Speaker 1: Today's biggest news from The Australian. I'm Christanami It with
Speaker 1: the Front's afternoon headlines. Sacked radio superstar Kyle Sandalans is
Speaker 1: seeking to fast track his legal action against his former employer,
Speaker 1: the radio network ARN, after it tore up his one
Speaker 1: hundred million dollar contract. Sandalans appeared in the Federal Court
Speaker 1: in Sydney on Friday, where he's seeking to be paid
Speaker 1: the balance of the ten year deal about eighty five
Speaker 1: million dollars. He was dumped by ARN after an on
Speaker 1: air blow up with his longtime co host Jackie Henderson,
Speaker 1: who's known as Jackie Oh. In February, Sandalans told and
Speaker 1: upset Henderson she was quote off with the fairies and
Speaker 1: claimed several of their KISSFM colleagues had complained to him
Speaker 1: about her work ethic. AARN said that amounted to serious
Speaker 1: misconduct and gave the shock jock fourteen days to patch
Speaker 1: things up with Henderson. His contract was terminated when that
Speaker 1: didn't happen. Now he wants the court to force ARN
Speaker 1: to pay him out of the multimillion dollar contract, of
Speaker 1: which he and Henderson only served a bit over a year.
Speaker 1: He told the assembled media pack on Friday morning, he
Speaker 1: was traumatized by the events of the last month and
Speaker 1: said the contract shouldn't have been terminated. Oh AAR was
Speaker 1: slow down, So make up your own mindus So what
Speaker 1: that strategy is about. I just want to get back,
Speaker 1: either to work or get back earlier that the family
Speaker 1: got mortgages to pay like everyone else. In documents filed
Speaker 1: in court, Sandalanz claimed AARN leveraged the bust up to
Speaker 1: cancel the Kyle and Jackie O show and to get
Speaker 1: out of the joint two hundred million dollar contracted into
Speaker 1: with the Stars in twenty twenty three. The barrister representing
Speaker 1: Kyle Sandalans, Scott Robertson, SC, is pushing for the case
Speaker 1: to be heard quick smart in as little as three days.
Speaker 1: He told the court this quote isn't an occasion for
Speaker 1: a royal commission into mister Sandalans and his previous radio career.
Speaker 1: But Arn's barrister, Tom Blackburn SC said his client is
Speaker 1: seeking for the case to be heard over two weeks
Speaker 1: so they can quote do this properly. The radio network
Speaker 1: suggested on Friday it may launch a cross claim against
Speaker 1: Sandalands for his quote conduct towards Henderson before their show
Speaker 1: stopped being broadcast. The matter will return to court on
Speaker 1: April twenty four for a case management hearing, with five
Speaker 1: days set aside in June for it to be heard.
Speaker 1: With the prospect of delay. An additional ten thousand U
Speaker 1: S Ground troops could be sent to the Middle East
Speaker 1: by the Pentagon. That's in addition to the five thousand
Speaker 1: marines and thousands of paratroopers already deployed to the region.
Speaker 1: Department of Defense officials familiar with the matter said extra
Speaker 1: force would open up more military options for President Donald
Speaker 1: Trump as he works to reopen the Strait of Hormuz
Speaker 1: and ways talks with Tehran. A landmark ruling by a
Speaker 1: US court could pave the way for an Australian class
Speaker 1: action lawsuit against tech giants Meta and Google. Los Angeles
Speaker 1: jury found that the tech companies intentionally built addictive and
Speaker 1: harmful social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. They've
Speaker 1: been ordered to pay just over eight point five million
Speaker 1: dollars to a twenty year old woman who sued the
Speaker 1: companies for a childhood's social media addiction she says harmed
Speaker 1: her mental health. The Silicon Valley giants say they'll appeal
Speaker 1: the court's ruling. Now, Australian law firm Maurice Blackburn says
Speaker 1: it wants to quote create accountability by mounting a class
Speaker 1: action lawsuit on behalf of Australians. Check out those stories
Speaker 1: live right now at the Australian dot com dot au
Speaker 1: and come back to the front first thing in the
Speaker 1: morning for a look at an unexpected casualty of the
Speaker 1: conflict in the Middle East, the prized artworks being hidden
Speaker 1: from view and from bombs. That's right here, Saturday morning.