Morning everyone. The fallout from the Israel-Hamas war will continue to reverberate through Australian politics today after a senior United Nations official urged the government to stop giving “leeway” to Israel. It will intensify the spotlight already trained brightly on the Albanese government by the opposition leader Peter Dutton amid heated scenes in parliament yesterday. Opinions about the conflict were also aired at the Aria music awards last night.
The other issue that the opposition is pushing on is the high court’s decision on indefinite immigration detention which resulted in the release of 81 people: we can reveal the government’s first step in tackling that. Plus there’s news of windfarms, whales and a misinformation mystery. And India has dispatched New Zealand at the cricket World Cup.
Australia
Aria winners | Troye Sivan (pictured) cleaned up at the Aria awards last night but his thunder was stolen by rapper Genesis Owusu who used his acceptance speech for best album of the year to shout “ceasefire now” and Free Palestine”.
‘Risk of genocide’ | Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur on Palestine, has told assistant foreign minister Tim Watt that Australia’s response to the Israeli assault on Gaza has been inadequate and that the government has a responsibility to use its influence to prevent what she called “atrocity crimes”.
Bridging the gap | Labor is to criminalise the breach of bridging visa conditions as the first plank of its legislative response to the high court’s decision that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful.
Antibiotic alarm | Overuse of antibiotics is driving common and potentially dangerous infections to become increasingly resistant to drugs, a major report finds today.
Porn problem | Teenagers may be getting so desensitised to porn that they are becoming less likely to recognise sexual harassment or intervene to prevent it, according to a study in Victoria.
World
Support slips | US public support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza is waning and most Americans think Tel Aviv should call a ceasefire, according to a new poll, as the country’s military continues its operation inside al-Shifa hospital. Turkey spearheaded international condemnation of Israel overnight, while a London gallery has delayed a show by the artist Ai Weiwei (pictured) after a tweet he made about the war.
Diplomatic moment | Joe Biden and Xi Jinping have just held their first face-to-face meeting in a year, in talks aimed at easing trans-Pacific tensions.
Cyprus vow | The president of Cyprus has vowed to respond to revelations that the island played a key role in enabling Russian oligarchs to shield assets after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Rwanda ruling | British prime minister Rishi Sunak is facing a fresh backlash from his party’s rightwing who want him to push for emergency legislation to overrule the supreme court’s decision declaring his Rwanda deportation plan illegal.
Lucky find | A 13th-century painting found in a kitchen and destined for the rubbish tip but later sold for €24m has been acquired by the Louvre after a ban on its exportation.
Full Story
How offshore windfarms became a lightning rod for misinformation
Amid alarming reports about whales being killed by offshore wind turbines, our environment editor Adam Morton discusses what the government’s plans are for the windfarms and how much of the debate has become wrapped up in misinformation.
In-depth
Huge bushfires have burned a significant amount of northern Australia in recent months. In fact, the overall affected area is larger than many countries, including Spain, due mainly to a higher-than-average fuel load built up over the recent wet La Niña years. Our data experts have taken Nasa hotspot imagery to show the staggering extent of the fires.
Not the news
With engineered stone kitchen benchtops soon to be phased out due to safety concerns, the search is on for the best replacement, writes Doosie Morris. The “industrial-chic noughties favourite” stainless steel is out of fashion but there is porcelain and Corian, another synthetic material, and of course wood.
The world of sport
Cricket | India are into the final of the World Cup after beating New Zealand by 70 runs in Mumbai thanks to another century from Virat Kohli and an incredible seven-wicket haul from Mohammed Shami (pictured). Earlier, India’s cricket board was accused of intervening in the choice of pitch at the Wankhede Stadium. South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen is taking inspiration from the country’s Rugby World Cup win as they prepare to face Australia today.
Commonwealth Games | Australia has three months to find a new host city for the 2026 event, the Games’ peak body has said, but talks are under way with other countries.
Football | Nestory Irankunda’s signing for Bayern Munich is the culmination of a remarkable journey from a refugee camp in Tanzania to the big time, via Adelaide.
Media roundup
Parents at a Catholic school in the Southern Highlands are up in arms amid plans to reduce teaching time to four days a week, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. A Chinese company has bought up one of Victoria’s best rural estates for $80m, according to the Australian. The Victorian government will take responsibility for litter and mowing in some inner-city Melbourne suburbs after Yarra council said it didn’t have the funds to do the work, the Age reports.
What’s happening today
Melbourne | Final report due for the inquiry into the rental and housing affordability crisis in Victoria.
New South Wales | State premier Chris Minns to headline the Bradfield Oration speaking on Future Sydney.
Canberra | Prime minister’s literary awards.
Sign up
If you would like to receive this Morning Mail update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here. And finish your day with a three-minute snapshot of the day’s main news. Sign up for our Afternoon Update newsletter here.
Prefer notifications? If you’re reading this in our app, just click here and tap “Get notifications” on the next screen for an instant alert when we publish every morning.
Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
