☕️ RBA holds interest rates again

Happy Wednesday!

Here’s another rebus puzzle for you. In case you’re unfamiliar, a rebus puzzle conveys a phrase or a word that is a common idiom or expression.

Answer is in the tidbit!

I’ve got 10 seconds

Quote of the day

“The program aired [on Monday] night on Four Corners ‘Ukraine’s War: The Other Side’ was the journalistic equivalent of a bowl of vomit.”
Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia and New Zealand on the ABC’s broadcast of a documentary about the Russian side of the war in Ukraine. The ABC responded saying it was a “challenging but legitimate documentary” that “adds to our understanding of this tragic conflict and shows the full, horrific impact of the war.”.

Stat of the day

300,000
How many condoms will be available in the athletes’ accomodation at the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games this year, according to the Director of the Paris 2024 Olympic Village, Laurent Michaud. This will be shared between 14,900 Olympians and Paralympians. At the last Games, athletes were banned from intimate contact due to COVID-19 regulations.

Today in history

1854
The Republican Party was founded in the U.S. as the main opponent to the Democratic Party.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• The Victorian Government is being encouraged to introduce pill testing by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP). It comes after last week the Coroners Court of Victoria found the deaths of two men were a result of mixed, high-dose drugs that the men may not have known they were taking. The Coroners Court also recommended that Victoria trial a pill testing service, similar to the one in the ACT. The Chair of the RACGP said: “Let’s do all we can to stop these pointless overdose deaths from happening again and again.”

• Australia’s environment scorecard went down in 2023, according to the latest annual report by The Australian National University. Australia scored 7.5 out of 10 in 2023, down from 8.7 in 2022. The score combines data on the state of the countries’ weather, water and vegetation. The report mentioned that 130 species were added to the threatened Species List in 2023. It also noted that greenhouse gas emissions in Australia increased in 2023 for the first time in five years, mostly due to air travel rising again after COVID-19.

I’ve got 1 minute

Reserve Bank holds interest rates again

The Reserve Bank has left interest rates on hold at 4.35%. This is the third RBA decision in a row where the cash rate has stayed the same, after interest rates rose for 10 consecutive months over 2022 and 2023.

RBA comment

In a statement, the RBA said it’s encouraged by easing inflation, or rising prices. However, it added that other parts of the economy remain “highly uncertain”.

More context

The RBA is Australia's central bank. Its key responsibility is setting the 'cash rate' — an interest rate it charges commercial banks for short-term loans.

This rate influences the cost of borrowing across the economy, so changes to the cash rate are often called changes to 'interest rates'.

The RBA has regularly raised interest rates over the last two years to fight rising prices (inflation).

I’ve got 2 minutes

Gambian Parliament banned female genital mutilation in 2015. 90% of MPs want to revoke that ban.

Gambian Parliament has passed a bill to allow the practice of female genital mutilation (also called ‘female genital cutting’ or ‘FGC’).

Around 70% of women aged 15 to 49 in the country underwent FGM before it was banned in 2015.

MPs in the small West African country have voted to overturn that ban. A parliamentary committee will now consider the bill to resume FGM, before a final vote later this year.

According to UNICEF research published this month, over 230 million women and girls alive today have been subjected to FGM.

FGM

FGM is known to cause health issues like infections, blood loss, problems urinating, and complications in childbirth. It has no health benefits.

The UN has identified FGM in 92 countries. It’s sometimes described as a religious practice, but it is not recommended in any major religious text.

The World Health Organisation describes FGM as “an extreme form of discrimination against girls and women.”

The Gambia

The Gambia is a small country in West Africa with a population of around 2.5 million people, 96% of whom are Muslim.

It was a British colony from the 17th century until the 1960s, and was heavily impacted by the slave trade. Experts say the country has been called ‘The Gambia’ since it became independent from the British Empire as a way to distinguish itself from another newly independent nation, Zambia.

Alongside regular courts, The Gambia has a court system specifically for Islamic legal disputes where all parties involved are Muslim.

FGM laws

In 2015 The Gambia passed a law to ban FGM, which includes a penalty of up to three years imprisonment for anyone who performs it, and life imprisonment if the procedure causes death.

Human rights advocates welcomed the ban. It was considered a landmark decision and led to the conviction of three women last year.

Despite the ban, UN data from 2021 estimated three in four girls in The Gambia are still subjected to FGM before the age of six.

Last year, three women in The Gambia were found guilty of performing mutilations on several children. Following their conviction, The Gambia’s leading Islamic advisory body issued a fatwa — a non-binding ruling on Islamic law.

The fatwa argued that FGM is “not just a merely inherited custom” but “one of the virtues of Islam”.

However, global charity Islamic Relief Worldwide argues that FGM is a harmful practice that is never mentioned in the Quran, Islam’s holy text.

The fatwa prompted The Gambian Parliament to consider revoking the ban on FGM.

Parliament

This week, four MPs voted against, and 42 MPs voted in favour of a bill to revoke the ban on FGM.

MP Lamin Ceesay argued in favour of the bill, and said the ban breached the Constitution because it prevents a person’s “right to practice religion”.

However, another MP, Gibbi Mballow, said he would not support the bill because “the religion says we should not harm women... Let’s not forget women’s lives matter.”

The bill has been referred to a parliamentary committee for review before it’s debated again later in the year.

A final vote will then determine if FGM will no longer be banned in The Gambia.

Amnesty International urged The Gambia’s Parliament to not revoke the ban on FGM. It warned it would “set a dangerous precedent for women’s rights.”

If The Gambia does lift the ban, it will become the world’s first country to revoke a ban on FGM.

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This week, the taxi industry reached a landmark settlement with Uber.

The ride-sharing giant has agreed to pay $272 million in compensation after a five year legal battle with taxi and hire car operators.

In today's podcast, we unpack the case against Uber and what it means for the ride-sharing giant.

Give me some good news

Two iconic locations in NSW’s Byron Bay have been given dual names to include Aboriginal titles.

Cape Byron will now also have the name Walgun, and Julian Rocks will also be called Nguthungulli.

Walgun holds importance to the Arakwal and other Bundjalung people, as the area is used for gatherings and ceremonies. Nguthugulli is another significant site, with the traditional name used by the Arakwal people which means “the Father of the World”.

The NSW Government said the changes to the names were a “nod to the cultural significance of these sites”.

TDA tidbit

Imagine if you went to an ATM that let you take out unlimited money.

In Ethiopia earlier this month, that dream became a reality for thousands of people as a major bank’s glitch let them withdraw a lot more money than was in their accounts.

Local media said students were the main people who took advantage of the glitch, transferring the money into their account from ATMs across universities.

The bank issued a statement to its Facebook page saying that 490,000 transactions were carried out before they could solve the glitch, but that some people had already voluntarily given back the money they withdrew.

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Answer: Beginning of the end.

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