☕️ Australia's Iran allegations

It’s a real-life love story - overnight, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement. At the time of writing, the joint Instagram post has garnered 17 million likes, with reactions already from U.S. President Donald Trump, the NFL and Krispy Kreme.

Before we get to a recap of yesterday’s busy news cycle, and what you need to know ahead of today, I bring you the second edition of Sam’s Wednesday Riddles (which, as a few of you noted, “aren’t as good as Billi’s”. Never to be discouraged, here are three country-themed riddles for you!

Answers in the titbit!

“Our thoughts are with the police for the work they do… The men and women who wear… the uniform of the police take risks each and every day.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a brief statement during a press conference, addressing the ongoing situation of three police officers who were shot in the Victorian Alpine region yesterday afternoon. At the time of reporting, two officers are confirmed to have been killed, and a third has been injured.

1 in 4
The proportion of people worldwide who do not have consistent access to clean drinking water, according to the World Health Organisation and the UN children’s agency UNICEF.

Nonplussed [non-PLUHST]
Definition: Bewildered or unsure how to respond
Used in a sentence: "He was nonplussed by the strange question."

The Australian Government has announced that the Iranian Government “directed” at least two attacks against Australia’s Jewish community.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that recent attacks against the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne and Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Sydney were both ordered by the Iranian government.

In response, the Iranian ambassador to Australia has been expelled. Australian diplomats in Iran are “safe in a third country”.

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) head Mike Burgess announced the findings in a press conference on Tuesday.

He said: “ASIO now assesses the Iranian Government directed at least two and likely more attacks on Jewish interests in Australia.”

He called these attacks “unacceptable,” saying Iran “put lives at risk... terrified the [Jewish] community, and they tore at our social fabric.” Burgess added that ASIO is still investigating “possible Iranian involvement in a number of other attacks“.

In October 2024, a fire was lit at kosher restaurant Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in east Sydney. At the time, police said they did not believe it was a targeted attack. Earlier this month, a man pleaded not guilty to planning the attack.

In early December 2024, worshippers at the Adass Israel synagogue in south-east Melbourne saw two masked individuals pouring liquid on the floor, before a fire engulfed the building.

Two people have been arrested by counter-terrorism authorities in relation to the synagogue attack.

In response to ASIO’s announcement, Albanese said: “These extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil have crossed a line.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong announced on Tuesday that Iran’s ambassador to Australia will be expelled, and must leave the country in the next week.

The Prime Minister also said that Australian diplomats in Iran have left the country.

Albanese also announced his Government will list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation.

The IRGC is a military force parallel to the Iranian army.

Burgess told media on Tuesday the IRGC facilitated the attacks on the Jewish community in Australia.

Australia’s online safety regulator has threatened to penalise Kick, a streaming platform co-founded by Australia’s youngest billionaire, after the live-streamed death of a French man.

The eSafety Commissioner has accused Kick of failing to uphold online content standards, warning that some streamers on the site appear to be “seeking to create more extreme content that generates more engagement”.

eSafety said it is prepared to issue fines of up to $49.5 million if it finds cases of legal non-compliance.

Kick, an online platform launched in late 2022, allows users to watch, broadcast, and comment on live streams. Viewers can purchase paid subscriptions to channels on the platform.

Its content guidelines are less stringent than its competitors, such as Twitch.

Kick was founded by Australian billionaire Edward Craven and his business partner Bijan Tehran.

The pair also co-founded the crypto gambling platform Stake.com, which is banned in Australia. The business is unrelated to the Australian share trading platform of the same name.

Last week, a man named Raphaël Graven died in his sleep at the end of a 300-hour (12-day) livestream in Nice, France.

Graven had been repeatedly assaulted and taunted by two other men on the livestream during the preceding days, and on livestreams broadcast over the previous two years.

French prosecutors said an autopsy showed no signs of fatal traumatic injuries and that the cause of death appears to be medical.

An investigation by French outlet Mediapart in December revealed details about the streaming collective behind the channel where Graven died.

The group operated an account named JeanPormanove. Their livestreams typically involved two or more men physically assaulting and humiliating Graven and another man.

All four are understood to have financially benefited from the channel to some degree.

The group’s videos were often titled with slurs directed at people with disability. According to Mediapart, one of the main victims of the violence is disabled and under legal guardianship.

It further alleged that, because of the guardianship arrangement, one of the men may not have always received the money he was owed.

French media have reported that Graven had a pre-existing heart condition.

His pleas to seek medical attention during the final stream were ignored.

French Technology Minister Clara Chappaz has estimated as many as 20,000 people watched the livestream in which Graven died.

She has called for inquiries into the platform and said she is prepared to impose sanctions for breaches of online content standards.

Kick said it will cooperate with authorities, has launched a review of its French content, and has banned the other streamers from the JeanPormanove channel.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has accused Kick of failing to ensure content posted complies with its rules.

In a statement to TDA, a spokesperson said the platform’s “opaque algorithms and pervasive and persuasive design features” allow streamers creating “extreme content” to thrive.

Australia has online content guidelines requiring platforms to protect Australian users from seeing “material that depicts crime or violence without justification”. eSafety said it could apply fines of up to $49.5 million for breaches.

Reporting by Achol Arok.

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The project is aimed at fixing what researchers called the “housing crisis” facing sea creatures by creating artificial habitats that are “as close to nature as possible”. Oyster populations are critical to marine ecosystems, and filter up to 100L of water a day. The structures are made of recycled plastic, and filled with cement mixed with crushed oyster shells left over from Sydney’s fish market to weigh them down. UNSW Professor M. Hank Haeusler said the system “not only restores oysters, but also supports fish, seaweed, kelp and other native marine species.”

Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!

Reporting by Anju Dhanushkodi.

A pizzeria in the U.S. state of Missouri has urged customers to stop using Google AI to find out their specials.

Stefanina’s in the town of Wentzville took to social media amidst growing backlash from unhappy customers who had ordered specific meal specials based on what Google AI had told them the restaurant was serving, which were fake.

The pizzeria said, “We cannot control what Google posts or says, and we will not honour the Google AI specials.”

Reporting by Rosa Bowden.

Riddle answers: (1) Kyrgyzstan (2) Qatar (3) Luxembourg

Charlotte Walker is Australia’s youngest Senator and the youngest woman ever elected to the federal Parliament.

On election night, she celebrated winning a Senate spot and her 21st birthday.

This week she gave her first official speech to Parliament, reflecting on her Labor activism, personal health struggles, and her politically-minded family, which all paved her path to Canberra.

TDA spoke to Walker after her first speech, discussing what drove her to get into politics, what she wants to see change in Australia, and how young people can get more involved.