☕️ Lebanon and Israel's direct talks

You may have seen that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are currently in Australia.

If anyone in their team happens to be reading this: it’s not too late to come into the TDA studios for an interview!

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The quote: “In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, U.S. forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea.”
U.S. Admiral Brad Cooper in a post to X about the American military blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which only applies to ships going to and from Iran. After the U.S. and Israel struck Iran in February, the country shut the Strait, which normally sees 20% of the world’s oil every day. After failed peace talks in Pakistan over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the blockade.

The stat: 1,000. The number of people set to lose their jobs at Disney, according to an internal memo to employees from CEO Josh D'Amaro widely reported by U.S. media. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the layoffs last week. D'Amaro was named CEO last month.

The big question:

Yesterday’s results: Yesterday’s poll was a tight contest on the environmental issues concerning you most right now. 34% of you said extreme weather events while 32% of you said it was the rise in global temperatures. Another 30% of you pointed to biodiversity and species loss. 4% of you said that rising sea levels concerned you most right now. [1,518 votes].

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As of yesterday, eligible pharmacists in NSW can prescribe the contraceptive pill to women over the age of 18 without a GP consultation.

It follows an existing scheme allowing women who have taken the pill for two years to continue getting it from a pharmacist without a prescription.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said the aim is to make access to basic healthcare easier “without extra cost or hassle.”

However, Australia’s peak GP body has raised safety concerns. Here’s what you need to know.

Until now, pharmacists in NSW could only supply the pill without a prescription to women aged 18 to 49 who had already been taking it for two years.

Wednesday’s announcement means women over 18 who have never had a script can access the pill without seeing a GP.

Around 60 pharmacists are already eligible to provide the pill. More will be added as they complete specialised training to be able to offer the service. The Government will cover the first 5,000 consultations with a trained pharmacist under the new scheme. After that, consultations are expected to cost between $20 and $60.

Women will also be able to access other forms of contraception through their pharmacist, including the hormonal contraceptive ring and contraceptive injections.

The Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) has previously criticised similar moves in other states, arguing they risk distancing patients from doctors and undermine safety.

In March, RACGP Vice President Dr Ramya Raman called a decision by the Federal Government to allow pharmacists to prescribe a “lobbyist-led” call that puts “politics ahead of patient safety.”

The RACGP’s concerns centre partly on a 2021 decision by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), rejecting applications to make the pill available without a prescription.

The TGA said at the time that it did not believe “the benefits of supply from a pharmacist outweigh the risks to women’s health when supplied without consultation from a medical practitioner.”

However, Pharmacy Guild of Australia NSW Senior Vice President Catherine Bronger said the expansion is “vital to improving access for women facing cost, time or postcode barriers to seeing a GP.”

Reporting by Elliot Lawry.

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Israel and Lebanon have engaged in direct talks for the first time since 1993.

The Lebanese and Israeli Ambassadors to the U.S. met in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday (local time).

Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter said the countries “discovered... we’re on the same side of the equation.”

Lebanese Ambassador Nada Moawad said she “emphasised the integrity of our territory and full sovereignty of the state over all Lebanese land.”

Why has it taken 33 years for the countries to speak, and what has brought on this round of talks?

Lebanon was one of five countries to declare war on Israel when it declared itself an independent nation in 1948.

Tensions between the two countries escalated significantly in 1982, when Israel invaded Lebanon while it was in a civil war.

Hezbollah formed during this time. The Iranian regime-backed, Lebanon-based group holds around 10% of seats in Lebanon’s Parliament, and manages education and healthcare in some parts of the country. Australia considers it a terrorist organisation.

Major conflicts between Hezbollah and Israel followed in 1996 and 2006.

The day after Hamas (also backed by the Iranian regime) attacked Israel in October 2023, Hezbollah began launching rockets at Israel.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was brokered in 2024, but has proven shaky.

After the joint U.S-Israeli strikes on Iran in February, Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel. In retaliation, Israel has repeatedly struck southern Lebanon, killing more than 350 people and displacing more than a million people. On 31 March it announced its intention to occupy the region.

Last week, after significant back-and-forth, the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week pause in the conflict.

Iran and the U.S. and Israel disagreed over whether Lebanon was included in the ceasefire. As a result, the agreement has not held.

After failed peace talks in Pakistan over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump began a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil passageway closed by Iran at the beginning of the conflict.

On Tuesday (local time), Israeli and Lebanese diplomats met for peace talks in Washington, D.C. mediated by the U.S.

It is the first time the two countries’ governments have had direct talks since 1993.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: “We’re working against decades of history and complexities that have led us to this unique moment.”

“This is a lot more than just about [ceasefires]. This is about bringing a permanent end to 20 or 30 years of Hezbollah’s influence in this part of the world,” he said.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said: “I hope that the meeting... will mark the beginning of ending the suffering of the Lebanese people in general and the southerners in particular.”

The U.S. State Department, which Rubio leads, said the ambassadors had “productive discussions on steps toward launching direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon.”

“All sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue.”

Leiter told journalists the countries will look to meet again in Washington in a few weeks.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

Thinking of moving out this year?

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That’s where CommBank GoalSaver comes in. Set a goal, make regular deposits and you can earn bonus interest when you grow your balance each month, helping you move out sooner.

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58-year-old Ari Hodara was one of 120,000 people who purchased a raffle ticket in the “1 Picasso for 100 euros” lottery, hoping to take home Pablo Picasso’s 1941 portrait, The Head of a Woman. When organisers contacted their raffle winner, Hodara told them: “How do I check that it’s not a hoax?” Global interest in the online draw raised nearly $20 million for the Alzheimer Research Foundation in Paris.

Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

Almost six years after announcing it, Air New Zealand is ready to let economy class passengers sleep in bunk beds.

The airline will open bookings for its Skynest sleep pods on 18 May, with the first flights offering them from November. Passengers on some long haul routes will be able to buy four hour sessions in the beds from $NZ495 ($AU410).

Air New Zealand chief executive Nikhil Ravishankar said: “It gives customers the opportunity to stretch out, lie flat and get a few hours’ proper rest in the air.”

Sessions will be bookable in between meal services and there’s a limit of one per passenger, meaning you won’t be able to get a full eight hours.

You must also be over 15 to book a Skynest. Sorry kids.

Reporting by Pavitra Ravi.