Welcome, readers, to the Afternoon Update.
A 7.3-magnitude earthquake has struck 30km west of Vanuatu’s capital of Port Vila, sparking a tsunami warning that was subsequently lifted. While at this stage there are no reports of injuries or deaths, images on social media suggest damage to buildings – including foreign embassies – in the capital.
Top news
Queensland braces for more flash flooding as Sydney swelters and Victoria battles bushfires
Victoria will legislate to ‘thwart’ protests at places of worship while banning masks and flags
Potential payouts for up to 300,000 Australian Facebook users in Cambridge Analytica settlement
Former Nine CEO Hugh Marks named new managing director of the ABC
‘You legend, that’s mad’: year 12 students euphoric after coming first in HSC subjects
Three dead including female suspect, 15, after US Christian school shooting
Filipino death row prisoner to return home after 15 years in Indonesian jail
In pictures
Hundreds are feared dead after Cyclone Chido battered the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, with officials warning it will take days to know the full toll.
What they said …
***
“If everyone who was angry was ready to kill the CEOs, the CEOs would already be dead.”
After reportedly being mentioned in the manifesto of suspected killer Luigi Mangione, Michael Moore has responded. The Oscar-winning documentarian, whose 2007 film Sicko examined the US health insurance system, said that the outpouring of anger at the industry is “1000% justified” but that, yes, he “condemns murder”.
In numbers
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency released the figures from the weekend. The deaths are the first reported since North Korea sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the almost three-year war.
Before bed read
“It is probably wrong to touch, even gently, a sea anemone,” writes Guardian journalist Helen Sullivan. But even at 35, she finds it “difficult to resist” in this tantalising read.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: BUCK. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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