A University of Michigan student was arrested after video appeared to show her confronting and assaulting conservative activists on campus ahead of a closely watched U.S. Senate race in Michigan.

The unidentified student approached two men seated at a table beneath a sign that asked, “Is Islam Compatible with the West?” on Sunday. Footage showed her clapping close to one man’s face, prompting him to recoil and raise a hand toward his face.

“This is f***ing stupid, bro,” she said in the video. She then repeatedly questioned the man about whether he had a permit to be on campus as he attempted to end the exchange.

The man turned toward a campus police officer who was off-camera and said the student had struck him. She immediately denied the allegation, even as people nearby told her the entire confrontation had been recorded.

“But I have several f***ing eyewitnesses, I didn’t do f***ing s**t,” the student responded. She accused the activist of “victimizing himself as a fully-grown man.”

The confrontation then shifted toward what she described as “anti-Muslim people here who want to say I put a f***ing hand on him, bro.”

“You can see me put a hand on you,” she said before approaching a nearby woman later identified as Lizzy Benichou, a conservative influencer who uses the Instagram handle @basedinmalibu.

The student called Benichou a “b***h” as people around them commented on Benichou’s clothing, suggesting she would have to cover up if she were in Iran.

Benichou then joined the exchange, asking another bystander whether they believed she would be permitted to wear her short-sleeved black shirt in Iran.

The remark appeared to anger the student, who then pushed Benichou to the ground, according to the video.

A police officer quickly moved in, forced the student to the ground and handcuffed her. He instructed her not to resist and repeatedly told her to “stop fighting back.”

The student appeared surprised by the arrest and asked the officer: “What the f**k are you going to do to me? Because I hit a dumb a** b***h in the face?”

After hearing the comment, someone off-camera told her: “You can’t attack somebody because you don’t like their politics.”

A police van soon arrived, and a second officer helped escort the handcuffed student to the vehicle.

Even as she was led away, however, the student continued to defend the confrontation.

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“I’d do it again every f***ing time, you stupid f***ing c**t,” she told Benichou. “I should’ve f***ing killed you when I had the chance.”

“Are you kidding me?” one bystander asked.

‘No I’m not kidding you,’ she replied, prompting one woman to say: ‘You’re sick, you’re sick. Go to a mental hospital b***h.

‘I’ve already been to a mental hospital,’ the student hit back. ‘And I’ll go again if it means killing you.’

In a statement to the Daily Mail, University of Michigan police said officers were responding to an unpermitted event on campus just before 5pm when the chaotic scene unfolded.

‘As the group was packing up to leave, officers witnessed a University of Michigan student assault a woman not affiliated with the university,’ campus police said.

‘The student was taken into custody, processed and released pending warrant authorization. No injuries were reported.’  

Benichou has since also released a statement on social media, saying she was ‘physically assaulted simply for showing up and exercising my First Amendment rights.

‘Political violence has NO place in the United States of America,’ she said.

‘I am incredibly grateful to the law enforcement officers who acted immediately to protect me. I am now in a safe location receiving care and I am going to be OK.

‘If the intention was to intimidate or silence me, it will not work,’ Benichou said. 

In a video posted shortly before the attack, Benichou said she and another conservative influencer, Emily Saves America, were on campus asking students who they were voting for. 

Michiganders are choosing between leftist Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Representative Mike Rogers in the US Senate election on Tuesday.

In an unusual move on Sunday, Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens announced that she was supporting Rogers over her party’s candidate.

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel has since made it clear that Stevens is no longer welcome in the party as he compared her endorsement of Rogers to a high school clique fight and said she ‘abandoned’ her constituents at the worst possible moment.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said he would welcome Stevens to the GOP.

Several of the Albanese government’s biggest departments collectively exceeded their staffing budgets by about $5.6 million every day during the last financial year.

Annual reports reveal that more than 40 federal departments and agencies spent over $2 billion beyond their combined forecasts for employee costs.

The Department of Home Affairs recorded the largest blowout. Its employee expenses climbed to $2.23 billion, exceeding the budget by $275 million.

The National Disability Insurance Agency was $224.6 million over its staffing allocation, while the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water exceeded its forecast by $197.6 million.

Staffing costs at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry were $157.1 million higher than budgeted. Employment and Workplace Relations also surpassed its allocation, by $135.1 million.

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing reported a $129 million overspend on employee expenses.

The figures come as Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher face growing pressure to rein in government spending before December’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

The Reserve Bank is also widely expected to raise interest rates again on Tuesday, after underlying inflation accelerated during the September quarter.

Financial markets have placed a strong probability on a quarter-point increase, which would lift the cash rate from 4.60 per cent to an 18-year high of 4.85 per cent.

Gallagher admitted on Sunday that pressure on the budget was intensifying as ministers look for savings ahead of the economic update.

Appearing on ABC’s Insiders, the Finance Minister said the government was facing rising demands across several major spending programs.

“The pressures on the budget are real,” she said.

“The pressures on the budget are increasing, not decreasing, and so not only is it how do we manage those, it’s how do we repair the budget over time.”

Gallagher pointed to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, healthcare, aged care, defence and interest payments on government debt as the main sources of spending pressure.

“When you look at the areas of growth, when we came to government and they haven’t changed really, but it’s been NDIS, healthcare, aged care, defence spending and interest on government debt,” she said.

Host David Speers questioned whether the scale of those demands had made it increasingly difficult for the government to control expenditure.

Gallagher rejected the suggestion, while conceding that the budget was under mounting strain.

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“No, I’m not saying it’s too difficult, but I am saying that there should be some acknowledgement of the world in which we are living and the pressures on the Commonwealth budget,” she said.

‘They are real, they are increasing, and we have to deal with them.’

Pressed on whether the government would deliver net savings in the December budget update, Gallagher declined to make a commitment.

‘I can’t get ahead of decisions that haven’t been made yet,’ she said.

However, she said ministers were working intensively to find savings.

‘There is enormous effort being placed, particularly by Jim and myself, on the savings side,’ Gallagher said.

Asked whether any areas would be protected from savings measures, Gallagher indicated spending across government was under review. 

‘We look across the board,’ she said.

‘I would not say that any area is exempt from the scrutiny that the Department of Finance applies.’

While many large departments blew out their staffing budgets, a small number spent less than forecast. 

The Australian Taxation Office spent $76.8million less than budgeted on employee benefits, while the Department of Social Services underspent by $35.1 million.

The employee-cost overruns occurred as federal tax collections continued to climb. 

Personal income tax receipts surged by $28.5billion in 2025-26 alone, taking total collections to about $346 billion.

When Labor came to office in 2022, personal income tax revenue stood at about $242 billion.

The increase partly reflects bracket creep, under which rising wages can push workers into higher tax brackets, as well as employment, population and income growth.

Disgraced former deputy mayor Salim Mehajer suffered another public setback after being refused entry to a Halloween party in Sydney over the weekend.

Daily Mail can exclusively reveal that Mehajer attempted to attend FHM’s Halloween celebration on Friday, but organisers turned down his request.

Mehajer was released from prison in July 2025 after serving five years and remains on parole.

His time behind bars included a sentence for lying to a court, along with consecutive terms for a series of other offences, including violent offences against his former partner.

He spent periods at Sydney’s Silverwater prison and the Goulburn Supermax facility after being transferred from Cooma.

An insider said Mehajer had been blacklisted from the event because of his controversial past.

“It was a celebration of the women featured in the issue, and we didn’t want the evening overshadowed by an unrelated controversy,” an organiser was overheard saying at the annual event.

“We considered the request and decided he wasn’t the right fit for this particular event. Being interested in attending doesn’t automatically mean you’re getting an invitation.

“The decision was made, it was communicated, and that was the end of it.”

Mehajer was jailed again in August this year after allegedly breaching bail by breaking into a letterbox at his former home. It was the second time he had been detained over the allegation.

He had been out on bail for just under 50 days before being arrested and charged with allegedly breaching his bail conditions.

He appeared in bail court and was granted bail after facing a range of charges, including destroying or damaging property, dishonestly tampering with a mail receptacle and entering enclosed land without a lawful excuse.

Those who did make the guest list included a colourful mix of models, influencers, socialites and reality TV personalities, who gathered at the venue to celebrate the magazine’s Most Influential Women issue.

The guests marked the occasion with barely-there costumes, enthusiastic posing and some notably creative interpretations of the dress code.

The magazine’s Woman of the Year was notably absent from the celebration.

Delta Goodrem, who features on the cover of the latest issue and tops its list of Australia’s 100 most influential women, left the party guests to celebrate without her.

And celebrate they did. 

There were plunging necklines, gravity-defying cheekbones and expressions so fixed it was difficult to tell who was wearing a mask.

Even news that the free drinks had run out within the first hour barely raised an eyebrow.

Leading the arrivals were Rozz Switzer and Rhiannon O’Loughlin, as a procession of familiar faces from reality television opted for wild costumes.

Halloween is, after all, the annual occasion when underwear becomes outerwear and a pair of novelty ears does most of the explaining.

The guest list now has a distinctly reality TV flavour.

Back in 2012, Sophie Monk was the special guest at MAXIM Australia’s Hot 100 Halloween bash at Marquee in Sydney. 

More recent editions have leaned heavily into the reality television circuit, with Married At First Sight’s Dean Wells, Beauty and the Geek’s Aimee Woolley and cover model Liz Kirkness among the guests. 

This year’s arrivals continued that tradition, bringing together contestants from MAFS, My Kitchen Rules and First Dates.

Rozz certainly understood the assignment, arriving in a black corset with a red-and-black ruffled miniskirt, fishnet tights and glittering peep-toe heels.

She topped off the burlesque-inspired look with a sparkling black hat, a red choker and a bright red lip, wearing her blonde hair loose around her shoulders.

Posing beside a fellow guest in a glossy red lace-up bodysuit and matching bunny ears, Rozz threw an arm into the air for the cameras.

Elsewhere, black lace lingerie, suspenders and thigh-high boots made an appearance, while another guest posed with a gold microphone in a beaded top and a tiny embellished skirt.

My Kitchen Rules star Mel Bailey arrived in a cropped white blouse worn over a visible black lace bra, a pleated checked miniskirt and black knee-high socks.

She accessorised with a black choker and layered necklaces, including a cross pendant, while wearing her highlighted hair loose.

Dressed as a schoolgirl or Britney Spears tribute the costume left little room for interpretation.

Upcoming Married At First Sight brides Bella Kajewski and Sarah Jane Comben offered two very different previews of their bridal wardrobes.

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Bella embraced a blood-spattered bride look in a sheer white lace corset dress, matching gloves and a lace veil, with a gruesome fake heart attached to her chest.

She wore her dark hair loose, adding dramatic lashes and a streak of fake blood down her neckline. Till death do us part, taken quite literally.

Sarah Jane went angelic in a sparkling embellished bra with dangling beadwork, a white tulle miniskirt, feathered wings and a fluffy halo.

Her blonde hair fell in loose waves, with rosy cheeks and a nude lip completing the look.

Meanwhile, Married At First Sight groom Steven Danyluk brought a little country to proceedings as he stepped out with a new date who happens to share a name with his television bride.

Yes, another Rachel.

While Rachel Gilmore has continued crying about the emotional fallout from their failed TV marriage on social media, Steven was smiling for photographs alongside his latest companion.

The pair embraced a coordinated country-inspired theme, with Steven wearing a black cowboy hat, charcoal denim jacket, dark shirt and blue jeans.

His date added a glamorous touch in a sparkling minidress and a white faux-fur jacket, posing close beside him against the sponsor wall.

Kyle Sandilands’s ex Imogen Anthony, who is rumoured to be newly single, took a walk on the wild side in a leopard-print ensemble with a matching hood and choker.

She paired the look with flowing copper-coloured locks and a short fringe, adding dramatic winged eyeliner, rosy blush and a bold red lip.

Posing with a drink in hand beside another guest in head-to-toe animal print, Imogen certainly wasn’t attempting to blend into the background.

First Dates contestant Tyler Blue-Allan, meanwhile, arrived dressed as Patrick Bateman, the murderous investment banker played by Christian Bale in the 2000 film American Psycho.

For someone already attracting the reality TV villain label, it was certainly a choice.

Tyler wore a pinstriped jacket, red tie, blue trousers and brown loafers beneath a transparent raincoat splashed with fake blood.

More theatrical blood was smeared across his face as he posed beside a brunette companion wearing a leopard-print minidress and burgundy heels.

The 26-year-old self-described ’10 out of 10′ model recently sparked a backlash over his appearance on First Dates, during which he repeatedly questioned nurse Kristal, 27, about her wish to continue working and remain financially independent.

His insistence that he wanted a woman willing to become a housewife prompted viewers to brand him a ‘walking red flag’.

Traitors star Lawson Mahoney brought a splash of rodeo Barbie energy to proceedings, sporting a glittery pink cowboy hat and an unbuttoned blush shirt that left his chest on display.

He teamed the look with light-wash jeans, a silver chain and several rings, pulling an animated pose with a drink in hand.

Jilted MAFS bride Mel Akbay channelled Jennifer Lopez in a flowing green printed gown with a plunging neckline and thigh-high split, putting her own spin on the superstar’s famous Grammys look.

She paired the long-sleeved dress with sparkling silver heels, wearing her caramel-highlighted hair in tousled waves and finishing with a glossy pink lip.

Tali Jatali took the danger theme quite literally, wrapping herself in warning tape over a plunging red top and lace miniskirt.

Long strips printed with ‘danger’ trailed towards the floor as she posed in narrow black sunglasses, gold hoop earrings and strappy metallic heels, a black handbag tucked under her arm.

Another model opted for prison orange, teaming a cropped inmate-style top with matching trousers pulled low on her hips.

She scrawled ‘wanted’ across her bare stomach in fake blood and tucked a prop knife into her waistband, finishing the look with tousled blonde waves.

Then there was Suzan Mutesi, who appeared to have skipped straight past October and landed underneath the Christmas tree.

The influencer wore a black corset-style bodysuit and fishnet tights decorated with an enormous red-and-green tartan bow.

A sparkling green tie featuring Santa Claus hung down her front, while baubles, ribbons and a festive headband completed the look.