WILL ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH FIGHTING CONTINUE?
Tensions are high on the Israel-Lebanon border after Israel and the militant group Hezbollah traded rocket fire on Sunday, raining missiles on military targets on both sides and renewing fears of a wider Middle East war.
Israel said it used about 100 warplanes to strike rocket launchers across southern Lebanon to thwart an imminent Hezbollah attack, while Lebanese militants said they aimed hundreds of rockets and drones at military bases in northern Israel and the Golan Heights.
“Sunday’s exchange of fire did not set off a long-feared war, and the heavy firepower and lack of civilian casualties might allow both sides to claim a sort of victory and step back,” the Associated Press reports.
“Israel has vowed to bring quiet to the border to allow its citizens to return to their homes. It says it prefers to resolve the issue diplomatically through [the] US and other mediators but will use force if necessary. Hezbollah officials have said the group does not seek a wider war but is prepared for one.”
Early this morning Australian time, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech his militants could carry out further strikes against Israel. Hezbollah has said its attack was in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of the group’s most senior military official, Fuad Shukr, in late July.
Nasrallah said Israel began striking Hezbollah targets about half an hour before the militants were set to begin their operation.
“What happened was aggression, not preemptive action,” Nasrallah said of the Israeli strikes, according to CNN.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also indicated overnight the fighting may continue: “This is not the end of the matter,” he said.
Hezbollah — which is a key backer of the Gaza-based militant group Hamas — last fought a monthlong war with Israel in 2006, and the conflict ongoing since October last year is seen as the largest escalation since then.
AIRLINES ON NOTICE
Airlines and airports would have to pay back customers for unreasonable delays and cancellations, and a standalone ombudsman would be created for the sector, under reforms proposed in a federal government aviation white paper to be released today.
“Customers deserve to get their money back if they are owed it. Full stop. It is time to take strong action to protect consumer rights with an aviation industry ombuds scheme and charter of customer rights,” Transport Minister Catherine King said, according to The Australian.
The new ombudsman would replace the current Airline Customer Advocate — funded by airlines — which had a 100% increase in complaints in 2022 and only managed to solve less than half, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
“Under the government’s plan, airlines will have to detail reasons for delays and cancellations as part of their regulator reporting. The ombudsman will be able to request additional information about specific flights and will have the power to refer for legal action in instances of misconduct under competition law,” the Herald’s story says.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE…
If you want to know the secret to a long life, hundred-year-olds are the wrong people to ask. That’s according to Richard Faragher, a professor of biogerontology — the study of aging — at the University of Brighton. He argues the lifestyles of individual people who grew to be among the world’s oldest matter less than we tend to think — and “survivorship bias” could obscure the fact that most centenarians are either “lucky” or genetically “well endowed”.
“Merely because you have survived smoking 60 a day doesn’t mean that smoking 60 a day is good for you,” Faragher told The Guardian.
His comments came after the death of the world’s oldest person, Spain’s Maria Branyas Morera, 117, who attributed her longevity to “order, tranquillity, good connection with family and friends, contact with nature, emotional stability, no worries, no regrets, lots of positivity and staying away from toxic people”.
Say What?
A lot of glazed here. Sprinkle stuff. A lot of cinnamon rolls. Just whatever makes sense.
JD Vance
Donald Trump’s running mate has been, shall we say, roundly mocked this weekend after an attempt at retail politics turned unbearably awkward. Vance visited a doughnut shop in Georgia, trailed by cameras and minders, and attempted to strike up a conversation with a woman behind the counter. As the viral video clip shows, Vance is no better at making small talk than he is at ordering doughnuts.
CRIKEY RECAP
If the golden era of TV really is drawing to a close, it may well be replaced by the golden era of messy courtroom dramas featuring the children of Australian billionaires (not quite as catchy an era designation, I grant you).
Please enjoy our round-up of the various legal catastrophes currently befalling the catastrophically wealthy.
Box billionaire Anthony Pratt has already given us so much. Who could forget his fun (and then discretely culled) following list on Instagram? His relentless and presumably very pricey cardboard-themed karaoke, in which he treats some of the great songs of the 20th century with the same level of care as Oliver Reed showed his liver?
Paying less tax allows businesses to offer cheaper advertising rates than their rivals. As a result, brands chasing the best return on their advertising investments end up choosing the platforms. Which makes it even harder for news companies to compete.
That’s where a digital levy, not on profits, but on advertising spend by local advertisers, comes in. You can’t easily hide that or redirect it offshore. A double benefit will flow the other way instead. A levy will bring in more local tax and level out the playing field. To maintain their profits after paying the levy, the platforms would need to put up the price of their advertising, which would make it more viable for their local rivals to compete on price.
Australian taxpayers will once again be funding companies with ties to the Israel Defense Forces, with the government’s announcement that Norwegian arms manufacturer Kongsberg will receive $850 million to build missiles at a manufacturing facility near Newcastle. Kongsberg, which has maritime, defence, aerospace and digital arms, is majority-owned by the Norwegian government.
Norway bans arms exports to countries in states of war, including Israel, and in February, Norway’s foreign minister Espen Barth Eide said: “states exporting weapons to Israel should reassess whether they are effective partners in the genocide in Gaza Strip or not.”
However, Norway does not prevent Norwegian arms firms from manufacturing weapons for export via other countries.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Crash and suspected stabbings injure six, including police officer, at Engadine in Sydney’s south (ABC News)
Harris campaign says it’s raised $540m and saw a surge of donations during the convention (Associated Press)
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov arrested at French airport (BBC)
Israeli attacks kill 28 across Gaza Strip, victims still under rubble (Al Jazeera)
Despite Ukraine’s Kursk invasion gamble, Russia is closing in on a big victory (The Times) ($)
Why mpox vaccines are only just arriving in Africa after two years (Reuters)
US and 10 Latin American states reject Nicolás Maduro’s vote certification (The Guardian)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Don’t mistake MAGA loyalists for ‘turning’ on Trump — they’re just hedging their bets — Emma Shortis (SMH): The American far right has the jitters. Almost overnight, the fortunes of its favoured candidate appear to have gone into hard reverse.
Against incumbent President Joe Biden, and in the immediate aftermath of an assassination attempt, Donald Trump’s election triumph seemed all but confirmed.
But the embarrassing flailing in response to Kamala Harris’ ascendancy has seen a manic scrambling as the campaign tries to recalibrate. And with victory no longer assured, Trump’s once-loyal high-profile supporters are beginning to voice their concerns.
Much has been made of far-right influencers such as Candace Owens, Laura Loomer and Nick Fuentes — some of Trump’s best-known and most high-profile supporters — criticising the trajectory of Trump’s campaign over the past week. But their discontent has been brewing for months.
The NT election result has shattered Territory Labor and left the CLP with a monumental task ahead — Thomas Morgan (ABC): After a campaign dominated entirely by law and order, voters in the Northern Territory made their verdict clear: Labor had to go.
Eight years ago, the Country Liberal Party was reduced to just two seats in the NT Parliament.
The party will now form majority government, led by Lia Finocchiaro, one of the youngest chief ministers in the NT’s history and the first female CLP chief minister.
Labor’s Eva Lawler came into the chief minister position eight months ago, after Natasha Fyles’ resignation over undisclosed shares.
Pacific nations aren’t asking for favours. They just want Australia to meet the moment on climate justice — Tim Flannery (Guardian Australia): My first visit to the Pacific Islands was in 1981 and, for two decades, I spent several months each year carrying out biodiversity surveys and conservation work there. Even in the 1980s, Pacific communities were acutely aware of climate change, experiencing it first-hand through rising seas and intensifying storms. Over time, their understanding of the role that climate pollution plays in worsening these impacts has deepened, leading to a highly organised movement to limit pollution from big coal and gas exporters such as Australia.
As the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) approaches, Australia must urgently align with the position of its Pacific neighbours and take decisive action to reduce climate pollution further and faster.
The PIF has 18 members, including Australia and New Zealand, and is a critical space where leaders can meet as equals to tackle pressing issues, with climate change always at the forefront. Through this, Pacific nations have asserted their sovereignty and worked to drive stronger global action on climate change.
