Morning, everyone. When a Rohingya man sought asylum in 2012 it began a long legal saga that has now come to a head. Our exclusive lead story looks at how the case of the man known by the acronym NZYQ could result in dozens of people being released from Australia’s detention system because there is no prospect of them being deported. We’re also reporting that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, knocked back a ceasefire-for-hostages deal, why Barnaby Joyce and other conservatives enjoyed a paid trip to London, and when wellbeing goes bad.
Australia
Telco roaming | Telcos could be forced by the government to allow customers to roam rival networks in the event of outages, in line with a similar contingency introduced in Canada. For people living with disabilities, the Optus outage posed a risk to their lives.
Exclusive | Lawyers for refugees held indefinitely in Australia’s detention system are asking the Albanese government to set their clients free after Wednesday’s landmark high court ruling. They also warned that ministers could face compensation claims if they don’t immediately release people who it is not possible to deport.
Hate spike | Islamophobic and antisemitic incidents in Australia have risen substantially since Hamas’s terror attacks on Israel on 7 October and the subsequent Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to a monitoring group.
London calling | Conservative politicians, including Barnaby Joyce, were among those gifted fully funded trips to attend the conference in London of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, led by the controversial psychologist Jordan Peterson.
‘Wellbeing’ goes bad | The NSW government has dumped a $2m scheme that was surveying the “wellbeing” of voters after discovering it had asked thousands of residents if they thought immigrants were taking Australians’ jobs and causing overcrowding.
World
Braverman on the brink | Suella Braverman’s future as UK home secretary appears to be in doubt after an incendiary article in which she accused the Met police of bias over the planned pro-Palestinian march in London this weekend. It’s not the first time this daughter of African-Indian immigrants – named after the Dallas character Sue Ellen – has stoked controversy.
Ceasefire ‘rejected’ | Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a deal for a five-day ceasefire with Palestinian militant groups in Gaza in return for the release of some of the hostages held in the territory, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. In the West Bank, nine Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli daytime raid. Follow our live coverage here.
Wagner reboot | The Kremlin is moving to absorb former Wagner soldiers into Russia’s military structures as it seeks battle-tested fighters for its war in Ukraine – with the son of the mercenary group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, playing a prominent role.
‘Catastrophic’ consequences | AI could cause a financial crisis with “catastrophic” consequences, according to the historian Yuval Noah Harari, who says the technology’s sophistication makes forecasting its dangers difficult.
Pharrell bagged | Musician Pharrell Williams has been criticised for sporting a Louis Vuitton Millionaire Speedy bag made of crocodile leather which reportedly sells to select clientele for US$1m.
Full Story
Newsroom edition: why we shouldn’t switch off the news
At a time when the news is incredibly grim, it can be easy to switch off – but should we? Jane Lee speaks to Guardian Australia’s editor-in-chief, Lenore Taylor, and national news editor, Patrick Keneally, about how they tackle news fatigue.
In-depth
Canada’s wildfires are finally dampening down after an unprecedented year in which an area of 18.5m hectares went up in flames – twice that destroyed in Australia’s black summer fires. But the consequences of what one expert now refers to as a new geological era – the “pyrocene” – could be devastating, with the risk that emissions released by the incineration of the forests and the peat beneath amounts to a “carbon timebomb” unleashed on the world.
Not the news
Victor Liong honed his culinary skills in western and eastern styles in Sydney before tapping into his Malaysian-Chinese heritage when establishing his renowned restaurant Lee Ho Fook in Melbourne. “It was a little bit less technical and little bit more playful,” he says. Part of that heritage is roti as a breakfast dish and today he shares his recipe for rolled spring onion pancakes that can be eaten like a burrito, or sliced and shared with friends.
The world of sport
AFL | The great and good of the game will gather at the MCG today for the state funeral of the game’s on-field and off-field legend Ron Barassi.
Football | Liverpool are in action in the Europa League in Toulouse this morning buoyed by the good news that the the father of striker Luis Díaz has been released by kidnappers in Colombia.
Cricket | New Zealand have thrashed Sri Lanka at the World Cup to all but confirm their place in the semi-finals but Afghanistan will miss out despite being the breakout team of the tournament.
Media roundup
Attempts by Optus to manage outage fallout is creating a crisis worse than the initial one, according to the Age. Canberrans are being urged to be cautious as an eighth Covid wave looks set to spread through the capital, the Canberra Times reports. A Wollongong surgeon has told the Illawarra Mercury that the region could be the “skin cancer capital” of Australia. An aerial image of a new housing development on the Sunshine Coast has gone viral amid concerns that it shows how the “Aussie way of life” is being lost in suburbs, with houses too close together, the Courier-Mail says.
What’s happening today
Adelaide | The UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese will hold a press conference about Gaza.
Economy | The Reserve Bank will release its quarterly statement on monetary policy.
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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.
