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Happy Thursday!
Tis’ the damn season (for receiving Year 12 results).
Earlier this week, students in Victoria and Tasmania received their final marks, with NSW and ACT students set to receive theirs today, and Queenslanders tomorrow. The rest of the country will receive their results next week.
Good luck to all! May you not have recurring exam nightmares in the years to come.
I've got 10 seconds
The quote
“I know lots of other people are battling even worse things but it still feels hugely frustrating. Just a few weeks ago I was the fittest I’ve been in decades!” — Jimmy Barnes in a social media post announcing he is undergoing open heart surgery to treat a bacterial infection.
The stat
$US63.6 million
The amount a former United Nations official has been ordered to personally repay the UN. It comes after he and his boss invested that money with a businessman who then allegedly misspent it, according to The New York Times.
Today in history
2012: A gunman killed 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. It is one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
I've got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
At an emergency meeting yesterday, the United Nations (UN) passed a resolution demanding an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire" in Gaza. The resolution is not legally binding, but the UN says it carries "immense moral weight”. Australia was among 153 member states that voted in favour of the resolution. This comes after it abstained from a vote on the same issue in October. The U.S. and Israel led a group of 10 countries that voted against the motion.
U.S. actor Andre Braugher has died aged 61. The Emmy-winning actor was known for playing Captain Holt in ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ and Detective Frank Pembleton in ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’.
I've got 1 minute
NSW paramedics will receive an average pay increase of 25% over the next four years.
These pay increases vary from 11% to 29% and will apply to almost 5,000 paramedics across the state.
This is the largest pay increase paramedics in the state have ever received, and will bring NSW paramedics' wages in line with other Australian states.
Background
The Ambulance Division of the Health Services Union (ADHSU) had called for a 20% pay increase to bring NSW in line with paramedic wages in other states.
Around 2,000 NSW paramedics had pledged to boycott renewing their registration due to the dispute.
This could have meant thousands of paramedics stopping work from 1 January if it was not resolved.
Further details
The current base salary for a typical paramedic in their sixth year of work will increase from $79,737 to $88,082 next year. By July 2026, this will increase to $103,361.
The base salary for a specialist paramedic in their third year of work will increase from $90,711 to $117,328.
The base pay of critical care paramedics will increase from $98,390 to $127,261.
The NSW Secretary of the Health Services Union Gerard Hayes said paramedics "exercise fine clinical judgement under incredible stress. Their work saves lives. Finally they will be paid for it."
I've got 2 minutes
A woman in the U.S, whose foetus was diagnosed with a fatal condition, has been banned from accessing an abortion in Texas.
Kate Cox initially received a medical exception to access an abortion, but the Texas Supreme Court has overturned this — blocking her from accessing one in the state.
Cox's lawyers say it is the first case filed on behalf of a pregnant person seeking an emergency abortion since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year.
First, abortion laws
Abortion is illegal in Texas in most cases without an exemption.
This comes after the highest court in the U.S, the Supreme Court, overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to an abortion last year.
This meant individual states had the power to decide their own abortion laws.
The case
Kate Cox is more than 20 weeks pregnant with a foetus that has been diagnosed with a severe chromosomal disorder known as Edwards syndrome.
Doctors said the pregnancy poses serious risks to her health. Cox has been told her baby will likely die shortly after birth.
Last week, a local court ruled an abortion was "medically necessary to preserve Ms. Cox's life, health, and future fertility, and poses far fewer risks than an induction or a C-section".
Overruled
Texas' top law officer, Attorney-General Ken Paxton, has the power to dispute cases if he believes a court made an error.
In this case, he asked the Texas Supreme Court (the highest court in the state) to overrule the local court’s decision.
He also wrote a letter to three Texas hospitals saying they could be criminally charged for performing Cox's abortion.
On Tuesday, the Texas Supreme Court sided with the Attorney-General, saying the lower court made a mistake in its judgement.
The justices ruled it is up to doctors, not judges, to determine if a pregnant person can have an abortion under the state's law.
What now?
Abortion advocacy group, The Center for Reproductive Rights, is providing legal advice to Cox.
The group said Cox has left Texas to seek medical care elsewhere, after receiving an "outpouring of support... from Kansas to Colorado to Canada". It's legal to travel interstate to get an abortion.
CEO Nancy Northup said the case showed "abortion bans are dangerous", arguing "judges and politicians should not be making healthcare decisions for pregnant people — they are not doctors".
A message from our sponsor
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Give me some good news
The Geminid meteor shower will light up the skies across the world, Australia included, over the next couple of nights.
Dr. Andrew Jacobs from the Sydney Observatory said the shower will be visible before midnight tonight for Western Australia, and from around 1am to 4am tomorrow morning for the Eastern states.
Jacobs recommends viewing the shower from a dark site away from city lights. He said: “The Moon will not be up when the shower is at its best, so this year is a good one to observe this shower.”
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A TDA tidbit
At this point, we’re all very familiar with scam texts – the source of which is usually a complete mystery.
But NSW Police have cracked down on one alleged culprit. They have arrested a 39-year-old man for allegedly sending over 17 million (17 million!!!) scam messages from companies like Australia Post and Linkt (an e-tag toll brand).
Police found a number of SIM cards and electronic equipment at the man’s property.
Speaking on the case, Detective Acting Superintendent Jason Smith said: “As we enter the final lead up to Christmas, a lot of people will be expecting online deliveries; but under no circumstances should you ever click on a link you receive in an SMS message or email.”
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