🚀Global Press Freedom Threatened by Politicians

May 03, 2024

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👋 I’m Miko and welcome back to the Evening Post Wrap.

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The S&P/ASX 200 closed 42.0 points higher, up 0.55%.

S&P/ASX 200 (XJO) closed 42.0 points higher at 7,629, up 0.55% from its session low and 0.15% from its high. Advancers outnumbered decliners 212 to 70 in the S&P/ASX 300 (XKO).

XJO rose 53.1 points, or 0.7%, for the week. They were 0.96% above the week's low of 7,556.5 and 0.46% below the high of 7664.1.

Today was all about “interest rate sensitives”. The most interest rate sensitive sectors, Consumer Discretionary (XDJ) (+2.0%), Real Estate Investment Trusts (XPJ) (+1.6%), and Information Technology (XIJ) (+1.2%), led the sector performance table after benchmark bond yields fell for a second day.

Which sector was worst? Guess! The Gold (XGD) sub-index was the worst sector of the week this week, scoring three out of five. No major reason for today's drop, but gold prices have fallen all week. [ Read more]

💡Here are a few headlines from this morning:

More than 300 employees resigned, so Bonza wouldn't get a bailout. The TWU demands that Bonza pay workers' wages right away.
Australia's foreign minister said again that the country supports a two-state solution in the Middle East. During talks, she talked about Palestinian statehood with her German counterpart.
Australia's housing prices have gone up, and it doesn't matter where people live, how much money they make, or how old they are. A report says the problem is getting worse.

🗳️ HEADSTART

Albanese Expresses Concern Over Bail Decision in Assault Case

The prime minister is accused of covering up for a freed immigration detainee who allegedly assaulted a grandmother in Perth while he was out on bail.

The 43-year-old man who was freed from custody after a November ruling by the High Court was one of three individuals accused of assaulting Ninette Simmons and her husband Philip.

Anthony Albanese expressed concern over the prosecution's choice to not object to the detainee's bail after a reoffence had occurred. [Read more]

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🔥 HOT COPY

Press Freedom Threatened by Political Authorities: RSF

Politicians, who ought to be the guardians of press freedom, are the ones posing a threat to it globally. Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) most recent annual World Press Freedom Index makes this evident. Based on a global average fall of 7.6 points, the political indicator is the one that has decreased the most out of the five indicators used to create the ranking. [Read more]

🛒 MARKET EDGE

FY24 Profit Down 32% for Macquarie Group: Financial Year in Review

Macquarie Group (ASX: MQG; ADR: MQBKY) reported a nett profit after tax attributable to ordinary shareholders of $A3,522 million for the year ended 31 March 2024 (FY24), representing a 32% decrease compared to the previous year (FY23) ended on 31 March 2023.

The profit for the half year ended 31 March 2024 (2H24) showed a significant increase of 49% compared to the previous half year ended 30 September 2023 (1H24). However, it experienced a decline of 27% when compared to the half year ended 31 March 2023 (2H23). [ Read more]

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🌎 World Tonight

China's ambitious space programme could take a significant step forward with the launch of an unmanned lunar mission on Friday that aims to return samples from the moon's far side for the first time. [CNN]
In a fresh indication of progress in efforts by international mediators to work out an agreement between Israel and the militant group to end the war in Gaza, Hamas announced on Thursday that it was sending a delegation to Egypt for additional cease-fire talks. [AP]
Globally, there is a rise in political attacks on journalists, as per Reporters Without Borders' annual World Press Freedom Index. [BBC]

🏅VIEWPOINT

Killing journalists cannot kill the truth

by Peter Greste, Macquarie University in Sydney

If we criminalise, dismiss, or sideline journalism that tells inconvenient truths, we will destroy our capacity for sensible public debate.

As I write, the grim count of journalists killed in Gaza since last October has reached 97. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) puts the number slightly higher at 108.

In the first 50 days of the conflict, journalists were being killed at a rate of roughly one per day, making Gaza indisputably the most dangerous conflict for journalists since the Committee to Protect Journalists began keeping records in 1992. By the time you read this, the toll is likely to have climbed even further.

The dead include two Israeli journalists killed in Hamas’s initial attack on October 7 last year, and three Lebanese killed in an Israeli artillery strike in south Lebanon. But the vast majority – more than 90 – are Palestinians killed in Gaza itself. [ Read more]

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📰 Good News, Inspiring, Positive Stories

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