Welcome, readers, to the Afternoon Update.
More than 10,000 workers have taken to the streets around Australia in protest against the federal takeover of the CFMEU, with one sacked branch leader announcing a high court challenge to the laws “as a matter of urgency”.
Michael Ravbar, one of 21 Queensland leaders sacked in order to make way for an administrator, confirmed he would be the applicant for the case. “This is going to be the biggest challenge and the biggest fight that we’ve ever had,” Ravbar told the Brisbane crowd “but we’re all up for it”.
Leaders from other blue-collar unions spoke at rallies in several cities and federal Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather also spoke at the Brisbane rally, accusing the Labor government of “attacking” the CFMEU “on untested allegations”.
The action comes days after the union was placed into administration by the federal attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, amid allegations of links to organised crime and corruption in the construction arm.
Top news
Government seeks to cap new international student enrolments at 270,000 | The education minister, Jason Clare, revealed the details of the proposed national planning level, which would mean some universities will increase their enrolments while others will be pared back.
Calls for urgent action over deadly synthetic opioid | Health leaders fear New South Wales is underprepared for an imminent overdose crisis due to the rapid emergence of nitazenes, a synthetic opioid up to 500 times stronger than heroin that can require just two milligrams to be fatal.
Peter Dutton dismisses Labor’s ‘divisive’ tag as a smokescreen | The opposition leader has dismissed the treasurer and prime minister labelling him “divisive”, saying he believed the comments were really about leadership unrest inside the government.
Anti-Walz website trolls Trump supporters | The group behind the “Never Walz” campaign did not secure a website domain for the slogan, leaving it available for someone else to buy and use. The website now criticises former president Donald Trump and redirects viewers to the Harris campaign website.
Chinese military plane violates Japanese airspace | Japan has condemned an unprecedented violation of its airspace by a Chinese military aircraft amid repeated maritime provocations by Chinese vessels in an escalation of regional tensions.
Russia targets energy sector in huge attack on Ukraine | Power cuts and water outages were reported in numerous parts of the country, including in some districts of Kyiv, after 127 missiles and 109 drones targeted mainly civilian energy infrastructure.
Mariah Carey announces death of mother and sister on same day | Details surrounding the death of Carey’s mother, Patricia, and sister, Alison, were not immediately available. Carey detailed her complicated relationship with her mother and her sister in her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey.
Carlton coach makes citizen’s arrest | Michael Voss made a citizen’s arrest after seeing an alleged car thief try to flee in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn. Victoria police said a 16-year-old boy was arrested after he tried to run from the Mercedes, which crashed at about 9am on Tuesday.
Martin Shkreli ordered to turn over unreleased Wu-Tang Clan album | A Brooklyn judge wrote that Shkreli must produce all copies of what is sometimes referred to as the world’s rarest album, and report the names of anyone he distributed the music to.
In video
Does community sport and free-to-air TV in Australia need gambling ads to survive?
Despite a 2023 bipartisan inquiry recommending the phase-out of all advertising for online gambling services in Australia, the Albanese government appears to be opting towards a partial prohibition. The gambling lobby – and the TV stations that benefit from this ad revenue – are on the defensive, and the same talking points are being repeated over and over.
Guardian Australia’s Matilda Boseley takes a look at the top three anti-gambling ad ban arguments to see if they stack up.
What they said …
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“A crisis entirely of humanity’s making.”
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, urged the world to “look to the Pacific and listen to the science” on Tuesday as he released two new reports on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum, the region’s most important annual political gathering. The region is in “grave danger” from rising sea levels, he said, and the world must “answer the SOS before it is too late”.
In numbers
A surge in profits for Coles, reported today, threatens to draw Australia’s second-largest chain back into the public limelight as cost-of-living pressures become a central political issue for the next federal election.
Before bed read
‘The Sydney Metro is like a futuristic movie where everything is beautiful and peaceful’
“I was only in this new world an hour or so,” writes Melanie Tait, “but I want to live there now. I don’t want to take the normie train ever again.”
You can see more pictures of the newly opened commuter network here.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: TROP. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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