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Good morning!
As it’s a Tuesday, I thought I’d share with you some fun facts in case you’re going to Trivia tonight:
Competitive art was an Olympic sport until 1948.
The fear of long words is called hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.
You can't hum if you hold your nose. (Not so helpful in trivia, but fun nonetheless.)
I’ve got 10 seconds
Quote of the day
“No command, system or man can close the mouth of an Afghan woman".
A 23-year-old woman spoke out against bans introduced by the Taliban which prohibited women from speaking in public. An increasing number of women have been taking part of the online protest.
Stat of the day
$25.95
The cost of a $1 limited edition Bluey Coin. The coins went on sale via Australia Post yesterday, before demand for the collectables crashed the AusPost website. AusPost said it was working to resolve a technical issue during a sales rush.
Today in history
1995
eBay was founded as a global online marketplace where people could trade different items.
I’ve got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
A senior animal keeper at Dreamworld has been taken to hospital, after being bitten by a tiger at the Gold Coast theme park. Queensland Ambulance Service said a 47-year-old woman is in a stable condition, after sustaining “serious lacerations and puncture wounds” during an incident on Monday. QAS acting district director Justin Payne said “luckily there was really good first aid provided” at the scene. Dreamworld described the incident as “isolated and rare”, and said that the theme park will be conducting “a thorough review accordingly."
‘Alternative for Germany’ is on track to become the first far-right party to win a regional German election since World War II. Exit polls from the country’s state elections show the AfD picked up nearly 33% of votes in the central German state of Thuringia. The region’s second most popular party, the Christian Democratic Union, received around 24% of votes. In Saxony, in eastern Germany, the far-right party came in second place with over 30% of votes.
🥇 Overnight from Paris ‘24: Australia won two gold medals overnight at the Paralympics. The first belongs to Lauren Parker, who won gold in the women’s triathlon PTWC (Para Triathlon Wheelchair). The second was in the swimming mixed 4×100m medley relay, with Alexa Leary, Jesse Aungles, Timothy Hodge and Emily Beecroft. Australia remains at sixth position on the overall tally board, with a total of 29 medals. Click here to sign up to our free sport newsletter! You can unsubscribe anytime.
Listen of the day
Transparency: This is a sponsored section of the newsletter. It's the best way we can keep this newsletter free for you.
Preppers is a new podcast from the UNSW Centre for Ideas, focused on preparing for climate change.
With wild weather becoming more frequent (as we saw yesterday) and global temperatures rising, Preppers urges listeners to start preparing for future challenges.
The podcast tackles tough questions while also offering practical solutions.
I’ve got 1 minute
CW: Sexual assault
A former childcare worker has pleaded guilty to 307 child abuse offences in a Queensland court.
Gold Coast man Ashley Paul Griffith was arrested in 2022, and charged with abusing multiple children in Brisbane, Sydney, and Italy.
The 46-year-old man pleaded guilty at Brisbane District Court.
Charges
Griffith worked at a series of childcare centres from 2007 until he was arrested in August 2022 on two charges relating to child exploitation material.
Following an investigation by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Griffith was then charged with more than 1,600 child abuse offences against 91 children.
The offences included the rape of children under the age of 10.
Guilty plea
The AFP has since dropped many of the charges against Griffith.
He pleaded guilty to child abuse offences committed while working at centres in Brisbane.
Griffith also admitted to sharing child abuse material to devices in Italy.
The judge has yet to set a date for sentencing. Griffith did not apply for bail.
1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732
LIFELINE: 13 11 14
Reporting by Harry Sekulich.
I’ve got 2 minutes
Why has X been banned in Brazil?
X has been banned in Brazil after a Supreme Court decision to suspend the social media platform.
It follows months of negotiations between Brazilian authorities and X (formerly Twitter) owner, Elon Musk.
Musk has refused to comply with court orders for X to remove misinformation.
Brazil has the fifth-largest digital population in the world.
Background
Brazilian authorities have intensified efforts to combat online right-wing content and misinformation since the fallout of its 2022 election.
Far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro lost
to Brazil’s now-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in October 2022.
Following the vote, Bolsonaro supporters led riots across Brazil, including an attack on the country’s Parliament.
Bolsanaro has since been found guilty of election interference.
Court order
Last month, Supreme Court Judge Alexander de Moraes issued an order to X, requiring the platform to remove posts containing political misinformation.
It comes ahead of local elections in October when some 150 million people will vote across thousands of Brazillian municipalities.
Moraes warned X would face financial penalties and possible staff arrests for non-compliance.
In response, Musk closed X’s Brazil office and criticised the judge’s orders as “censorship”.
Shutdown
Last week, X was given 24 hours to appoint a court-ordered legal representative for its Brazil operations or risk an “immediate” nationwide shutdown.
The platform warned it would refuse to comply with the order.
Telcos began blocking users’ access to X after it missed the deadline.
Brazilian authorities said the suspension will remain in place until X agrees to appoint a legal representative and pay non-compliance fines.
Justice Moraes said the Supreme Court has a right to defend its citizens' “fundamental rights”.
“Those who violate democracy, who violate fundamental human rights... must be held accountable,” he said.
Brazil’s President has urged Musk to “accept the country’s rules and respect the Supreme Court’s Decision.”
“Just because he has money doesn't mean he can do whatever he wants,” Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said.
Elon Musk
Musk has called the X ban “illegal political censorship” by an “evil dictator cosplaying as a judge.”
In a post to X, the billionaire called free speech “the bedrock of democracy” and accused Brazil of destroying it “for political purposes.”
Musk suggested Brazillian users will change their VPN to get around the ban.
Justice Moraes warned anyone caught accessing X this way risked being fined over $AU13,000 a day.
Impact
Brazil has the fifth-largest ‘digital population’ in the world and is home to an estimated 22 million X users.
Bluesky – which launched as a Twitter alternative in 2019 – said it had recorded “all-time” high activity in Brazil, including one million new users following the X ban.
Voters will head to the polls for municipal elections in October. The next Presidential election is due in 2026.
Bolsonaro is barred from running for office until 2030 after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of a ban last year.
Reporting by Harry Sekulich.
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Give me some good news
Astronomers have spotted two galaxies merging together almost 13 billion years ago.
The two galaxies are forming what astronomers are calling a ‘monster galaxy’ — one of the most illuminated objects in the universe. Because the galaxies are so far away, their light is taking a long time to reach earth, meaning scientists have spotted something that happened relatively soon after the Big Bang. These findings could support research and understanding into early evolution and black holes.
Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!
Reporting by Nandini Dhir.
TDA tidbit
New images of the Titanic shipwreck will be difficult viewing for fans of the 1997 film, as they show the ship’s iconic bow significantly decayed.
RMS Titanic Inc has released new vision which shows large parts of the bow’s railing have broken off and washed away.
Scans of the shipwreck have found that the metal is being rusted and decayed by microbes.
An expedition team is working to try to preserve the shipwreck digitally.
Reporting by Nandini Dhir.
Want more from The Daily Aus? Listen to our podcast!
Tens of thousands of people have marched through Israel’s main cities calling for an immediate deal to release hostages who remain held captive by Hamas.
It comes after Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza over the weekend. Major unions have now called to “shut down the economy”, setting off one of the largest protests in Israel since 7 October.
In today's podcast, we explain the latest protests and what they might mean for a deal.
TDA asks
