Morning mail: Facebook blocks news in Australia, Great Barrier Reef gets a D, Rush Limbaugh dies

Thursday: Users won’t be able to view or share news as the tech giant ramps up opposition to proposed media bargaining code. Plus: a 3,600-year-old cold case solved

Morning, all. Inconsistency in the federal government’s account of the Brittany Higgins case continues to invite scrutiny this Thursday and Christopher Knaus takes on 5G conspiracists in his piece today for our Web of Lies series. But you won’t see these stories – or any other news in your Facebook feed this morning.

Facebook has announced this morning that it will restrict Australian users and publishers from sharing or viewing news content. The tech giant says it made the decision with a “heavy heart” in response to proposed news media bargaining laws being debated in Canberra this week. It comes as more Australian media outlets sign agreements with Google to feature their content on its platforms, including Google’s News Showcase. News Corp is the latest to sign on but it isn’t saying how much the deal is worth.

Allegations that a former political staffer, Brittany Higgins, was raped inside Parliament House continue to dominate this week’s parliamentary sitting, with defence industry minister, Linda Reynolds, and the prime minister expected to face further scrutiny. Scott Morrison told media he only learned of the alleged March 2019 rape this week, and his office the Friday before. But at least one member of his staff, Fiona Brown, was informed about the time of the alleged incident, joining in a debrief involving both Higgins and Reynolds. Higgins has accused the prime minister of “victim-blaming rhetoric” which she has found “personally very distressing”.

Growing misinformation poses a significant threat to Australian democracy, experts have cautioned, as conspiracy theories such as the belief that 5G networks aid the spread of Covid-19 continue to gain traction. Telstra technician Michael Marom is regularly confronted by “protectors” while carrying out 5G tower maintenance, he tells Guardian Australia, amid a context of eroding trust that researchers, including Elliott Brennan, suggest governments need to acknowledge as “a fundamental threat to the social fabric of the country”.

Australia

The lobby group ClubsNSW met with NSW’s deputy premier, John Barilaro, 13 times in eight months, more than any other organisation during the start of the pandemic. Barilaro wrote an op-ed in the Daily Telegraph condemning calls to introduce pre-paid gambling cards in the state, one of the recommendations of the Bergin report into alleged money-laundering at Crown Resorts.

Conservationists have warned that “the world is watching” after a report card into the Great Barrier Reef’s water quality handed down a “D” rating. The federal environment minister, Sussan Ley defended the government’s efforts but the WWF says progress has been slow.

A $2m government-commissioned report into the cashless debit card scheme has failed to find conclusive evidence that the program reduces social harm. Researchers claimed alcohol consumption had reduced at trial sites but could not attribute the changes to the program alone.

Rio Tinto’s new CEO has expressed his “deep regret” over the destruction of 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge rock shelters, at the same time announcing a soaring profit-margin of just shy of US$10bn in 2020.

The world

An international human rights tribunal has found the Jamaican government responsible for violating gay rights, calling for an instant repeal of antiquated and homophobic “buggery” laws.

The US conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh has died, aged 70, his wife has confirmed. Hugely influential across several decades, Limbaugh is credited with pioneering the modern talk radio format, but has also been criticised as a “cruel” and “vulgar” bully.

The crew of an abandoned oil tanker, some of whom haven’t been on land for nearly four years, have reached a deal to finally return home. Seafarers like Nay Win from Myanmar went almost three years without wages after the vessel was left to run aground in the UAE but new owners have agreed to back pay and repatriating the crew.

Recommended reads

They’re the one-time teenage busker turned overnight global sensation, but for 25-year-old Tash Sultana, a year out on a property in coastal Victoria playing Nintendo 64 and slow cooking has been a “dream come true”. They describe their album Terra Firma as “Erykah Badu meets Bon Iver, meets John Mayer, meets whatever”, but the “least rock’n’roll motherfucker that you ever see” is finding peace trying “to think nicer”; and their music is reaping the rewards for doing so, Janine Israel writes.

They were told “go your hardest” in writing Collingwood’s “Do Better” report, but as the dust settles from a media firestorm that helped claim the club’s polarising president, Eddie McGuire, Larissa Behrendt and Lindon Coombes urge that the report’s key findings are not passed over. “Change isn’t possible without the bravery of those who stand up to racism. To understand why this is so important, it is essential to carefully listen to the experiences of people like Adam Goodes and Héritier Lumumba.”

Almost as many Australians were employed during January as at the same time last year. After the year we endured, you’d almost say that’s great news – except that employment is meant to grow, Greg Jericho explains. “Last year was the first year since 1992 that there were fewer people employed at the end than the start,” he writes, adding that it’s only the third time that’s happened since 1978, when the ABS started collecting comparable stats.

Naomi Higgins and Humyara Mahbub are two-thirds of the creative force behind Australian sitcom Why Are You Like This and, this week, they’re also the creator-curators of our 10 funniest things on the internet: including a straightforward board game explanation, and a story about how Kate Dehnert wore a pair of pants yesterday.

Listen

Forced overseas during a pandemic. It seems counter-intuitive at best, but for thousands of Australian visa seekers a requirement to leave the country is placing many at risk of contracting Covid-19. On this episode of Full Story, Christopher Knaus explains how this bizarre system has come about.

Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.

Sport

Rugby Australia has a new chief executive and a shiny new broadcast partner but the game remains beset by problems, Bret Harris laments. But could free-to-air coverage prove a fillip for the ailing code?

It’s been 60 years since Herb Elliot put an Australian on an Olympics podium in the men’s 1500m, but for Tokyo hopeful Oliver Hoare, Covid-19 complications could prevent a repeat, despite a current world top two ranking, Kieran Pender explains.

Media roundup

Victorian businesses have called on Daniel Andrews to stop treating them “like a light switch” that can be flicked on and off, reports the Age, asking for clarity on the triggers for future lockdowns. Coalition MPs are pushing for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to invest in nuclear power, reports the Australian. And the democracy sausage has beaten Covid-19, the West Australian crows, with schools being notified the snags will be back on the barbies after receiving an exemption from Covid-19 restrictions on polling day of the WA state election.

Coming up

Former prime minister Julia Gillard will deliver the keynote address at the Australian Open.

And if you’ve read this far …

It’s one hell of a cold case. Some3,600 years ago pharaoh Seqenenre Tao II of Egypt led his troops into battle against the Hyksos, earning the moniker “the Brave”. But mystery has surrounded the exact nature of his death. Did he fall in battle? Was he the victim of a palace coup? Now, thanks to fresh 3D scans of his embalmed mummy, archaeologists now have a definitive answer of what happened to the famous Theban.