☕️ Journalist wins unlawful dismissal case

As we’ve been reporting all week, it’s been a pretty dark news cycle recently.

So today, we thought we’d provide you with some brief relief with all the good news you might have missed over the past week (none of which we’ve already covered in this newsletter!)

We thought it was the perfect way to remind us all that there’s still a lot of good in the world.

You can listen here.

"We heard some blunt speak from the president, and I think that just reflects the fact that the stakes are high in the Middle East. I think those who haven’t used that word privately can cast the first stone."
Treasurer Jim Chalmers on U.S. President Donald Trump's comments on the Israel-Iran conflict. On Tuesday, Trump told reporters: "We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f**k they're doing".

20
The number of minutes Sean 'Diddy' Combs' legal team took to lay out their closing argument in his federal sexual trafficking trial. This followed six weeks of evidence and witnesses from the prosecution. Combs’ team did not call any witnesses.

1997
‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ was published in the UK.

Prices rose by 2.1% in the year to May, according to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The annual trimmed mean (the rate of inflation once you remove extreme price changes on either side) decreased from 2.8% to 2.4%.

This is the lowest rate since November 2021.

Inflation measures price growth. When inflation is high and unpredictable, your money buys less.

This inflation figure is measured on a monthly basis, which means it is a more up-to-date account of rising prices than the quarterly figure, which reflects broader trends.

It summarises prices across categories including food, clothes, alcohol and tobacco, housing, and transport.

According to the ABS, the biggest increases in prices over the year to May were alcohol and tobacco (5.9%), and food and non-alcoholic drinks (2.9%).

Electricity prices fell by 5.9% over the year. The ABS said without Government rebates, power prices would have risen by 2%.

Rents rose by 4.5% in the year to May, the lowest result since December 2022. This doesn’t mean rent is becoming cheaper, but rather that prices are rising at a slower rate than before.

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

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A Federal Court judge has ruled that the ABC wrongly dismissed journalist Antoinette Lattouf as a fill-in radio host in December 2023.

Lattouf sued the public broadcaster after she was dismissed for sharing a post from the Human Rights Watch (HRW) that accused the Israeli Government of “using starvation as a tool of war”. The ABC argued it dismissed Lattouf because she breached their social media guidelines.

Justice Darryl Rangiah has today ruled that the ABC breached the Fair Work Act. He ordered the public broadcaster to pay the journalist $70,000.

Lattouf, who is Lebanese-Australian, is a broadcaster and author who founded the not-for-profit Media Diversity Australia.

The journalist was hired to host ABC Sydney radio from 18-22 December. Her contract was terminated over a HRW post she shared on social media. The post had accused Israel of using starvation as a tool of war in Gaza. The ABC had also reported on HRW’s claims.

Lattouf was dismissed on 20 December, two days before her contract was due to end.

The ABC said Lattouf was “directed” not to post about “matters of contention”. The broadcaster argued that Lattouf had breached this by sharing the HRW post.

Following this, Lattouf brought action against the ABC at the Fair Work Commission, Australia’s workplace tribunal, where she accused the ABC of wrongfully firing her.

The Commission found Lattouf was dismissed, but did not rule on whether it was ‘unfair’. It allowed her to escalate her complaint to the Federal Court (this is the ruling handed down today).

Lattouf had argued she was wrongfully dismissed based on three reasons:

Today, Justice Rangiah ruled the ABC had unlawfully terminated her contract on the basis that Lattouf held “political opinions opposing the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.”

However, he did not accept Lattouf’s second and third arguments that she was dismissed because of her race or national extraction.

Instead, Justice Rangiah ruled Lattouf was dismissed because senior ABC figures, including then-Chair Ita Buttrose, were concerned Lattouf’s employment “could damage public perception of the impartiality of the ABC”.

“The decision was made to appease the pro-Israel lobbyists who would inevitably escalate their complaints about the ABC employing a presenter they perceived to have anti-Semitic and anti-Israel opinions in such a public position,” the ruling stated.

The ruling said Lattouf was dismissed “to mitigate further complaints”.

Part of the tension of the case revolved around whether Lattouf was “directed” not to post on social media about the war.

Justice Rangiah ruled Lattouf was not given a “direction or instruction”.

Instead, the ruling stated that Lattouf was “merely provided advice” not to post about the war, but that she was told she could post “factual information from reputable sources”.

The judge ruled the ABC pay Lattouf $70,000 for non-economic losses.

The judge accepted a psychologist’s evidence detailing Lattouf’s “great distress” following the dismissal.

Justice Ranigah determined Lattouf’s distress was “unsurprising” due to her short-notice termination and not being “given any opportunity to answer the allegations against her” by the ABC.

The judge ruled: “Any person would feel utterly dismayed and humiliated in those circumstances.”

A separate hearing will determine the “pecuniary penalty” (a type of fine) for the ABC to pay. Lattouf’s lawyers have said they’ll seek a “significant penalty”.

Lattouf also requested that ABC acknowledge its wrongdoing.

Outside court, Lattouf told media: “I was punished for my political opinion.”

The ABC is yet to comment on the ruling.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

Tonight from 6-9pm AEST you’ll have three hours to make a decision that'll either keep you sensible or turn you into a pho-obsessed, rickshaw riding pro.

We're talking up to 30% off AirAsia flights from Melbourne, Sydney, Perth to Ho Chi Minh City to celebrate AirAsia being awarded the Skytrax low-cost airline of the year for the 16th year running!

This isn't just a holiday - it's a full sensory overload featuring street food that'll ruin your home cooking forever, coffee so strong it'll rewire your brain, and shopping so cheap you'll question everything you've ever paid full price for.

Yes, there's a mandatory pit stop in Kuala Lumpur, but think of it as a tasty stop-off before diving headfirst into Vietnam's beautiful madness.

🍊 Gout Gout puts the world on notice. More details here.
🍊 A Kiwi PE teacher scored a goal on the world stage. Here’s what he said.
🍊 Kimberly Birrell beat an Australian Open champ in Eastbourne. Read more here.
🗞️ Also in today’s Sport Newsletter: cricket, AFL, and more…

The experimental stem-cell medication was given as a single infusion to a group of 12 people with a severe form of type 1 diabetes. One year since receiving treatment, 10 of the 12 patients no longer need insulin. The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, mean the drug may have cured their diabetes. Researchers noted some success amongst the other two patients, who now require much lower insulin doses. If the patients continue to show positive results, the medication will be submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for regulatory approval next year.

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

Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

Two European brown bears made a daring escape to loot the food storage room at the zoo where they live.

The cubs, named Mish and Lucy, made their way from their enclosures in the town of Devon in the UK, breaking into the food storage room, and eating a week’s worth of honey.

Their heist was swiftly foiled as staff coaxed the bears back into their enclosures.

It’s safe to say both bears were very happy with their endeavours, taking naps once back in their enclosures.

Reporting by Rosa Bowden.

It’s been a particularly tense time around the world, as we've covered on the podcast this week.

But we want to bring you something different for today's deep dive — an exclusively good news episode.

From the Aussie athletes breaking records to surfing dogs and a conservation breakthrough, we hope you find a bit of joy in today's podcast.