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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Martin Farrer

Morning Mail: police referral in crypto scheme, Australian link to Iran drone research, Prabowo ahead in Indonesia vote

Potential fraud linked to the HyperVerse crypto investment scheme was highlighted by Asic in 2020.
Potential fraud linked to the HyperVerse crypto investment scheme was highlighted by Asic in 2020. Composite: Guardian design/Getty images

Morning everyone. The trail of the US$1.89bn HyperVerse scheme takes another twist today with our top story revealing that Australia’s corporate watchdog referred information to Victoria police over concerns about “possible fraud offences” in 2020 but no action was taken. Another exclusive story shows that Australian academics collaborated on drone research with an Iranian university now blacklisted for links to the country’s military. Overseas, former general Prabowo Subianto looks set to win power in Indonesia, and Nikki Haley has stepped up her attacks on “unhinged” Donald Trump.

Australia

Workers inspect damaged transmission towers at Anakie in Victoria, Australia February 14, 2024. Hundreds of thousands of residents across Australia’s Victoria state remained without power on Wednesday after wild weather knocked down transmission lines and sparked bushfires that injured five firefighters. AAP Image/Con Chronis via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. NEW ZEALAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN NEW ZEALAND. AUSTRALIA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN AUSTRALIA
  • ‘Weatherproof’ grid | Victoria’s energy minister will push for a national approach to weatherproof the electricity grid after a deadly storm left hundreds of thousands across the state without power.

  • ‘Ponzi’ investigation | When the corporate watchdog referred information about the alleged “Ponzi scheme” known as HyperVerse to Victoria police, Asic believed that the matter was under active consideration. However, nearly two years later, the police passed it back – by which time many Australians were out of pocket.

  • Exclusive | Academics in the UK, Australia and the US collaborated on research related to drone technology with an Iranian university that is under international financial sanctions and known for its close ties to the military.

  • ‘Sleaze’ crackdown | Independent senator Lidia Thorpe says parliament has waited too long for a workplace enforcement body, and has called for “sleazy” politicians to be excluded from sitting weeks and fined for bad behaviour.

  • ‘End the climate wars’ | Environmentalists have implored Queensland’s opposition party to “end the climate wars” by backing the government’s carbon emissions reduction target.

World

US-VOTE-POLITICS-ELECTIONS-HALEYUS Republican presidential hopeful and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign event at Summerville Country Club on February 13, 2024 in Summerville, South Carolina. (Photo by Allison Joyce / AFP) (Photo by ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)
  • Haley attack | Donald Trump is “unhinged” and “diminished”, said Nikki Haley, the former president’s last rival for the Republican presidential nomination. Separately, Trump has written a Valentine’s Day message to his wife, Melania, which doubles as a fundraising message to his supporters.

  • Indonesia frontrunner | The Indonesian defence minister, Prabowo Subianto, a former general dogged by allegations of human rights abuses dating back to the Suharto dictatorship, is on course to win the country’s presidential race.

  • Amazon threat | A study published in the journal Nature today finds that, by the middle of the century, 10% to 47% of Amazonian forests will be threatened by a combination of impacts including global warming, changing rainfall, longer dry seasons, deforestation and fires.

  • Gaza talks | Negotiations involving several countries on a Gaza ceasefire deal have entered a second day in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, as mediators struggle to make progress in the face of a threatened Israeli offensive on Rafah.

  • Black Sea strike | Ukraine claims to have severely damaged and sunk a Russian landing ship in its latest drone attack against Moscow’s Black Sea fleet.

Full Story

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton arrives for question time in the House of Representatives Chamber of Parliament House, Canberra this afternoon. Wednesday 14th February 2024. Photograph by Mike Bowers. Guardian Australia.

Why Peter Dutton doesn’t want the right to disconnect

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, says the right to disconnect laws passed this week will damage productivity. Paul Karp explains what the legislation means for you and why it is shaping up to be an election battle.

In-depth

Fair Day cancelled due to concerns over asbestos-tainted mulchepa11150983 A person walks past an asbestos sign that is displayed at Victoria Park, where bonded asbestos was found in mulch, in Sydney, Australia, 14 February 2024. Fair Day, the rampant rainbow extravaganza headlining the first weekend of Sydney Mardi Gras, has been cancelled due to concerns over asbestos-tainted mulch. EPA/DAN HIMBRECHTS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

The New South Wales environment watchdog raised concerns about mulch manufactured last year that it could not inspect. Meanwhile, the scandal over mulch contaminated with asbestos turning up in parks around Sydney continues to grow. Our explainer reveals that there are no specific requirements to test mulch for contaminants and the Greens now want a root and branch overhaul of the regulations to prevent a repeat.

Not the news

Food Court, performed by Back to Back in Melbourne in 2021.

An independent Australian theatre company from regional Victoria has been awarded the prestigious Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement in theatre by the Venice Biennale. Geelong’s Back to Back Theatre, pictured, which draws its ensemble cast from neurodivergent and disabled communities, is the first Australian company or individual that has been recognised in the Biennale’s theatrical category. Artistic director Bruce Gladwin says theatre “should challenge people and it doesn’t always suit everyone”.

The world of sport

Sune Luus of South Africa plays a shot during the 3rd ODI between Australia Women and South Africa Women at North Sydney Oval in Sydney, Saturday, February 10, 2024. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY, IMAGES TO BE USED FOR NEWS REPORTING PURPOSES ONLY, NO COMMERCIAL USE WHATSOEVER, NO USE IN BOOKS WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT FROM AAP
  • Women’s cricket | After two historic wins by South Africa’s women’s cricket team over Australia – one each in the T20 and ODI series – the two begin an eagerly anticipated Test in Perth today.

  • Champions League | Lazio take on Bayern Munich and Kylian Mbappe’s PSG play Real Sociedad in this morning’s last 16 ties. Follow them live.

  • Super Bowl | Travis Kelce says his confrontation with his Kansas City Chiefs head coach during Sunday’s match was “definitely unacceptable”, while the vanquished 49ers coach has denied his team will never be able to win the big prize.

Media roundup

Firefighters in Victoria have told the Age of the worst fire conditions since the Black Summer fires of 2019. After winning the day in court yesterday, an editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald thinks Lisa Wilkinson’s Logies speech might have been misjudged but Ten should have stuck with her. The tiny Queensland town of Toobeah, 330km south-west of Brisbane, has been split over a freehold transfer of land to the local Indigenous corporation, the Courier Mail reports. A cyclone watch is in place for parts of the Northern Territory and Queensland with coastal communities in the firing line, NT News reports.

What’s happening today

  • Coronavirus | Hearing at federal court in Sydney as airline workers fired for refusing Covid vaccine sue Virgin, Jetstar and Qantas.

  • Business | Financial results from Whitehaven Coal, Wesfarmers, Origin Energy and Telstra.

  • New South Wales | Public hearing into the equity and accessibility of outpatient mental health care.

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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.

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