Chapter 1: What are the latest headlines discussed in this episode?
a listener production. Hi, Natasha Belling with you and welcome to the afternoon edition of The Briefing. Coming up in our deep dive, what is Hantavirus? After the deaths of three people on a cruise off the North African coast, we explain what the virus is, ask how it's transmitted and should we be concerned? But first, let's check the afternoon headlines this Wednesday, the 6th of May.
Police are investigating a man who was wearing a T-shirt with a Nazi swastika outside the Royal Commission into anti-Semitism and social cohesion. The man claimed he was unaware he was next to the Royal Commission and said he had business in town. He was moved on by police and since 2022, it's been illegal in New South Wales to knowingly display a Nazi symbol.
It comes as people from the Jewish community continue to give evidence at the Royal Commission, including teenagers recalling their experiences of anti-Semitism in school and on excursions. Three child protection officers have lost their jobs over their handling of the case of five-year-old Kumanjai little baby who was allegedly murdered in Alice Springs last week.
The Northern Territory Minister for Children, Robin Cahill, has flagged a full-scale investigation after allegations there had been six recent reports about the little girl's living conditions.
Chapter 2: What is hantavirus and why is it in the news now?
News.com is reporting the minister had reached out to the department after Kumunjai Little Baby's death, asking if there were any concerns. She says, quote, they told her there was nothing to see here. Upon further investigation, the minister claims she then learned, quote, there was a lot to see.
13 so-called ISIS brides and children will return to Australia tomorrow night after the group booked flights from Syria. There are reports there are four women and nine children in the group. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke says there are legal limits on what the government can do to prevent citizens from returning to their home, but had these strong words.
The government is not repatriating and will not repatriate. The government is not assisting repatriation. and will not assist these individuals. They made an appalling, disgraceful decision. If any of these individuals find their way back to Australia, If they have committed crimes, they can expect to face the full force of the law without exception.
In the same news conference, the AFP Commissioner Chrissie Barrett also confirmed that some of the people landing in Australia would face legal consequences immediately.
Some individuals will be arrested and charged. Some will face continued investigations when they arrive in Australia. And children who return in the cohort... will be asked to undergo community integration programs, therapeutic support and countering violent extremism programs.
Meantime, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made another pre-budget announcement, this time dedicating $10 billion towards establishing a permanent and government-owned stockpile of fuel. That stockpile would hold 1 billion litres of fuel.
This is the biggest oil crisis... that the world has ever seen with an impact in every country, but in particular in our region because of the connections between the supply of fuel through the Gulf to refineries in Asia. So this is having a major impact on inflation right around the world. and therefore we are not complacent.
The PM's latest announcement came after another National Cabinet meeting on the ongoing fuel crisis. Donald Trump has paused Project Freedom, saying he wants to see whether or not a peace agreement with Iran can be reached. It comes just days after the US president announced the plan where the US military guided ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
That decision saw tensions increase in the strait, with Iran shooting missiles at the United Arab Emirates and the US military sinking some Iranian vessels. And there's a new story about the Pope in the news, and this time it has nothing to do with Donald Trump.
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Chapter 3: What should we know about the return of ISIS brides to Australia?
And the early risk assessment that it's suggesting, because the human to human transmission is not as quick or rapid as COVID or influenza, and what we also know that not many other people on the cruise ship are experiencing those symptoms, the risk of broader spread right now is low. That doesn't mean that it can't change over time.
And this is where a coordinated response under the new international health regulations becomes really useful and important. But at the moment, from what information we have, there's lots of unknowns. We're still learning about what's happening. What are the different causes? What type of virus? Because as I said at the start, Hantavirus is a group of viruses.
We're still learning what type of virus it might be, where it originated. Did people get infected before boarding the ship or on the ship? As I understand, the cruise ship also has stopped at many places where they've had exposures to wildlife as well. So there's a lot of unknowns and we really need to understand what's happening. So understandably, people are very... Curious.
People are concerned. Should they be worried? Are we going to see travel restrictions? Are we going to see lockdowns? But all of that at the moment, the risk of global spread at the moment is low.
Do we know that these people have died from Hantavirus or they could have had other complications? There could have been previous medical conditions?
So what we're seeing at the moment is that people have had this severe respiratory infection. So hantavirus typically presents as respiratory infection, and it has two main forms of the disease that it progresses into. And they seem to be very different in different parts of the world.
So typically in the Americas region, as we say, so the North American and the South American region together, we tend to see what's called the more pulmonary syndrome. So it's more to do with the lungs. Whereas in Europe and Asia, we tend to see more of the hemorrhagic fever that attacks your kidneys and it's more systemic fever, et cetera. So there's very different presentation.
And while the infection overall is rare globally, We don't see that many cases. Over the years, we've seen probably less than 1,000 cases in the America's region over the years as well. But the challenge is that it's high fatality. Essentially, the percentage or the mortality rate, as we say, can be quite high.
So in the America's region where it's pulmonary syndrome, we can, you know, about 50%, almost up to 30% to 50% of the people who contract the infection can die. And In the other parts, about 1% to 15%. Again, because we don't see a lot of these cases, these are largely estimates of what we've seen so far.
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Chapter 4: What legal actions can be taken against returning ISIS brides?
And that's it for this episode of the afternoon edition of The Briefing. We'll be back in your feed tomorrow morning with a deep dive on critical minerals. What are they and does Australia have enough? We'd love you to subscribe or follow us on Instagram at The Briefing Podcast. I'm Natasha Belling. Thanks for your company.