Welcome, readers, to Afternoon Update.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, announced on Thursday that Australia has imposed financial sanctions on seven Israelis and a youth group allegedly involved in violent attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.
The Magnitsky-style sanctions were in response to “beatings, sexual assault and torture of Palestinians resulting in serious injury and in some cases, death”, Wong alleged.
Some of the individuals sanctioned on Thursday have previously been hit with similar sanctions by the EU, US and Canada.
A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Canberra said “Israel condemns acts of violence against Palestinian communities” and would “work to bring the extreme minority involved to justice”.
In her statement, Wong said Australia would “continue to work for a just and enduring peace between Israelis and Palestinians”.
Top news
Lehrmann to ask appeals court to set aside $2m costs | The former Liberal staffer was going to represent himself at the first case management hearing but retained criminal solicitor Zali Burrows at the 11th hour. Lehrmann will ask the appeals court to put aside Justice Michael Lee’s order that he pay $2m in legal fees for his failed defamation suit against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.
Anthony Albanese to reshuffle ministry | Ministers Linda Burney and Brendan O’Connor announced their retirements today, with the prime minister confirming there would be a ministerial reshuffle. Albanese confirmed a factional and caucus process for nominations had already begun.
Farmers launch fresh campaign for NSW to cut daylight saving | The New South Wales Farmers Association called for a shortening of daylight saving, arguing the period had gradually become longer in the state – expanding from four months in 1972 to its current six-month window (the first weekend of October to the first weekend in April).
Biden gives first speech since race withdrawal | Three days after Biden announced he would abandon his presidential campaign, the US president spoke from the Oval Office in an address described as “a moving piece of political theatre and a rebuke of Trump”. You can read the full transcript here.
Rupert Murdoch in secret legal battle with children | Murdoch, 93, is reportedly attempting to ensure eldest son Lachlan Murdoch’s control of the family’s media empire by changing the terms of a family trust, taking control away from younger brother James, sister Elisabeth and half-sister Prudence.
Typhoon Gaemi leaves at least three dead in Taiwan | The superstorm hit Taiwan’s eastern Yilan county at around midnight local time Thursday, leaving 270 people injured and 290,000 homes without power by Wednesday evening. The first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan this year, Gaemi was “expected to be the strongest” in eight years, a government forecaster said.
Katy Perry to perform at AFL grand final | American popstar Katy Perry will headline this year’s AFL grand final at the MCG, fresh from the release of her single Woman’s World which the Guardian described as “less like a roar of triumph than the echoing cry of someone falling down a large ravine”.
Shipwreck in Baltic brims with crates of champagne | In what’s been dubbed “a corker of a find”, a group of Polish divers have discovered a 170-year-old shipwreck off the Swedish coast with about 100 bottles of champagne in the hold.
How Gina Rinehart put pressure on NGA to remove her portrait | The National Gallery of Australia director sent a warning to the federal arts minister that the mining billionaire was “rallying” influential friends, documents reveal.
In pictures
The real reason why Australia’s birthrate is falling
Fiona Katauskas has a hint: it’s not good news.
What they said …
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“One death is one too many” – the Queensland minister for health, Shannon Fentiman.
Queensland has announced an expansion of its pill testing program, pledging a further $80,000 to a temporary clinic on the Gold Coast to test illicit drugs at Schoolies this year.
In numbers
New analysis from Oxfam shows Australia’s billionaires have amassed a further $120bn to their worth since 2020. Oxfam Australia’s chief executive officer, Lyn Morgain, said the growing wealth inequality in Australia and globally “has reached obscene levels”.
Before bed read
A second Trump presidency would send Australia down a dark economic path. Here’s how it might play out
Under Trump’s tariff plans, our GDP would take a hit amid a nightmare trade war – and we can forget about emissions reductions or global agreements, writes Greg Jericho.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: VIS. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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