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  • German tourist wins payout after losing sun lounger race

    German tourist wins payout after losing sun lounger race

    For millions of vacationers chasing sun and relaxation by the pool, the frustrating ritual of the ‘dawn dash’ for unreserved sun loungers is a familiar holiday headache. Now, that common travel grievance has resulted in a landmark legal ruling, after a German tourist secured a court-ordered refund of more than €980 (£850) over his ruined sunbathing access on a Greek island getaway.

    The unnamed tourist traveled to the popular Aegean island of Kos with his wife and two children on a package holiday in 2024, paying a total of €7,186 (£6,211) for the trip. What should have been a relaxing family break quickly turned into a daily battle for poolside space, he told the court. Even when the family rose as early as 6 a.m. to claim a spot, all usable sun loungers were already blocked off by other guests who reserved them with towels, leaving the tourist to spend 20 minutes every day hunting for free space. His children were even forced to lie on the hard ground when no loungers could be found, he added.

    Frustrated by the unaddressed issue, the tourist launched a legal case against his tour operator, arguing the company failed to uphold its obligations to guests. In his claim, he emphasized that the resort already had an official ban on towel-based sunbed reservations, but the tour operator did nothing to enforce the rule or intervene to stop guests from misappropriating loungers.

    After hearing the case, judges at the Hanover District Court ruled in the tourist’s favor, finding the package holiday experience was legally ‘defective’ and the family was owed a larger compensation payout. The tour operator had already issued a partial refund of €350 (£302) before the trial, but the court ordered an additional payout, bringing the total refund to €986.70 (£852.89).

    In their ruling, the judges acknowledged that the travel company did not directly manage the hotel’s facilities and could not guarantee every guest access to a sunbed at any time of day. Even so, they confirmed the operator had a clear contractual obligation to ensure a reasonable organizational system was in place to maintain a fair ratio of sunbeds to registered guests, a requirement the company failed to meet.

    The ‘sunbed wars’ phenomenon is far from an isolated issue at Mediterranean resorts, with thousands of tourists sharing their frustrations about the practice every year. In 2023, viral social media videos showed extreme measures taken by holidaymakers in Tenerife, where some guests slept overnight on sun loungers to hold onto their poolside spots for the following day.

    Faced with widespread frustration over the issue, travel and hospitality operators have trialed different solutions to curb unauthorized reservations. Major tour operator Thomas Cook, for example, now offers guests the option to pre-book poolside sun loungers for an extra fee to eliminate informal last-minute scrambling. In some regions of Spain, local authorities have introduced strict penalties, threatening tourists with fines of up to €250 if they reserve a lounger with a towel then leave the spot unused for hours at a time.

  • Israeli court rejects flotilla activists’ appeal challenging detention

    Israeli court rejects flotilla activists’ appeal challenging detention

    In a decision that has drawn sharp condemnation from human rights groups and global authorities, an Israeli district court rejected an appeal Wednesday challenging the continued detention of two foreign activists seized by Israeli forces from a humanitarian flotilla heading to blockaded Gaza.

    The two detainees — Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national of Palestinian descent, and Thiago Avila, a Brazilian citizen — were among more than 30 activists traveling on an international flotilla that was intercepted last week in international waters off the coast of Greece. While all other activists on board were diverted to the Greek island of Crete and released shortly after the interception, Israeli commandos seized Abu Keshek and Avila, transferring them to Israeli territory for interrogation.

    Earlier this week, a lower Israeli court granted authorities an extension of the pair’s detention through Sunday to allow additional questioning. Defense lawyers immediately appealed that ruling to the Beersheva District Court, but the court on Wednesday ruled in full favor of the prosecution, leaving the original detention extension in place. “Today, the district court of Beersheva denied our appeal and basically accepted all of the arguments that the state or the police have represented before the court, keeping the previous decision in place,” lead defense attorney Hadeel Abu Salih told reporters.

    An AFP journalist present at the court hearing observed that the two activists, who launched a hunger strike shortly after their arrest, appeared in court with their ankles shackled. Abu Keshek, who has stopped consuming both food and water according to his legal team, appeared visibly exhausted throughout the proceeding, while Avila remained calm.

    Abu Salih and the legal team have decried the entire detention as a violation of international law, arguing that the Israeli operation was carried out without any legitimate authority in international waters. “This was an illegal arrest that took place in international waters where the activists were kidnapped by the Israeli navy,” Abu Salih said, adding that the court ruling effectively gives Israeli forces “a free hand… to do it again and again.”

    Adalah, the leading Israeli human rights organization representing the two activists, issued a statement calling Wednesday’s ruling “unlawful and unreasonable.” The group emphasized that the flotilla vessel sailed under an Italian flag, placing all people on board under exclusive Italian jurisdiction, making the Israeli abduction a violation of maritime law. Adalah also leveled allegations of mistreatment in detention, saying that Avila has been held in a consistently cold cell, and that both men are subjected to extended interrogations lasting most of the day about the flotilla and its organizers.

    Israeli authorities have denied all claims of abuse, but have not yet filed any formal criminal charges against the pair. Israeli officials have stated the pair face accusations of “assisting the enemy during wartime” and “membership in and providing services to a terrorist organization.” Israeli authorities link the two activists to the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), an organization that the United States has accused of secretly operating on behalf of Hamas, the de facto governing authority of Gaza.

    The detention has already sparked international pushback: the governments of Spain and Brazil, as well as the United Nations, have publicly called for the immediate and unconditional release of the two men. “It is not a crime to show solidarity and attempt to bring humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population in Gaza, who are in dire need of it,” UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said in an official statement.

    The flotilla, which departed from ports in France, Spain and Italy, was organized with the explicit goal of challenging Israel’s 16-year blockade of the Gaza Strip and delivering badly needed humanitarian supplies to the territory, which has been devastated by months of ongoing military conflict. Israel has enforced a complete land, air and sea blockade of Gaza since 2007, controlling all access points into the enclave and severely restricting the flow of food, medicine, fuel and other essential goods.

  • Protests as Venice Biennale opens in turmoil over Russian presence

    Protests as Venice Biennale opens in turmoil over Russian presence

    The 2024 Venice Biennale, one of the world’s most prestigious and longest-running contemporary art events, kicked off its press preview period this week mired in geopolitical controversy, sparked by the controversial inclusion of Russia in the festival for the first time since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. What was meant to be a global celebration of artistic vision has instead become a flashpoint for international tensions, drawing mass protests, institutional resignations, funding threats, and boycott calls that have thrown the entire event into turmoil.

    The most high-profile demonstration took place outside the Russian pavilion on Wednesday, when bare-breasted activists from two iconic protest groups—Ukrainian feminist collective Femen and Russian opposition punk band Pussy Riot—took united action against Russia’s participation. Dressed in matching pink balaclavas, the activists set off pink smoke bombs to draw attention to their cause, as they denounced the presence of a Russian national pavilion amid the ongoing full-scale war.

    “We are here to remind that the only Russian culture, the only Russian art today is blood,” Femen leader Inna Shevchenko told assembled reporters. “This pavilion stands on Ukrainian mass graves.” This marked the first time the two groups have collaborated on a public protest, a sign of the widespread anger the decision has sparked across both Ukrainian and anti-war Russian circles.

    The controversy over Russia’s inclusion has rippled across the entire event, triggering cascading consequences that have forced major changes to the 2024 Biennale’s structure. Last week, the entire international jury resigned in protest, announcing they would refuse to award prizes to nations led by officials facing arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court—a designation that covers both Russia and Israel. In response to the unrest, organizers have postponed the Biennale’s traditional opening awards ceremony from May 9, the festival’s first public day, all the way to November 22, the final day of the six-month run. Organizers have instead restructured awards to allow public voting, extending eligibility to all national participants including Russia, a move they framed as upholding “the principle of inclusion and equal treatment.”

    The decision to allow Russia’s participation this year came despite the fact that Russia was not extended an official invitation, and despite widespread opposition from European and Italian political leaders. The European Union has threatened to cut 2 million euros ($2.3 million) in core grant funding for the Biennale over the decision, arguing that European taxpayer money should not support events that include Russian participation amid the ongoing war. A European Commission spokesman emphasized that cultural events backed by the bloc must uphold democratic values, freedom of expression, and inclusive dialogue—values the bloc says are not respected in modern Russia. The EU has also requested formal clarification from the Italian government over whether hosting the Russian delegation violates existing European sanctions against Moscow.

    Italy’s national government has also openly opposed Russia’s inclusion, with Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli confirming he will boycott the event entirely in protest of the decision.

    In a compromise reached amid escalating pressure, the Russian pavilion will not be open to the general public for the entire run of the Biennale, which is open to visitors from May 9 through November 22. Instead of in-person public exhibits or live performances, the Russian pavilion’s show, titled “the tree is rooted in the sky,” will only be recorded during this week’s press previews, with footage later projected on large outdoor screens for public viewing. Russia’s ambassador to Italy, Aleksei Paramonov, confirmed that restrictions tied to European sanctions bar any live public performances by Russian artists beyond the press preview period, and condemned the restrictions as unreasonable.

    “There is truly something painful and unreasonable about the European Union’s obsession with targeting Russian culture and art with sanctions and restrictions of all kinds,” Paramonov said in a statement posted to Facebook.

    Biennale President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, who has repeatedly defended the decision to include Russia, argued that the festival has always served as a space for global dialogue even amid geopolitical division. “If the Biennale were to start selecting not works but affiliations, not visions but passports, it would cease to be what it has always been: the place where the world comes together, and all the more so when the world is torn apart,” Buttafuoco told reporters Wednesday.

    Controversy is not limited to the Russian pavilion, however. Pro-Palestinian activists also staged a large demonstration outside the Israeli pavilion Wednesday, drawing roughly 100 participants who carried banners reading “No artwashing genocide” amid ongoing Israeli military operations in Gaza. Just as with Russia, the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a key reason the Biennale jury resigned last week. Iran, which was originally scheduled to participate in the 2024 Biennale, withdrew entirely after Israeli strikes on Iranian targets in late February.

    This year’s controversy marks a sharp shift from the 2022 Venice Biennale, held shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At that event, Russian artists and curators voluntarily withdrew from the pavilion in protest of the war, and Biennale organizers banned all Russian government officials from attending the event.

  • Hantavirus ship passenger: ‘They didn’t take it seriously enough’

    Hantavirus ship passenger: ‘They didn’t take it seriously enough’

    A deadly hantavirus outbreak on a polar expedition cruise ship has sparked sharp criticism from a passenger who says crew leadership downplayed the risk of infection and allowed normal operations to continue even after the first death was recorded.

    Turkish travel vlogger Ruhi Cenet, 35, joined the 88-passenger MV Hondius in Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 to document a stop at Tristan da Cunha, the remote South Atlantic archipelago. The voyage began as a comfortable, idyllic journey: the ship carried 59 crew members to cater to guests, most of whom were senior amateur birdwatchers aged 60 and older. The calm routine shattered on the morning of April 12, when the captain announced over the ship’s intercom that a 70-year-old Dutch passenger had died the previous day.

    In video footage Cenet recorded on board, the captain told passengers that the ship’s doctor had confirmed there was no risk of infection, and attributed the death to natural causes. At the time, leadership did not even consider that a highly contagious pathogen could be spreading through the vessel – a decision Cenet calls deeply reckless, even as the ship’s own British doctor would later develop severe symptoms consistent with hantavirus infection.

    “What shocked me most was that life went on completely as usual after the announcement,” Cenet told AFP in a remote interview. Videos he shared show elderly passengers continuing to gather for buffet meals with no social distancing or face coverings. Out of an abundance of caution, Cenet and his cameraman began self-isolating in their cabin immediately, despite having no confirmed information about a virus outbreak.

    Three people on the MV Hondius have now died from the virus: the initial Dutch victim, his wife, and a German female passenger. The World Health Organization has confirmed that at least five additional passengers have definite or probable cases of hantavirus, a rare zoonotic disease that causes severe respiratory illness and can be fatal in untreated cases.

    Cenet says he remains deeply troubled by the ship’s scheduled stop at Tristan da Cunha days after the first death, when all passengers were allowed to disembark and interact with the island’s small local population. “It’s the most remote inhabited island on Earth, with almost no hospital infrastructure and barely any doctors,” he explained. “That’s my biggest regret – we shouldn’t have landed there after the first fatality. It could have turned into a worst-case scenario for the islanders.”

    Cenet and around 20 other passengers disembarked at the British overseas territory of Saint Helena on April 24. The next day, he boarded a repatriation flight to South Africa – alongside the first victim’s wife, who was already showing severe symptoms. She died less than 24 hours after boarding the flight. After clearing processing in South Africa, Cenet returned to his home in Istanbul, where Turkish health authorities told he did not need mandatory quarantine as long as he showed no symptoms. He has continued voluntary self-isolation out of caution.

    The MV Hondius spent weeks quarantined in waters off Cape Verde, and on Wednesday departed for Spain’s Canary Islands. An acquaintance still on board told Cenet that passengers are now required to isolate in their cabins and wear face coverings when in shared spaces. Looking back, Cenet argues that expedition cruise lines operating in remote regions lack basic emergency infrastructure to handle disease outbreaks. Passengers paid roughly $10,000 each for the voyage, he noted, and the ship relied on just one physician to handle all medical needs.

    “I think these kinds of ships should have on-site labs and all the necessary emergency equipment to handle outbreaks when you’re thousands of miles from the nearest major hospital,” Cenet said. “One doctor simply isn’t enough.”

  • Mamdani slams Israeli real estate event in NYC as ‘effort to displace Palestinians’

    Mamdani slams Israeli real estate event in NYC as ‘effort to displace Palestinians’

    A controversial real estate event promoting properties in Israel’s illegal West Bank settlements has sparked fierce debate in New York City, drawing condemnation from Mayor Zohran Mamdani and mass demonstrations from pro-Palestinian activists this week. The expo, hosted Tuesday at Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue, marked the second such event held at the venue since November, showcasing homes in the Israeli settlements of Kfar Eldad and Karnei Shomron alongside guidance for buyers on tax and mortgage arrangements.

    Under international law, Israel’s 1967 occupation of the West Bank is deemed illegal by the United Nations, and all Israeli settlements constructed on occupied Palestinian territory are classified as unlawful. The Fourth Geneva Convention explicitly prohibits occupying powers from transferring their own civilian populations into occupied territory, a core legal principle that underpins global opposition to Israeli settlement expansion.

    Speaking to reporters Wednesday, one day after the event, Mamdani made clear his firm opposition to the expo. “When we have a real estate expo that is promoting the sale of land, which includes the sale of land in occupied West Bank in settlements that are a violation of international law, that is something that I firmly disagree with,” the mayor said. He added that the event ran counter to the views of most New Yorkers, noting that settlement expansion is a core driver of the ongoing displacement of Palestinian people from their ancestral land.

    Hundreds of demonstrators organized by the Palestinian advocacy group Pal-Awda gathered near the synagogue Tuesday to protest the event. A heavy deployment of NYPD officers and barricades corralled the crowd a full block away from the venue, and Pal-Awda issued a scathing statement Wednesday accusing police of widespread excessive force. The organization claims law enforcement violently kettled and barricaded peaceful pro-Palestinian protesters while allowing pro-Zionist counter-protesters to operate freely, adding that officers used pepper spray on demonstrators and physically assaulted attendees through aggressive grabbing and shoving.

    Video footage provided to independent outlet Middle East Eye by Pal-Awda captured a tense late-night standoff, with officers shouting orders for protesters to pull back from the barricades as the crowd pushed against the barriers. In his remarks Wednesday, Mamdani struck a careful balance, affirming that the city upholds the fundamental right to peaceful protest while also guaranteeing that all New Yorkers can access houses of worship safely. The mayor declined to criticize police conduct, saying officers “ensured [both rights] yesterday.”

    The incident comes amid long-simmering tension over the Mamdani administration’s approach to policing pro-Palestinian activism. Before his inauguration in January, the mayor confirmed he would retain outgoing Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, a move that drew condemnation from more than 100 grassroots organizations across the country in December. Critics argue Tisch has overseen a harsh crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrators, and note she hails from one of New York’s wealthiest and most politically influential families. In their December statement, the advocacy groups said retaining Tisch aligns the Mamdani administration with the NYPD’s long history of racialized policing, surveillance and political repression, representing a retreat from the justice and liberation values the mayor campaigned on.

    Pal-Awda has also leveled a separate legal criticism against the expo, saying organizers required entry to be cleared through a stringent vetting process that uses religious and political screening criteria. The group argues these requirements violate the U.S. Fair Housing Act and federal anti-discrimination laws, particularly for the event’s Manhattan-based real estate offerings that were only open to a pre-approved select group. Pal-Awda condemned what it called “shameful that Zionist agencies continue to hide their illegal activities in houses of worship.”

    The controversy is not the first effort by Palestinian advocates to challenge the marketing of occupied West Bank land to New York residents. Back in March 2024, Palestinian lawyers and advocates submitted an official demand letter to New York’s attorney general, calling for a formal audit and investigation into these sales. A demand letter typically serves as the final step before legal action is filed, and Pal-Awda confirmed this week that no official response has been received from the attorney general’s office.

    In his Wednesday remarks, Mamdani also sought to draw a clear line between political criticism of Israeli government policy and religious bigotry, reaffirming that “there is no tolerance for antisemitism” in New York City. “Critique of the policies of a government are very much separate from bigotry towards the people of a specific religious faith,” he said.

  • European fishing firms reflag ships to tap Indian Ocean tuna quotas, report finds

    European fishing firms reflag ships to tap Indian Ocean tuna quotas, report finds

    For decades, the European fishing industry has held unmatched dominance in Indian Ocean tropical tuna harvesting, centered around a fleet of large purse seiners—massive vessels with the capacity to hold up to 1.8 million kilograms of tuna in a single trip. Dozens of these ships patrol the Indian Ocean’s waters, catching skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna that eventually end up as canned products on grocery store shelves across the globe. But when Jess Rattle, head of investigations at the London-based environmental non-profit Blue Marine Foundation, spotted numerous purse seiners operating under the flags of Mauritius, Tanzania and Oman, she began questioning the true ownership of these vessels.

    “Our core goal was to unpack who actually holds ownership of these vessels,” Rattle explained. “Were they the property of the coastal states whose fishing quotas they were using, or did the true ownership trace back to European Union entities?”

    A groundbreaking joint investigation released Thursday by Blue Marine Foundation and global corporate investigations firm Kroll, shared exclusively with The Associated Press ahead of publication, now lays bare the full scale of European access to Indian Ocean tuna stocks. The probe finds that European companies currently take one-third of all tropical tuna caught in the region—a revelation that comes as yellowfin and bigeye tuna populations remain strained, still working to recover from historic overfishing.

    Rattle’s investigation confirms that European firms access these extra quotas by reflagging their vessels to five coastal Indian Ocean nations: the Seychelles, Mauritius, Kenya, Tanzania and Oman. This common, though not illegal, practice has allowed the European-controlled fleet to expand to more than 50 purse seiners and support vessels, and maintain high catch levels even as the EU made public commitments to reduce overall tuna harvesting to support stock recovery.

    The findings arrive on the eve of the annual gathering of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) in the Maldives, a summit that brings together the EU and 20 member nations with commercial stakes in the region’s tuna industry. While reflagging is widespread across the global fishing sector, it creates significant barriers for regulators and independent observers seeking to accurately measure European firms’ impact on vulnerable tuna stocks. True parent company ownership is often hidden behind complex layers of shell companies and opaque foreign registry systems, which Rattle and Kroll’s team spent months untangling to map the full extent of hidden European control.

    While European firms have operated under the Seychelles’ flag for decades, Rattle notes that growing reflagging to Oman and Kenya is a new, unreported trend. In response to the investigation’s findings, Europeche Tuna Group, the trade body representing the European tuna industry, framed its cross-border partnerships as a net positive for regional economies. “Our industry’s relationships with coastal African and Indian Ocean nations are built on decades of long-term investment and deep local collaboration,” said group spokesperson Anne-France Mattlet. She added that European operators contribute to local economies through tax and fishing license payments, investment in local infrastructure, and offloading catches at regional ports and canneries. Mattlet also confirmed the investigation’s count of more than 50 European-linked purse seine and support vessels operating in the Indian Ocean, including those flying non-EU flags.

    A spokesperson for the European Commission, Maciej Berestecki, noted that reflagging is a private commercial decision made independent of EU public authorities, and that the bloc does not advocate for or represent the interests of vessels registered to non-EU countries. “The EU has worked, and continues to work, to the fullest extent to promote and enforce binding catch limits that support sustainable tuna management,” Berestecki said in a statement.

    European dominance in the Indian Ocean tuna trade is not new: Spanish and French tuna companies first introduced large purse seine technology to the region in the 1980s, allowing the fleet to rapidly scale annual catches and establish a dominant market position. But this outsized influence has repeatedly brought the EU into conflict with coastal nations seeking greater control over fishing activities in their adjacent waters. Five years ago, as yellowfin populations plummeted, the Maldives publicly accused the EU of refusing to table meaningful proposals to cut catch quotas during a heated IOTC meeting. In 2023, the bloc opposed an Indonesian proposal for targeted restrictions on purse seine fishing that passed with support from 15 other IOTC member states.

    In recent years, the IOTC has implemented new binding management rules designed to rebuild vulnerable yellowfin and bigeye tuna populations, which have started to show early signs of recovery. As part of these measures, the EU agreed to cut yellowfin tuna catches for EU-flagged vessels by 21%. Glen Holmes, a senior officer with the Pew Charitable Trusts, says these mandatory cuts are likely pushing European firms to turn to reflagging to tap into other nations’ quotas and maintain their historic catch volumes. Holmes, alongside partners from Pew, Global Fishing Watch and other conservation groups, is pushing for stricter ownership transparency requirements for all fishing fleets operating in the Indian Ocean.

    Foreign reflagging has long been a point of contention for transparency advocates, who argue the practice enables weak oversight of vessel activities. The phenomenon mirrors trends seen in the “shadow fleet” of sanctioned oil tankers, which frequently change names and flags to hide true ownership and evade international sanctions. Certain coastal states have become known as “flags of convenience,” offering low registration fees and lax enforcement of international fishing and trade rules, in many cases due to limited resources to patrol and regulate distant fleets.

    A January 2024 investigation by environmental group Oceana already documented widespread reflagging of European-owned fishing vessels to non-EU nations, including some the EU itself has accused of ignoring illegal fishing activity. Oceana is calling on EU member states to mandate collection and public publication of full beneficial ownership data for all European-controlled fishing vessels, regardless of the flag they fly. Vanya Vulperhorst, Oceana’s Europe director for illegal fishing campaigns, says this change would help the EU enforce its own existing laws, which bar European individuals and companies from profiting from illegal fishing activity. It would also reveal the true size of the European fishing footprint: “What our investigation found last year is that the actual size of the European fleet, when you add all the non-EU flagged vessels controlled by European firms, doubles the official count,” Vulperhorst said.

    This reporting was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation, with The Associated Press holding sole editorial responsibility for all content.

  • ARN reveals $22m ‘brand safety’ revenue hit after Kyle and Jackie O fallout

    ARN reveals $22m ‘brand safety’ revenue hit after Kyle and Jackie O fallout

    Australian Radio Network (ARN) Media’s board of directors faced intense scrutiny from disgruntled shareholders at its annual general meeting held in North Sydney on Thursday, as investors slammed leadership for a year of steep financial losses, a collapsing share price, and the high-profile split and subsequent legal battle with beloved breakfast radio hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson, known collectively as Kyle and Jackie O.

    During the meeting, senior ARN executives laid out the scale of the company’s recent financial troubles, confirming that total annual revenue for the 12 months ending December fell 10% year-on-year to $285 million. Metro radio division revenue dropped by $28 million over the period, according to chief executive Michael Stephenson. Of that decline, he explained, just $6 million stemmed from broader industry headwinds in a tough advertising market, while the remaining $22 million came from advertisers pulling spending over brand safety concerns tied directly to the controversy surrounding Sandilands and Henderson. Regional revenue also dipped by $5.3 million, Stephenson noted, though it did not face the same brand safety-driven client exodus.

    Stephenson framed the network’s decision to cut ties with the pair as a proactive step to protect ARN’s brand reputation, and he struck an optimistic tone on future revenue recovery. “Over time, we expect a significant percentage of the $26 million of revenue that was lost last year because of brand safety concerns to return, improving both our metro radio revenue and revenue share,” he said. While the board declined to comment in detail on the active legal dispute, Stephenson confirmed that the departure of the high-profile hosts could pave the way for the return of former advertisers that had withdrawn their spending.

    ARN chairman Hamish McLennan later outlined the timeline of events that led to the show’s cancellation to shareholders, referencing the legal claims brought by Quasar Media (Sandilands’ company) and Henderson Media. McLennan confirmed that an on-air incident involving the two hosts took place on February 20, 2026. After the incident, Henderson took a paid leave of absence supported full by ARN management. On February 26, 2026, Henderson notified the network that she could no longer continue working alongside Sandilands, stating that direct contact with him had become untenable.

    “The Company considered this a repudiation of her contract, on the basis that it was not possible for her to perform her core contractual requirement to deliver the ‘Kyle and Jackie O show’ and, as a result, her contract was terminated,” McLennan explained. Sandilands, who was ousted alongside Henderson, has since launched a lawsuit against his former employer ARN Media.

    The network’s poor financial performance over the past year has hit shareholder value hard: ARN’s share price has plummeted 51% over the last 12 months to trade at just 26 cents, a drop that became a key point of criticism from investors at the AGM. Shareholders openly questioned the board about the ongoing share price decline and the missteps that led to the loss of one of radio’s most popular shows, paired with the costly pending litigation.

  • Health worker’s terror before surgery after nurses allegedly boasted killing Israeli patients

    Health worker’s terror before surgery after nurses allegedly boasted killing Israeli patients

    As Australia’s Royal Commission into Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion enters its fourth day of public hearings, multiple witnesses have laid bare profound harm and broken trust stemming from rising anti-Jewish sentiment across Australian public institutions, media, and community spaces. The testimonies have cast a stark light on the deep-seated biases and systemic failures that have eroded safety for Jewish communities across the country. One dual Australian-Israeli citizen, identified only as AAV to protect her privacy, told the commission of crippling fear that preceded a scheduled knee surgery at a New South Wales (NSW) public hospital in February 2025. Four days before her procedure, she encountered a viral social media video — currently the subject of active criminal proceedings — in which nurses at Bankstown Hospital allegedly boasted about harming Israeli citizens. The revelation shattered her long-held trust in the state public health system, leaving her terrified that she could be killed while unconscious on the operating table. “I can’t even describe the terror that that created for me because of my knowledge of healthcare,” AAV told the hearing. “I spent the worst 24 hours of my life imagining all the ways I could be killed. I was paralysed with fear.” The witness shared that she already carried profound trauma from the October 7 2024 attacks on Israel: her cousin was taken hostage in that assault, and their remains were only returned to family this past January. Even before the pre-surgery panic, AAV’s faith in Australian institutions had already been shaken by a deeply upsetting experience with an NSW Health employee assistance program (EAP) counsellor following the December 2024 Bondi Junction attack. She had sought counselling to process overwhelming grief and anger over what she viewed as the government’s failure to protect Jewish and all Australian citizens, but the session left her reeling. Instead of providing support, the counsellor asked AAV to “put yourself in the position of those men and understand why they might have acted that way,” before prompting her to imagine a conversation with a Gazan mother who had lost family in the conflict. AAV said she stormed out of the session in a burst of rage, stunned by the questions. Reflecting on the broader shift in safety for Jewish Australians, she added: “What we have done in the Jewish community is made abnormal normal. It’s not normal for a person to go to the hospital and think ‘Is somebody gonna harm me while I’m here’?” She stressed that extensive, intentional work is required from NSW Health to begin repairing the damage done to trust within the Jewish community. Two people, Sarah Abu Lebdeh and Ahmad Rashad Nadir, have already pleaded not guilty to charges related to the social media video: Lebdeh faces counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass, offend and threaten group violence, while Nadir has pleaded not guilty to charges of menace, harassment, and offense. The pair is scheduled to go on trial in August 2025. Beyond healthcare, the hearings also brought sharp criticism of Australian media from veteran former Age editor-in-chief Michael Gawenda, who called the sector’s response to rising anti-Semitism “an enormous failure.” Gawenda argued that major media outlets have systematically downplayed the growing crisis of anti-Jewish bias in Australia, echoing long-running complaints from Jewish community groups that the scope of the problem has been underreported. He told the commission he was stunned by the breadth of harm shared by the more than 30 witnesses who have already testified, most of whose stories have never been reported in mainstream media. “Why was there a need to have a royal commission to tell these stories?” Gawenda asked. “It cannot be that they didn’t have the journalists to do it. Why didn’t they spend time in these communities, talk to ordinary people about what they’re experiencing?” Gawenda also condemned a growing trend of journalists abandoning long-held ethical norms to act as political activists, specifically calling out reporters who have publicly stated it is acceptable to side exclusively with one side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “This was a denial of the ethical positions that have existed in journalism from the time I became a journalist in 1970: that we don’t be activists, that we don’t even belong to the Labor or the Liberal party,” he said. Another witness, Stephanie Cunio, a lifelong Jewish left activist and Bondi local who has worked with union and advocacy groups for decades, shared her experience of being marginalized by progressive communities for rejecting one-sided takes on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Cunio told the hearing she holds the nuanced view that both the October 7 Hamas attacks and the ongoing violence in Gaza are unacceptable atrocities, but that most of her left-leaning peers refuse to accept that both realities can coexist. “The left could only see one truth, which was the horrible things happening in Gaza,” she said. “So that truth was heartbreaking, and then further on the fact that broadly the left could not stand in solidarity with Jews as we are increasingly experiencing anti-Semitism. I don’t know if it’s naivety, but I don’t find it forgivable.” Cunio, who first joined the Jewish left in the 1990s, said she was “cancelled and gaslit” by a climate organization where she served on the board, after she refused to fully denounce Israel’s right to exist and adopt a framing that labeled the state entirely colonial. “There was a strong pressure to denounce completely the existence of Israel and to take the colonial view of the conflict, which I don’t completely disagree with,” she explained. “But Israel is my ancestral lands as well. If I wasn’t taking that position I was cancelled and gaslit.” She added that she feels humiliated by the widespread demonization of the word “Israel” in progressive spaces, noting that for her, the word evokes beautiful landscapes and beloved friends, not just the actions of the current Israeli government — while acknowledging that for Palestinians, the term is inextricably tied to war, displacement, and violence. After the December 14 2024 Bondi attack that killed 15 people, Cunio received an outpouring of support from community members, but she called the experience bittersweet. “It was a double edged sword: it was welcome, but where was it before, and where was it for those people who died on October 7th?” she asked. The commission also heard from the owners of Lewis Continental Kitchen, a beloved kosher deli in Bondi that was firebombed in October 2024. Mother-daughter co-owners Judith and Karyn Lewis described the arson attack as devastating to their family business, which had become a central community hub where customers became close friends. “For us it’s devastating because we’re not seeing all our friends because our customers very much became our friends,” Judith Lewis told the commission. The public hearing was briefly closed to allow the pair to speak freely about the attack, as three men facing charges over the arson are still before the courts. The Royal Commission into Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion was called by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on January 8 2025, following weeks of community pressure in the wake of the alleged December 2024 Bondi terror attack. This first block of hearings is scheduled to run for two weeks, focused on establishing a clear definition of anti-Semitism, mapping its prevalence across Australian society, and assessing how bias has taken root in major public and private institutions. The commission’s final report, including policy recommendations to address rising anti-Semitism, is due to be delivered to the government in December 2025, one year after the Bondi attack.

  • In ‘Musk v Altman’, this judge will make the final call

    In ‘Musk v Altman’, this judge will make the final call

    As the world’s wealthiest individual, boasting a net worth that exceeds $750 billion, Elon Musk has long grown accustomed to leveraging his vast resources, influence, and industry connections to shape outcomes across Silicon Valley on his own terms. But in the high-stakes $150 billion legal clash between Musk and OpenAI unfolding in a Northern California federal courtroom, the tech billionaire has finally encountered a counterpart who answers to no one but the law: District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.

    The legal dispute at the heart of this high-profile trial dates back to 2015, when Musk co-founded OpenAI alongside current CEO Sam Altman. Musk stepped away from the organization three years later following an internal power struggle, and now alleges that Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman breached a founding charitable trust and gained unjust enrichment when OpenAI launched a for-profit subsidiary in 2019, three years before the runaway commercial success of ChatGPT ignited a global AI boom. OpenAI has pushed back against the claims, arguing Musk’s lawsuit is nothing more than a play to gain a competitive edge for his own rival AI startup, xAI.

    The trial, which began in late April, has already delivered one of its most memorable moments: when Musk attempted to act as his own legal counsel during testimony last week, objecting that OpenAI’s lead attorney William Savitt was asking improper leading questions. Gonzalez Rogers did not hesitate to rein in the billionaire, immediately interjecting to clarify courtroom procedure. She reminded Musk that unlike attorneys conducting direct examination of their own clients, opposing counsel are permitted to pose leading questions during cross-examination, before delivering the now-viral line: “Let’s remind everyone in the courtroom that you are not a lawyer.” Musk quickly acknowledged the correction, joking that while he had taken an introductory law course in college, he ultimately conceded: “Yes – I am not a lawyer,” drawing laughter from the packed gallery.

    For legal observers who have worked with Gonzalez Rogers, the moment was entirely in character for the 61-year-old judge, who hails from southern Texas and has built a decades-long reputation for her no-nonsense, firm-but-fair approach to high-stakes Big Tech litigation. “I think it’s a function of the fact that she’s now so experienced – nothing’s going to faze her,” explained Michael Rhodes, a retired former partner at Cooley LLP, where Gonzalez Rogers once practiced law, and who has previously represented both Musk and OpenAI in separate matters.

    Veteran courtroom artist Vicki Behringer, who has documented multiple of Gonzalez Rogers’ high-profile cases including this current OpenAI trial, noted the striking contrast between the two central figures in the courtroom. “It does make an interesting juxtaposition. He’s the wealthiest man in the world. He’s used to being on top. She’s definitely on top now. She’s in charge,” Behringer said.

    A key detail that underscores the weight of Gonzalez Rogers’ role in this case: while a nine-person advisory jury is hearing testimony and expected to deliver a verdict by the end of May, their decision is non-binding. Ultimately, the judge will hand down the final ruling in the dispute. As plaintiffs’ attorney Jay Edelson, who currently has wrongful death lawsuits pending against OpenAI, put it: “That changes the whole landscape. It really means that this is completely her show.”

    Gonzalez Rogers is no stranger to navigating the most complex, closely watched Big Tech legal battles in the country. Beyond the Musk-OpenAI clash, she currently oversees a massive multi-district litigation that consolidates dozens of social media addiction lawsuits brought by U.S. states and school districts against Meta, Snap, TikTok, and Google. She also previously presided over the high-profile Epic Games antitrust lawsuit against Apple, in which Fortnite-maker Epic accused Apple of anti-competitive practices by forcing app developers to use Apple’s in-house payment system in the App Store. In a stunning 2024 court filing, Gonzalez Rogers found that a top Apple executive had lied under oath, referring the matter to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California. While an appeals court upheld her contempt finding, it struck down her order barring Apple from collecting commissions on transactions via third-party payment systems, and just this week Apple asked the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a stay of the appeals court ruling that would require Gonzalez Rogers to reopen the case to set a fair commission rate.

    Legal professionals who appear before her universally acknowledge that her reputation for rigor demands extra preparation. “There are certain judges who, if they’re on the case, you kind of stand up a little bit straighter,” Edelson said. “You want to make sure everything’s right, that your tie’s on straight, and that you don’t mis-cite a case.”

    Appointed to a lifetime federal bench seat in Oakland, California in 2011 by then-President Barack Obama, Gonzalez Rogers’ path to the judiciary was rooted in humble origins. During her confirmation hearings, then-U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein shared that Gonzalez Rogers worked cleaning houses and mowing lawns during school breaks and weekends to cover her Princeton University tuition. After graduating from law school, she spent more than a decade in private practice, making partner at her firm before California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed her to a state superior court judgeship. She declined to comment for this report through a spokesperson.

    Throughout the Musk-OpenAI trial, Gonzalez Rogers has run an extremely tight, efficient courtroom: proceedings start promptly at 8 a.m. every morning, with no formal lunch break, only two 20-minute recesses per day. While she is uncompromising with parties and counsel, she maintains a warm, approachable rapport with the advisory jury, regularly thanking them for their public service and acknowledging the fatigue that comes with daily proceedings. On one occasion, she joked, “If you get cranky with family, just know it’s because you’re tired.”

    Despite her stern reputation in court, those who know her describe her as having a sharp, self-deprecating sense of humor. Rhodes called her “wickedly funny,” noting she often jokes that her children tell her her jokes are bad, and that lawyers only laugh out of politeness. When a courtroom microphone malfunctioned during the trial last week, she drew genuine laughter from the room with her deadline quip: “What can I tell you? We are funded by the federal government.”

    When it comes to the parties involved in the OpenAI dispute, however, she wastes no time on pleasantries and holds all high-powered players to the same standard. In the first week of trial, she publicly chided Musk for inflammatory posts he made to his social platform X, where he referred to Altman as “Scam Altman” and made disparaging comments about OpenAI outside the courtroom. “How can we get this done without you making things worse outside the courtroom?” she asked Musk. When Musk argued he was only responding to OpenAI’s own public statements about the case, she pushed for a truce: “How about a clean slate? Beginning today.” Musk agreed, and Gonzalez Rogers extended the same request to Altman and Brockman, saying, “Let’s just try it, gentlemen. Let’s just try it and see if we can make things work.”

    At a March pre-trial hearing, she made clear that the fame and wealth of the parties involved would not earn them special treatment, though she has made small accommodations for security and privacy: Musk and other top executives complete standard security screenings, but use a non-public entrance to avoid reporters and crowds outside the courthouse. She has also worked to keep the proceedings focused on legal facts rather than sensational speculation, cutting off Musk when he compared the risks of unregulated AI to the *Terminator* film franchise, telling him after jurors adjourned: “You’ve made your little statement. But that’s it.”

    As the trial heads toward its conclusion, all eyes remain on Gonzalez Rogers, the steady, unflappable judge who will ultimately decide the outcome of one of the most consequential AI industry legal battles in history.

  • From cricket’s capital to Olympic ambitions, India’s next play on the world sports stage

    From cricket’s capital to Olympic ambitions, India’s next play on the world sports stage

    As one of the world’s most populous nations with a fast-expanding economy and unrivaled global influence in cricket, India is now laying the groundwork to extend its global footprint across the broader international sports landscape. Having already secured hosting rights for the 2030 Commonwealth Games in the western city of Ahmedabad, the country has set its sights on an even bigger prize: securing the right to host the 2036 Summer Olympic Games.

    This push for international sporting leadership aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s broader national vision of building a fully developed India by 2047, a plan centered on upgrading public living standards, expanding transport infrastructure, advancing education, and establishing the country as a global hub for technology and innovation. These national development efforts form the core foundation of India’s growing sporting ambitions.

    In an interview with The Associated Press, Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya framed India’s current moment as one of newfound confidence. “India today reflects a confident and aspirational mindset, ready to lead and shape the future of global sport,” he said. “Our growing capability to host major international sporting events is a testament to how far we have progressed. At the same time, our athletes continue to make the nation proud across sports disciplines, signaling the steady rise of India as a formidable sporting force.”

    On Thursday, Mandaviya was set to lead a national sports conclave in the capital New Delhi, where stakeholders will review India’s preparation for upcoming major events, including the 2026 Asian Games, 2026 Commonwealth Games, and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The gathering will also address compliance requirements under the National Sports Governance Act, a 2025 law enacted to improve transparency across national sports federations and set clear standards for international event hosting and athlete participation.

    Already in 2026, India has hosted three high-profile cricket events: the men’s ICC Twenty20 World Cup, the second edition of the Women’s Premier League, and the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League — one of the wealthiest and most widely followed franchise sports leagues on the planet. Beyond cricket, New Delhi is playing host to the BWF World Badminton Championships, the eastern city of Bhubaneshwar is scheduled to welcome a World Athletics Continental Tour competition, and Ahmedabad will host the Asian Weightlifting Championships later this year. Indian authorities are also exploring options to bring Formula One racing back to the country for the first time since the last Indian Grand Prix was held in 2013, and national sports officials successfully campaigned for cricket’s reintroduction to the Olympic program for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

    For India, the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad will serve as a critical benchmark to demonstrate how far the country has come since its last major multi-sport event hosting experience. New Delhi previously hosted the 2010 Commonwealth Games, an event overshadowed by widespread logistical delays, unfinished facilities, and high-profile corruption scandals. Indian officials are confident the 2030 iteration will leave those past missteps far behind. The centerpiece of the 2030 Games will be the Sardar Patel Sports Enclave, a purpose-built complex that already houses the world’s largest cricket venue, the Narendra Modi Stadium, which can be reconfigured to host a range of Olympic and Commonwealth sports.

    But India’s sporting transformation extends far beyond new infrastructure. Over the past decade, policymakers have made sustained investments to build a robust, inclusive domestic sports ecosystem that nurtures talent from the grassroots to the elite level. Today, more than 15 professional leagues across different sports operate across the country, creating pathways for young athletes to pursue competitive careers. The Sports Authority of India has also launched a network of specialized national centers of excellence, providing elite athletes with access to world-class training facilities and evidence-based, scientific coaching programs designed to produce Olympic and world championship medalists.

    These investments are already delivering measurable results on the global stage. At the 2023 Asian Games, India recorded its best performance in history, finishing with a total of 107 medals. The country claimed its first Thomas Cup badminton world title in 2022, won its first-ever men’s squash World Cup crown, earned 29 medals (including seven gold) at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, and captured 20 medals at the 2025 World Boxing Cup finals. Individual standout Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic and world champion javelin thrower, has become a national icon and inspiration for young athletes across the country.

    Sports advocates note that these high-profile success stories also play a key role in shifting cultural attitudes toward fitness and recreational participation across India’s vast population. “While the infrastructure is put in place, we are also working on our messaging,” said Hari Ranjan Rao, Sports Secretary for the Government of India. The national Khelo India (Play India) initiative, launched in 2018, has expanded rapidly to include youth competitions, university-level events, winter sports, para sports, beach and water sports, and even dedicated competitions for tribal athletes. “The aim is to draw out the masses into an active lifestyle,” Rao said, “As well as into participation.”

    With growing grassroots participation and a pipeline of elite talent emerging, Indian officials are optimistic about the country’s sporting future. “As we prepare to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games and advance our bid for the 2036 Olympic Games, India stands ready to take center stage,” Mandaviya said. “We are determined to emerge as a global sporting powerhouse, both in producing champions and in hosting world class events.”