☕️ Govt appoints new role to combat antisemitism

ICYMI, we’ve got a daily sport newsletter that our excellent sport journalist George publishes every weekday at 5pm.

I bring it up for two reasons. First, you should subscribe here. Second, it contained a story that caused our office to have a full-blown argument. Basically, a rugby league player missed the birth of his son because he was training for the first State of Origin match back in early June.

Mitch Barnett said: "I had to leave camp to get back for the birth but I missed it. It was planned, but I had an obligation to help the boys — I trained here and got on a flight knowing I'd miss it."

What do you think?

P.S. Today’s riddle: Every night I’m told what to do, and each morning I do what I’m told. But I still don’t escape your scold. What am I? (Answer is in the tidbit below!)

“President Biden has not seen a neurologist outside of his annual physical.”
A statement from U.S. President Joe Biden’s doctor, released following reports an expert on Parkinson’s disease had visited the White House eight times from July 2023 to March 2024.

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How many months in a row rental vacancies have increased, according to data from property research company PropTrack.

1991
Boris Yeltsin was sworn in as the first Russian President.

The Federal Government has appointed lawyer Jillian Segal as Australia’s first Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Segal’s role is designed to help Jewish Australians “feel safe and included” in response to rising antisemitism since the Israel-Hamas war began.

Albanese flagged the Government would also announce a special envoy for Islamophobia “shortly”.

A “special envoy” is someone who advises the government on a particular area and advocates for a specific cause or group of people.

The Government has special envoys for other matters, including the arts and disaster recovery.

The Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism is tasked with interacting with Australia’s Jewish communities and anti-discrimination experts to help advise the Government on ways to address antisemitism.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Segal’s appointment at a press conference at the Sydney Jewish Museum.

Segal has served in senior positions across the private and public sector, and as former President of the Executive Council of the Jewry. She said combatting antisemitism has “never been more important than it is today”.

She will serve a three-year term and report directly to the PM and Immigration Minister.

“In times like this, Australians must come together, not be torn apart. We have built our nation’s social cohesion together over generations, and this is why we all must work together to uphold, defend and preserve it.” — Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Coalition MP Julian Leeser welcomed Segal’s role as Special Envoy.

“This appointment is the first thing the Government has done in a concrete sense on antisemitism in nine months,” Leeser said.

He urged Segal to “support [his] calls for a judicial inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities.”

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

A synthetic substance 100 times stronger than heroin is circulating in Australia’s illicit drug market, health authorities have warned.

It comes after Victorian Police confirmed synthetic opioids were found in four bodies in a Melbourne house last month, including a 17-year-old boy.

The state’s health department has issued a drug alert for a white opioid powder being sold as cocaine.

In 2022, synthetic opioids caused over 200 deaths, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

Opioids are a group of drugs that can block pain messages to the brain and boost feelings of relaxation.

Opioids, like morphine, are prescribed in medical settings to relieve severe pain. They’re also commonly used illicitly.

Drugs like fentanyl and protonitazene are created in labs to mimic natural opioids.

These drugs, known as novel synthetic opioids (NSO), are much more potent.

In 2023, around 75,000 people died from synthetic opioids in the U.S, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. They are becoming increasingly popular in Australia.

Nitazenes are a type of NSOs developed around 60 years ago.

They were never approved for medicinal use due to a high overdose risk.

As medical research on nitazenes is limited, they can be harder to detect in users.

Fentanyl, another NSO, can be prescribed legally for pain treatment. It is a highly addictive substance.

Protonitazene is an NSO that’s 100 times stronger than heroin.

Last week, police confirmed a synthetic opioid was detected in four people found dead inside a Melbourne home.

Victoria Health has since issued an alert for protonitazene, which it said is being sold as cocaine.

It warned that very small amounts of the substance can have life-threatening effects.

NSW Health issued a warning in May after four nitazene overdoses in the state, two of which involved protonitazene.

One person thought they were taking a weaker substance, while another thought they were taking cocaine and ketamine.

That month, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) seized over 700 synthetic opioid tablets from the UK.

It led to a joint warning from the AFP and the Australian Border Force (ABF) about NSOs, saying “there is no such thing as a safe dosage”.

Signs of an opioid overdose include losing consciousness, slow breathing or struggling to breathe, and small pupils.

Health authorities have urged the community to call Triple Zero immediately if someone is experiencing a suspected overdose.

Naloxone is a nasal spray or injection available for free at pharmacies across Australia.

It can be administered to temporarily reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

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Between 2021 and 2023, the Amazon region saw a 61% reduction in deforestation – meaning nearly 27,000 hectares of the Amazon rainforest (or about 37,000 football fields) have been saved.

Colombia’s Environment Minister attributed this to the country’s Deforestation Containment Plan, which has exceeded targets by at least 20%.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, South America’s Amazon “contains nearly a third of all the tropical rainforests left on Earth.”

Reporting by Achol Arok.

Next time you go for a bush walk, take only photographs, leave only footprints, and remember to clean up your poo along the way.

That’s the new advice from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, who’ve said that while “bush toileting is prevalent in national parks”, it is “visually undesirable and a potential source of pollution”.

If people absolutely need to do a number two along the way, walkers are encouraged to pack a shovel and bury it “at least 15cm deep”.

If you gotta go, you gotta go — just don’t forget your shovel.

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

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Riddle answer: Alarm clock.

On Monday, Russian strikes in Ukraine killed at least 36 civilians and injured 140 others. The missile strikes hit five cities in Ukraine, damaging residential buildings, infrastructure, and the country’s biggest children’s hospital. Russia has denied targeting civilian infrastructure and claimed damage to the hospital was caused by Ukraine. In today's deep dive, we discuss the context of the broader conflict and what the latest attacks mean for the region.