Barnaby’s bizarre live TV moment + Will Russia use nukes in Ukraine?

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (0:07)
Hey, Sacha Barbour Gatt with you. Welcome to The Briefing. Russia's latest strikes on Ukraine have highlighted yet another shift in Putin's war, as Kiev struggles to maintain its air defences, which have been tied up in the war between Iran and the US.
So now feels like a good time to ask, can either side win, and when might we see an end to this seemingly never-ending conflict?

**Malcolm David** (0:29)
The Russians are striking back, but they are increasingly facing the prospect that they're losing the war.
They're also facing the prospect that their economy is increasingly under strain. And so this is generating political implications for the survival, literal survival of Vladimir Putin.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (0:46)
That's coming up in the second half of this episode, but first it's time for the news headlines with Chris Spyrou on Tuesday, the 21st of July.

**Chris Spyrou** (0:56)
Morning Sach, Israel has issued a four-page complaint of a proposed labor position on Palestine and disputed land in the territory. The party's 50th National Conference starts on Thursday, and for context, this is when MPs, unions and rank-and-file members meet to thrash out labor's policy platform for the next three years. At this year's conference, a draft platform is being raised that would significantly expand the party's position on the status of Israel and Palestine. In part, it suggests a stronger opposition of illegal settlement activity in the West Bank, louder condemnation of settler violence, and recent laws approving the death penalty for Palestinians who murder Israelis. On top of these points, it also calls for Australia to back the ICJ and ICC, which has issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin and Yahu.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (1:45)
Yeah, so this draft proposal will be debated, and even if it is formally endorsed at the conference, it doesn't actually force the government to enact any specific policies. But what it does do is lay the groundwork for what Labor will take to the 2028 election. Now in response to this platform proposal, which Chris just ran through, Israel's embassy in Canberra has issued a four-page condemnation of the draft, saying the proposed platform does not put enough pressure on Palestinian officials and Hamas. The statement also describes settler violence as a quote, a reprehensible but marginal phenomenon, and that peace in the region can't be achieved when the international community puts pressure on only one side. Now it's worth noting it is extremely unusual for a foreign state to involve itself in something like the National Conference. Some say this further exposes the tensions that are currently happening between Israel and the Australian government. Now look, just to note on settler violence, we did deep dive a lot of what's happening in the West Bank around this on Monday yesterday.
We'll pop a link in the show notes, but it's just yesterday's if you want to jump back and have a listen. But I did have a look at the numbers for settler violence, just to see what Israel had put forward was accurate. There has been, according to Al Jazeera, a rise in settler violence and Save the Children has published numbers that say, there are over a thousand attacks that were reported in the first six months of this year, and that's up from 757 attacks during the first six months of 2025
Now, the Albanese government has also been consistent in condemning settler violence in the West Bank. It last month joined with other Western nations to call for imposing new sanctions on perpetrators as well.
So that's that position, but it's worth noting there will be lots of other things discussed at the national conference, which starts on Thursday, by the way, and finishes on Saturday. Among them, they're going to discuss platforms on AI, gambling and taxes, including one proposal to tax the rich at a higher rate in order to pay for things like JobSeeker. That's being put forward by the manufacturing union. That one's probably one of the more controversial policies. We know how contentious tax policy is. It has been laid bare for us this year with all the changes that were announced in the budget. So one to watch the national conference, and I think there'll be a lot to talk about out of it.

**Chris Spyrou** (4:06)
To Melbourne now, where an Australian woman accused of joining Islamic State in Syria is set to be released to the community after being granted bail. 34-year-old Rayyan El-Houli allegedly traveled to Syria with her husband and two children back in 2014 to live under IS rule. Her first two husbands were both IS members who were killed, and she later divorced a third husband having two more children while she was there in Syria.