Good morning. Hurricane Ian has hit the Florida coast, bringing winds up to 240 km/h. The British PM has been accused of going into hiding as the UK economy faces continued chaos, with the central bank forced to step in to protect pensions from collapse. And in Australia, the Greens are ramping up their demand for a national rent freeze as new figures show the average rent has gone up by $3,000 in one year.
Hurricane Ian, feared to be one of the most catastrophic storms to strike the US mainland, has crossed the coast of south-west Florida as a category 4 hurricane with the state’s governor pleading: “Pray for people.” Early reports said more than 7% of Floridians had lost power, with that number expected to climb. And there were eerie sights of sea-less beaches as the storm’s winds stripped water from the coast, expected to return in a dangerous surge.
High levels of pesticides used to grow blueberries are ending up in the water, causing a contamination crisis in Coffs Harbour. In the latest part of Guardian Australia’s “Toxic nation: Australia’s pesticide problem”, we examine the case of Hearnes Lake, a particularly important nursery for the abundant seafood of the region. Southern Cross University marine science professor Kirsten Benkendorff has found residues of neonicotinoids above the safe residue limits in prawn flesh and in the water. We’ve also compiled a guide on how to reduce your pesticide exposure.
Australians paid an extra $7.1bn in rent over the past 12 months, with the average renter spending $62 more a week than they did a year ago, or more than $3,000 a year. The figures are contained in research commissioned by the Greens from the parliamentary library as they ramp up their calls for a national rental freeze, saying the increase could instead have been kept in people’s pockets to provide cost of living relief.
The Bank of England has taken emergency action to calm turmoil in financial markets amid the collapse in the pound and the increase in government borrowing costs triggered by Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget. The bank said it was taking urgent steps to buy long-dated UK government bonds, beginning immediately in an attempt to stabilise the market. Amid the chaos, the prime minister, Liz Truss, has been accused of going into hiding as the markets spiral. And here’s how Britain’s trickle-down budget idiocy offers a clear lesson for Australia on our stage three tax cuts.
Australia
In the week since Optus announced it had been the subject of a massive data breach with as many as 10 million customer accounts exposed, solid information about what actually happened has been scarce. Here’s what we know so far. On Wednesday, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said Optus should pay for new passports for customers caught up in the data breach.
Taxpayers have forked out $110,000 for federal ministers’ legal bills in the last financial year, including $4,000 to defend Scott Morrison against a 2020 defamation claim.
One in five Australians are still undecided on whether to support a referendum to establish an Indigenous voice to parliament, and Linda Burney says the government has a “very sequential” plan to reach those people before they are asked to vote in late 2023.
The New South Wales government does not know whether about a fifth of last year’s teaching graduates are working in schools, amid widespread shortages and its push for pay rises for top-performing teachers.
The world
Norway’s prime minister has said its military will be more visible at oil and gas installations as politicians across Europe warned the suspected sabotaging of the two Nord Stream pipelines could herald a new stage of hybrid warfare.
An estimated 90,000 people have been displaced by violence in the highlands of Papua New Guinea since May, with about 25,000 children unable to attend school and reports of rape, kidnapping and other violence.
The body of the renowned US big-mountain skier Hilaree Nelson was found on Wednesday morning after she fell down a narrow 5,000ft slope during a trek in the Himalayas two days earlier.
Recommended reads
TV host and comedy writer Kirsten Drysdale has been going online since the dial-up days. The 10 funniest things she’s seen on the internet? Just for starters, there’s weird Twitter, weird politics and a wayward pigeon.
From “lazy sushi” to seaweed pasta, Hetty McKinnon has a crash course for the umami-averse in this collection of seaweed recipes.
Listen
The government has introduced the National Anti-Corruption Commission bill to parliament, revealing that the watchdog will have broad powers, but that “most” of the commission’s hearings will be in private. The privacy of these hearings has reignited concerns from crossbench MPs that Labor has watered down the bill to win support from the Coalition. In today’s Full Story, political reporter Paul Karp speaks to Laura Murphy-Oates about what the watchdog will look like.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Denmark will wear shirts at the World Cup that criticise the human rights record of host nation Qatar, with a black option unveiled to honour migrant workers who died during construction work for the tournament.
Media roundup
Childcare operators have written to the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, calling for an urgent “intervention” to fix red tape that is strangling the industry, the Daily Telegraph reports. And power company AGL is expected to close its coal-powered Loy Yang power station a decade earlier than planned, the Age says.
Coming up
The verdict in the case of economist Sean Turnell could be announced today following his secret trial in Myanmar.
ABS will release its Deaths in Australia 2021 statistics.
And if you’ve read this far …
Check out this incredible collection of signed photographs that are going up for auction including Neil Armstrong’s photo of Buzz Aldrin on the moon.
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Every Saturday at 6am, enjoy early access to the best journalism planned for the weekend in one elegant app, plus a curated selection of the week’s news and analysis from Australia and the world.
