Morning everyone and welcome to the new look Morning Mail. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be delivering your morning updates in a revised format that we hope you’ll like. We wanted to make it look a bit snappier but without losing the basic content – pithy takes on the top news lines of the day, a flavour of our huge output of features, analysis and lifestyle writing, plus sport and a roundup of what the broader media are reporting on.
To complement our morning offering, we’re also launching today a new Afternoon Update newsletter of the day’s main headlines, curated by my colleague Antoun Issa – sign up here.
But now, the news. South Korea is in mourning after the deaths of more than 153 people – including one Australian – in a crush in a popular nightlife district of Seoul. A stunned silence hung over the city on Sunday as residents struggled to comprehend the horrific incident in which the victims were overwhelmingly young people out in huge numbers to take part in Halloween celebrations. In Australia, First Nation leaders have accused one of Queensland’s most senior police officers of being “condescending” in comments that could inflame tensions with the Indigenous community. And while more terrible weather is heading into the eastern states, the men’s cricketers hope it will stay away from Brisbane where they have to beat Ireland in the T20 World Cup tonight.
Australia
Queensland questions | First Nations leaders have accused Queensland’s second-most senior police officer of becoming angry and aggressive during a meeting, pointing his finger at a senior elder and saying “you people” don’t run the organisation. The claims against the deputy commissioner, Steve Gollschewski (pictured), add to concerns about relations between the Indigenous community and the state’s police force.
Digital ‘honeypot’ | Rights groups say the federal government should rule out requiring identification documents as part of any online age-verification system, warning it could create a “honeypot” of personal data and pornography-viewing habits that could be exploited by hackers.
Prison costs | Australia’s rising incarceration rates come with a rising cost to the country: $4.7bn a year. It would have been $2.6bn less if we’d stayed at 1985 levels of imprisonment.
Weather woes | Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia are on alert for severe winds and thunderstorms this week amid more wild weather.
Robodebt reckoning | Officials from key government departments embroiled in the robodebt scandal will give evidence when a royal commission begins.
World
Seoul crush | An Australian was among the 153 people who died after a stampede during Halloween celebrations in a popular nightlife area of the capital Seoul on Saturday. The president has promised an inquiry into the disaster as stunned residents of the capital turned out to mourn the victims. “How could this happen?” asked one.
Bridge tragedy | At least 81 people are dead after a pedestrian bridge over a river in the western Indian state of Gujarat collapsed. The 230m, cable-stayed bridge had recently reopened after a renovation.
Pelosi attack | Democrats have issued dire warnings of potential fatalities in the wake of a hammer attack on the husband of the house speaker, Nancy Pelosi. “Somebody is going to die,” Debbie Dingell, a congresswoman, said.
Brazil decides | Brazilians have begun voting in a momentous presidential election in which the leftist challenger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva hopes to unseat the controversial rightwing populist Jair Bolsonaro.
Chad kidnapping | A conservationist with dual French and Australian citizenship, Jérôme Hugonnot, has been released after being kidnapped in north-eastern Chad.
Twitter trolls | Twitter has been hit by a coordinated trolling campaign in the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover, a senior executive said, with more than 50,000 tweets from 300 accounts bombarding the platform with hateful content.
Full Story
The rise of Europe’s far-right parties
Why are far-right parties becoming more influential in European politics? Jon Henley reports on the rise of Brothers of Italy led by Giorgia Meloni (pictured) and the Sweden Democrats.
In-depth
Research suggests Australia could meet close to 100% of electricity demand – 98.9% over a 61-week period – from solar and wind, alongside existing hydro power and battery storage. Achieving it would mean big investment in the transmission grid, but our environment editor, Adam Morton, argues that this and other evidence shows that we don’t need to go nuclear.
Not the news
Learning new skills is good for us – but it can be hard and can often lead to anxiety, especially at work. In this fascinating piece, a pyschologist maps out four steps to success and explains how she encouraged a woman struggling with a new job to take up sewing to help her cope with her new challenges.
The world of sport
Cricket | Australia face Ireland in a must-win match in the T20 World Cup in Brisbane tonight, while South Africa top the Super 12 after beating India in Perth last night thanks partly to a howler by Virat Kohli (pictured).
Football | Arsenal hammered Nottingham Forest 5-0 to return to the top of the Premier League, and Manchester United scraped past West Ham 1-0.
Swimming | Katie Ledecky, the American 10-time Olympic medallist, has knocked 10 seconds off the 1500m world record at the Fina Swimming World Cup in Toronto.
Media roundup
Many websites and papers carry news of the death of an Australian in the Seoul Halloween party stampede on Saturday with the ABC reporting that one witness said the huge crowds were “out of control”. The Australian has a poll saying that half of voters think they will be worse off in 12 months’ time, while the Age and Sydney Morning Herald have an investigation into how women are being trafficked for sex “like cattle” around the country. The Adelaide Advertiser says Naplan results for the state are “dire” and in Queensland the Courier Mail says poor results “shame” the state. NT News says a study of wastewater shows that the territory “tops nation for boozing”.
What’s happening today
Naplan news | The Naplan results are being published today and look likely to prompt a lot of news and reaction across the country.
Dinosaur dash | Animal rights activists will dress in dinosaur costumes and run through the streets of Melbourne today to protest against the Melbourne Cup, which takes place on Tuesday.
Robodebt hearings | The royal commission into the Robodebt scandal begins in Canberra.
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