☕️ Australia sanctions new terrorist group

If you’re in Canberra, you’re likely hearing a buzz around town with both school back and Parliament sitting for the first time for the year.

I imagine 2pm in both settings – after lunch for the kids, and Question Time for the House of Representatives – will sound fairly similar?

“I told myself if I ever won a Grammy, and I got to stand up here… I would demand that labels and the industry, profiting millions of dollars off of artists, would offer a liveable wage and health care… Labels, we got you, but do you got us?”
Chappell Roan during her speech after winning Best New Artist at the 2025 Grammy Awards yesterday.

13 billion
The amount of bottles, cans and cartons the NSW Return and Earn scheme has recycled since the scheme began.

2004
Facebook launched, originally called ‘The Facebook’ and later rebranded to ‘Facebook’ in 2005.

More than 300 former staff members of an Australian jewellery company have launched a class action lawsuit over multiple worker rights violations.

Lovisa is a jewellery retailer that operates stores across Australia, the U.S, Europe and Asia.

The lawsuit filed in the Federal Court alleges employees were underpaid, restricted from taking their breaks, and suffered hostile working conditions.

All employees involved worked for Lovisa’s Australian stores between 2018 and 2024.

The lawsuit is led by three former employees who worked at three different stores.

The plaintiffs allege the company failed to pay minimum wages, directed staff not to take meal or toilet breaks, and did not pay for overtime work.

Court documents also claim Lovisa failed to provide legally mandated breaks between shifts, forced employees to buy and wear the company’s products without compensation, and did not reimburse expenses incurred during work trips.

In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), the company publicly acknowledged the lawsuit.

Lovisa’s board of directors said it “intends to defend the class action proceedings” and that it takes its obligations “very seriously”.

Australia has announced sanctions against Terrorgram, an online white supremacist group, following similar measures in the U.S. and UK.

Sanctions are restrictions governments can impose on people, organisations, and other countries.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the radical neo-Nazi organisation operates entirely online, using encrypted messaging apps like Telegram.

The government has also reinforced sanctions against four other white supremacist groups and the new leader of Hezbollah.

Terrorgram is a global neo-Nazi group primarily based on social media, promoting white supremacy and racially-motivated violence.

The online group has “motivated,” facilitated,” and “glorified” terrorist attacks, including a 2022 mass shooting at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Slovakia, according to American and British officials.

The UK and U.S. have listed Terrorgram as a terrorist organisation in recent months.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has announced a ban on creating financial links to Terrogram.

Anyone financing the group, or using its finances, faces up to 10 years in jail and large fines.

She said the sanctions were designed to stop extremist groups recruiting and radicalising people online.

In a statement, Wong added the measure was part of “ongoing work to combat antisemitism”.

Australia has seen an uptick in antisemitic attacks in recent months, including spray-painted slurs on businesses and homes, and the firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue.

Federal police are looking into whether “overseas actors” have paid any of the suspects to carry out the attacks.

Wong did not confirm when asked if Terrorgram is linked to the recent surge in antisemitic attacks.

“There’s certainly evidence that Terrorgram is used by people in Australia,” Wong told reporters.

Australia has updated its terror designations on four white supremacist organisations, including the neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Order. The move means any association in Australia remains illegal.

Wong also announced sanctions against Naim Qassem, the new leader of Hezbollah, which Australia has listed as a terrorist organisation since 2021.

Qassem took over from Hassan Nasrallah after he was assassinated by Israeli forces in September.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

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The singer also won the biggest award of the night, Album of the Year. It’s the fifth nomination she’s received in the category, but the first time she’s won it. Beyoncé is also the most awarded artist in Grammys history, with 34 wins from 99 nominations throughout her career. She is now the fourth Black woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammys – the first since Lauryn Hill in 1999.

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Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock to 89 seconds before midnight, the closest point to global disaster since its creation in 1947.

The Doomsday Clock is both a physical object and a metaphor, signifying how close the world is “to catastrophe”.

Factors influencing the decision included the war in Russia and Ukraine entering its third year, heightened risk of nuclear threats across the world, efforts to mitigate climate risks remaining insufficient, and the rapid development of AI.

In a statement, the Bulletin said, “In setting the Clock one second closer to midnight, we send a stark signal: Because the world is already perilously close to the precipice, a move of even a single second should be taken as an indication of extreme danger and an unmistakable warning that every second of delay in reversing course increases the probability of global disaster.”

Reporting by Rosa Bowden.

It’s been two weeks since U.S. President Donald Trump became president, and there have - of course - been many headline-making moves from the 47th president already.

One that our audience has been asking us to explain is his policy on tariffs.

Over the weekend, Trump signed an executive order to impose new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China. Trump claimed the tariffs, which will come into effect this week, will “stop the flood of illegal aliens and drugs from pouring across our borders”.

So, what does this all mean? We are here to answer your questions.