading. Share Copied to clipboard Mail Bluesky Threads LinkedIn FacebookIntraoral Scanners Market to Grow by USD 915.75 Million (2024-2028), Driven by Enhanced Accuracy, Productivity, and AI-Driven Market Transformation - TechnavioA landmark $600 million deal for a Papua New Guinea team to enter the National Rugby League comes with an escape clause allowing the Australian government to immediately terminate the agreement if PNG strikes a security or policing pact with China or other rival nations over the next decade. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and PNG Prime Minister James Marape announced at a joint press conference in Sydney that a Port Moresby-based team will enter the NRL from 2028. The PNG team is likely to want Xavier Coates to be its inaugural marquee signing. Credit: Getty “Australia and PNG are the nearest of neighbours and we are the truest of friends,” Albanese said. “We are bound by a history of shared sacrifice and a common commitment to a peaceful, stable and prosperous Pacific. And we are united of course by a love of rugby league. That’s why I’m delighted to announce the Australian government is supporting a PNG team to join the NRL competition from 2028.” “Rugby league is PNG’s national sport and PNG deserves a national team. The new team will belong to the people of PNG and it will call Port Moresby home. It will have millions of people barracking for it from day one.” The leaders hailed the deal as a historic milestone for the PNG-Australia relationship that will bond the nations together and provide a major economic boost to the Pacific’s most populous nation as it seeks to lift much of its population out of poverty. There’s no questioning Papua New Guinea’s passion for rugby league. Credit: Getty “What this is about, isn’t just the elite level,” Albanese said. “This is about the grassroots level. It’s about economic development. It’s about the relationship between our peoples. It provides, as sport often does, an opportunity for people to succeed, not just in sport but in life. “That is why this partnership isn’t just about Papua New Guinea, it’s also about our relationship with the Pacific.” Australian taxpayers will provide $600 million over the next 10 years to help establish the team, with $120 million coming from existing Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade funding. The PNG government has committed to building compound-style accommodation for players and offering tax-free salary benefits to lure star players to its capital, Port Moresby. The Australian and PNG governments have signed a separate agreement on “shared strategic trust” that sits beside the franchise agreement between the NRL, Australia and PNG. The exact terms of the strategic trust agreement are confidential and will not be released to the public. “Today also confirms ... our bilateral security agreement, which was signed just over a year ago in Canberra,” Albanese said. “Since signing that agreement, we’ve made real progress with Australia providing tangible support to PNG’s internal security priorities ... I think that today is a day where people will look back in five years, 10 years, 20 years and see that this was a day where the relationship between our nations was cemented even further into a new level.” While there is no explicit clause granting Australia veto rights over security deals between PNG and other countries, government sources said the NRL agreement was “contingent” on PNG continuing to support the principle that security and policing arrangements are handled by Pacific nations including Australia. The sources, who were not authorised to speak publicly, said the agreement allows the Australian government to withdraw financial support for PNG’s NRL team without supplying a reason until 2035. The NRL would be required to terminate the PNG team’s franchise if the Australian government removes its support under the terms of the agreement. “This is about diplomacy, this is about making Australia safer, this is about securing our status as the security partner of choice in the Pacific,” a senior government source said. The government announced a new treaty earlier this week with Nauru that allows it to block China and other countries from striking any security or telecommunications deals with the tiny Pacific nation in exchange for $140 million in financial support from Australian taxpayers. PNG’s Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko told this masthead last week that the agreement has “nothing to do with China” but Australian government officials have insisted there was a security element to the agreement. A separate clause prohibits the NRL from asking the Australian government for more money within or after the 10-year funding period. The logo, colours and name of the PNG team are yet to be determined. One option is for the club to be called the PNG Hunters, the name given to the team that has been playing in the Queensland Cup competition since 2014. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and PNG counterpart James Marape discussed PNG’s NRL bid while walking the Kokoda Track in April. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer “I want to indicate to everyone here in Australia and back home, we’re not just filling the numbers for Anthony [Albanese] and James [Marape] to feel good,” Marape said. “Far from it. We want to win the competition. Just like the Dolphins did in their first year of entry [in 2023], we will field a very strong team in the first game in 2028. “As South Sydney lives on 100 years on from its birth, this one will live on way after you [Albanese] and me are gone. Our people forever bound in not only a shared love for rugby league, but a shared love for each other.” It remains unclear whether PNG will be the NRL’s 18th or 19th team, given there is a desire to add another side as early as 2027. The NRL remains in negotiations for a Perth-based franchise, which are continuing directly with the WA government after a consortium bid was rejected. Sources said negotiations over the PNG team were up in the air until the May NRL “magic round” in May, when Pacific Minister Pat Conroy and Australian Rugby League chairman Peter V’landys struck an in-principle agreement for a team to enter the competition. One of the likely signing targets for the franchise is Xavier Coates. The Melbourne, Queensland and Australian star was born in Port Moresby, has previously represented Fiji and, given he is only 23 years old, will likely be in his prime when the team enters the NRL. His younger brother, Phillip, is also a rising star who represented the PNG Junior Kumuls in their recent draw with the Australian Schoolboys team. As a sweetener to sign with PNG, players and staff will be granted tax-free status. That will allow a marquee signing on a $1.2 million deal to save up to $550,000 a year. The expansion of the NRL competition is expected to bring more money into the game and the existing clubs have argued for a share. They have been placated by the division of a $60 million license fee, which will come out of the $600 million Australian government payment. Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter .

Gift guide: Ideas for the movie loverOWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Fresh off one of its best showings of the season, the Baltimore defense now has another problem to worry about. Roquan Smith missed practice again Friday because of a hamstring injury. Although the Ravens didn't officially rule him or anyone else out — they don't play until Monday night — the All-Pro linebacker's status seems dicey. “Definitely it will be a challenge if Roquan can’t go,” defensive coordinator Zach Orr said. “We’re holding out hope and everything like that. I think it’ll just be by committee. Not one person is going to replace Roquan. Roquan’s an every-down linebacker.” Although the Ravens lost 18-16 last weekend, Baltimore didn't allow a touchdown. That was an encouraging sign for a team that ranks 26th in the league in total defense. Baltimore is on the road Monday against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Ravens appear to have dodged one potential nightmare. Star safety Kyle Hamilton injured an ankle against Cincinnati on Nov. 7, but he was able to play almost every defensive snap the following week against Pittsburgh. But Smith was injured in that game and didn't practice Thursday or Friday. Linebacker Malik Harrison had a season high in tackles last weekend and figures to have a significant role if Smith can't go. “We tell these guys, ‘You’re one play away to going in there — you never know, so you got to stay ready.’ Malik — he was ready,” Orr said. “I thought he went in there and did a good job, especially after the first series, he settled down. That’s what we expect from him.” It's hard to tell whether last week can be a significant turning point for Baltimore's defense. The Ravens allowed only 10 points in a dominant win over Buffalo in Week 4, then yielded 38 against Cincinnati the following game. After allowing 10 against Denver, the Ravens were picked apart by the Bengals again a few days later. So they still haven't shown they can play a good game defensively and then build on it. “I think it’s easier said than done. It’s something that we kind of got caught up saying against Buffalo and then coming up the next week and not doing," Hamilton said. "We’re aware of it now and know that we played a good game, but I think we can get a lot better, and I think that’s kind of the mindset everybody on defense has right now.” Hamilton's ability to make a difference all over the field is part of what makes him valuable, but positioning him deep is one way the Ravens can try to guard against big passing plays. Pittsburgh's Russell Wilson threw for only 205 yards against Baltimore. That's after Joe Burrow passed for 428 and four touchdowns in the Ravens' previous game. “I’ve always seen myself as a safety. A versatile one, but at the end of the day, I think I play safety,” Hamilton said. “If I’m asked to go play safety, I feel like that’s not an issue for me to play safety if I’m a safety.” NOTES: In addition to Smith, WR Rashod Bateman (knee), DT Travis Jones (ankle), S Sanoussi Kane (ankle) C Tyler Linderbaum (back) and CB Arthur Maulet (calf) missed practice Friday. WR Nelson Agholor (illness) returned to full participation after missing Thursday's practice. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL Noah Trister, The Associated PressHOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Texans made mistakes in every facet of the game Sunday against the Tennessee Titans to lose for the third time in four games. C.J. Stroud threw two interceptions, the defense gave up multiple big passing plays and Ka′imi Fairbairn missed a 28-yard field goal that would have tied it late in a 32-27 loss . “Just a disappointing loss for us,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We didn’t do anything well enough to win this game. Out of all the positives that we did have, there were way too many negatives, too many negative plays.” Jimmie Ward had a 65-yard interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter and the Texans tied a franchise record with eight sacks. Danielle Hunter led the group with a season-high three sacks and Will Anderson Jr. added two in his return after missing two games with an ankle injury. But the offense sputtered for most of the game as Joe Mixon was held to 22 yards on 14 carries. But Ryans refused to blame the offense for the loss. “Our offense did plenty," Ryans said. "They gave us enough points. On defense, we have to be able to stop them.” Chig Okonkwo grabbed a short pass and rumbled 70 yards for a touchdown to put the Titans (3-8) up 30-27 with 91⁄2 minutes remaining. Safety Eric Murray missed a tackle that would have stopped him near midfield. It was the last of three big passing plays the Titans had Sunday. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine got in front of the defense and was wide open for a 38-yard TD catch that made it 10-7 late in the first quarter. Calvin Ridley had a 63-yard reception that set up their next touchdown in the second. “It was just way too many negative plays,” Ryans said. “Defensively, unexplainable explosives for touchdowns. We didn’t play good across the board and that starts with me.” Despite this, the Texans (7-5) had a chance to tie it with less than two minutes remaining, but Fairbairn’s short field-goal attempt sailed wide left. He fell to the ground after the miss before getting up and slamming his helmet on the field. “The most frustrating part about it is out of all the bad things that happened, we still had a chance to finish the game,” Ryans said. “Everything that could go wrong, it went wrong. We still had a chance there to tie it up and finish the game, and we didn’t.” The Texans forced a three-and-out, but couldn’t move the ball after that and Harold Landry sacked Stroud in the end zone for a safety to make it 32-27 and allow Tennessee to snap a two-game skid. Stroud threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns, but his two interceptions Sunday give him five combined in the past three games. He now has more interceptions in 12 games this season (nine) than he had in 15 games as a rookie last season (five). “It’s no secret that I haven’t been playing well ... I’ve got to be harder on myself,” he said. “I’m not going to hold my head down. I know I can be a great player, but I’ve got to make better plays.” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl