Afternoon Update: mushroom gummies recalled after ‘disturbing’ hallucinations; Lehrmann told to pay $2m in costs; and chicken soup to restore the soul
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At least five people have been hospitalised since April after ingesting mushroom gummies made by a Byron Bay business, prompting NSW Health to issue a warning for people not to consume the product.
Patients, all of whom consumed Uncle Frog’s Mushroom Gummies, presented with symptoms including seizure-like activity and involuntary twitching, disturbing hallucinations, anxiety, dizziness, loss of consciousness, a racing pulse, nausea and vomiting.
The gummies’ packaging encourages customers to “experience the multiverse”, claiming they are “infused with earth’s finest hemp” at “1000mg per serve” – equal to one gram.
In an email to Guardian Australia, Uncle Frog said it sourced cordyceps from the US and “it has many health benefits” but “consuming the whole bag could … sometimes make people feel weird”.
On Thursday, Victoria’s Department of Health issued a similar warning, following “several” hospitalisations in the state.
Top news
Stella Assange says Julian was ‘pleading guilty to journalism’ | Stella Assange addressed media at Parliament House today with the members of the Bring Julian Assange home parliamentary group. Meanwhile, writing for Guardian Australia, barrister Greg Barns explains how a rainbow coalition of Australian politicians came together to push for Julian Assange’s freedom.
Teenager charged with planning terrorist attack after entering MP’s office | Jordan Patten, a 19-year-old from Raymond Terrace, was charged with one count of preparing or planning a terrorist act after he allegedly entered state Labor MP Tim Crakanthorp’s office carrying items including “knives and tactical equipment”.
Senate committee rejects David Pocock’s climate bill | A Labor-led Senate committee recommended the independent senator’s bill not be passed by the parliament. The bill aimed to force governments to consider the impact of climate harm on young people’s wellbeing as part of its decision making process.
Inflation data raises spectre of interest rate hike | November 2025 is when investors are fully pricing in a cash rate cut to 4.1%, – or about half a year after the next federal election must be held. However, Guardian Australia’s Peter Hannam says that technically we are still on track for the central bank’s inflation target.
Fake wedding celebrant sentenced over ‘invalid’ marriages | The AFP said the 31-year-old Melbourne man pretended to be a celebrant while defrauding five couples of $700 to $1,000 each for his marriage services between March 2022 and April 2023.
Senate votes to split build-to-rent changes from Treasury bill | The Senate has voted 40 to 20 to send it to an inquiry to report by 4 September. As we reported on Monday, the Greens are concerned the changes amount to more tax concessions for developers and that 90% of homes built will be “unaffordable”.
Ultra-processed foods need tobacco-style warnings, says scientist | In the UK and US, more than half the average diet now consists of ultra-processed food (UPF). For some, especially people who are younger, poorer or from disadvantaged areas, a diet comprising as much as 80% UPF is typical.
No house arrest for man charged with murder of Tupac Shakur | Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 61, has been denied release from a Las Vegas jail before his trial in the 1996 killing of music legend Tupac Shakur. He is the only person ever charged with a crime in the killing.
South Africa smash Afghanistan in men’s T20 World Cup semifinal | South Africa’s bowlers brushed aside any sign of semifinal nerves to skittle Afghanistan for 56 inside 12 overs, booking their place in the final for the first time with a dominant nine-wicket triumph.
In pictures
Giddyup! LensCulture critics’ choice awards
From Mexican horse-riding gangs and sparkling fireflies to canaries in the coal mine, this year’s winning photographs offered up plenty of animal magic.
What they said …
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“I am just a marionette” – ABC veteran Phillip Adams
Colleagues have paid tribute to the Radio National broadcaster whose “naughty streak and compassion for underdog” shone in interviews with everyone from Mikhail Gorbachev to Gore Vidal, writes Amanda Meade.
In numbers
At a costs hearing on Thursday, Ten’s barrister Zoe Graus told the court the network calculated that its costs at the end of May following Lehrmann’s failed defamation case were $3,668,420.83. But Graus said the network was seeking the lower lump sum, which the former Liberal party staffer’s lawyer described as potentially “the deal of the century”.
Before bed read
Laksa, avgolemono and a Nigella Lawson favourite: eight chicken soup recipes for wintry days
Whether with noodles, spice or all other things nice, it’s hard to go wrong with chicken soup. From ambitious projects to midweek saviours, these recipes will restore the soul.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: AINS. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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