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Good morning!
Here is today’s riddle:
A logician with some time to kill in a small town decided to get a haircut. The town had only two barbers, each with his own shop. The logician glanced into one shop and saw that the barber needed a shave, his clothes were unkempt, and his hair was badly cut. In the other shop, the barber was freshly shaved and spotlessly dressed, his hair neatly trimmed. Why did the logician return to the first shop for his haircut?
Answer is in the tidbit!
I’ve got 10 seconds
Quote of the day
“Regardless of the context, the fact I demonstrated this offensive salute was wrong and I unreservedly apologise… I am very sorry for my actions and sincerely apologise to people who have been hurt or offended, especially members of the Jewish community.”
Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany’s apology after online outlet Crikey published a photo of him performing a Nazi salute on set several years ago.
Stat of the day
17%
The youth unemployment rate in China last month, up from 13%. This number covers people aged 16-24 who aren’t in school. Youth unemployment in Australia is at 9.7%.
Today in history
1911
The Mona Lisa was stolen by a former Louvre employee who wanted to return the portrait to Italy.
I’ve got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
The National Children’s Commissioner has called for a national overhaul of youth justice policies to improve outcomes for at-risk children. A new report from the Australian Human Rights Commission tabled in Parliament this week outlines 24 evidence-based recommendations to better protect vulnerable children and communities at a federal, state and territory level. It proposed a National Taskforce, and federal Minister for Children, to prioritise the wellbeing of young people. It follows hundreds of submissions, interviews and consultations sessions with experts and stakeholders. The Commissioner, Anne Hollonds, is urging lawmakers to take nationally coordinated action on child justice reform, saying the “current responses to offending by children are not working”.
Day two of the Democratic National Convention will continue in the U.S. today, after senior Democrats took to the stage in Chicago yesterday. The schedule included addresses from the party’s 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and outgoing U.S. president Joe Biden. Former President Barack Obama will take the stage later today, with American news outlets are also reporting former First Lady Michelle Obama will give an address. Vice President Kamala Harris will become the first Black and South Asian woman to lead a major party ticket when she’s formally confirmed as the Democrat’s presidential nominee at the DNC later this week.
Recommendation of the day
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I’ve got 1 minute
An estimated 700,000 Australians live in areas with limited access to childcare
Nearly a quarter of Australians live in ‘childcare deserts‘, according to a new study by researchers at Victoria University.
‘Childcare deserts’ are defined as areas where there’s one spot for every three or more children who need it.
While the number of childcare spots has increased in recent years, availability remains low in rural and regional areas.
Results
Details
Researchers found 700,000 Australians have “virtually no access” to childcare.
Australians in regional and remote areas had the least access.
In major cities, there are almost five places for every 10 children. In very remote Australia, there are only three places per 10 children.
When researchers compared childcare access in 2024 to 2020, they found availability has gone backwards in very remote areas.
Other countries
Researchers examined childcare deserts in nine countries, covering over 10 million children.
Norway ranked first with the least (6%) amount of childcare deserts, followed by Sweden (7%), Scotland (10%), then Australia (24%).
Most countries assessed in the study have both for-profit and not-for-profit childcare services.
Reporting by Nandini Dhir.
I’ve got 2 minutes
Iranian hackers have targeted the Trump and Biden-Harris election campaigns
Iranian hackers have targeted Donald Trump and Kamala Harris’ election campaigns, U.S. authorities have confirmed.
Intelligence officials said they’ve “observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity,” ahead of the 5 November presidential election.
“This includes the recently reported activities to compromise former President Trump’s campaign.”
It follows separate reports from Google and Microsoft earlier this month, showing Iran-backed hackers targeted “accounts associated with the U.S. presidential election”.
Hints of hacks
Over recent months, both major U.S. political parties (Republicans and Democrats) have expressed concern about the threat of cyberattacks.
In July, U.S. news site Politico said it received suspicious emails from an anonymous account.
The emails included documents containing sensitive information from the Trump campaign. For example, information about some of Trump’s potential running mates, including his eventual pick JD Vance.
Within weeks, Trump’s campaign said “foreign sources” had illegally obtained the documents.
Some other senior Trump advisers were also targeted in the breach.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed the Democrat campaign was separately targeted by an attempted phishing attack —
when scammers try to trick victims into giving away their personal details.
Tech companies
The major tech firms own two of the world’s most popular email servers — Gmail and Outlook.
They said Iranian-backed hackers would lure senior American campaign advisers by sending malicious links masked as more legitimate attachments, meetings, or web pages.
Confirmation
A joint statement from the highest-level intelligence agencies in the U.S. (including the FBI and Director of National Intelligence) confirmed Iran’s involvement in hacking efforts during the U.S. election.
The agencies said they are “confident” that Iran-based hackers have “through social engineering and other efforts” to target “individuals with direct access to the presidential campaigns of both political parties”.
The statement did not refer to specific instances but attributed recent cyber attacks on the Trump campaign to Iran.
“Iran seeks to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions.”
It stated Iran is trying to “shape the outcome” of the November election for their own “national security interests”.
“Protecting the integrity of our elections from foreign influence or interference is our priority,” it said.
Reporting by Harry Sekulich.
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Give me some good news
Scientists in Japan have confirmed a drug they developed for patients with GNE myopathy is safe to use long-term.
The condition, where muscles degrade over time, is so rare that it’s not profitable for pharmaceutical companies to develop a drug, meaning patients were left without treatment options until now.
Following the breakthrough discovery out of Tohoku University, the drug has been approved by the Japanese Government and will slow the progress of muscle loss in the estimated 400 people with the disease in Japan.
Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!
Reporting by Achol Arok.
TDA tidbit
In today’s fake news, Donald Trump has falsely suggested that Taylor Swift has endorsed his presidential campaign.
The Republican candidate posted AI generated photos of the pop star and her fans to his social media network, Truth Social. These images showed women wearing shirts that read “Swifties for Trump”, and Taylor Swift herself telling her fans to vote for him. Most of the images were fake, however, there were two images – showing the same woman – that were real.
While there are some laws around using AI in political campaigns, they vary across U.S. states.
In 2020, Swift endorsed Joe Biden for President and publicly supported his choice of Kamala Harris as Vice President.
Reporting by Nandini Dhir.
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Riddle answer: Each barber must have cut the other's hair. The logician picked the barber who had given his rival the better haircut.
Want more from The Daily Aus? Listen to our podcast!
Secret codewords, significantly overpriced drugs and deleted text messages. Those are just some of the allegations at the centre of a criminal case now surrounding the death of beloved actor Matthew Perry.
Perry died in October of last year from a Ketamine overdose, and last week it was revealed that U.S. prosecutors have charged five people, including Perry’s personal assistant, over his death. They allege the group “took advantage of Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves”.
In today's podcast, we explore what we know about the tragic case.
TDA asks
