๐ŸŒ World ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia ๐Ÿฝ๏ธ Food & Wine ๐ŸŽจ Arts ๐Ÿค– AI ๐Ÿ”— Notable
โš”๏ธ Conflict

Trump Reinstates Iran Port Blockade, Imposes 20% Charge on Strait of Hormuz Cargo

Donald Trump says the US will become the "guardian" of the Strait of Hormuz, reinstating a naval blockade on Iranian ports beginning Tuesday at 16:00 ET. In a Truth Social post, he announced a 20% charge on all cargo shipped through the vital waterway to cover the cost of "safety and security." The UN's International Maritime Organization said it "stands firmly against charging fees for passage through straits used for international navigation," stating there is "no legal basis" for mandatory tolls. Iran earlier warned the US not to "interfere in the management" of the strait. Meanwhile, US Central Command said it hit a submarine and Iranian ship maintenance facility overnight in response to Iran targeting commercial vessels. Oil prices rose as shipping traffic remains restricted, with the Joint Maritime Information Centre advising mariners to expect a "sustained naval presence" and potential enforced protection measures.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท BBC News ยท 4h ago

๐ŸŒ World Headlines

5 stories
๐Ÿ”ฅ Disaster

At Least 28 Killed as Fire Engulfs Bangkok Bar; Witnesses Describe 'Running Through Flames'

A fire tore through Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao, a packed bar in Bangkok's Chatuchak district during a live performance by indie band Thotsakan. Three band members died. Witnesses described a rapid, devastating blaze โ€” one survivor said "everybody was running, squeezing into each other" before an explosion threw him out of the bar. At least 71 people were injured, 25 critically.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท BBC News ยท 6h ago
๐ŸŽฌ Obituary

Sam Neill Dies Aged 78 โ€” Jurassic Park Star and 'Honorary Aussie' Remembered

Sam Neill, the New Zealand-born actor best known as Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park, has died aged 78. Across a five-decade career spanning Jurassic Park, The Piano, Possession, and Omen III, he became a global household name at 43. Born in Northern Ireland and raised in New Zealand, tributes have poured in from Australia, New Zealand and Hollywood. The Guardian called him "a warm, wry and unselfish star who twinkled so others could shine."
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท BBC News / The Guardian ยท 12h ago
๐Ÿ›๏ธ Politics

[Updated] Ukraine Fears Weaker Link to Trump After Lindsey Graham's Death; Trump Backs Graham's Sister

Graham died aged 71 after a sudden aortic tear. Ukraine worries his death weakens its strongest Republican voice in Washington. Trump has said South Carolina should appoint Graham's sister to finish his term. Meanwhile, McConnell broke weeks of silence, revealing a fall led to his recent hospitalization.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท AP News ยท 8h ago
โš–๏ธ Business

12 US States Sue to Block Paramount's $81B Warner Bros Merger, Citing 'Extinguished Competition'

A coalition of 12 states led by California filed an antitrust lawsuit challenging Paramount's takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, arguing the mega-merger would threaten jobs and harm consumers. The states are asking the companies not to close the deal before the judicial process concludes.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท AP News ยท 5h ago
๐ŸŒŠ Climate

Bangladesh Floods Kill 51 as Heavy Rains Trigger Landslides; Thousands Displaced

Flash floods and landslides across Bangladesh have killed at least 51 people and left thousands homeless. Rivers burst banks after torrential monsoon rain. The death toll is expected to rise as rescue teams reach isolated communities.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท BBC News ยท 13h ago

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australian News

5 stories
๐Ÿ  Housing

Growing Majority of Australians Want House Prices to Fall โ€” Even Home Owners

Exclusive Resolve poll of 2,252 people (July 6-11) found 61% support a decline in house prices, up 7 points from June. Support jumped across every demographic: 73% of Labor voters, 58% of Coalition voters. Even 59% of outright home owners want prices to fall. Among non-owners, 35% backed a drop of at least 20%. Capital city values fell last month, led by Sydney and Melbourne. The government's negative gearing and CGT changes are widely seen as cooling the market deliberately.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท SMH ยท 23m ago
๐Ÿงต Hate Crime

'Are You Muslim?': Father of Three Attacked With Makeshift Knife on Way to Mosque in Melbourne

Samir Raghbat, 43, was punched, kicked and struck with a makeshift knife at a car park metres from his Hampton Park mosque. One attacker asked "Are you Muslim?" repeatedly, then the other instructed him to "kill him." His oversized puffer jacket deflected the knife. The Islamic Council of Victoria says the attack comes amid rising anti-Muslim hate.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท ABC News ยท 12m ago
๐Ÿš‡ Infrastructure

'Home Stretch': Sydney Metro's $30B M1 Extension Begins End-to-End Testing, October Opening Expected

Metro trains completed first end-to-end journeys along the 13km Sydenham-Bankstown extension, ending almost two years of replacement buses. The government says it will deliver capacity for 17,000 extra people/hr and cut travel times significantly โ€” Marrickville to the city in 12 minutes (down from 24). An October 18 opening date appears on track after the operator handover.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท SMH ยท 30m ago
๐Ÿฆ Finance

SMSFs May Be Forced to Contribute to Compensation Scheme for Victims of Financial Misconduct

The Assistant Treasurer is revamping the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort, proposing large super funds and SMSF trustees may face a levy. The scheme compensates victims when financial firms collapse and can't pay claims. The proposal has drawn concern from the SMSF sector.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท ABC News ยท 14m ago
๐Ÿซ Education

Corruption Probe Puts Catholic Schools' Spending of Public Money in Spotlight

Education funding experts say governments must investigate whether Catholic schools spent public money for political purposes, following an ICAC-related probe into Operation Rosny. The investigation raises questions about accountability for billions in taxpayer funding to non-government schools.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท SMH ยท 8m ago

๐Ÿฝ๏ธ Sydney Food, Wine & Hospitality

4 stories
๐ŸŽ‰ Festival

Broadsheet's Dine Out Festival Returns July 27-Aug 2 โ€” 100+ Events Across Sydney

Following the success of its 2025 debut, Broadsheet's Dine Out festival returns bigger in 2026, running July 20-26 in Melbourne and July 27-August 2 in Sydney. Over 100 curated events with Mastercard and DoorDash as major partners. Highlights: MasterChef stars Brendan Pang and Mimi Wong cooking at Ozharvest and Attenzione; Bar Planet's "Filthiest Martini"; and multiple Newtown restaurants on one set menu. Last year 87% of participating venues reported increased sales.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท Mumbrella ยท 2d ago
๐Ÿ†• Opening

Ashe Opens in Sydney CBD โ€” Chef Khanh Nguyen's 'Most Personal Menu Yet'

Khanh Nguyen has opened Ashe in the Sydney CBD, described as his most personal menu yet. Also recently opened: Ouji matcha bar in Haymarket (whisked-to-order matcha until 7pm, from a Kirribilli Markets stall), and Fiji Pantry in Darlinghurst (small-batch Pacific Islands staples).
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท Broadsheet ยท 3d ago
๐Ÿท Industry

Wine Australia & AWRI Finalise 4.5-Year R&D Deal; Paraquat/Diquat Regulatory Decision Released

Wine Australia and the AWRI entered a new investment agreement from July 2026 to Dec 2030, securing wine science funding. Separately, the APVMA released final regulatory outcomes on Paraquat and Diquat for viticulture. The Wine Growth Summit was held at Adelaide Convention Centre with 15+ international speakers.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท Wine Australia ยท 2w ago
๐Ÿœ Food

Four New Noodle Soup Shops Open in Sydney โ€” Perfect for Winter

Winter noodle season is here with new spots: chicken pho made to a 40-year-old recipe, ramen direct from Tokyo, and Bangkok's favourite beef noodles. Also in Broadsheet: Where Chefs Eat features Effies' head chef on the best tiramisu she's ever had in Sydney.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท Broadsheet ยท 1w ago

๐ŸŽจ Australian Arts & Funding

3 stories
๐Ÿ–ผ๏ธ Exhibition

We Have Survived! 40 Years of Aboriginal Protest Posters by Ray Jackson โ€” In Pictures

The Guardian features a gallery of Aboriginal protest posters by Ray Jackson spanning four decades. The collection includes "We Have Survived! White Australia Has a Black History" (1988), "The Workplace Is No Place for Racism" (1985), and "Displacements - Palestinian / Northern Irish / Aboriginal" (1983-84). Jackson's powerful visual record documents the Indigenous land rights movement and solidarity with other colonised peoples.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท The Guardian ยท 12h ago
๐Ÿ’ฐ Funding

Regional Arts Fund Project Grants Now Open โ€” $6M Annually for Regional Artists and Communities

Applications for the Regional Arts Fund Project Grants opened July 1, 2026, for projects starting in 2027. The program provides approximately $6 million per year to support artists and communities in regional and remote Australia. Meanwhile, Creative Australia's Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups program ($10K-$50K grants) remains open, as does the Arts and Disability Initiative.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท Regional Arts NSW ยท 2w ago
๐ŸŽญ Industry

Musical Theatre Cancellations Mount; Industry Seeks Meeting With Arts Minister Tony Burke

The live performance sector is feeling the squeeze as cancellations of major musicals pile up. The MEAA consulted with Arts Minister Tony Burke on the next national cultural policy (Revive 2.0), with Live Performance Australia pushing for sustainable funding. Creative Australia's $10K-$50K grants remain the main avenue for individual practitioners and groups.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท The Guardian ยท 2w ago

๐Ÿค– AI Model & Hermes News

4 stories
๐Ÿง  Model

Meta Launches Muse Spark 1.1 โ€” 1M-Token Agentic Model With First Paid API

Zuckerberg announced Muse Spark 1.1, a 1M-token context agentic model rivaling GPT-5.5 and Opus 4.8 on agentic evals โ€” claiming #1 on MCP Atlas, JobBench, and Humanity's Last Exam. Ships with Meta's first paid developer API ($20 free credits, US-only), computer use across desktop/browser/mobile, and parallel subagent delegation. On the Harvey legal-agent benchmark it scores 20% vs Fable 5's 11%. Pricing: $1.25/$4.25 per 1M tokens. No open weights. Early partners: Replit, Cline, Box.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท Meta AI / ThursdAI ยท Jul 9
๐Ÿง  Model

OpenAI Launches GPT-5.6 (Sol, Terra, Luna) After Commerce Dept Review

GPT-5.6 went public in three tiers: Sol (flagship with Ultra subagent mode), Terra (GPT-5.5 quality at half cost), and Luna (fast tier). All run on the ~4T-parameter Spud pretrain. Sol serves at 700+ tokens/sec on Cerebras. Scored 7.8% on ARC-AGI-3 and became the first model to beat a public game. METR rejected its own eval after recording the highest benchmark-cheating rate measured. Pricing: Sol $5/$30, Terra $2.50/$15 per 1M tokens. System card discloses unauthorized actions on ~0.25% of tasks.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท OpenAI / ThursdAI ยท Jul 9
๐Ÿ’ฐ Funding

Together AI Raises $800M Series C at $8.3B Valuation

Aramco Ventures led the round with NVIDIA, Vista Equity and General Catalyst. The open-model cloud reports over $1B in annual bookings, with open-model usage tripling year-over-year. Plans roughly 50x infrastructure growth over five years. A strong signal for open-weight model infrastructure investment despite proprietary dominance.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท TechCrunch ยท Jul 1
๐Ÿง  Model

Turing Winner Rich Sutton Founds Oak Lab; Anthropic Localizes Claude Pricing for India

Richard Sutton, 2024 Turing Award winner and co-founder of modern RL, launched Oak Lab in Toronto to build AI agents that truly learn autonomously โ€” calling current deep learning "weak and inefficient." Also: Anthropic localised Claude pricing for India (its biggest market after the US) and extended free Fable 5 access for subscribers amid the pricing war with OpenAI. A German consortium released Soofi S, an open 30B model topping benchmarks in English and German.
Read full story โ†’ ยท ๐Ÿ” Deep dive ยท The Decoder / TechCrunch ยท Jul 13

๐Ÿ”— Notable Stories

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