It’s Friday!

Congratulations are in order for Anthony Albanese, who has become the first Prime Minister of Australia to get engaged while in office.

Albanese announced he had proposed to his partner Jodie Haydon in an Instagram post yesterday.

Talking of weddings, TDA co-founder Sam is getting married on Sunday!

Love is in the air.

Quote of the day
“I don’t want to…be in a position where we say that we are unable to act like adults.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Question Time yesterday after MP Zali Steggall asked if there were plans to institute random alcohol and drug testing in Parliament.

Stat of the day
$1 billion
Telstra’s net profit for the first half of the financial year.

Today in history
2005
The Kyoto Protocol — an international treaty that aimed to reduce carbon emissions and global warming — came into effect.

Some headlines from this morning:

• NSW has announced a new task force to investigate several recent asbestos discoveries in garden mulch. The discoveries have led to the closure of several parks and a school in Sydney’s south-west. Asbestos was also found at the planned site of popular Mardi Gras event Fair Day, which has now been cancelled. The task force will meet for the first time today. The state’s Environmental Protection Authority is also engaged in what Environment Minister Penny Sharpe called a “complex, criminal investigation”.

• Crowds of farmers in India have been met with tear gas during protests for better produce prices in New Delhi. Farmers' calls for the government to increase minimum prices for their crops culminated in a march to the capital this week. Authorities responded to the protests by deploying tear gas on the crowds from drones.

Australia’s unemployment rate for January rose from 3.9% to 4.1% – a two-year high.

The unemployment rate measures the percentage of people who were looking for work but could not find any.

The number of employed people remains high at just above 14.2 million. However, there were 5,200 job losses last month.

It follows unemployment levels of around 3.5% for most of past year — the lowest unemployment figure since the 1970s.

Response
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the 4.1% unemployment rate is still low by historical standards.

The Treasurer noted the five-year unemployment average before COVID-19 was about 5.5%.

Chalmers added that the slightly higher rate was “consistent” with the Government’s expectations.

“This is also the inevitable consequence of higher interest rates and persistent inflation and global economic uncertainty,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has released a joint statement with the leaders of Canada and New Zealand that warns Israel against invading Rafah, a city in southern Gaza. According to the statement, there are about 1.5 million Palestinian people taking refuge in Rafah at the moment.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously said “it is impossible to achieve the goal of the war of eliminating Hamas by leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah.”

Background
On 7 October, Hamas launched an attack on Israel. According to data cited by the United Nations (UN), roughly 1,200 people were killed. About 240 hostages were captured by Hamas, which controls Gaza, and about 134 hostages remain captive.

Israel responded by declaring war and bombarding Gaza. According to data cited by the UN, more than 28,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since 7 October. Israel’s war in Gaza has caused a humanitarian crisis. Israel has said it will not stop fighting until all hostages are returned and Hamas is destroyed.

Rafah
At the start of Israel’s war in Gaza, the military’s focus was on the north of the territory, causing civilians to flee to southern areas of Gaza, including Rafah.

Israel’s military has since moved southwards and this week, it rescued two hostages in Rafah. Netanyahu has said civilians would need to evacuate “combat zones” as Israeli forces move into Rafah.

The UN has said the population in Rafah is “staring death in the face: They have little to eat, hardly any access to medical care, nowhere to sleep, nowhere safe to go.”

It added: “Military operations in Rafah could lead to a slaughter in Gaza. They could also leave an already fragile humanitarian operation at death’s door.”

Statement
The Prime Ministers’ statement said in part: “We are gravely concerned by indications that Israel is planning a ground offensive into Rafah. A military operation into Rafah would be catastrophic.

“About 1.5 million Palestinians are taking refuge in the area, including many of our citizens and their families...

“We urge the Israeli government not to go down this path. There is simply nowhere else for civilians to go...

The statement continued: “An immediate humanitarian ceasefire is urgently needed...

“The International Court of Justice has been clear: Israel must ensure the delivery of basic services and essential humanitarian assistance and must protect civilians...

“Any ceasefire cannot be one-sided. Hamas must lay down its arms and release all hostages immediately.

“We again unequivocally condemn Hamas for its terror attacks on Israel on October 7...

“Ultimately, a negotiated political solution is needed to achieve lasting peace and security.”

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As mentioned above, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has released a joint statement with the leaders of Canada and New Zealand that warns Israel against invading Rafah.

TDA looks at it further in today’s podcast.

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Aussies have picked up gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha this week, including 32-year-old diver Rhiannan Iffland and 26-year-old breast-stroker Sam Williamson.

Iffland scored her gold on Wednesday in a ‘high-diving’ category that isn’t included in the Olympics, while Williamson beat others to the top spot with a time of 26.3 seconds.

In 2010, Pink told you to raise your glass. Fourteen years later, the singer couldn’t raise her own glass in a Sydney venue, because… she didn’t have her ID.

The singer is in the middle of an Australian tour and visited the Manly Skiff Club in Sydney on Monday.

According to the Manly Observer, she headed to the venue with around eight others, before she was denied entry.

Mark Eymes manages the Manly Markets and spoke to the local paper.

He said: “I overheard her saying that she had a booking, but when they asked her to provide her ID, she said she didn’t have any on her.”

“They just turfed her out,” Eymes said.

The venue told Nine news it was all a “misunderstanding” and that she chose to leave after encountering a "sign-in process issue".

So what Pink, you’re still a rock star.