Morning everyone. Labor’s resolve to force the big tech companies to enforce its proposed ban on under-16s’ use of social media will be tested after the Silicon Valley heavyweights pushed back against the legislation.
Plus, there are hopes for a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, and prosecutors have dropped election interference charges and the classified documents case against Donald Trump as he continues his preparations to take power in the US.
Australia
Shark catch | The biggest great white shark ever caught in Queensland’s shark control program died while pregnant with four pups, the state government said.
Social media | The Australian government should delay passing legislation banning under-16s from social media until a trial of age-assurance technology is completed, Google and Meta have said.
Exclusive | The former independent watchdog on Australia’s national security laws has accused his successor of bowing to pressure from the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, in publishing a “clarification” to an old annual report that had criticised Dreyfus.
Medical breach | A doctor in Victoria has admitted she breached the medical board’s code of conduct by asking her patients for $150,000 so she could start a prescription vaping clinic for teenagers and write a book, among other things.
Checks and balances | The Greens’ acquiescence to the government’s housing bill was a lesson in realpolitik, according to our Canberra analysis this morning, and shows the party’s difficult balancing act.
World
Tourists missing | Seventeen people, including a number of Britons, are missing after a tourist boat on a diving trip capsized in the Red Sea.
Ceasefire hopes | Israel’s security cabinet is due to meet on Tuesday, local time, to decide on a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon after more than a year of fighting between Israeli forces and the Shia militia Hezbollah, according to reports from the region.
US | Special counsel prosecutors have dismissed the two federal criminal cases against Donald Trump – over Trump’s retention of classified documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Meanwhile Trump’s pick as defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, attacked several key US alliances, allied countries and international institutions. Follow developments in Washington live.
Pakistan protests | Pakistan’s capital was placed under lockdown as the government shut down the internet, blocked highways and brought in thousands of police and paramilitaries in an attempt to prevent supporters of the former prime minister Imran Khan protesting in Islamabad.
Take shelter | Germany is drawing up a list of bunkers that could provide emergency shelter for civilians, the interior ministry has said, as tensions with Russia mount. In Ukraine, boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko has called out US podcaster Joe Rogan for “repeating Russian propaganda”.
A writer of substance | Barbara Taylor Bradford, the bestselling author of novels including A Woman of Substance, has died aged 91.
Full Story
The suspected methanol poisonings in Laos
Adeshola Ore tells Reged Ahmad what we know about what happened in Vang Vieng and why the parents of the teenagers who died hope their deaths are “not in vain”.
In-depth
Campaigners against domestic violence say systems run by MyGov, the ATO and Centrelink enable perpetrators to financially abuse survivors. Kate Lyons speaks to a woman who found herself being hounded by an abusive ex due to an administrative error. “It forces me, even though I’m meant to have escaped him and shouldn’t have to even think about him … to focus on him and navigate him,” she says. “I can’t even get on with my life.”
Not the news
Pop sensation Hatsune Miku appears up on stage and the crowd goes wild. Only this scene at the John Cain Arena in Melbourne is not quite all it seems. This J-pop star is actually an avatar created by the ominous-sounding Crypton Future Media. Nick Buckley joined the throng to find out more.
Sport
Cricket | Australia succumbed to an inevitable defeat to India in Perth yesterday and will have to reflect on how they surrendered a strong position on day one to lose by 295 runs.
A-League Men | A schism is emerging between men’s professional players and the Australian Professional Leagues as concerns mount over the direction of the A-League Men, despite positive signs in the first month of the season.
T20 | The men in the baggy greens might feel a bit better when they see that Ivory Coast recorded the lowest ever T20 total when they were dismissed for just seven against Nigeria.
Media roundup
The Adelaide Advertiser is running a campaign called “Let them be kids” in which it says parents want MPs to back the government’s social media ban on under-16s. A man has drowned in a swimming hole in the Royal National Park amid scorching weather, the Telegraph reports. The Courier Mail says Brisbane deserves a world-class sports stadium as a review of plans for the 2032 Olympics prepares to deliver.
What’s happening today
Canberra | Michael Sukkar and Max Chandler-Mather debate the housing crisis at the National Press Club.
Sydney | National anti-racism framework launch by Australian Human Rights Commission outside Parramatta town hall.
Foreign affairs | The Czech president, Petr Pavel, to deliver the 2024 Lowy lecture.
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
