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Taylor Swift, Football Boost British Digital Publisher Daily Mirror Reach

Daily Mirror and Daily Express publisher Reach also owns scores of regional newspaper titles across the UK. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
Daily Mirror and Daily Express publisher Reach also owns scores of regional newspaper titles across the UK. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
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Taylor Swift, Football Boost British Digital Publisher Daily Mirror Reach

Daily Mirror and Daily Express publisher Reach also owns scores of regional newspaper titles across the UK. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
Daily Mirror and Daily Express publisher Reach also owns scores of regional newspaper titles across the UK. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Taylor Swift's Eras tour, the European soccer championship and the UK election boosted digital revenue for British news publisher Reach in its second-quarter, reversing a decline in the first.

The publisher of the Daily Mirror, Daily Express and regional titles and associated websites cut cost to improve its margin by 3.9 points, resulting in a 23% rise in first-half operating profit to 44.5 million pounds ($57.1 million).

According to Reuters, revenue fell 5.2% to 265 million pounds, reflecting double-digit declines in print advertising in both the first and second quarters. Digital revenue, however, rose 6.7% in the second quarter after falling 8.5% in the first.

Chief Executive Jim Mullen said: "Alongside our expertise in managing our print product, we have traded our digital assets hard and delivered an operating margin improvement."

He said the group was delivering multi-platform journalism, with 9 million people signed up to receive news direct to their devices, including by WhatsApp.

"We had that three week burst with the Euros, the election and the phenomenon that is Taylor Swift," he said on Wednesday.

"But also some of the traditional advertisers are going through a purple patch, so food retail helped print, but it also helped digital," he added.

Shares in the company rose 1.2% in morning deals.

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American Who Snatched a Baby Wombat from Its Mother Leaves Australia 

A wombat walks at a wildlife sanctuary in Bendalong on the South Coast, of Australia, Tuesday, May 26, 2020. (AAP Image via AP)
A wombat walks at a wildlife sanctuary in Bendalong on the South Coast, of Australia, Tuesday, May 26, 2020. (AAP Image via AP)
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American Who Snatched a Baby Wombat from Its Mother Leaves Australia 

A wombat walks at a wildlife sanctuary in Bendalong on the South Coast, of Australia, Tuesday, May 26, 2020. (AAP Image via AP)
A wombat walks at a wildlife sanctuary in Bendalong on the South Coast, of Australia, Tuesday, May 26, 2020. (AAP Image via AP)

An American influencer left Australia on Friday after the government announced it was reviewing her visa over a video she posted of her snatching a baby wombat from its mother.

Sam Jones, who describes herself as an “outdoor enthusiast & hunter,” made her Instagram account private Thursday after she was widely condemned for the video.

“There’s never been a better day to be a baby wombat in Australia,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement after a government official confirmed Jones had flown from the country voluntarily.

In the video, Montana-based Jones lifts the wombat joey by its front legs in darkness from a roadside then runs away from its mother. “I caught a baby wombat,” she said as a man filming her laughs. She returns the wombat to the roadside after several seconds.

Burke had said earlier Friday the conditions of her visa were being reviewed to determine whether immigration law has been breached. “I can’t wait for Australia to see the back of this individual, I don’t expect she will return,” he said in the statement received by The Associated Press.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese added his voice to the criticism. “To take a baby wombat from its mother, and clearly causing distress from the mother, is just an outrage,” Albanese said.

“I suggest to this so-called influencer, maybe she might try some other Australian animals. Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there. Take another animal that can actually fight back rather than stealing a baby wombat from its mother,” Albanese added.

Jones, who also uses the name Samantha Strable, closed her social media channels to messages and couldn’t be reached for comment Friday.

The wombat appears to be common wombat, also known as a bare-nosed wombat. It is a protected marsupial found only in Australia.

Yolandi Vermaak, founder of the animal care charity Wombat Rescue, said separating the young wombat from its mother created a risk that the mother would reject her offspring.

“My biggest concern is that we didn’t actually see mom and baby getting reunited. When she put it down, it looked disoriented. It was turned away from where the mother was last seen. So we don’t know if mom and baby actually found each other again,” Vermaak said.

Vermaak also called on Jones to say where the wombat was after the video showed the joey had a skin disease. “The baby has mange and it’s a matter of time before it dies of mange, so it’s important for us to find where this happened and to get this baby and its mom treated as soon as possible,” Vermaak said.