World
Australia appoints special envoy to combat anti-Semitism
Jillian Segal will serve a three-year term and report directly to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Australia has appointed a special envoy to combat anti-Semitism amid concerns that the war in Gaza is fuelling community tensions.
Jillian Segal, a Jewish lawyer and business leader, will engage with Jewish Australians, the wider Australian public, religious discrimination experts and the government on ways to tackle anti-Jewish sentiment, the Australian government said in a statement on Tuesday.
Segal will serve a three-year term and report directly to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Andrew Giles.
Albanese said there is “no place” for violence or hatred in Australia.
“Australians are deeply concerned about this conflict, and many are hurting. In times like this, Australians must come together, not be torn apart,” Albanese said.
“We have built our nation’s social cohesion together over generations, and this is why we all must work together to uphold, defend and preserve it.”
Albanese said that his government would also soon announce a special envoy for combating Islamophobia.
In one of her first tasks in her new role, Segal will attend the World Jewish Congress in Argentina next week to discuss anti-Semitism with other envoys from around the world.
Segal on Tuesday warned that anti-Semitism has become “normalised,” citing data from Australia’s peak Jewish body that showed a 700 percent rise in reported hate incidents in the months after Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel and the start of Israel’s war in Gaza.
“The Jewish community in Australia is experiencing valid feelings of fear in the face of increasing anti-Semitism,” Segal said.
“Jewish Australians want to feel free to live their day-to-day lives, and also want to feel safe to practise and express their religion without fear. They also want to be able to contribute as they have previously to the vibrant multicultural society that we value in Australia.”
Like other countries, Australia has witnessed heated protests over the war in Gaza, and both the Jewish and Muslim communities have reported a sharp uptick in instances of hate.
More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
More than 1,130 people were killed in Hamas’s October 7 attacks, according to Israeli authorities.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which Segal led until last year, welcomed the appointment of the new envoy to carry out “vital work for the betterment of Australian society”.
However, the Jewish Council of Australia, which has strongly criticised Israel’s actions in Gaza, expressed concern about Segal’s track record “of lobbying for Israel, opposing voices that support Palestinian human rights, and painting all Jews as supportive of Israel’s actions”.
“By appointing a pro-war voice to this position the government risks breeding division, increasing Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism, and ultimately making Jews less safe,” the council said in a statement.
new video loaded: Moscow Tanker Blast Most Likely Russian Missile, Video Shows
By James McManagan, Paul Sonne, Malachy Browne and Jackeline Luna
June 19, 2026
World
Man charged with attempted murder, released after allegedly forcing toddler into crocodile enclosure at zoo
Man FORCES child into crocodile enclosure
A British man has been arrested after allegedly forcing a 3-year-old boy into a crocodile enclosure at a zoo. The child suffered critical injuries, and authorities say the suspect did not know the boy as the investigation continues.
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A man was released from custody on Friday after he was charged with attempted murder for allegedly forcing a 3-year-old boy into a crocodile enclosure at a zoo.
Cambridgeshire police said that the man, who remains unidentified, wasn’t fit to be interviewed.
The boy suffered critical injuries in the incident at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a farm and zoo in Huntingdon, England, north of London.
The 30-year-old man will remain on bail until Sept. 30, pending further inquiries.
GEORGIA MOM’S WALMART TRIP DEVOLVES INTO ‘TUG-OF-WARRING’ IN DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO SAVE HER SON
A crocodile rests inside an enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a farm and zoo in Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire, Britain, on April 14, 2026. (Dorota Dee Trajdos/Reuters)
“The man, who is not known to the victim, was assessed as not being fit for interview,” police said in a statement.
The boy is in stable condition, after reportedly suffering a broken arm and pelvis.
He was saved from the crocodile by Tracey Johnson, the wife of the zoo’s owner.
MOTHER JUMPS INTO WATER TO SAVE 4-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER WHO FELL BETWEEN CRUISE SHIP AND DOCK
“I know Tracey very well and she’s a lovely lady and it’s nothing more than I’d expect from her,” a local told BBC News. “She’d always put her own life at risk to save someone else. She’s an extraordinary lady and very brave.
The villager added that Johnson put herself in “immense danger” during the rescue.
The owners said their tropical house would remain closed until further notice.
Crocodiles rest inside an enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst farm and zoo in Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire, Britain, on April 14, 2026. (Dorota Dee Trajdos/Reuters)
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the boy and his family following the incident that occurred today,” the owners wrote on social media.
Johnsons of Old Hurst is a farm and zoo north of London in Huntingdon, England. (Google Maps)
Huntingdonshire district councillor Charlotte Lowe said she couldn’t “fathom how it’s happened because they’ve got all the right protection and safety equipment, for want of a better word, in there,” The Guardian reported.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Cambridgeshire Constabulary for comment.
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US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his comments on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, saying she asked him “over and over” for a photo when the pair met at the G7 summit in France earlier this week.
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Following the summit, Trump told an Italian journalist that he “felt sorry for Meloni” after she “begged me to take a picture with her”.
Meloni hit back in a video posted to social media, branding Trump’s claims as “completely made up” and insisting that neither she nor Italy begs anyone for anything.
The once close pair’s relationship has grown increasingly fractious in recent months, particularly since Rome refused to provide the US support for its operations in Iran and after Meloni defended Pope Leo XIV, who was criticised by the Trump administration over his remarks on the war and the US’s immigration policies.
“Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Saturday. “She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon”.
“Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her “numbers up.” No thanks!!!” Trump added.
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