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.

Discussed articles include:

Join us in Jerusalem for a live pre-elections event in which you set the agenda

Lapid assails Australia for dropping recognition of Jerusalem; ambassador summoned

Australia officially drops recognition of West Jerusalem as Israeli capital

Netanyahu refuses to get onstage at holiday event until Ben Gvir steps down – report

Israeli needle-free alternative to amnio can detect thousands of mutations

Doctors scramble to avert possible epidural shortage in Israel as stock dwindles

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IMAGE: In this image taken from video, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks during a press conference, October 18, 2022, in Canberra, Australia (Australia Pool via AP)

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