Beaches across Sydney’s eastern suburbs have been closed for the fourth consecutive day after a shark sighting. The closures on Friday came after sharks were spotted at Bondi, Tamarama and Bronte beaches this morning, beginning around 8.30am. Footage was posted to social media by the online platform Drone Shark App. which suggested the Bondi shark was a whaler.
Other beaches in the Waverley council area, including Tamarama and Bronte, have also been closed as lifeguards remain on alert. Beaches in neighbouring Randwick, including Maroubra. Coogee, reopened this morning after being shut yesterday after drone patrols and visual inspections.
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At the Golden Barley hotel in Sydney’s Enmore. some Australians are newer to football, continuing to call it soccer or turning out only during World Cups.
Not so for Nick, Robyn, Alan. Jim, who have been sitting right in front of the television at the pub since it opened, Guinnesses in hand.
Nick is fitted out in an authentic 1974 Socceroos jersey – marking the historic first year the Aussies qualified for a World Cup. scored their first ever point.
His friend Jim has been to three World Cups, including in West Germany in 1974.
Paradoxically, Nick. his partner Robyn actually miss the age-old tradition for Australians of waking up at ungodly hours of the night with their kids to watch the Socceroos play, thanks to punishing timezones.
“I miss the 2am games,” Nick says with a laugh.
“We were just saying this morning. we used to wake up in the middle of the night, it used to be really good … it’s a unique experience. A family experience.”
Alan is confident that the Socceroos will be victorious today.
“We have realistic expectations, we’re not world leaders but Popovic is going to do it for us.”
Sydney pubs already heaving ahead of Socceroos match
At 11am on a wet Friday morning. pubs in Sydney’s inner west would usually be shut, or home to a couple of stragglers. Not so today. as hundreds of Socceroos fans pack in front of TV screens ahead of Australia’s crucial game against Paraguay.
It’s the first time in history a Socceroos World Cup game is being played entirely within AEST working hours,. there are a few punters drinking pints with their laptops out at the Golden Barley in Enmore in a sea of yellow and green, for what some are calling the “Great Socceroos Sickie”.
Small business owners Jamie Hayman and his brother Rick Hayman are among them. Rick owns HXD Built construction in the inner west. is plugging away on his laptop at 11am with his staff.
Rick says he’s been supporting the Socceroos “forever”.
double quotation mark It unites the community. That’s what you notice. Pubs get filled up, there’s all the talk around town, it’s really good to see.
Jamie says this is the first time he. his brother have come out early to a pub to support the Socceroos, and says he can “definitely see more support” for the team.
Asked what time they’ll shut the laptops, he replies: “Probably kickoff”.
Palestinian human rights groups score strategic victory on Israel-bound defence exports
A trio of Palestinian human rights groups have scored a victory in the federal courts after reaching agreement with the defence minister to obtain a list of any decision-making documents related to Israel-bound export permits.
The groups – the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Al-Haq. Al Mezan Center for Human Rights – made the discovery application in federal court for arms export documents in April but on Wednesday reached agreement that the defence minister would produce the list by 17 July.
The Palestinian groups. represented by the Australian Centre for International Justice, will now need to request access for those documents, which could still be subject to public interest immunity claims.
The groups are seeking to determine whether any permits were erroneously granted due to a failure to properly assess the possibility the exports could be used to facilitate serious human rights abuses in Gaza.
The ruling shows an export permit still in effect remains under scrutiny. according to the government’s affidavit which has not been made public.
Shawan Jabarin, the general director of Al-Haq, said:
double quotation mark We should not have to go to court to understand who is arming the Israeli settler-colonial apartheid regime. Palestinians are not speaking about arms exports in the abstract. We are speaking about bombs falling on families, homes, hospitals, schools, refugee camps and entire communities. When states refuse to disclose what they are exporting. they are also refusing to confront the human consequences of the weapons systems they help sustain.
Labor’s tax deal with the Greens will close a superannuation ‘loophole’. What is changing and who is affected?
The government has legislated its changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing, after winning support from the Greens.
Getting the deal over the line involved Labor agreeing to close a relatively obscure “loophole” in superannuation legislation. let funds borrow to invest in housing.
There have been some loud complaints of another attack on property investors and that “aspiration is under assault” – again.
At the end of another eventful week in parliament. let’s take a closer look at the tweak that helped pave the way for the biggest tax reforms this century.
Music stars sing out against big AI song scrape
Paul Dempsey is among the big-name Australian musicians finding their original songs in datasets used to train artificial intelligence. AAP reports.
A dataset search tool recently created by US publication The Atlantic reveals millions of creative works have been scraped from the internet to train the disruptive technology.
It includes a vast catalogue of work by Australian artists, with tunes by Kylie Minogue, Powderfinger, Nick Cave. Jimmy Barnes, and novels by Thomas Keneally and Peter Carey.
double quotation mark It’s frustrating this is happening. Every negotiated agreement. contract I’ve ever gone into in my career, with whatever entity or record label, is all just rendered useless.
An artist’s ability to negotiate fair terms for the use of their content is just being ripped away from them.
The Atlantic cautioned that AI companies might omit works when training their models. so the inclusion of songs in datasets is not definitive proof they have been used.
Beaches across Sydney’s eastern suburbs have been closed for the fourth consecutive day after a shark sighting. The closures on Friday came after sharks were spotted at Bondi, Tamarama and Bronte beaches this morning, beginning around 8.30am. Footage was posted to social media by the online platform Drone Shark App. which suggested the Bondi shark was a whaler.
Other beaches in the Waverley council area, including Tamarama and Bronte, have also been closed as lifeguards remain on alert. Beaches in neighbouring Randwick, including Maroubra. Coogee, reopened this morning after being shut yesterday after drone patrols and visual inspections.
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What are your plans today for the Socceroos match?
“Working” for the arvo from the pub? A watch party in the park? Shoot me a message at nick.visser@theguardian.com. I’ll drop some of the best in the blog and pledge not to use them on the Guardian bosses …
Can the Socceroos stop the nation?
The World Cup clash between the Socceroos. Paraguay represents a potential milestone for Australian football, as the team chase qualification for the knockout rounds for only the third time. For the broadcaster SBS, its significance may be even greater.
The match is the culmination of 11 straight men’s World Cup tournaments,. a commitment that stretches back to Mexico 1986. Its audience is expected to go close to – or exceed – the network’s record for any Socceroos match or World Cup fixture.
SBS director of sport Ken Shipp had this to say:
double quotation mark I hope this match stops the nation – there’s every chance it will, given the favourable timing, the unprecedented media coverage we’re seeing. the excitement around this young Australian team. If it does, then that will be the result of 40 years of dedicated work at SBS.
A new report finds that if fire ants are allowed to spread across Australia, thousands of pets could be killed. households could be forced to spend upwards of $1bn a year.
The findings. published by the Australia Institute, come as invasive fire ants have been detected in several states, with Queensland hit the hardest so far. Almost all of Australia is suitable habitat for the insects.
The key findings from the report say state. federal funding to eradicate the ants is well below the $300m per year recommended by experts. If allowed to spread, stings could result in an extra 624,000 medical visits for humans. 2.3m visits to the vet for pets. Fire ant stings can cause allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis.
Those figures could see more than 30 people and thousands of pets die. Rod Campbell, the research director for the Australia Institute, said in a statement:
double quotation mark Fire ants are a potential economic and environmental disaster for Australia. If a murderer said that they planned to kill 30 random Australians each year, the response would be enormous.
That’s essentially what fire ants are doing – yet the response is minimal.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has said the government does not know yet if any Australians have been affected by the severe earthquakes in Venezuela,. it is a possibility as Australians are regular travellers to the region.
Albanese said the government would continue to monitor the situation,. “it’s not clear yet if Australians are caught up in this”. He told the ABC:
double quotation mark Australians are great travellers, of course, right around the world. Given the numbers that have been impacted, it certainly is possible that Australians are caught up in it …
Our heart goes out to anyone here who has relatives or friends in Venezuela, because this is one of the worst earthquakes that we’ve seen in recent times, with catastrophic human consequences with a massive loss of life, but also massive infrastructure damage,. real consequences for the people of Venezuela.
The Guardian has reached out to Dfat for comment.
Nine news boss says Stefanovic episode ‘challenging’ and freedom of speech remains core to network’s mission
Fiona Dear. the director of news at Nine, wrote an email to staff today about the decision to part ways with Karl Stefanovic.
She said Nine had worked “tirelessly to build a news. current affairs brand built on trust and respect and we will always fight to uphold that”, adding:
double quotation mark Protecting freedom of speech is at the core of 9News and Current Affairs. We have a rich history of interviewing controversial figures, and journalists have an obligation to ask difficult questions. Part of what makes us tick is trying to understand why people are the way they are. or think the way they think. We welcome open debate and challenging norms with constructive, balanced arguments.
Dear went on to write that, as journalists, “we play a critical role in society to question, challenge,. hold people to account regardless of where they come from or which political party or views they represent”.
She acknowledged it had been a challenging episode for the broadcaster. with more information about future plans to come “very soon”.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission is shrouded in privacy. complexity which could mean important investigations are not occurring, politicians are expected to be told, according to Australian Associated Press.
A parliamentary committee launched an inquiry into the NACC’s functions in March, following several conflict of interest accusations. scrutiny of its efficiency since it was established three years ago.
Many Australians referring potential corruption to the watchdog did not understand how to do so due to the privacy surrounding it. a submission to the committee from the Human Rights Law Centre said:
double quotation mark (The) high threshold for investigations can be difficult for a referrer to understand.
It can also be difficult for referrers to properly communicate the information in a way. makes it possible for the commission to understand if it meets the requisite threshold.
Chalmers says people will forget fuss over tax changes by the next election
The federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers, was on Radio National earlier spruiking the tax changes, which passed parliament last night.
He said the government sees the changes to the capital gains tax discount. negative gearing as a “win for workers, for first home buyers and for future generations”. Chalmers said negotiations with the Greens were par for the course as all legislation evolves before its final incarnation.
When asked if the tax changes would hang around Labor’s neck for two years until the next election. he had this to say:
double quotation mark I think the substance of what is changing here is more important. We are delivering cost of living help, we’re delivering real change via the tax system …
It is my view that every time there’s tax reform. people say the sky will fall in, people say that it is disastrous. But typically what happens, in time, is people look back on big tax reform. wonder what all of the fuss is about. I’m confident that will happen again.
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