Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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There are warnings from the UN that 800,000 people are at risk of flooding in Gaza as crucial aid is still not allowed into the devastated territory. An Australian minister accuses Reddit of trying to protect its profits after it launches a legal challenge against the country's landmark social media ban for under-16s.
Also in this podcast... We believe this has happened in recent decades, potentially up to the past 200 or so years, but it is happening relatively quickly and it's very exciting for us. We hear how changes in polar bear DNA could help protect the Arctic animals from climate change.
At least 12 people have been reported dead or missing as a result of a severe winter storm that has caused widespread flooding in Gaza. The Hamas authorities also say more than a dozen buildings have collapsed and tens of thousands of tents sheltering displaced families have been inundated.
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Chapter 2: What are the current flooding conditions in Gaza?
She was in a house. She was in hiding. She had to get moved from there to a BLS, a pickup spot for a boat. And a boat took her from Venezuela right off the coast to a bigger boat. That's the boat that I was on in very rough seas, five to 10 foot waves, which is very, very rough seas, especially for these kinds of small boats in pitch black darkness, rendezvoused at sea.
And we transferred Maria from one boat to the next and then drove her very far. If our boat sunk, we were much closer to Venezuela than any other country from perspective. We were right off the coast. The journey was not fun. It was cold.
Chapter 3: What legal challenges is Reddit facing in Australia?
It was very wet. We were all soaked. These things are complex. It's not Uber. It's not, I will go to the beach and get on the boat and then it will meet me and then it will go and it will be okay. It's not that at all. These things are very dangerous. They're very scary. There are people trying to kill her, people trying to kill us. This is dangerous stuff.
There's the land domain, the air domain, and the maritime domain. The maritime domain is the most dangerous domain that anyone works in. If I'm driving a boat and I blow an engine, I am swimming to Venezuela, where we came from, and they'll kill us. Bad, right? So we use that to our advantage. got her onto land and then from there got her to an airplane and she flew.
So in total it had a land element, two boats and then further land element before flying to Norway. You mentioned obviously her high profile. There's been some reporting that there were disguises involved. Was there a need to conceal her identity to protect her during this journey?
I don't want to get into specific things that we did because we have other work that needs to happen. It's fair to say that lots of different things were done to mask Her physical signature, meaning her face is the big one, and also her digital signature as well. There's a fingerprint that we all have, digital.
Chapter 4: What recent discoveries have scientists made about polar bear DNA?
And one of the things that's never covered in press is the biometric threat, right? When you go through customs at Heathrow, right, you just look at the camera. The biometric threat is so real. The Venezuelan intelligence service is extremely sophisticated. Venezuelan has Russian radar. Venezuela has all the very sophisticated things that a normal sovereign country can have.
Venezuela is a very wealthy country. Maduro has driven it off a cliff, but that doesn't mean that they don't have resources. They have F-16s. They have a Navy. They have a Coast Guard. They have coastal defense.
Chapter 5: What has been the impact of the severe winter storm in Gaza?
Biometrics being one of the bigger threats that is very hard to defeat.
Brian Stern, who organised the operation to smuggle the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado out of the country. Australia's social media ban for under-16s introduced this week is being closely watched by other countries to see how effective it is in protecting children from harmful content. If this trailblazing measure works, many could follow suit.
Under the ban, tech companies that fail to stop young Australian users accessing their platforms face fines of millions of dollars. Two teenagers have already challenged the ban in Australia's highest court. Now, the online discussion site Reddit has also filed a lawsuit saying the legislation has serious implications for privacy and political rights.
But the health minister, Mark Butler, says his government is determined to protect children and to stand up to big tech.
Let's be clear, that shouldn't come as no surprise. Across our history, when our governments have taken strong action to protect citizens against highly addictive, highly damaging products, they've usually been challenged in the courts by the companies that profit most from them. But the idea that this is some action by Reddit to protect the political freedoms of young people is a complete crock.
Our correspondent in Sydney, Katie Watson, told me more about Reddit's arguments for overturning this ban. Reddit says that the law has some serious privacy and political expression issues, and that's why it's wanting to file an application to the High Court. It says there's more effective ways for the Australian government to accomplish our shared goal of protecting youth.
It also goes on to say that the law is being applied to Reddit inaccurately. They argue they're a forum primarily for adults. They don't have the traditional social media features that the government has taken issue with. It's never marketed to young people, but wants also to make clear that they're complying with the law. It's not to attempt to avoid compliance. That it will still do.
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Chapter 6: How are the Israeli restrictions affecting aid in Gaza?
It's also not wanting to win over young users for business reasons. All it wants to do is put its perspective as to why it thinks, and I quote, the law is missing the mark on actually protecting young people online. And does it explain or go into detail about what these more efficient ways of ensuring the online safety of young people are, in its opinion?
Well, it says that there are more targeted privacy preserving measures. So, for example, age assurance at the app level. And that's something other platforms have mentioned. They think that would be easier for consumers, which would also include parents. It would also protect user privacy rather than having to kind of verify ages on every single different platform.
So, I mean, it's kind of putting suggestions. But I think, you know, the overall view is very much an echoed by the platforms is this blanket approach. is something that's just not as efficient as something that's more targeted. And it's not the first High Court challenge, is it? There's also been a case brought by two teenagers. That's right, yeah.
Back in November, two teenagers who are backed by the Digital Freedom Project, the main person behind that is a libertarian MP. They are arguing that it's unconstitutional, that it goes against their right to private communication. So there's two high court challenges now. I don't think any of this comes as a surprise to the government.
When I spoke to the communications minister last week, she said very clearly that they wouldn't be intimidated by big tech companies. They would fight people with ulterior motives, as Annika Wells, the communications minister, put it. So they're very clear that those who support this ban are wanting to make sure that if it's taken to high court, that they will absolutely put their perspective.
And let's just remember, this is a law that passed easily last year. It had bipartisan support. Katie Watson. Melting sea ice and hotter temperatures have reduced the number of polar bears in the wild. But now there's a glimmer of hope for this threatened species. Changes in polar bear DNA that could help the Arctic animals adapt to warmer climates have been detected.
The scientists from the University of East Anglia in England looked at polar bears living in southeast Greenland. It's thought to be the first time a statistically significant link has been found between rising temperatures and changing DNA in a wild mammal species. The lead researcher, Dr Alice Godden, told us more.
What we've actually found is changes in how a small part of the polar bear DNA called jumping genes is being affected by that climate change. And these jumping genes are small mobile parts of our DNA. It's in humans and every animal system. And they can copy and paste and move around the genome, inserting randomly.
creating mutations that we believe are hopefully helping these polar bears to adapt to some of these harsher climates. This is a fast change. Yes, we believe this has happened in recent decades, potentially up to the past 200 or so years, but it is happening relatively quickly and it's very exciting for us.
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