Royal commission hears evidence on the spread of antisemitism online; the WHO says Europe's heatwave linked to 1,300 deaths; Socceroo Lucas Herrington reflects on his World Cup debut.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Royal commission hears evidence on the spread of antisemitism online
- The WHO says Europe's heatwave linked to 1,300 deaths
- Socceroo Lucas Herrington reflects on his World Cup debut
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The third round of hearings as part of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has begun.
The focus over the next fortnight is on examining the way antisemitism spreads on online communities, the impacts on the Jewish community, and the effectiveness of existing policies to prevent hate speech.
Today's witnesses include: Arsen Ostrovsky, a survivor of the Bondi attack who was subjected to internet conspiracies, and businessman Steven Lowy.
Counsel assisting Richard Lancaster says a representative of Meta will also give evidence over the next fortnight - but not all tech companies have engaged with the royal commission.
"While some platforms have been more effective than others in addressing online hate, the response of social media platforms to online hate are too often opaque, slow and reactive. Some of the platforms have engaged meaningful with the Commission. Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and TikTok have each been granted leave to appear in this hearing block. Some other social media platforms have been much less forthcoming."
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Communications Minister Anika Wells says she wants to see tech companies do more to stop AI-generated misinformation and memes targeting voters in Australia.
An investigation by the Guardian Australia has found that the majority of pro-One Nation public groups are full of content produced by foreign-run operations overseas, including south-east Asia.
Ms Wells says the online safety of Australians is something that the government is working to improve.
"I've been keeping a careful eye on what this is doing to public discourse in Australia. We know that big tech platforms, social media platforms, at the end of the day are there to generate as much revenue as they possibly can for their shareholders. And through maximising engagement; and the way they do that is through maximise engagement is through outrage. The public policy question I need to answer is what can we do to try and keep Australians safe online, kids in particular. The Digital Duty of Care - that means that big tech platforms themselves need to protect people from harm. "
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New analysis from Universities Australia shows the cost of living is rising faster than students can keep up, as university fees are their highest in Australian history.
Currently, those with university student loan debt are making contributions throughout the year, but they are not applied to the balance until after a tax return is submitted in July.
Because indexation is added before payments are applied, graduates are being indexed on debt they have already paid off.
Independent MP Monique Ryan is introducing a bill to parliament today to move the indexation date, arguing the change would save graduates $3.2 billion over 10 years.
"Now we wouldn't accept it if interest is applied to our mortgages or our credit card debts after we'd made repayments towards those accounts, but Australian graduates who are dealing with a cost of learning crisis are being forced to pay more on the HECS debts because of the unfair way that indexation is applied. I have a simple fix, which I'll be putting in front of the house today. Change the date of Hecs indexation from the first of June to the first of November."
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The World Health Organisation says it has recorded more than 1,300 excess deaths during the summer heatwave in Europe.
In France, the national health agency says it has tallied 1000 excess deaths during the heatwave, with most of the fatalities involving people aged 65 and over.
This heatwave is the most severe ever recorded in Europe, and scientists from the World Weather Attribution group say the severity of this event would have been "virtually impossible" this early in the summer without climate change.
Swiss-American 21-year-old Ulysse Zachary says he has been desperately finding a way to cope with the 40-plus degree heat in Paris.
"It's been really, really difficult, I must say. I had to, just, I'm just opening the windows, putting my fan on. I'm taking a shower before bed. I'm sleeping with wet towels over me just to try to survive, honestly, and just try to sleep. Because when you're tired, when you're hot, you feel miserable, you can't work. I've had a hard time focusing, you know, at work and stuff."
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In Lebanon, a US-backed framework agreement for a ceasefire is under pressure.
Hezbollah refuses to disarm, while Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon.
Israel insists its operations will continue until the threat along its northern border has been removed.
Over the weekend, an Israeli drone strike killed one person and wounded two others in the southern Lebanese town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has been targeting Hezbollah militants.
At the funeral of her son, Captain David Hazut, who was killed while serving with the Israeli military in southern Lebanon, Galit Hazut made an emotional plea for an end to the fighting.
"I’m asking, I’m begging you if there’s anyone here who can do something, enough with this damn war. I’ve been through Gaza, I’ve been through the West Bank, I’ve been through Lebanon, and I lost in Lebanon.”
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In football, Socceroo Lucas Herrington has reflected on his FIFA World Cup debut against Paraguay, saying staying calm was made easier by his love of the game.
At 18 years old, Herrington became the youngest player to start for the Socceroos at a World Cup on Friday.
He says it is an honour to have a role in helping Australia advance to the World Cup knockout round.
"I knew how important that game was - not just for us, but for the whole country. So I knew the pressure that was you know in that game. I knew there was pressure on sort of all of us. I was looking forward to it. I had dreamed of that moment since I was a kid. And you know I just really wanted to embrace it, enjoy it and just know that it is not going to come around everyday. So I really tried to stay in the moment; and just stay calm. And yeah, hopefully, I did that. To me, it was just a game of football with a lot of meaning, a lot of passion. And I just tried to sort of show that."
