☕️ Paralympians to be paid the same as Olympians

Today is World Rock Paper Scissors Day.

Feels like a ripe opportunity to remind everyone it should be ‘Sci-soors Pa-per Rock’ Day.

(For those new here, we recently had a debate about the correct order of words for this game. Basically, Melbourne says it wrong.)

“After decades of war and in the midst of a terrible humanitarian crisis, the Afghan people deserve much better than being threatened or jailed if they happen to be late for prayers, glance at a member of the opposite sex who is not a family member, or possess a photo of a loved one.”
UN Special Representative in Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva on new laws issued by the Taliban banning women’s voices and faces in public.

$NZ420,000 ($AU385,000)
How much New Zealand dairy company Milkio was fined after it was found to have lied about where its products came from. Despite packaging that said “100% Pure New Zealand”, some of the company’s products were made with butter from India.

1964
Walt Disney’s ‘Mary Poppins’ premiered in Los Angeles. At the time of its release, it was Disney's highest-grossing film ever. I guess you could say the movie was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

The billionaire CEO of Telegram, Pavel Durov, has been arrested in France.

The Russian messaging app has over 950 million monthly users.

Telegram has a ‘Secret Chat’ feature where users can send each other encrypted messages, meaning they cannot be read by any third parties or Telegram staff.

According to reports by French media outlet TF1, authorities allege Durov’s app facilitates drug trafficking and child sexual abuse.

In 2006, Durov founded Vkontakte (VK), a popular Russian social media platform.

He refused to take down anti-government content posted on VK during protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2011.

However, following significant pressure from the Russian Government, Durov sold his stake in VK to a businessman with ties to Putin.

He moved to Dubai and has since become a French citizen. In August 2013, Durov and his brother Nikolai founded Telegram.

Durov was reportedly arrested by French authorities at an airport outside of Paris over the weekend.

French outlet TF1 claims Durov was arrested over Telegram’s moderation and content policies.

It reported allegations that the platform is being used to facilitate theft, fraud, drug trafficking, child sexual abuse, and money laundering.

A statement from Telegram’s media office said Durov had “nothing to hide”.

It said Telegram “abides by EU laws” and that “its moderation is within industry standards”.

The statement also said blaming a platform or its founder for “abuse of that platform” is “absurd”.

The Russian Embassy in France said French authorities are “avoiding interaction on this issue” and that Durov’s lawyer has been contacted.

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

The Federal Government has confirmed the next census will not include questions about sexual orientation, gender identity, and variations in sex characteristics.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which is due to conduct the next census in 2026, had considered adding new questions on these topics to the next national survey.

Rights groups have criticised the decision, which they say will mean LGBTIQ+ people will remain “invisible” in Australia’s population breakdowns.

Every five years, the ABS conducts a national survey known as the census.

It captures details and trends about Australia’s population including health, age, housing, cultural background, and religion, but not sexual orientation or gender identity.

The ABS says that “community groups, not-for-profit organisations, businesses and governments use Census data to make important decisions.”

The last census was held in 2021. In August 2023, the ABS issued a “statement of regret” following numerous complaints about its questions.

The 2021 census, like previous censuses, didn’t include questions about sexual orientation, gender identity, or variations in sex characteristics (e.g. intersex people).

“The ABS recognises that some members of the LGBTIQ+ community experienced hurt, stress, anguish and other negative reactions to some Census questions,” it said.

The ABS consulted more than 1,000 people and organisations on future census questions and set up an LGBTIQ+ expert advisory committee.

In late 2023, the ABS said it was considering adding “sex recorded at birth” as a question. The 2021 census included three options: male, female, or non-binary sex. A question about birth sex would provide data about transgender people.

It also said it was considering a question about sexual orientation due to a “lack of a reliable evidence base”.

The ABS also noted a “significant data gap” on those with variations of sex characteristics, like intersex people.

It said understanding the number of people with differences in their innate genetic, hormonal, or physical sex characteristics can help plan resources to “support individuals and their families”.

“The small size of this population group means that sample surveys are unable to produce both national and lower-level estimates,” the ABS said in a statement.

In 2023, the Labor Party committed to making sure “the 2026 Census gathers relevant data on LGBTIQ+ Australians”.

Today, however, Assistant Employment Minister Andrew Leigh told TDA: “It is the decision of the Government that there will be no change to the topics in the next Census, which will be held in 2026.”

This means questions around gender, sexual orientation, and variations in sex characteristics won’t be included.

National advocacy group Equality Australia said the Federal Government had “betrayed LGBTIQ+ people around Australia”.

CEO Anna Brown said LGBTIQ+ people “will again be rendered invisible in 2026 because the Census won’t ask appropriate questions about who they are and how they live.”

LGBTIQ+ Health Australia CEO Nicky Bath said there will still be “significant data gaps needed to address the pervasive health and wellbeing disparities” in the community.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

Manette Baillie served in the women’s naval fleet in Egypt during the Second World War.

She marked her recent 102nd birthday by jumping out of a plane in Suffolk on Sunday, after hearing about an 85-year-old local man who’d also gone sky-diving.

Baillie said: “If an 85-year-old man can do it, so can I.”

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Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recalled around 10,000 packages of apple juice sold at Walmart after finding potentially harmful levels of arsenic.

The “Great Value” brand apple juice seemed to have a great value of arsenic in them.

These 6-pack apple juice products were sold across 25 states and are said to contain “inorganic arsenic above… industry guidance”.

It’s worth noting that a lot of fresh produce has natural levels of arsenic and fruit juices often contain arsenic. However, there are industry standards to how much arsenic in a product is deemed safe, and this juice was not.

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

The Government has handed down its vision for Australia’s aviation sector. It says it will boost consumer rights, increase competition, support regional aviation, and help the sector become more environmentally friendly.

But the Opposition has called the report a “missed opportunity”. In today’s deep dive, we explain what the Government wants to change, and what it might actually take to overhaul the sector.