And MyGov 'scam-in-a-box' kits
Legal bid to expose defence exports to Israel; MyGov ‘scam-in-a-box’ fraud; children killed as car hits beer garden | The Guardian

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Israeli tanks deployed on the border with Gaza in southern Israel, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas.
06/11/2023

Legal bid to expose defence exports to Israel; MyGov ‘scam-in-a-box’ fraud; children killed as car hits beer garden

Paul Gallagher
 

Good morning. As Israel’s assault on Gaza continues, Australia’s potential supply of arms and ammunition to Israeli forces faces scrutiny in a landmark legal bid being taken by Palestinian human rights groups. The groups claim that Israel may be using Australian technology in serious human rights abuses.

We also exclusively reveal that thousands of MyGov accounts are being suspended each month over concern they have been breached by criminal “scam-in-a-box” kits. Meanwhile, the Department of Home Affairs has been paying a US company for access to a controversial tool tracking the movement of smartphones.

Additionally, we have the latest on a tragic crash that left five dead in a Daylesford pub garden. And we preview the Melbourne’s upcoming 33rd queer film festival, as it continues to push boundaries.

Australia

Person using smartphone walking on pavement

Revealed | Home Affairs has paid an American intelligence company to access Locate X, a controversial tool that can track the movement of smartphones – and has had access to the product since at least 2021.

Arms trade | Palestinian human rights groups have launched legal action to determine whether Australian-made weapons and ammunition are being sent to Israeli forces amid its attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Exclusive | Thousands of MyGov accounts are being suspended each month out of concern they have been breached via “scam-in-a-box” kits being sold by criminals on the dark web.

Rental market | The Greens say they would introduce an effective rent freeze across Brisbane by threatening landlords with massive land rates increases for any property investors who increase the rent.

Centrelink | Call centres will get an additional 3,000 staff as part of an immediate $228m funding boost to speed up claim payments after complaints of blown-out call wait times.

World

A funeral in Haifa for an Israeli soldier killed in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip.

Israel-Hamas war | The US secretary of state says the Palestinian Authority should play a central role in what comes next in the Gaza Strip; relatives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are calling on Benjamin Netanyahu to make significant concessions to secure their freedom.

Russia-Ukraine war | Volodymyr Zelenskiy has denied a blunt assessment from his military’s commander-in-chief that the war with Russia has reached a stalemate and that a “beautiful breakthrough” is unlikely.

Donald Trump | Despite mounting legal peril, Trump has been buoyed in recent weeks by the well-worn legal playbook of attacking and distracting; with the US election just a year away, most Americans don’t want Biden or Trump.

Pedro Sánchez | Members of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ party have backed a plan to secure power in return for granting an amnesty for those involved in an illegal and unilateral bid for Catalan independence.

Grok | Elon Musk has unveiled an artificial intelligence chatbot with a “rebellious streak”, which he says is inspired by The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

 

Jamie Wilson

Head of International News, The Guardian

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In its first weeks, the Israel-Hamas war has already seen significant bloodshed on both sides, as well as a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The ripple effects have been felt globally, with foreign leaders flying to the region to try and prevent escalation, and spikes in antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crime reported in the US and Europe.

As the Guardian’s Head of International News, making sense of this rapidly developing conflict is a round-the-clock job for me and my colleagues on the international desks in London, New York and Sydney. Over recent years, we have continued to invest in correspondents able to tell this story from the ground and in experienced, expert journalists and commentators who can analyse and make sense of the situation.

We are committed to covering every aspect of this war, from the ordinary people caught up in it to the regional and global ramifications. We are committed, too, to combatting the vast amount of misinformation, rumour and hate swirling online.

We can’t do any of this without reader funding. It’s your support which keeps us fiercely independent and enables us to maintain the highest standards. If you are able to help fund our journalism, it will make a huge difference.

 

Full Story

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson

Speaker Johnson, Israel, government shutdown and Virginia

The new speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, faces the tough task of uniting a fractured Republican party and preventing a quick-approaching government shutdown. Jonathan Freedland and Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post discuss what we have learned about his approach to the job from his first week with the gavel.

The Guardian Podcasts

In-depth

Conor Woodman: ‘Meth is so worryingly insidious in its modus operandi.’

From Myanmar to Brisbane, author and journalist Conor Woodman has tracked the supply of methamphetamine to Australia – following the drug from origin to end users, while also examining addiction and use and the policing and treatment of that use. He talks with us about his book Meth Road, a life-and-death investigation following the world’s most destructive narcotic to Australia.

Not the news

Melbourne Queer Film Festival director Cerise Howard at the Victorian Pride Centre in Melbourne.

The biggest and oldest queer film festival in Australia isn’t afraid to push modern boundaries – but there’s still much to learn from the movies of yesteryear. The theme of Melbourne’s 33rd queer film festival is “rewind to fast forward”, and opens in selected theatres on 9 November.

The world of sport

India’s Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli celebrate after taking the wicket of South Africa’s David Miller during their Cricket World Cup match.

Media roundup

Billions of dollars in infrastructure projects around the country are on the chopping block and more face years-long delays in an attempt to drive down inflation as borrowers brace for the Reserve Bank to lift interest rates again, reports the Sydney Morning Herald; Anthony Albanese’s approval ratings have fallen sharply in the wake of the referendum defeat and the decline in living standards, polling for the Australian has shown; complaints of alleged misconduct within the horse racing, greyhound racing and harness racing industries are up by 31% this year compared with the previous five-year average as cost-of-living pressures bite, reports the Age.

What’s happening today

Diplomacy | The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, continues his state visit to China.

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