TRUMP’S TRIALS
Former (and maybe future) US president Donald Trump said he would give “very serious consideration” to pardoning WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange if reelected, news.com.au reports. Trump made the comments on a podcast before giving a speech at the Libertarian National Convention, where he was loudly booed. At the time of writing, the prosecuting attorney in Trump’s falsification case is around a third of the way through a marathon closing argument, which he’s been mounting for nearly an hour and a half. The Guardian is reporting live from the trial, where Josh Steinglass is alleging each document buried by Trump was “an illegal corporate campaign contribution … And it was done in collusion with the campaign.”
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continue to wage war on Rafah amid growing global condemnation, The Australian reports. Sunday’s airstrike on a tent camp where Palestinians were sheltering, which killed at least 43 and spread horrifying pictures of civilian suffering, appears to have been backed up by another strike on an evacuation area west of Rafah, which has killed 21, according to the ABC. Gaza emergency services said four tank shells hit tents in Al-Mawasi, causing the deaths and widespread injuries, though the Israel Defence Forces has denied it struck the area. Al Jazeera is wondering where US President Joe Biden’s “red line” is.
HOUSING FARCE
Just 10% of rental properties throughout Australia cost less than $400 per week, according to a new market report summarised by the ABC. PropTrack’s Market Insight Report shows this figure has fallen sharply from 43% at the start of the pandemic, with housing affordability reaching crisis levels. The group’s senior economist says that “pretty much no rental properties are affordable in the country”, blaming limited supply. It comes as the number of houses started but not finished in Sydney keeps growing, the SMH reports, with strong population growth not being matched by new completed dwellings. KPMG economist Terry Rawnsley has warned that “zombie projects” — houses started but not completed for long periods — are on the rise, with developers shelving approved projects amid negative market conditions.
In totally unrelated news, a new poll reported in The Daily Telegraph says only 11% of Australians think the next generation will have things better off. The RedBridge poll shows pessimism is pretty even across political and class divides, with director Tony Barry calling it “a mourning for the life we once had”. But at least we’re genuinely trying to fix the future for our children: global SUV sales hit a record high in 2023, The Guardian reports, making up half of all new cars sold worldwide. As we all know, the safety features of these vehicles are matched only by their polluting capacity, with the International Energy Agency calling them “a major cause of the intensifying climate crisis”.
SAY WHAT?
I think the chances are exactly the same.
Gary Bryant
The RMIT cryobiology professor was blunt when asked to compare the chances of revival for someone preserved in a cryogenic chamber versus a person buried or cremated.
CRIKEY RECAP
“Of course Sneesby hasn’t signed any NDAs. He’s only been CEO since mid-2021 (when he arrived from Stan, a content delivery vehicle; Sneesby has no experience in journalism). And why would a CEO sign an NDA? That’s wholly unnecessary — the head of the legal department or the head of HR, at best, might sign it. Whose signature adorns the gagging mechanism is irrelevant — it’s whether it exists that is the problem.
When Crikey asked Nine about the NDAs, all we got was ‘we take all allegations of inappropriate conduct seriously. There is a review in place. We encourage anyone with concerns to come forward’, none of which even vaguely relates to the abuse of NDAs. The review mooted by Sneesby relates only to ‘the behaviours and concentration of power that has damaged trust and fairness within our television newsrooms.’ I.e. anything and, potentially, nothing.”
“Attempting to stem the flow of resignations from its subsidiary companies, Qantas is offering tens of thousands of dollars in one-off payments to pilots, who are being lured by better salary conditions at competitors, including cashed-up international airlines, a new airline started by a major mining company, and Virgin Australia. The pilot retention scheme has been launched while the Fair Work Commission continues to adjudicate the enterprise bargaining agreement at Network Aviation, where Qantas rejected union demands for a new agreement earlier this year.
As Qantas management said in an internal note to pilots, obtained by Crikey: ‘The Network Aviation pilot retention incentive scheme is a retention scheme where eligible employees will receive discretionary quarterly retention payments of $4,500 (the equivalent of $18,000 pa [gross]) for line pilots until a workplace determination is made by the Fair Work Commission (FWC). The payment will be backdated to March 16, 2024, and will be made every three months thereafter (quarterly).’”
“Tragic, isn’t it, to see the likes of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (market capitalisation US$33 billion), Mars (the world’s largest confectionery company with US$22 billion in annual sales), Nestle (US$242 billion capitalisation) and Procter & Gamble (US$390 billion) being bullied by those nasty supermarkets?
But the European Commission (EC) isn’t buying the innocent act. Last week it fined Mondelez €337.5 million (A$550 million) for anti-competitive behaviour. If the name isn’t familiar, Mondelez started life as Kraft’s snack division before it was split from Kraft’s grocery arm just over a decade ago. Some of Mondelez’ best-known brands involved in the case include Cadbury, Milka, Oreo, Ritz Crackers, and coffee brands including, Jacobs, Moccona and Douwe Egberts. The company’s local head is the chair of the Australian Food and Grocery Council.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Pope apologizes after reports that he used an anti-gay slur (The New York Times) ($)
Zelenskyy urges Biden to attend Ukraine peace summit (BBC)
Georgia’s EU hopes fade as Parliament approves ‘Russian law’ on foreign agents (euronews)
Cape Town’s poor ‘neglected’ in South Africa’s only opposition-run province (Al Jazeera)
Mosques demolished, texts censored: How China is repressing Muslims in Xinjiang (The Times Of India)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Replanting trees can help prevent devastating landslides like the one in PNG — but it’s not a silver bullet — Raj Sharma (The Conversation): “Deforested areas are particularly vulnerable to landslides. When tree roots die, they leave behind soil pipes (macropores) — small tunnels able to channel water from the surface deep into the ground. This significantly boosts the pressure groundwater is under, triggering more landslides.
Studies show landslides continue to increase for a few years after deforestation, indicating the decay of tree roots, decline in root strength and the formation of macropores. Trees on a more gentle slope help stabilise the soil, especially against shallow landslides. That’s because their roots go deep, anchoring movable surface soil to more stable substrates. Trees also cut how much water gets into the soil by drinking it.”
Autism has a ‘cuteness’ problem. My reality is way different — Julia Pound (The Age): “The problem is that actual autism — not its social media doppelganger — is about as cute as a crocodile nibbling on your wooden rowboat while a shark keeps watch to stop anyone from coming to save you. It has life-altering consequences for those of us affected, particularly with regard to mental and physical health.
There is a lot to tease out here: do people with autism suffer from more health problems because they are less likely to go to the doctor? Is their pain taken less seriously because they are autistic? Or could it be that their difficulty describing their symptoms is a barrier to diagnosis, leading to an escalation of their health condition that might have been treated earlier in a non-autistic person?”
