Good morning. Early voting in the federal election opens today. If you’re unable to get to the polls on 21 May, you can now cast your vote at one of the 500 voting centres across the country. Here’s everything you need to know.
Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese bickered over electricity prices, national security and a federal integrity commission in a very messy leaders’ debate, described as “a genuine shit blizzard”. There was no clear winner for the second debate of the election campaign, with Channel Nine’s “viewer verdict” initially naming Morrison the winner, then Albanese, before the result came in at a 50-50 tie. “Unless you crave a bit of biff, or a bout of freestyle jelly wrestling, I’m confident the dialogue between Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese would have been completely incomprehensible for any voter looking for information ahead of the opening of pre-poll voting on Monday,” writes Katharine Murphy.
Sixty people are feared to have been killed after a village school in eastern Ukraine took a direct hit in a Russian air raid, with rescue attempts said by the regional governor to be impossible due to constant shelling. It comes hours after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with G7 leaders overnight to discuss the war in Ukraine and new measures to punish Moscow, including sanctions from the US. The G7 group said Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has brought shame on Russia and the sacrifices its people made to defeat Nazi Germany in the second world war, marking the 77th anniversary of the end of the global conflict.
High-achieving students who want to become teachers will be given at least $10,000 a year to study education under a Labor plan to improve teacher quality. It’s part of a package that will aim to double the number of high achievers studying to become teachers over the next decade, from about 1,800 to 3,600 a year. Meanwhile, attack ads targeting Labor are being published without any authorisation or party attribution on the Chinese-language social networking platform WeChat, raising concerns that misinformation could be circulating without oversight.
Australia
An Australian soldier alleged by three newspapers to have participated with Ben Roberts-Smith in the “joint criminal enterprise” of murdering an Afghan villager named Ali Jan is set to appear in the federal court this week as a witness for Roberts-Smith in his defamation action against the newspapers. Person 11 is expected to deny all wrongdoing, and to back Roberts-Smith’s account that the man killed in Darwan – purported to be Ali Jan – was an enemy spotter legitimately killed, as the court has heard in previous evidence.
Melbourne boxer Khalid Baker, who spent 13 years in prison after being convicted of murder, is launching a new appeal, arguing that a co-accused who was acquitted was responsible for the death and has confirmed he was not involved.
The days of frenzied auction bidding in Australia’s housing market may be numbered with the recent interest rate hike and a slowing market.
Heavy rain over large swathes of Queensland this week could spark flash flooding, with the same wet weather system bringing less intense but prolonged showers to Sydney for up to five days.
Australians are being urged to back an Indigenous voice to parliament in the new History is Calling campaign, which is calling to legally enshrine First Nations people in the constitution via a referendum as an urgent election issue.
The world
The UK’s Democratic Unionist party is seeking an urgent meeting with Boris Johnson to warn him it will stall power-sharing at Stormont until Christmas if the Northern Ireland protocol is not modified.
Cities across northern Colombia have been shut down by the feared Gulf Clan drug cartel, which has blocked roads and held residents hostages in their homes, in retaliation for the extradition to the United States of its former leader, Dairo Antonio Úsuga.
A British scientist has accused lawyers in the US of misusing his groundbreaking work on the brain to justify the dismantling of Roe v Wade. Giandomenico Iannetti has angrily denied that his research suggested foetuses can feel pain before 24 weeks.
Recommended reads
Akuch Kuol Anyieth always had in the back of her mind that she would write the story of her life and that of her family and friends. She wanted to record an honest account of refugee life and resettlement in Australia. Her family would cry as she read each draft chapter to them, but she knew her task was important; a form of advocacy for greater understanding of the mental illness suffered by traumatised refugees who have been through war.
What do you do with books you don’t want any more? There doesn’t seem to be one easy answer, writes James Colley. “At some point, I crossed the line from reader to hoarder and I need to go back … I know I’m never going back to finish them ... But coming to terms with this psychologically is only part of the battle. There’s now a bigger and much more practical question: what do you do with books you don’t want any more?”
Requests for no-talking haircuts are becoming so common that some salons even provide pre-treatment questionnaires about the practice. Hairdresser Ash Boughton runs AB Colour in Sydney and says that because of the pandemic, “the need for calmer experiences has become essential”. “Some people just don’t want conversation. It’s really their time to zen out,” she says.
Listen.
A leaked draft opinion lays out the US supreme court’s plans to overturn Roe v Wade – the critical decision that has enshrined abortion rights in the country for nearly 50 years. It is something abortion activists have long feared – and will have lasting repercussions for all Americans, reports Jessica Glenza in today’s Full Story.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Last year there was a very real chance Dustin Martin was lost to AFL, but on Saturday he was back with a bang, writes Jonathan Horn. “As always, he didn’t exactly present like a man whose knees were knocking. As always, there was a certain insouciance, a hint of menace. He looked like he’d spent the last month squatting and scowling.”
Former Opals captain Jenna O’Hea has spoken about the incident which prompted Liz Cambage’s messy exit from the national program, alleging unconfirmed claims the star told her Nigerian rivals to “go back to your third-world country” are true.
Media roundup
Concerns of a dirty tricks campaign targeting “teal” independents has prompted the Australian Electoral Commission to bring in its electoral integrity assurance taskforce after the widespread defacing of corflutes that falsely linked candidates to other parties, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. China intends to build wharves, shipyards and submarine cables in the Solomon Islands, raising concerns the developments could be used by the Chinese military, reports the Australian.
Coming up
Pre-polling booths open across the country. Online Naplan testing begins this week. In NSW, a series of coronial inquests and inquiries are being heard into the 2019-202 bushfire season.
And if you’ve read this far …
A painting by Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis, which was traded for a grilled cheese sandwhich, could fetch C$35,000 at auction.
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