Push to end antisemitism is welcome but envoy’s plan raises concerns, Australia’s race commissioner warns

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Giridharan Sivaraman says he hopes to meet Jillian Segal to discuss her proposals and their implications for fundamental rights and freedoms

Australia’s race discrimination commissioner has warned there is limited detail in how Jillian Segal’s plan to combat antisemitism would be implemented, and said he would work with her to ensure it does not restrict fundamental rights and freedoms.

Giridharan Sivaraman has responded to the antisemitism envoy’s 20-page plan, released last Thursday, which made a range of recommendations, including withholding government funding from universities that “facilitate, enable or fail to act against antisemitism” and monitoring media organisations “to avoid accepting false or distorted narratives”.

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Canada’s PM wants to fast-track ‘nation building’ – but can he convince indigenous First Nations? – BBC

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  1. Canada's PM wants to fast-track 'nation building' – but can he convince indigenous First Nations?  BBC
  2. Federal, provincial environmental bills have 'no respect' for Ontario First Nations, says chief  CBC
  3. Canada's First Nations launch constitutional challenge of legislation  Reuters
  4. ‘The government made a mistake’: Mark Carney to meet with Indigenous leaders amid criticism of rapid-development law  Toronto Star
  5. AFN national chief says fast-tracked projects bill should come with plan for infrastructure for reserves  National Post
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Gaza’s vulnerable suffer war’s toll: Malnourished, maimed and displaced – Al Jazeera

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  1. Gaza’s vulnerable suffer war’s toll: Malnourished, maimed and displaced  Al Jazeera
  2. The Guardian view on the children of Gaza: when 17,000 die, it’s more than a mistake | Editorial  The Guardian
  3. LIVE: Israel bombs Syrian army HQ; 21 killed at Gaza aid site  Al Jazeera
  4. Inside Gaza’s ‘death traps’  Financial Times
  5. UN finds rising child malnutrition in Gaza, where officials say Israeli strikes kill 93 people  AP News
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A refugee deported to Bhutan by the U.S. finds himself stranded and stateless – NPR

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  1. A refugee deported to Bhutan by the U.S. finds himself stranded and stateless  NPR
  2. “Bhutan’s survival hinges on the return of its exiled people”  Khabarhub
  3. Sense of security has been shattered for Bhutanese-Nepali refugees living here [column]  LancasterOnline
  4. Bhutan tried to erase us. Now, Trump’s America is helping | Lok Darjee  The Guardian
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Oxford University Press to stop publishing China-sponsored science journal

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Move follows concerns several papers in Forensic Sciences Research did not meet ethical standards on DNA collection

Oxford University Press (OUP) will no longer publish a controversial academic journal sponsored by China’s Ministry of Justice after years of concerns that several papers in the publication did not meet ethical standards about DNA collection.

A statement published on the website of Forensic Sciences Research (FSR) states that OUP will stop publishing the quarterly journal after this year.

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‘A family of traitors’: Trump’s Brazil tariffs ultimatum backfires on Bolsonaro

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US president’s attempt to help his rightwing ally avoid jail has sparked wave of anger and given boost to rival Lula

Silvana Marques was one of thousands of Brazilians who flocked to São Paulo’s most famous art museum one afternoon last week. But the 51-year-old teacher wasn’t there to marvel over fog-filled London landscapes at Masp’s new Monet retrospective. She had come to join a protest heaping scorn on Donald Trump.

Beneath the museum’s brutalist hulk, Marques spotted a cardboard effigy of the US president and took a picture with her phone before the Trump dummy was set on fire. “Laranjão safado,” which translates as big orange dirtbag, she wrote under her photo on Instagram. Nearby, demonstrators hoisted a red banner into the air which read: “Nice try Trump. But we’re not afraid.”

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Israel strikes Syrian military headquarters in Damascus – Financial Times

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  1. Israel strikes Syrian military headquarters in Damascus  Financial Times
  2. Who are the Druze and why is Israel bombing Syria to protect them?  CNN
  3. Netanyahu implores Israeli Druze not to cross into Syria, says IDF will aid Syrian Druze under attack  The Times of Israel
  4. LIVE: Israel attacks Syria’s Damascus amid fighting in Suwayda  Al Jazeera
  5. Israel Attacks Near Syria’s Military Headquarters. Here’s What to Know.  The New York Times
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Trump tries to move on amid Epstein files backlash as speaker calls for their release – US politics live

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President tries to downplay issue amid growing outrage from conservatives

President Donald Trump will meet with Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani on Wednesday to discuss negotiations over a Gaza ceasefire deal, Axios reporter Barak Ravid posted on X.

Israeli and Hamas negotiators have been taking part in the latest round of ceasefire talks in Doha since 6 July, discussing a US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire that envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza and discussions on ending the conflict.

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20 Palestinians killed at Gaza aid distribution site, says Israeli-backed aid group – AP News

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  1. 20 Palestinians killed at Gaza aid distribution site, says Israeli-backed aid group  AP News
  2. Investigating the cost of Afghan resettlement plan and Gaza aid site deaths  BBC
  3. At Least 20 Killed in Stampede Outside a Gaza Aid Site  The New York Times
  4. At least 20 Palestinians killed in crush at food distribution site in southern Gaza  The Guardian
  5. At least 21 people killed in stampede, suffocation at GHF site in Gaza  Al Jazeera
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Wallace rejects claim Afghans with ‘tenuous’ links to UK admitted as ex-Tory minister says resettlement scheme was ‘hapless’ – live

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Johnny Mercer, former veterans minister, sharply critical of how Afghan resettlement programme handled

In an interview with LBC Ben Wallace, the former Tory defence secretary, hit back at his former ministerial colleague Johnny Mercer rather more forcefully than he did on the Today programme (see 8.09am) over Mercer’s comments about the Afghan resettlement programme.

Tom Swarbrick, the presenter, quoted what Mercer said about how this “whole farcical process has been the most hapless display of ineptitude by successive ministers and officials that I saw in my time in government”.

No, I don’t agree with it. I think my record would show the opposite. It was me and Priti Patel, before the collapse of Kabul, who decided we were going to accelerate bringing people back who were under threat …

People hadn’t come out before. And we made sure that we did this. I think what Johnny, you know, fails to grasp, is quite the massive scale of collapse that happened very quickly in Afghanistan, leaving people at risk, and we had to do our very best.

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US President Donald Trump’s administration deports five migrants to Eswatini – BBC

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  1. US President Donald Trump's administration deports five migrants to Eswatini  BBC
  2. Trump tries to move on amid Epstein files backlash as speaker calls for their release – US politics live  The Guardian
  3. Trump Administration Resumes Deportation Flights, Sending Migrants to Eswatini  The New York Times
  4. Trump administration restarts third country deportations with flight to Eswatini  NBC News
  5. DHS sends migrants to Eswatini in new 3rd-country deportation  Axios
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Michigan deacon thwarted attack on church by ramming truck into shooter

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When Richard Pryor saw the man firing in the parking lot, he sprang into action, buying time before guards arrived

A Michigan church deacon who had a hand in thwarting a rifle-wielding man’s attempts to shoot worshippers at a service in June by ramming the attacker with his truck says he sprang into action because waiting for first responders’ help was not feasible.

“I’m just realizing there’s no time,” Richard Pryor – who drew gunfire while protecting the congregation of CrossPointe Community church in Wayne, Michigan – said during a recent Associated Press interview in which he revisited his state of mind that day. “I didn’t have a weapon on me, in the truck or anything, so what are your options?”

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Ukraine wing of US-founded terrorist group says it was involved in killing of intelligence officer in Kyiv

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The Base, a far-right group with suspected links to Russia, said killing of Ivan Voronych was ‘only the beginning’

The Ukrainian wing of an internationally proscribed far-right terrorist organization with suspected links to Russia is claiming involvement in the brazen assassination of an intelligence officer in Kyiv.

Late last week, a masked assailant shot and killed Col Ivan Voronych of the Ukraine security service (SBU) as he walked through a Kyiv parking lot in broad daylight. Shocking footage of the assassination circulated in Ukrainian media and caused a stir among residents in the capital.

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As democracy in Georgia collapses, Russia, China and Iran see an opening – CNN

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  1. As democracy in Georgia collapses, Russia, China and Iran see an opening  CNN
  2. A Georgian Dream Deferred  The Dispatch
  3. EU Eyes Sanctions And Visa Moves Over Georgia's Political Crackdown  Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
  4. Georgia's visa-free regime with EU at risk over 'backsliding' concerns  Euronews.com
  5. Relationship with the EU, with Germany, is in a deep crisis - German Ambassador  BM.GE
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Sick pay changes could benefit UK firms by up to £2bn, TUC says

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Exclusive: Analysis shows covering part of salaries from first day off can boost productivity and employee retention

Changes to sick pay to cover part of workers’ salaries from the first day off could end up benefiting British businesses by as much as £2bn, according to analysis commissioned by the UK’s main union body.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC), which is pushing for the government to stick with its plans for workers’ rights, said modelling showed businesses would gain benefits of £2.4bn thanks to productivity boosts, while facing direct costs of £425m to pay for extra sick days.

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