☕️ Adelaide Writers' Week cancelled

Another Wednesday, another attempt to find a Wednesday tradition for us.

Today, I’m trying a joke. (Lame joke Wednesdays, anyone?) Here goes…

Q: Why are Saturdays stronger than Wednesdays?

A: Because Wednesday is a weak day!

*Crickets*

Yeah. Don’t think that will stick either.

“It’s hard to swallow when I realised my own club was homophobic. I was angry because people thought I was sidelined based on injuries, when in reality, it was internal homophobia that kept me on the bench.”
Former Adelaide United player Josh Cavallo in a statement. In 2021, Cavallo became the world’s first openly gay male footballer in a top professional league. Adelaide United has strongly denied the allegations.

$US4 trillion ($AU5.96 trillion) The market valuation of Alphabet, Google's parent company, for a brief period of time this week. It comes after Apple and Google announced a multi-year collaboration where Google's AI will "power future Apple Intelligence features," including Siri. Alphabet becomes the fourth company to hit the four trillion mark, following Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple.

Pate (payt)
Definition: The top of a person’s head.
Sentence: The bald man’s pate was pink and freckled.

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Australian author Craig Silvey has been charged with alleged possession and distribution of child exploitation material.

Silvey has written several acclaimed books, including ‘Honeybee’ and ‘Jasper Jones’.

A WA Police statement said a 43-year-old man had been arrested in Fremantle on Monday.

Police did not explicitly name Silvey, however it has been widely reported by other media outlets.

Police did confirm a 43-year-old man was caught allegedly actively engaging with child exploitation offenders online when police raided his home on Monday.

In a statement, WA Police said: “He was immediately arrested, and his electronic devices were seized.”

The ABC reports Silvey has been granted bail.

1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732

Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800

Don’t forget to add sunscreen to your skincare routine. But remember, it’s your last line of defence – cover up and spot the shade!

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Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will finish in his position as Australia’s Ambassador to the U.S. at the end of March, a year earlier than planned.

Rudd stepped into the role in March 2023, working on AUKUS, a critical minerals deal, and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s release from prison.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Rudd clashed last year over comments made before Rudd’s appointment as ambassador.

What does this role look like?

A diplomat is a country’s official representative abroad, appointed to carry out their home country’s interests outside their borders.

Under international law, diplomats are generally immune from prosecution inside their host country, meaning they cannot be charged with certain criminal offences.

An ambassador is a country’s highest-ranked diplomat. They work out of an embassy — their home country’s main office overseas, typically in the host country’s capital city.

An ambassador works with the Government of their host country.

Their role is often to maintain ties and raise concerns when countries disagree. The actions of ambassadors can carry political significance.

For example, when Australia withdrew from $90 billion submarine contract with France in 2021, their ambassador to Australia was recalled.

Recalling is when a diplomat returns home in protest of a host country’s actions.

There are no formal processes for appointing an ambassador.

The Government in power can choose their representative overseas. Rudd was chosen by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who announced the appointment in December 2022.

Australia’s ambassadors to the U.S. are often high-level former politicians.

The three most recent are former Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (2023-2026), former Liberal Senator Arthur Sinodinos (2020-23), and ex-Liberal Treasurer Joe Hockey (2016-2020).

Rudd was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 2007 to 2011, and again in 2013.

After his retirement from politics he worked at various think tanks and earned a PhD at Oxford, writing his thesis on Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In 2021, Rudd launched a petition calling for a Royal Commission into Rupert Murdoch’s level of ownership of Australian media, attracting 500,000 signatures, the most received by the Federal Parliament.

Rudd began his term as Ambassador to the U.S. in March 2023. Announcing Rudd’s departure today, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said he “has been an excellent ambassador.”

Wong highlighted some of Rudd’s contributions, such as helping gain support for defence pact AUKUS, working to return Julian Assange to Australia in 2024, and assisting to secure the Critical Minerals and Rare Earths Framework in October.

Albanese also called Thérèse Rein, Rudd’s wife, an “extraordinary person who brings incredible capacity on a volunteer basis to the engagement with the U.S.”

In 2020, Rudd described Trump as “the most destructive president in history”.

At a meeting between Trump and Albanese in October last year, Trump was asked about Rudd by a reporter.

He told Rudd: “I don’t like you either. And I probably never will”.

However, Trump reportedly told Rudd “all is forgiven” a short time later.

Rudd will reprise his role as CEO and President of international relations think tank Asia Society. He led the organisation from 2021-23.

Rudd said he “look[s] forward to continuing my work with the truly first-class global staff at Asia Society.”

The next Ambassador to the U.S. is yet to be chosen, with Albanese saying an announcement will be made “in due course.”

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

Spotting AI-powered scams isn’t as easy as it seems.

Most Aussies reckon they can spot a deepfake scam.

But new CommBank research shows people only tell real from fake images correctly 42% of the time.

Whether it’s AI or a human on the other end, the same red flags apply.

Head to the CommBank Newsroom to learn more about deepfake scams — and how to help protect yourself.

After claiming gold in the U.S. on Monday, Scott secured back-to-back podiums with a bronze medal on Tuesday. The victory brings her career tally to 27 World Cup medals. Scott’s success followed a strong performance by the Australian women at the World Cup, with gold medals in bobsledding, moguls, and freestyle aerial skiing in recent days. The strong showing from the Aussies comes ahead of next month’s Winter Olympics in the Italian city of Milan.

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Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

Mattel has launched its first Autistic Barbie. 

The company said the doll’s creation was guided by the Autistic community to “represent common ways Autistic people may experience, process and communicate about the world around them.”

The doll’s body has elbow and wrist articulation to reflect stimming and other hand gestures common to Autistic people. 

Each doll also has her own fidget spinner, noise-cancelling headphones, and a tablet with symbol-based communication apps – all of which are pink, of course.

Reporting by Anju Dhanushkodi.

The 2026 Adelaide Writers’ Week has been cancelled. It follows backlash over a decision to remove Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah from the festival program.

The Palestinian-Australian author and advocate was slated to speak as part of the Adelaide Festival Writers’ Week event next month. However, the festival board said her previous comments mean it would “not be culturally sensitive” to include her in the wake of the Bondi terror attack. 

Abdel-Fattah has been a vocal critic of Israel and accused of antisemitism, but the writer has called the decision a “blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism.” 

Politicians have weighed in, some supporting and some condemning the move, while dozens of writers and officials have cut ties with the festival. In today’s deep dive we’ll take you through this controversy from the beginning, and what its cancellation means for the future of the Adelaide Festival.