"God save me." Travis Barker has been rushed to hospital.

Kourtney Kardashian’s new husband Travis Barker was rushed to hospital today amid an unspecified medical emergency. 

According to TMZ, the Blink-182 drummer first presented himself at West Hills hospital for a mystery illness. Shortly after, he was taken via ambulance to another hospital. 

At the time, Barker sent a tweet to his 1.5 million followers saying: “God save me.”

Although it remains unclear what his reason for going to hospital is, Barker’s daughter wrote on her Instagram stories “Please send your prayers” along with a worried face emoji.

God save me

— Travis Barker (@travisbarker) June 28, 2022

Image: Instagram @alabamaluellabarker 

Image: Getty/Twitter

This post deals with domestic violence and might be triggering for some readers.

A coroner investigating the deaths of Hannah Clarke and her children recognised the mother’s “astounding” bravery, saying it was unlikely anyone could have stopped Rowan Baxter’s murderous plans.

Jane Bentley’s voice broke as she finished delivering her findings in a Southport court on Wednesday following a hearing in March.

The coroner said Baxter was not mentally ill, but a “master of manipulation”.

“I find it unlikely that any further actions taken by police officers, service providers, friends or family members could have stopped Baxter from ultimately executing his murderous plans,” she added.

Ms Bentley said Baxter made appointments for counselling and with doctors that were designed to help him contest a domestic violence order and get what he wanted from the Family Court process.

He understood the extent of the atrocities he committed before killing himself “in a final act of cowardice”.

Listen to tonight's episode of The Quicky. Post continues after audio.

Ms Bentley said police training required “immediate attention” to prevent similar deaths occurring.

Her recommendations included a five-day face-to-face training program for specialist domestic violence police officers “as a matter of urgency”, a mandatory face-to-face domestic violence module for all officers and state government funding provided urgently for men's behaviour change programs in prisons and communities.

She also called for a multi-disciplinary specialist domestic violence police station to be trialled for a year.

The station should include specialist officers including a detective, a support worker, a lawyer to advise police and victims, and representatives from the departments of child safety, housing and health. Ms Bentley found there were missed opportunities to hold Baxter accountable for actions like breaching the DVO, but overall Ms Clarke was dealt with appropriately by officers. 

Sue Clarke fought back tears, responding to the coroner saying her daughter’s “bravery was astounding”.

“Yes, I think he (Baxter) underestimated how much a mother will fight and how strong a mother is,” she said. “He didn’t love the children like she did. He had no idea what a mother will do.”

Ms Clarke’s parents said more specialist domestic violence education was what they had been calling for. Sue Clarke described the multi-disciplinary police station as a potential “game changer”.

“If women can understand what they can charge people with and what risk they are at, just all the different services working together – I think it’s a dream,” she said.

Asked if the findings closed a difficult chapter for them, Lloyd Clarke said they would not stop until the recommendations were adopted nationally.

“It hasn’t ended yet,” he added. “It is an uncomfortable conversation that we have started… but we all need to keep this conversation 100 per cent going.”

Sue Clarke added: “We believe we need a lot more education, not just for Queensland but for every state in Australia – it’s not just a Queensland problem. Hopefully with education no one will fail to see that risk again.”

With AAP.

Image: Supplied.

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.

You can also call safe steps 24/7 Family Violence Response Line on 1800 015 188 or visit www.safesteps.org.au for further information.

The Men’s Referral Service is also available on 1300 766 491 or via online chat at www.ntv.org.au.

Image: Supplied/AAP. 

This post mentions suicide, and may be triggering to readers. 

A former aide has testified in court against Donald Trump, making allegations about his behaviour amid the US Capitol riots back in January 2021.

The then-president allegedly dismissed concerns that some supporters gathered for his fiery speech outside the White House that day carried AR-15-style rifles, instead asking security to stop screening attendees so the crowd would look larger, the aide said.

“Take the effing mags away; they’re not here to hurt me,” Cassidy Hutchinson, who was a top aide to Trump’s then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, quoted Trump as allegedly saying that morning.

Trump struggled with Secret Service agents who insisted he return to the White House rather than join supporters storming the Capitol, where Congress was meeting to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over him in the presidential election, Hutchinson testified.

Trump’s supporters were roused by his false claims that his 2020 election defeat was the result of fraud.

“I’m the effing president. Take me up to the Capitol now,” Hutchinson quoted Trump as saying. She claimed Trump tried from the back seat to grab the steering wheel of the presidential vehicle and lunged in anger at a Secret Service official.

On social media Trump, a Republican, denied her account.

Dozens of courts, election officials and reviews by Trump’s own administration rejected his fraud claims. Four people died the day of the attack, one fatally shot by police and the others of natural causes. More than 100 police officers were injured, and one died the next day. Four officers later died by suicide.

The court process continues.

Former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson testifies about what Trump WH counsel Pat Cipollone told her on the morning of January 6th:

“Please make sure we don’t go up to the Capitol ... We’re going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen.” pic.twitter.com/Z7qNvIfRvi

— The Recount (@therecount) June 28, 2022

With AAP.

SuicideLine Victoria is a specialist suicide prevention counselling service for people living in Victoria. We provide support to anyone who is thinking about suicide (suicide prevention), worried about someone else, or bereaved by suicide. We also provide support for other emotional and mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression and relationship concerns.

If there’s one fabulous Kardashian party we dream of being inhibited to, it’s a North West birthday extravagance. Let's talk about her recent celebration which included mum Kim Kardashian’s private plane, ziplines, and cute blood-covered tents.

Plus, Disney+ has released the first teaser trailer for the highly anticipated movie Hocus Pocus 2, which reunites our favourite sister witches Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as the beloved Sanderson sisters. But now we have to talk about the movie’s murky past and an awkward relationship brewing between two of the famous co-stars.

And Dakota Johnson covers the latest issue of Vanity Fair, in an interview that covers her famous family, her romance with Chris Martin, and her thoughts on the Fifty Shades of Grey movies which she now says were a nightmare to film. But reading between the lines of this interview we have to ask ourselves, how much do we really know about this beloved Hollywood nepo-baby and the life she’s trying to cover up.

Listen to The Spill below.

Morning, 

Yesterday news broke that the former police officer who shot dead Australian woman Justine Damond walked away free from prison.  

I explain the full story, including what happened to the 40-year-old, who died weeks before marrying her American fiancé, here. 

These are the top news stories you need to know today, Wednesday, June 29.

1. Ghislaine Maxwell sentenced to 20 years in jail.

Warning: This post mentions sexual abuse and may be triggering for some readers. 

Ghislaine Maxwell has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping sex offender and globetrotting financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.

The 60-year-old British socialite was convicted in December for recruiting and grooming four girls to have sexual encounters with Epstein - who was her boyfriend at the time - between 1994 and 2004.

In often emotional and explicit testimony during the month-long trial, four women testified that Maxwell was a central figure in their abuse by Epstein, who was found dead in his jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.

Breaking News: Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years for conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to recruit and sexually abuse underage girls. https://t.co/wPQbQTbqS3 pic.twitter.com/sFiwPgm8wH

— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 28, 2022

Prosecutors last week called Maxwell's conduct "shockingly predatory" and said she deserved to spend at least 30 years behind bars for the five charges on which she was convicted, based on their interpretation of federal sentencing guidelines.

Maxwell's lawyers had earlier said in court papers that she should be sentenced to no more than five and one-quarter years, arguing that she was being scapegoated for Epstein's crimes and that she had already spent significant time in jail.

Maxwell was arrested in July 2020 and repeatedly denied bail. Since then, she has been held mostly at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), where she has complained of vermin and the scent of raw sewage in her cell. 

She was placed on suicide watch over the weekend. However, her lawyers said she was not suicidal.

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.

You can also call safe steps 24/7 Family Violence Response Line on 1800 015 188 or visit www.safesteps.org.au for further information.

The Men’s Referral Service is also available on 1300 766 491 or via online chat at www.ntv.org.au.www.ntv.org.au.

2. The Teacher's Pet podcast creator denies enticing Dawson witnesses.

Investigative journalist Hedley Thomas has rejected allegations he influenced potential witnesses in Chris Dawson's murder trial by discussing potential movies or miniseries about the case.

Returning to give evidence in the NSW Supreme Court yesterday, Thomas, who produced The Teacher's Pet podcast on the 1982 disappearance of Lynette Dawson, said talk of witnesses playing a role in an upcoming production was merely banter during interviews with them.

"When you held out those deals to them… you appreciated that that would be attractive to them?" asked Dawson's barrister Pauline David.

"Possibly to some, but it might have been very unattractive to others who were introverted or didn't want to be involved," he said.

He told the court he had no roles to offer anyone, explaining that his interviews for the podcast occurred in the years before a deal had been struck with Blumhouse Television for a miniseries in September 2018.

Image: AAP.

David suggested Thomas had corrupted and poisoned the recollections of potential witnesses by discussing his own negative perceptions of Dawson with them, before some had even given a statement to the police. The Walkley award winning journalist denied these allegations.

"These were intelligent people with their own independent minds," he told Justice Ian Harrison.

Dawson, now 73, has been accused of murdering his wife and disposing of her body so he could have an unfettered relationship with his babysitter and former high school student, known as JC. He has pleaded not guilty.

The trial continues today. 

3. Kyrgios calls lineswoman a "snitch" at Wimbledon.

Nick Kyrgios has admitted to spitting towards a "disrespectful" spectator and calling a lineswoman a "snitch" during an explosive start to his Wimbledon campaign.

Kyrgios said he was fed up with being verbally and racially taunted after claiming to be the subject of more abuse, during his tense five-set first-round win over British world No.219 Paul Jubb yesterday. 

He made no apologies when asked to confirm if he deliberately spat in the direction of the heckler after the match, in an incident that shocked onlookers at the All England Club.

"On one of the people disrespecting me, yes," Kyrgios said following his win. "I would not be doing that to someone who was supporting me."

"Today, as soon as I won the match, I turned to him... I've been dealing with hate and negativity for a long time, so I don't feel like I owed that person anything."

Nick Kyrgios dedicated his win to "a couple of people in the crowd" who were giving him grief... 😬

"You know who you are" 👀#BBCTennis #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/GCif6baNTt

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 28, 2022

Kyrgios complained to the umpire about sections of the crowd a number of times throughout the match and took aim at several on-court officials. He also said he had no regrets calling one lineswoman a "snitch".

"No, why? That's what she did," Kyrgios said.

"I didn't do anything and she went to the umpire and told her something that I didn't say. That's called whistleblowing. Factually what happened."

4. Former aide says Trump wanted to join rioters at US Capitol.

Former US president Donald Trump allegedly wanted to join supporters moving on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, a former aide has testified to a committee probing the riots. 

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, recounted hearing about how Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of the presidential limousine when his security detail declined to take him to the Capitol. 

"'I'm the effing president. Take me up to the Capitol now,'" Hutchinson quoted an enraged Trump as saying. 

The committee investigating last year's assault on the US Capitol has heard that former president Donald Trump tried to take the steering wheel from his Secret Service driver in an attempt to join the crowd marching on the Capitol | https://t.co/s1dnps01a8 pic.twitter.com/J2uj8pKzaP

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) June 28, 2022

When he got into the limo, nicknamed "the Beast," he was told they would not be going to the Capitol, he had a very angry response.

A Secret Service agent had to physically restrain Trump who, sitting in the back seat, used his free hand to lunge toward the neck of Secret Service agent Robert Engel, Hutchinson testified.

"Mr Trump then used his free hand to lunge toward Bobby Engel," she testified.

It was one of several of Hutchinson's disclosures at the sixth day of House hearings into the Capitol assault by Trump's followers, roused by his false claims his 2020 election defeat was the result of fraud.

5. 'Stacks of bodies' found inside Texas truck in deadliest human smuggling incident in US history. 

The bodies of 50 dead migrants have been discovered inside a tractor-trailer unit in San Antonio, Texas, city officials say, in one of the most deadly recent incidents of human smuggling along the US-Mexico border.

A San Antonio Fire Department official said they found "stacks of bodies" and no signs of water in the truck, which was found next to railway tracks in a remote area on the city's southern outskirts on Monday.

"I want to offer my condolences to the relatives of this catastrophe," said Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. 

HORRIFYING AND HEARTBREAKING: 50 migrants have been found dead in a truck in Texas, in what is now the deadliest human smuggling incident in US history. #9Today pic.twitter.com/n5NKk2H5Gh

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) June 28, 2022

Mexico Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Twitter yesterday that 22 Mexicans, seven Guatemalans and two Hondurans were identified among the dead. There was no information on the citizenship of another 19, Mexican officials said.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said that its Homeland Security Investigations division was conducting a criminal investigation into "an alleged human smuggling event" in coordination with local police.

Sixteen other people found inside the trailer were transported to hospitals for heat stroke and exhaustion, including four minors, but no children were among the dead, the San Antonio Fire Department said.

That's everything you need to know this morning. We'll be back to bring you more of the top news stories throughout the day.

- With AAP. 

More and more sporting codes are introducing new bans on trans women who want to participate in those sports at an elite level, but why has this suddenly become an issue, and how many people are really going to be impacted?

Some have argued it is necessary to maintain fairness in women's sport, but for others, this is just another excuse to target and marginalise an already vulnerable and often ostracised community.

The Quicky speaks to a professional trans athlete to find out what impact these bans are really having on the LGBTQIA+ community, and whether there might be a fairer solution for all involved.

READ: 

• What women were talking about on Tuesday
• What women were talking about on Monday

Feature Image: Getty/Twitter.