The Nightly Live: Albanese visits synagogue, Hadley’s replacement, Luigi Mangione charged, Jay-Z on red carpet

This concludes our live coverage of the news events of the day.

Scroll through to see all the action including, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s first visit to Adass Israel synagogue following a firebombing, updates on interest rates and Jay-Z’s shock red carpet appearance after he was accused of rape.

Join us tomorrow for more news and events.

Millions of Australians have allegedly been ripped off by the nation’s biggest insurer in a deceptive and misleading loyalty scheme run through one of its flagship brands.

A class action filed in the Victorian Supreme Court accused NRMA Insurance parent Insurance Australia Group (IAG) of engaging in “misleading, deceptive and unconscionable conduct” by bumping up base premium prices for long-term customers.

The Slater and Gordon-run suit alleged an algorithm used by the company - Australia’s biggest general insurer - was responsible for identifying the most loyal home and contents insurance customers who were the least likely to switch insurers if the price went up.

They were then allegedly hit with large increases to their base premiums, which more than made up for any purported discounts they were being offered as returning customers.

The “loyalty tax” cost some customers thousands of dollars, the law firm said.

​Read more here.​

The Nightly correspondent Aaron Patrick has filed an excellent profile piece on Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old man accused of murdering UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson in cold blood on the streets of New York:

Luigi Mangione was the kind of guy other students at his expensive all-boys private school wanted to be: smart, handsome and rich.

But the member of a property-developing family appears to have been sucked into a vortex of anti-capitalist conspiracy theories focused on America’s giant and troubled healthcare industry.

The 26-year-old was arrested at a McDonald’s outlet in Pennsylvania on Monday after staff matched him with photos of the man suspected of shooting chief executive Brian Thompson on a New York City footpath last week.

Thompson’s killing immediately became an iconic American crime: an almost old-fashioned street assassination with modern elements, including a share getaway bicycle, messages on bullet casings and monopoly money left near the scene, apparently to taunt authorities.

After Mangione’s arrest, though, Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, challenged the romantic narrative that Thompson’s killer was a principled man of courage fighting a system preying on ordinary people.

Read the full story here.

Jay-Z, AKA Shawn Carter, has made a surprise appearance at the Los Angeles premiere of Mufasa: The Lion King, the day after he faced allegations he had raped a 13-year-old girl alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs in 2000.

Jay-Z walked the red carpet with his wife Beyonce Carter-Knowles and daughter Blue Ivy Carter, who both have voice roles in the Disney film. Mufasa: The Lion King is Blue Ivy Carter’s, 12, acting debut.

Dressed in a plum suit, Jay-Z also posed for photos with his family, including his mother-in-law, Tina Knowles.

The Knowles-Carter family was not expected to attend the Los Angeles premiere, according to The Hollywood Reporter. They were not confirmed to make an appearance.

On Monday, it emerged Jay-Z’s name has been added to a lawsuit against Combs which was filed in October.

Read the full story by Wenlei Ma here.

Women’s clothing line Katies will be wound down while dozens of Millers, Rivers and Noni B stores will close as struggling Australian fashion retailer Mosaic Brands undergoes a “consolidation program” that will cost hundreds of staff their jobs.

A line will be drawn through Katies as a brand and the shutters will be brought down on all 80 of it stores by mid-January, it was revealed on Tuesday.

A further 80 Millers, Rivers and Noni B brick and mortar shopfronts will shut in the same period.

The wide-ranging cuts will impact about 480 employees from across the clothing brands.

Read the full story from Bryce Luff here.

Luigi Mangione, the man who allegedly assassinated UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, has been charged with murder.

Mr Mangione was taken into custody at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 450km west of New York City on Monday after a customer at the fast-food outlet recognised him.

He was found in possession of a 3D-printed gun and a handwritten document that indicated “motivation and mindset”, according to police.

According to the BBC, Mr Mangione appeared in a Pennsylvania court to be arraigned on five initial counts and was denied bail.

Read more on how police tracked down the alleged killer here.

Ellen Ransley has described the scene at the Adass Israel Synagogue as a “chaotic scrum” as the Prime Minister arrived:

What followed was a chaotic scrum with isolated heckling before the PM made a brief statement to the crowd and media.

“This attack is an act of terrorism. It was fueled by anti-Semitism, and it was stoked by hatred,” he said.

“One of the things that we spoke about inside … was the fact that people have come to Australia because we are a country that is peaceful. We are a country that respects people of different faiths.”

He said he wanted to make sure “those who perpetuated this evil crime do not receive any benefit”.

A synagogue board member said the community was “very grateful that the Prime Minister made the effort to come to see us today”.

“It’s amazing to see the Prime Minister standing with us... Thank you very much,” he said.

The PM vowed to meet with community leaders to discuss practical next steps, before he was whisked away from the crowd into his waiting car as people began yelling.

One could be heard asking “why is the Prime Minister such a coward” and others yelled that he hadn’t taken any questions, as federal police tried to get the cars away safely.

​Read Ellen’s full story here.​

JUST IN: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has visited the Adass Israel Synagogue, four days after it was firebombed in an early morning terror attack.

After days of political finger-pointing by the Opposition and vocal criticism from some Jewish leaders, Mr Albanese arrived about 1pm on Tuesday where he was greeted by members of the Ripponlea community and local Labor MP Josh Burns.

He was thanked before he was taken inside to see the extent of the arson attack, which tore through the buildings shortly after 4am on Friday and has caused millions of dollars worth of damage.

“We’ll see what we can do to help,” Mr Albanese told the community leaders as they lamented the task ahead of them.

Read the full report from Ellen Ransley here.

In news that couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Jewish community in Australia, high-profile restaurateur Alan Yazbek has walked way from court without a conviction after pleading guilty to displaying a nazi swastika during an anti-Israel rally.

Mr Yazbek, who is the co-owner of the Nomad Restaurant Group appeared at Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday, when he was issued a 12-month conditional release without a conviction.

Magistrate Miranda Moody said she accepted Yazbek deeply regretted his actions and was not a “neo-Nazi or right-wing extremist”.

The homemade sign featured the words “stop Nazi Israel” and bore the colours of the Israeli flag with a swastika in place of the Star of David.

When approached by police officers during the protest, Yazbek described the image as an “Israeli swastika”, according to court documents.

Full story here.

In news that is likely to be celebrated by some readers, Woolworths is facing criminal charges from New Zealand’s competition watchdog.

Cheyanne Enciso reports that the supermarket giant, along with local rival Pak’n’Save, is now facing charges over what it calls inaccurate pricing and mislead specials.

Commerce Commission deputy chair Anne Callinan said shoppers should have confidence the price they see will be the price they pay, and “specials really are special”.

The news comes in the wake of a torrid 2024 for Woolies after they (and Coles) were pinged in Australia by the ACCC for misleading consumers on price discounts across hundreds of products.

Full story here.