Recognising Palestine + why YouTube is fighting Australia
So what is statehood? And how would recognising Palestine change Israel's bombardment of the region?
Plus, the under-16 social media ban list has been announced, and YouTube is not happy.
Listen now:
01.56 - Why the conversation around statehood is changing
05.23 - What recognising Palestine would mean
21.24 - YouTube v Australia
Guests:
Ben Saul, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-terrorism
Ben Saul, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-terrorism
Ange Lavoipierre, national technology reporter, ABC
Get the whole story from Hack:
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

ABC News
28 minutes ago
- ABC News
DEEP DIVE: How does recognising Palestinian statehood help Gaza?
Most of the world recognises Palestine as a state, but Australia and some of its closest allies have refused to. Until this week. A growing list of Western countries — including Canada and the UK — have announced plans to recognise Palestinian statehood. And pressure is mounting for Australia to do the same. But what does statehood recognition mean? And will it lead to peace in Gaza? In this extended episode, leading international law expert Ben Saul shares his time with us for the third time since the war began. We ask him all about Palestinian statehood, the allegations of genocide against Israel, and how much power countries like Australia have in helping to end the war. Guest: Ben Saul, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-terrorism Get the whole story from Hack:

ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Judgement to be handed down over legality of pro-Palestinian Sydney Harbour Bridge march
A judgement due to be handed down this morning will decide the legality of a pro-Palestinian march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday. The Palestinian Action Group was referred to the Supreme Court by NSW Police after it announced plans to march over the bridge in support of Palestinians as the war rages on in Gaza. NSW Police sought a prohibition order over the event, which would not ban people from attending and participating, but would mean those who did participate would not be protected against offences such as blocking roads or traffic. The court heard from counsel for both the Palestine Action Group and police on Friday. Under cross-examination, Acting Assistant Commissioner Adam Johnson said he had public safety concerns about the event. "Imagine a scenario where the public assembly remains authorised. In that situation, are you saying police would not facilitate safe conduct of the event?" barrister Felicity Graham, representing the organisers, asked. "We would always do our best to ensure public safety, but in these timeframes, no. We'd be unable to guarantee public safety," he replied. "It's a certainty that a very large group of people attend even if the public assembly is not authorised, do you agree?" Ms Graham asked. "It's a possibility," the witness replied. Acting Assistant Commissioner Johnson told the court the bridge would still need to be closed if the gathering was authorised. He also raised concerns about plans for attendees to first gather at Lang Park — situated on the corner of York, Grosvenor and Lang streets — to approach the harbour bridge. "Fifty thousand people at Lang Park, whether it's authorised or unauthorised, has significant public safety risks," he said. Before the hearing began on Friday, Josh Lees from Palestine Action Group told media the crisis in Gaza had not abated and it was an "urgent and horrific situation". "It's why we called it over the harbour bridge, because we need to do something bigger than what we've already done," he said. Mr Lees said the bridge had been shut previously for "much less significant reasons", including for a movie to be filmed, and said an argument that a closure required more planning time did not add up. He said the plans had attracted "unprecedented support" and claimed NSW Police had not accepted the alternative plans suggested by the group, including delaying the event for several weeks. The group took to Instagram to announce several union groups were backing the march, including the United Workers Union and the Nurses and Midwives' Association. Premier Chris Minns said on Friday the government acknowledged the demand for the march, but that the "last thing" police wanted was "chaos" in Sydney streets. "We recognise people want to protest, we're hopeful, depending on the outcome of the court case... ... [that] common sense can prevail and people are given an opportunity to express their voice," he said. The "March for Humanity" is scheduled for Sunday afternoon. Justice Belinda Rigg will hand down her verdict at 10am Saturday.

ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
In Iran, heat, drought and a lack of water emerge as yet another crisis
After living through a 12-day war with Israel, the people of Iran have been hit with a second crisis, as devastating heat, a prolonged drought and decades of mismanagement culminate in severe water shortages. Water and energy outages are now a daily occurrence as the country edges closer to "day zero", with warnings Tehran's water supply could run dry in just weeks. "We are talking about a possible day zero in Tehran," Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health said. "We are facing this situation of no water and no electricity during extreme heat and on top of that, we are seeing wildfires here and there, dust storms, and so on." Tehran's population of 16.8 million people had previously been immune to the impacts of drought, with a large portion of their clean drinking supply coming from groundwater. "Iran is having one more very dry year, even drier than the most recent dry years, and the reservoirs are empty," Madani said. "Surface water is not sufficient and Iran has been draining a lot of groundwater in many areas, so the groundwater level is low." In July, ongoing heatwaves with temperatures exceeding 50 degrees prompted Iranian authorities to ask people to conserve water. The Iranian regime even made the drastic move to create a public holiday in an attempt to reduce energy and water demands. Tehran's provincial water management company called for a reduction of "at least 20 per cent" to help ease the shortages. Madani, who previously worked as the deputy head of Iran's Department of Environment, said the fact the regime was being so open about the crisis was an indicator of just how serious the situation was. "The public don't necessarily react in a positive way because they remind those in charge about those warnings, about all the things that the scientists said years ago. "And they ask, why did you dismiss them?" While the five-year drought has played a large part in Iran's water woes, the crisis has been amplified by decades of overuse and mismanagement. The mass construction of dams by the Iranian government in recent years has caused many areas downstream to dry out, including Isfahan, where farmers have been protesting a lack of water supply for years. Around 90 per cent of Iran's water is used in agriculture, with current irrigation practices highly inefficient. Professor Peter Scales from the University of Melbourne travelled to Lake Urmia in the country's north a decade ago, on a failed project to restore the region's largest lake, which dried out in 2023. "In an environment where water use is uncapped, it allows modern farming practices to exploit the system pretty heavily," he said. "They want to exploit water resources that normally are not exploitable, so they're not doing what we would call a mass balance of their water." It is something US President Donald Trump highlighted in a speech in Saudi Arabia in May this year. "Iran's leaders have managed to turn green farmland into dry deserts, as their corrupt water mafia — it's called the water mafia — causes droughts and empty riverbeds," Trump said. "They get rich, but they don't let the people have any of it." While terms like "water mafia" might catch the public's attention, Madani said it took away from the complexity of the problems facing Iran. "What we see in Iran is the collective outcome of many bad decisions, by many good and bad people." Countries in the Middle East are among the top water-stressed in the world, according to data from the World Resources Institute. "It's getting hotter, it's drier and water is really at a premium in terms of reliability and availability," Mohammed Mahmoud, lead for Middle East Climate and Water Policy at the United Nations University, said. "The facts are, this region is going to accelerate in terms of warming — higher than other parts of the world. "Fresh water resources are going to be stressed more than other parts of the world." Madani said the role of climate change in Iran was undeniable. "We see more frequent and intense droughts, but also more frequent and intense floods, wildfires, heat and other extreme events. "We see this in many places around the world, and Iran is no exception." But he said to blame the water crisis in Iran solely on climate change was reductionist. "All of a sudden, you see something that you cannot deny." Madani said it would take a crisis like Tehran running out of water for real change to occur. "The tendency of governments is to delay transformative action because they're costly politically, they're hard to implement. "Ironically, we need these crises and extremes for improving our management systems. That's sad, but it's very true." Iran is not the only country in the region dealing with prolonged drought and heat: the highest temperatures on the planet this week were recorded in Iraq, where the mercury hit 52 degrees on multiple days in a row. Türkiye registered 50.5 degrees last Saturday — a nationwide record — in its south-east as it battles devastating wildfires. In the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the heat is unrelenting. Temperatures are forecast to remain above 47 degrees for at least another week, and the capital, Baghdad, will be only a few degrees cooler. While Iraq is no stranger to extreme heat, the United Nations lists the country as among the most vulnerable to climate change, citing water scarcity, drought, and extreme temperatures. Like Iran, the country is suffering through one of its driest periods, with Iraq's Ministry of Water Resources reporting water storage is down to just 8 per cent of full capacity. Authorities blame reduced river flows in part on upstream dams built in neighbouring Iran and Türkiye, which Iraq says have dramatically shrunk the once-mighty Tigris and Euphrates, whose waters have been crucial for irrigation for millennia. "The reality is, when there's not enough water, what ends up happening is those countries upstream will tend to hoard it or save it to their benefit as much as they can," Mahmoud said. As water scarcity has worsened across the region, so too have geopolitical tensions. "Fortunately, and hopefully this remains the case, countries have not gone to war and conflict just over water," Mahmoud said. "But it does cause complications in terms of geopolitical relations." Mahmoud said conflicts also limited the ability of governments and communities to respond when crises hit. "We have conflict issues across the region and I'll even throw in the civil war in Sudan, for example," he said. "They cause a disruption in the ability for those countries and communities that are affected by conflict to react adequately." Heat is adding to an already dire situation in Gaza, with a lack of water and shelter one more "obstacle to survival", according to Mahmoud. "In a really perverse way, it's probably lowest on the list of things that people in Gaza are tackling to just survive day to day. "We're entering the warmest part of the year and so survival, in terms of that alone, becomes a challenge. "The reality is there is no infrastructure … to mitigate issues of exposure, whether it's high temperatures or whether it's freezing temperatures." Despite the dire situation across the Middle East, Mahmoud remained optimistic that the region could adapt in a worsening climate. "Things are bad and things are amplifying because of climate change. But this region has naturally, for centuries and centuries, been in a state of heat and water stress," he said. "The region is capable of adapting and has for centuries. A lot of that obviously has to do with being more efficient with our water use." Madani agreed that the history of the region could hold some answers. "Persians survived for thousands of years in the dry part of the world by using different technologies of groundwater extraction. And they had laws and institutions and settings that were working. "Through the process of modernisation, if you will, they disrupted that old system." But he was pessimistic about Iran finding a way out of the crisis any time soon. "You have decided to fight the world … those who lose are the people of Iran, the ecosystem of Iran, the nature of Iran. "That means more deforestation, mining pollution, sand and dust storms, desertification, rivers drying up, declining aquifers, and that's what we see. It's very sad."