Daily Briefing Oct. 18: Rug pulled out from under Australia's recognition of capital

Political reporter Tal Schneider on Lapid’s response to Canberra’s shift in Jerusalem policy and campaign publicity stunts; health reporter Nathan Jeffay on new prenatal testing

Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

Political correspondent Tal Schneider and health reporter Nathan Jeffay join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in today’s episode.

This morning, Australia said it would no longer recognize West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, reversing a 2018 decision by the previous conservative government. Schneider gives background.

Yesterday, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to step onto a stage during a Simchat Torah event in Kfar Chabad until far-right MK Itamar Ben Gvir stepped down so as to avoid being photographed with the number two on the Religious Zionism-Otzma Yehudit faction list, a member of Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc. What’s going on here?

Israeli scientists are holding trials on an even newer method of screening for fetuses and say it could provide all the information received from an amniocentesis without the risks. How is this different from the NIPT screening already on the market?

Relatedly, there are rumors running around Israeli social media that the country’s hospitals are running out of the medicines used in epidurals. Jeffay updates us.