☕️ Australia and Israel's visa standoff

I am so excited to be with you for the next month. Let’s have some fun.

Now I know that on Wednesday mornings, you normally get served a riddle. Here’s my take on it: name the bands from these cryptic clues!

Answers are down at the bottom with the titbit! Remember, as Billi said yesterday, I prefer words of affirmation.

"It’s much easier for [politicians] to say ‘things need to slow, we’ll get our central banks to do that, and they can take the blame’. I remember, there was a period that I was the most unpopular person in the country, at least according to the media, and the Government kind of fed into that. The central bank governor doesn’t get elected… so they can play the baddie. It’s much harder for the political class to play the baddie."
Former Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe at a talk before the Government’s economic reform roundtable. As RBA Governor, Lowe oversaw repeated interest rate increases in 2022/23, as the central bank sought to slow the rate of inflation. Lowe’s term ended in September 2023 and was not extended.

136
The number of recommendations to the South Australian Government from a Royal Commission into domestic, sexual, and family violence. The Commission was initiated after four women were killed in one week in the state in 2023, and was led by former federal MP and UN gender discrimination advisor Natasha Stott-Despoja.

Antediluvian [an-tee-dih-LOO-vee-uhn]
Definition: Extremely old-fashioned or outdated.
Used in a sentence: "His antediluvian attitude toward technology made it hard to convince him to buy a smartphone."

The son of Norway’s Crown Princess has been charged with 32 offences, including rape, abuse and violent behaviour.

Marius Borg Høiby is the son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit and the stepson of Norway’s future king, Crown Prince Haakon.

Norwegian police have been investigating several allegations against Høiby since August 2024. If found guilty, he faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

In a statement in June, police said Høiby was questioned in late 2024 and early 2025.

Then, at a press conference earlier this week, Norwegian State Attorney Sturla Henriksbo confirmed Høiby has been charged with 32 offences, including four counts of rape.

International media reports he was charged over incidents in 2018, 2023 and 2024, with the last occurring after police investigations had started,

Henriksbo said Høiby will be treated like any other defendant at trial.

In a statement to Norwegian media outlet NRK, the Royal Family said: “It is up to the courts to hear this case and reach a decision. We have nothing to add beyond this.”

Defence attorney Petar Sekulic told The Associated Press that Høiby “denies all charges of sexual abuse, as well as the majority of the charges regarding violence.”

1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732

Reporting by Anju Dhanushkodi.

A number of high-profile officials have been refused visas by Israel and Australia’s governments, raising diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

The Australian Government cancelled the visa of Israeli MP Simcha Rothman earlier this week.

Israel responded by cancelling the visas of Australian representatives to the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Foreign Minister Penny Wong called the move “unjustified”, while the Opposition blamed the Government for “deteriorating” relations with Israel.

Australia’s Home Affairs Department cancelled the visa of Israeli politician Simcha Rothman earlier this week.

Denying a visa means you can’t legally enter or stay in a country.

Rothman is a member of the far-right, ultra-Orthodox Religious Zionism party. It advocates for expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which the UN considers illegal.

Rothman told UK outlet Channel 4 in May that children in Gaza “are not dying of hunger”. UN agencies say at least 235 Palestinians have died of starvation, including 106 children, since October 2023.

The Australian Jewish Association, which defines itself as “centre-right,” said it had arranged for Rothman to visit synagogues and Jewish schools.

In a statement to TDA, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said: “Our Government takes a hard line on people who seek to come to our country and spread division.”

Australia also sanctioned Religious Zionism’s leader, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in June.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said he has cancelled the visas of Australia’s representatives to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

Sa’ar cited Rothman’s visa being revoked and Australia’s move to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly next month as his reasons.

“I also instructed the Israeli Embassy in Canberra to carefully examine any official Australian visa application for entry to Israel,” Sa’ar said.

In a post to X on Tuesday night, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu called Australian PM Anthony Albanese “a weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.”

Foreign Minister Penny Wong criticised Israel’s decision.

“This is an unjustified reaction, following Australia’s decision to recognise Palestine,” Wong said.

“The Netanyahu Government is isolating Israel and undermining international efforts towards peace and a two-state solution.”

The PA Foreign Ministry called Israel’s move “arbitrary” and said it doesn’t officially recognise the decision to revoke the visas.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley urged Burke to explain the Government’s decision to revoke Rothman’s visa as “an elected member of a liberal democracy”.

“This is an elected member of the Israeli Parliament, and it’s a very unusual thing to refuse a visa,” she told reporters today.

“I really regret the way that the relationship between the Albanese Government and the Government of Israel is deteriorating.”

The Coalition has vowed to overturn the Government’s recognition of Palestine if it wins the next election, due by 2028.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

Hi! I’m Zara, TDA’s co-founder, and I have something to confess: I’m nosy. Like, super nosy. Especially when it comes to how other businesses are built and what motivates founders. I want to know about how they make money, what their team is like and how they created their product.

If you’re like me, you’ll love our new 8-part newsletter series, starting Thursday next week, that takes you behind the scenes of building The Daily Aus. If you’re running a business, thinking about starting one, or just nosy (hello!), this one’s for you.

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The treatment, called TAR-200, was used in a clinical trial for people with a certain type of bladder cancer that had previously resisted treatment. In most of these cases, the cancer disappeared “after only three months of treatment,”. More than half the patients were cancer-free a year later. Previously, a chemotherapy drug came to the bladder as a liquid solution, but was ineffective. The treatment is called TAR-200 and is a small device inserted into the bladder, which releases a chemotherapy drug “slowly and consistently… into the organ”. Lead researcher Dr Sia Daneshmand said that while these patients have had “very limited treatment options” in the past, “this new therapy is the most effective one… for the most common form of bladder cancer.”

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Reporting by Anju Dhanushkodi.

Moving house is a hassle. Imagine moving an entire church.  

Kiruna Church in Sweden, considered one of the country’s most beautiful buildings, is currently being relocated. 

Mining operations are affecting the area where it currently sits, prompting efforts to move the 600-tonne building to a new location. Yes, the whole building. 

You can watch a livestream of the move here.

Reporting by Anju Dhanushkodi.

Riddle answers: (1) Oasis (2) The Rolling Stones (3) Coldplay

U.S. President Donald Trump has met with both Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his latest attempt to reach a peace deal in Ukraine.

The meetings come after three and a half years of war with no major breakthrough.

Trump discussed ending the conflict with both leaders separately, though no concrete deal was reached.

Today, we're breaking down what happened in these high-stakes diplomatic meetings and what comes next in efforts to end the war in Ukraine.