Morning everyone. Just hours after a trial began in New York, Dominion Voting Systems reached a settlement in its $1.6bn defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which was to have been a high-stakes battle over the network’s biased reporting of the 2020 election and its aftermath.
Meanwhile, back home, the drip-drip of stories about the federal budget are starting to intensify as the Albanese government seeks to square a lot of circles. Labor promised cheaper childcare and a revamp of aged care but today there are demands for a pay increase for workers in both sectors. Such are the challenges of office; we’re also looking at increasing pressure on student finances, along with the rise of Jacinta Price and the incredible survival tale of fishermen caught up in Cyclone Ilsa.
Australia
Student struggle | Students are being left with as little as $13 a day to live on as the youth allowance fails to keep pace with soaring rents, according to analysis from Homelessness Australia. We’re also looking at how Help or Hecs debts are ballooning thanks to inflation and how best to tackle paying them off.
Budget bargaining | The Albanese government is being urged to include a pay rise and increased rent assistance for all childcare and aged care workers in the budget as part of “specific and urgent” recommendations by the women’s economic equality taskforce. Meanwhile, ministers have been warned that the planned extra $4.8bn spend on aged care will still not be enough.
Shipwreck survivors | Eleven Indonesian fishermen have been rescued from a remote island off Western Australia after their vessel was destroyed by Cyclone Ilsa, but nine of their shipmates are feared dead.
Menindee question | Scientists have raised concerns about the accuracy of government water testing results from Menindee after a mass fish kill last month, with one saying if it were a first-year university assignment, he would fail them.
Insult decline | Chinese-Australians have continued to experience racist insults, but at a lower rate than when diplomatic tensions between Canberra and Beijing erupted in 2020, a new study has found.
World
Delaware D-day | The Dominion-Fox News libel case – artist’s sketch above – finally got under way in Delaware, but the opening statements were delayed, before it was revealed that the parties had agreed a US$787.5m settlement.
Battlelines drawn | The Kremlin has released footage claiming to show Vladimir Putin visiting frontline troops while Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has also visited the frontlines amid expectation of an imminent counteroffensive. And a Wagner mercenary has admitted “tossing grenades” at Ukrainian PoWs.
‘It’s complex’ | Boris Eldagsen, the German artist who returned a Sony award after revealing his photograph was produced using AI, has told us that AI is not a threat to humans – and could actually prove liberating.
Sudan ceasefire hope | Hopes are rising of a 24-hour ceasefire in the violence between rival political factions in Sudan as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies lamented the difficulty of getting help to millions trapped in their homes in Khartoum. We also look at who’s who in the conflict and have a visual guide to the hostilities.
‘Teeming with life’ | Scientists operating a submersible to depths of 600m have discovered pristine deep-sea coral reefs “teeming with life” such as pink octopus, batfish, and squat lobsters in the Galápagos marine reserve.
Full Story
The Pentagon leaks: how did US security files end up on Discord?
Earlier this year, hundreds of top secret Pentagon documents were posted on the social media platform Discord and an air national guardsman (pictured) was charged with two counts of espionage. Manisha Ganguly and Julian Borger report.
In-depth
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s meteoric rise from small-town deputy mayor to senator and central player in Australia’s first referendum in a generation has continued with her elevation into shadow cabinet after less than a year in federal parliament. Josh Butler looks at how the “Warlpiri-Celtic woman” got started in local Northern Territory politics, her taste for controversy and her huge Facebook following.
Not the news
News that Melbourne has become more populous than Sydney – on a statistical technicality – does not surprise Anna Spargo-Ryan, who offers insight into the personality of her “self-consciously needy” city and how it likes to gobble up everything in its path. But what if, one day, everything is Melbourne?
The world of sport
Cricket | The former Australian captain Mark Taylor says David Warner should be given two Tests to secure his spot on this winter’s Ashes tour, while suggesting Cameron Bancroft or Matt Renshaw should be the next openers in line.
Football | Chelsea faced Real Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final second leg.
Chess | China’s Ding Liren froze under time pressure and lost to Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi from a potentially winning position in the seventh game of the world championship overnight.
Media roundup
Karen Andrews, fresh from her resignation from shadow cabinet, tells the Age that the opposition must stop focusing on the voice to parliament and switch to cost-of-living issues. The Sydney Morning Herald says an alumni group from Sydney Boys high school has been caught up in an investment scheme that many now believe is a dud. Laws that will limit rent increases to just once a year have been rushed through Queensland’s parliament, the Courier Mail reports.
What’s happening today
Canberra | Meg O’Neill, the chief executive of Woodside Petroleum, will speak at the National Press Club.
EVs | The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is set to release its national electric vehicle strategy.
Melbourne | A public hearing into Australia’s tourism and international education sectors by the federal parliament’s foreign affairs, defence and trade committee will be held.
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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.
