☕️ 141 climate protesters arrested

TDA has a big week of interviews coming up!

On Wednesday, we’re interviewing the Leader of the Nationals, David Littleproud. Later in the week, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, will also be in the podcast studio, ahead of Australia’s world-leading social media ban for under 16s coming into effect next week.

As always, we would love to hear any question suggestions you might have for either of them. Just hit reply to this email!

“The Wiggles do not support or condone the use of drugs in any form. The content being shared was not created or approved by us, and we have asked for it to be removed.”
The Wiggles in a statement over the weekend after two of its members featured in a since-deleted video uploaded by musician Keli Holiday that featured his new song, ‘Ecstasy’.

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The number of Jetstar aircraft affected by a software issue that grounded Airbus A320 planes globally on Saturday. Jetstar said it had provided vouchers for meals, transport and overnight accommodation for impacted passengers whose flights were cancelled.

1887
‘A Study in Scarlet’, the first story by Arthur Conan Doyle to feature Sherlock Holmes, was published in the magazine ‘Beeton’s Christmas Annual’.

NSW Police arrested 141 people at a climate protest in Newcastle on Sunday.

Protesters were participating in an annual ‘Rising Tide’ blockade to stop coal exports from the world’s largest coal port.

Police said they witnessed “several unsafe practices on the water over the course of the event”.

Here’s what you need to know.

Rising Tide hosts an annual ‘People’s Blockade’, which aims to disrupt coal ships.

On its website, organisers say “as cyclones, floods, droughts and fires become more frequent and intense, ordinary people - just like you - are rising up.”

Participants were encouraged to use inflatable kayaks to block the coal ships.

The Port Authority of NSW confirmed to media that a number of ships were disrupted on Sunday.

In a statement on Sunday, police said they had arrested 141 people associated with the Rising Tide protest.

Police confirmed 18 of those arrested were juveniles dealt with under the Young Offenders Act, while the remaining were adults.

The statement said while NSW Police Force recognises the rights of free speech and peaceful assembly, “there will be zero tolerance for illegal and dangerous behaviour”.

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International governments have called on warring Sudanese militias to negotiate a ceasefire this week, with neither side accepting a proposal led by the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) rejected the plan, partly due to the UAE’s involvement, having previously accused the country of “complicity in genocide”.

The RSF had earlier signalled it would accept the U.S/UAE plan, and said this week it would implement a ceasefire.

However, the U.S. has since said the RSF didn’t formally accept their proposal.

Sudan was ruled for decades by dictator Omar al-Bashir, who faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The SAF removed al-Bashir with RSF support in 2019.

Democratic elections were supposed to follow, but the SAF and RSF worked together again to overthrow the remainder of the existing government and took power in 2021.

In April 2023, the partnership fell apart, resulting in the ongoing violent conflict between the two groups.

Since then, the violence between RSF and SAF has been ongoing and has caused a humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

The UN has not provided a death toll for this conflict, though estimates put the toll as high as 150,000.

According to the World Food Programme, almost half of the country’s population – 21.2 million people – is experiencing acute food insecurity. Famine has been declared in two cities.

In July 2025, the Migration Policy Institute found the violence had forced at least 12 million people from their homes.

Sudanese and international groups have accused the RSF of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Genocide is defined under international law as killing members of a “national, ethnic, racial, or religious group,” or making their survival impossible.

Ethnic cleansing has been described by UN experts as removing members of an ethnic or religious group from an area “by violent or terror-inspiring means”.

This year, International Criminal Court Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameen Khan said her team is actively gathering evidence of war crimes in Sudan.

In September, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and the UAE proposed a ceasefire plan for Sudan.

While the exact details have not been released, the group released a statement outlining some of their ideas, including a three month truce to allow “the swift entry of humanitarian aid,” followed by a permanent ceasefire.

The statement said Sudan’s future government “is for the Sudanese people to decide... not controlled by any warring party”.

The SAF currently runs Sudan’s government, while the RSF seeks to form a new one.

Earlier this month, the RSF signalled willingness to accept the ceasefire proposal, and last week said it was implementing a three month truce.

However, the RSF has continued to bomb and carry out attacks on SAF-held territory and infrastructure.

The SAF has rejected the RSF’s ‘truce’ and the proposal, calling it the “worst [plan] yet”. The SAF said the plan would “eliminate” them and keep the RSF “in its positions”.

The SAF also criticised the UAE’s involvement, repeating allegations it is supplying weapons to the RSF. The UAE has denied these allegations.

International observers have documented the movement of weapons on planes from the UAE to an airport in Chad near its border with Sudan, to RSF training camps.

In March, Sudan sued the UAE in the International Court of Justice (the ‘World Court’), alleging it provided “unlimited support” to the RSF, enabling the group to perpetrate “genocide, forcible displacement, and murder.”

The ICJ threw out Sudan’s case in May, saying that while it was “deeply concerned” by the conflict, it did not have the power to hear the case.

The UAE and Sudan have both signed the UN’s Genocide Convention, which obliges countries to prevent it and to punish those who carry it out.

One section of the convention states that countries can take disputes, “including those relating to the responsibility of a [country] for genocide,” to the ICJ.

The UAE is not party to this specific section, which meant the ICJ couldn’t hear a case where it was a defendant.

At a press conference last week, U.S. envoy to Africa Massad Boulos called on both sides to accept the plan in full.

Boulos is the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany.

The European Parliament also passed a motion last week calling for a ceasefire, noting “there is no viable military solution to the conflict”.

Politico reported representatives of the UAE were present at the EU Parliament negotiating the language of the motion.

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

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Thirteen-year-old Luke Mullard from the Hunter Valley had stepped off his school bus when he saw smoke coming from 92-year-old Roma Wilson’s house. Wilson said she tried to exit her home when she smelled smoke, but went through a side door, leaving her trapped in the backyard. Once he knew Triple Zero had been called, Mullard went inside the home and guided Wilson through the smoke and flames out to safety. Mullard went home and was getting ready for his shift that night at Pizza Hut when the police asked him to make an official statement. A detective told his mum “he saved someone’s life,” while Wilson called him “absolutely marvellous”.

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Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

Campbell's Soup has fired an executive who was secretly recorded making racist comments about Indian employees, and describing the company's products as “highly process[ed] food” made for “poor people”.

Martin Bally, a vice president in the IT department, allegedly claimed during a November 2024 meeting that Campbell's uses bioengineered meat and chicken from 3D printers.

Former cybersecurity analyst Robert Garza recorded the conversation and reported it to his supervisor, only to be fired about 20 days later.

Garza has now filed a lawsuit alleging retaliation and a hostile work environment, seeking monetary damages.

Campbell's issued an apology, saying the comments were “vulgar, offensive and false.” They also called the claims they use 3D-printed chicken in their soups “absurd”.

Reporting by Elliot Lawry.

It has been more than two and a half years since war broke out in Sudan between rival militias. Since then, 12 million people have fled their homes, thousands have been killed, and international authorities have made accusations of war crimes and genocide. Last week, one side said it had implemented a humanitarian truce, while the other rejected a U.S. and UAE-led proposal. In today’s episode, we explain the progress of ceasefire negotiations, and why one side of this war is so against the proposal.