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GuardianOct 6Preview

Israeli ambassador to Australia says he hopes for return to ‘traditional friendship’ on October 7 anniversary eve

Relations have soured between the two countries over a number of issues since 2023, but Hillel Newman says a ‘reset’ is possibleGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcastIsrael’s ambassador to Australia says the third anniversary of October 7 is an opportunity for both countries to return to “traditional friendship”.But, in the lead-up to commemorations on Wednesday marking Hamas’ terror attack, leaders of Australia’s Palestinian community say the federal government should do more to help the diaspora suffering since the war on Gaza.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s Politics, really newsletter here Continue reading...

Tess IkonomouIsrael-Gaza warPenny Wong

GuardianOct 6Preview

A medieval manuscript has confounded scholars for centuries. Have they been reading it wrong all this time?

Researchers argue incorrect binding of Voynich manuscript radically changes ideas about its drawings and indecipherable textIt has been called the world’s most mysterious manuscript: a medieval set of pages filled with botanical drawings, astronomical diagrams, pictures of nude women and indecipherable text. Claimed at various times to be a book in a lost language, a musical score, an instruction manual or just an elaborate hoax, the so-called Voynich manuscript’s true meaning has defied cryptographers and codebreakers for centuries.Now, new research offers an explanation for why a scholarly consensus over this enduring puzzle has been so hard to come by: not only because its truth is so profoundly mysterious – but because everyone has been reading its pages in the wrong order. Continue reading...

Philip Oltermann European culture editorCultureEurope

GuardianOct 5Preview

Sass Jordan, Canadian rock singer-songwriter, dies aged 65

Musician who had hit albums with Racine and Rats later became a judge on six seasons of Canadian IdolSass Jordan, the singer-songwriter who became a significant success in Canada’s rock scene in the 1990s before starring as a judge on Canadian Idol, has died aged 65.No cause of death has been given. A statement on social media said she died on 2 October “surrounded by her loving family … She remains in our hearts, an inimitable force of nature. An irreplaceable being of light and joy!” Continue reading...

Ben Beaumont-ThomasPop and rockMusic

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