Good afternoon. Israel’s prime minister has vowed to retaliate after Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Jerusalem and other cities. The unprecedented salvo of more than 180 ballistic missiles, most of which were intercepted, came less than 24 hours after Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the largest ground incursion of southern Lebanon in a generation. The Lebanese prime minister said “about 1 million” people – about one-fifth of the country’s population – have been displaced so far. Meanwhile in Gaza, local media reported at least nine Palestinians were killed and 20 injured in an Israeli air strike on a school that was housing displaced people.
In Sydney, police have cited crowd size and “the recent addition of over a dozen planter boxes” in a push to ban pro-Palestine rallies planned for this weekend. The letter to organisers did not mention the potential presence of images such as the Hezbollah flag, which a 19-year-old woman has been charged with displaying at last weekend’s protest. A spokesperson for the Palestine Action Group said raising the planter boxes was an “obvious red herring” and the move to ban the rallies was “a political attack on our right to protest”.
The protests also spurred a new round of character attacks between Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton, with the prime minister deriding the opposition leader for taking “a macho stance” on policy issues and suggesting Dutton believed politics was “all about testosterone”.
Top news
VP nominees go head to head | Tim Walz and JD Vance took to the stage for a vice-presidential debate that revealed key differences on abortion, school shootings and immigration. In what could be the last big policy discussion before the US election, Vance refused to say whether Donald Trump lost in 2020 or whether he would certify a Trump loss. Read our panel’s take on who won.
Trump reprises reality TV character in speech | At a rally in Wisconsin, the Republican nominee told supporters Kamala Harris “wouldn’t have won The Apprentice”. Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers made a last-ditch effort to keep key January 6 case evidence hidden before the election.
Fire ant bait opponents facing legal sting | Queensland property owners who refuse to comply with mandatory treatment for fire ants could face the full force of the law, as police were enlisted to enable eradication officers access to properties held by “a small number” of obstructive landholders.
Post-Bledisloe incident | New Zealand is seeking approval from Australia to waive diplomatic immunity after the partner of a diplomat was allegedly involved in a late-night fight after the Wallabies’ loss to the All Blacks in Wellington.
Crypto millions seized | Almost $10m in cryptocurrency has been seized by Australian federal police from a man accused of creating and maintaining a secret communications app and network known as “Ghost”, which was used to plan drug deals and murders.
Moira Deeming v John Pesutto defamation trial | A senior Victorian Liberal secretly recorded a pivotal meeting over the political future of Moira Deeming as “insurance”, as he felt betrayed by the MP’s actions after a rally she helped organised was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis, a court has heard.
New Caledonia election postponed | France’s new prime minister, Michel Barnier, has announced that a provincial election scheduled for December in the French Pacific territory has been postponed for a year, amid violent unrest between communities loyal to Paris and pro-independence Indigenous Kanaks.
Concerns in India over high-pressure corporate jobs | According to recent labour data, India now has one of the most overworked labour forces in the world. The death of a young chartered accountant has highlighted a work culture of overworked employees and bullying bosses.
Taiwan braces for Typhoon Krathon | Authorities have grounded flights and closed schools, offices and financial markets as the typhoon approached the main island’s south-west. More than 38,000 troops have been placed on standby and more than 1,000 people evacuated from some mountain areas.
In pictures
Faded and fraying but with a near-‘purr-fect’ record: the 30-year-old banner behind Panthers’ dynasty
The white is now a beige, the yellow colour has run and the sewing is starting to fray. But the Panthers’ lucky charm will fly again this weekend. Thirty-three years after Frank Neumann and his wife Ann made the “Purr-fect Panthers” banner, the much-loved sign will attend its sixth grand final this Sunday.
What they said …
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“When newsrooms don’t take the anti-racist path, they risk damaging the community and ultimately reducing trust in media organisations.”
The findings from a review into racism at the ABC highlight a glaring reality, Australia’s race discrimination commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman, writes: the public broadcaster, which should be holding power to account, is failing to adequately address a power imbalance of its own.
In numbers
Most Australians are confused about what to do with their unwanted clothes, leading about a third to throw their closet clutter in the rubbish, according to the first national survey of clothing use and disposal habits. The survey’s lead author said the results revealed consumers were confused about how to responsibly discard clothing.
Before bed read
The ultimate gambler? How Denise Coates became Britain’s richest woman
She is the mastermind behind Bet365, the company that made it possible to gamble online any hour of the day or night. With a family fortune of £7.5bn, she pays her taxes and donates to charity. But is there a wider human cost to her huge success?
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: CARN. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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