Good Afternoon. Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta
, has set itself on a collision course with the Albanese government after announcing it will stop paying Australian publishers for news, and plans to shut down its news tab in Australia and the United States.
Meta informed publishers on Friday that it would not enter new deals when the current contracts expire this year.
The news tab – a dedicated tab for news in the bookmarks section of Facebook – will also shut down in April, after a similar shut down in the UK, Germany and France last year.
Meta confirmed the plans in a blog post at the same time publishers were informed.
- Victorian Labor senator Linda White dies | The former lawyer and trade unionist died on Thursday night after health issues forced her to take leave from Senate duties in February. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese,
described her as a “beloved friend, valued colleague, dedicated parliamentarian and devout supporter of working Australians”.
- Young Matildas player Grace Wilson comes out as non-binary | The Adelaide United goalkeeper has become the first
professional footballer in Australia to come out as non-binary. “The girls were lovely about it and I got a hug from every player. As soon as I said it, cheers, and applause – it was this lovely thing,” they said.
- Peter Dutton doubles down on immigration attacks | The Coalition has doubled down on its question time
attacks on the government over the charge of a person released from immigration detention – despite Victoria police now conceding they got the wrong man and will withdraw charges
. On Friday the opposition leader, Peter Dutton
, argued he was entitled to rely on an earlier Victoria police statement and media reports, as Labor went on the counterattack accusing the Coalition of a “grubby political scare campaign”.
- Albanese and Dutton make final pitches in tight Dunkley byelection | As the race to win Saturday’s byelection turned to a sprint
, the two leaders descended on Frankston to make their final pitches to voters on Friday – though neither would admit that its political importance goes well beyond Melbourne’s south-eastern fringe.
- Four Victorian teenagers arrested over alleged firebombings and burglary | The teenagers, aged between 14 and 16, will be questioned over
an aggravated burglary in Wonga Park, along with an attempted arson attack at a Mill Park restaurant and the torching of a tobacconist in Ballarat.
- Tour operators and island managers ordered to pay White Island volcano eruption survivors NZ$10m | A New Zealand
court has ordered the tour booking agents and managers
of an island where a volcanic eruption killed 22 people to pay survivors more than NZ$10m ($6.1m) and fined them around NZ$2.6m. Tour operators White Island Tours, Volcanic Air Safaris, Kahu New Zealand and Aerius, along with the corporate owner of the island, Whakaari Management Ltd, were found to have not sufficiently ensured the safety
of visitors to the island, court filings showed.
- Steve Coogan and makers of The Lost King sued by academic | A former deputy registrar of the University of Leicester is suing the makers
of the 2022 film The Lost King, claiming it presented him as “dismissive, patronising and misogynistic”. Richard Taylor was played by Lee Ingleby in the film, which is about the discovery of the remains of Richard III
in a car park in Leicester in 2012, more than 500 years after his death.
- Dozens killed in fire in Bangladesh’s capital | At least 43 people have been killed and dozens injured
after a fire blazed through a seven-storey building in an upmarket neighbourhood in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. Fire department official Mohammad Shihab said the blaze originated in a popular biriani restaurant and quickly spread to the upper floors, trapping scores of people.
- Haiti’s capital paralysed by gunfire | Heavy gunfire paralysed
Haiti’s capital on Thursday as a powerful gang leader warned he would try to capture the country’s police chief and government ministers. The move came during the absence of the prime minister, Ariel Henry, who is in Kenya trying to finalize details for the deployment of a foreign armed force to Haiti to help combat gangs.
*This is an excerpt from today's Afternoon Update newsletter. Sign up here to get the full version delivered to your inbox every weekday
.
