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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Paul Gallagher

Morning Mail: legal bid to expose defence exports to Israel; MyGov ‘scam-in-a-box’ fraud; children killed as car hits beer garden

Israeli tanks deployed on the border with Gaza in southern Israel, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli tanks deployed on the border with Gaza in southern Israel, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas. Photograph: Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images

Good morning. As Israel’s assault on Gaza continues, Australia’s potential supply of arms and ammunition to Israeli forces faces scrutiny in a landmark legal bid being taken by Palestinian human rights groups. The groups claim that Israel may be using Australian technology in serious human rights abuses.

We also exclusively reveal that thousands of MyGov accounts are being suspended each month over concern they have been breached by criminal “scam-in-a-box” kits. Meanwhile, the Department of Home Affairs has been paying a US company for access to a controversial tool tracking the movement of smartphones.

Additionally, we have the latest on a tragic crash that left five dead in a Daylesford pub garden. And we preview the Melbourne’s upcoming 33rd queer film festival, as it continues to push boundaries.

Australia

Person using smartphone walking on pavement
Home Affairs acknowledges using technology from US intelligence company Babel Street but won’t discuss how it is used. Photograph: Jacob Lund/Alamy

World

A funeral in Haifa for an Israeli soldier killed in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip.
A funeral in Haifa for an Israeli soldier killed in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Shir Torem/Reuters

Full Story

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson
The speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, talks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington DC on Thursday. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

Speaker Johnson, Israel, government shutdown and Virginia

The new speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, faces the tough task of uniting a fractured Republican party and preventing a quick-approaching government shutdown. Jonathan Freedland and Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post discuss what we have learned about his approach to the job from his first week with the gavel.

In-depth

Conor Woodman: ‘Meth is so worryingly insidious in its modus operandi.’
Conor Woodman: ‘Meth is so worryingly insidious in its modus operandi.’ Photograph: The Age/Fairfax Media/Getty Images

From Myanmar to Brisbane, author and journalist Conor Woodman has tracked the supply of methamphetamine to Australia – following the drug from origin to end users, while also examining addiction and use and the policing and treatment of that use. He talks with us about his book Meth Road, a life-and-death investigation following the world’s most destructive narcotic to Australia.

Not the news

Melbourne Queer Film Festival director Cerise Howard at the Victorian Pride Centre in Melbourne.
Melbourne Queer Film Festival director Cerise Howard at the Victorian Pride Centre in Melbourne. Photograph: Nadir Kinani/The Guardian

The biggest and oldest queer film festival in Australia isn’t afraid to push modern boundaries – but there’s still much to learn from the movies of yesteryear. The theme of Melbourne’s 33rd queer film festival is “rewind to fast forward”, and opens in selected theatres on 9 November.

The world of sport

India’s Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli celebrate after taking the wicket of South Africa’s David Miller during their Cricket World Cup match.
India’s Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli celebrate after taking the wicket of South Africa’s David Miller during their Cricket World Cup match. Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images

Media roundup

Billions of dollars in infrastructure projects around the country are on the chopping block and more face years-long delays in an attempt to drive down inflation as borrowers brace for the Reserve Bank to lift interest rates again, reports the Sydney Morning Herald; Anthony Albanese’s approval ratings have fallen sharply in the wake of the referendum defeat and the decline in living standards, polling for the Australian has shown; complaints of alleged misconduct within the horse racing, greyhound racing and harness racing industries are up by 31% this year compared with the previous five-year average as cost-of-living pressures bite, reports the Age.

What’s happening today

  • Diplomacy | The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, continues his state visit to China.

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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.

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