Good afternoon. New South Wales police say an independent investigation found no evidence pro-Palestine protesters used the offensive phrase “gas the Jews” during a march near the Sydney Opera House two days after the 7 October attacks on Israel.
Initial reports of the chant were widely reported around the world and condemned by local politicians, but police say an independent expert who examined a number of audio and visual files found with “overwhelming certainty” that the words used were “where’s the Jews?”.
Israel’s ambassador has accused the Australian government of forgetting “Hamas’s culpability” for the war in Gaza, in a sign of growing tensions as Labor ministers consider reinstating funding to a key UN agency. But aid groups have implored the government to “be judicious and discriminate between allegations against a small number of individuals and the foreseeable impact of defunding the UNRWA on millions of Palestinians reliant on their services, including children”. Meanwhile, the UK has suggested it could recognise a Palestinian state after a ceasefire in Gaza, and before any final peace settlement with Israel.
Top news
Two killed by freight train in Sydney | A woman in her 30s was being helped off the tracks at Berowra station, on the city’s northern outskirts, by a man in his 20s when they were hit by a freight train about midnight on Friday, NSW police said. The pair, who are yet to be formally identified but are believed to have known each other, were treated by paramedics but died at the scene.
Ex-Liberal staffer found guilty of indecently assaulting four women | Frank Zumbo, the chief of staff to former Liberal MP Craig Kelly, was found guilty of eight charges of indecent assault. The long-running trial heard evidence from several female staff members who alleged Zumbo groped them, sexually assaulted them and demanded displays of affection.
Friendlyjordies takes down video after alleged death threats | The prominent YouTuber Jordan Shanks-Markovina says he removed a 2022 video on the development company Coronation Property because he did not want the “death of innocent people” on his conscience.
NZ interested in Aukus | New Zealand has stepped up its interest in joining the non-nuclear pillar of Aukus, amid China’s growing presence in the Pacific and broader concerns over a “reshaped world”. “We really want to look at what the opportunities are and whether or not its something we could be part of,” the NZ defence minister, Judith Collins, said.
King penguin finds itself on South Australian beach | Members of a local birdwatching society were surprised to see the bird at Coorong beach, thousands of kilometres from its usual habitat. An expert says the penguin likely got off track looking for land and wound up far from its 120,000 fellow king penguin pairs on Macquarie Island, halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica.
January was third hottest on record | This might not mean much if – like me – you’re in Melbourne, but data from the Bureau of Meteorology for last month shows that it was particularly warm for overnight temperatures.
Ex-CIA employee sentenced to 40 years for giving secrets to WikiLeaks | Joshua Schulte’s sentence by US district judge Jesse Furman was for “crimes of espionage, computer hacking, contempt of court, making false statements to the FBI, and child pornography”. The former CIA software engineer was convicted in July 2022 on four counts each of espionage and computer hacking and one count of lying to FBI agents, after giving classified materials to WikiLeaks in the so-called Vault 7 leak. WikiLeaks in 2017 began publishing the materials, which concerned how the CIA surveilled foreign governments, alleged extremists and others by compromising their electronics and computer networks.
Brad Pitt set to star in Quentin Tarantino’s final movie | The pair are rumoured to be reuniting for 1970s-set drama The Movie Critic after last working together in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
What they said …
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“I call on LNP members – whether they’re from Logan, the Gold Coast, throughout south-east Queensland or right around Australia – don’t stand in the way of Labor’s cost-of-living tax cut, which will make life a little bit easier for middle Australia.” – Jim Chalmers
In numbers
Amazon profits surged as it continued to cut jobs in recent weeks.
Before bed read
“I’m struggling with my relationship because there is a huge difference between my partner’s financial situation and mine,” wrote a reader to our advice columnist, Eleanor Gordon-Smith, asking how the inequality can be bridged.
“I’m sorry to bear such trite news but there really is no way out of this except a tough conversation,” Gordon-Smith writes, with some added advice – read it here.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: COUP. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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