| | 19/09/2024 New Lebanon attack targets walkie-talkies, real estate ‘price gouging’ fears, Fed cuts rates |
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 | | | | | Dear reader, you can now get Weekly Beast, Amanda Meade's diary of the week in Australian media, as a newsletter. You can learn more here, or sign up in a single click here.
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| Martin Farrer |  |
| | | Morning everyone. First it was pagers, now it is walkie-talkies. A new round of explosions has hit devices used by Hezbollah overnight, leaving at least 14 dead and hundreds injured. Israel has declared a “new phase” of the war. We have full reports and analysis in our in-depth section below. Elsewhere, real estate agents speak out about fears of “price gouging” on listings by realestate.com.au, a report suggests accessing super won’t help many first-time buyers, and can the Wallabies end the Bledisloe drought? |
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| Australia | | Deeming v Pesutto | Ousted Liberal MP Moira Deeming was “distraught” after her young children began saying “my mum’s a Nazi” amid controversy over a rally she attended, according to an affidavit released by the federal court. | Hot property | Real estate agents have hit out at the market dominance of realestate.com.au, which is majority owned by the News Corp-controlled REA Group, saying the portal is “price gouging” as a result of its effective monopoly. It comes as a new report warns that the Coalition’s plan to allow first home buyers access to their superannuation would heavily favour older and wealthier people. | Media ‘fearmongering’ | The independent senator Fatima Payman has accused mainstream media of reducing Muslim women to “stereotypes” and singled out Rupert Murdoch, alleging moguls like him cause “division” and “fearmongering”. | Exclusive | The Bureau of Meteorology is shifting the way it communicates about climate phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña, because global heating is making predictions less reliable. | Sydney snag | Commuters can expect delays and a main Sydney train line’s conversion to a metro service may be derailed unless the New South Wales government can reach an 11th-hour agreement with the rail union. |
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| World | | Fed cut | The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday for the first time in four years. | Trump ‘unfit’ | More than 100 Republican former national security and foreign policy officials have endorsed Kamala Harris for president in a joint letter, calling Donald Trump “unfit to serve” another term. It comes as the Guardian reveals a behind-the-scenes network of Georgia election officials strategising to undermine the 2024 result. | ‘I never consented’ | The former wife of a French man accused of recruiting strangers to rape her while she was drugged has told a court she never consented and the men who allegedly assaulted her were “degenerates”. | Second among equals | Sue Gray has been given a salary of £170,000 ($330,000) as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff – more than the UK prime minister – prompting fury among Labour colleagues. | ‘It kept strangling me’ | A Thai woman has described being trapped in the coils of a 20kg python for about two hours in her home. |
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| Full Story | | The big profits behind selling Australian homes Australians pay more than consumers in any other country to sell their homes online as a result of the market dominance of realestate.com.au and Domain. Sarah Martin tells Reged Ahmad what’s behind the astronomical rise in profits for the real estate websites and if the government can do anything about it. | |
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| Not the news | | This week it is the turn of Lucy Blakiston to share with us the 10 funniest things she has ever seen on the internet. The founder of Shit You Should Care About takes us through an epic jetpack fail, Harry Styles singing a bum note, and an angry Aussie dad pranked by his sons. |
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| What’s happening today | Society | IUSTI (sexual health) conference in Sydney. | Economy | ABS releases figures on the labour force, and national, state and territory population. |
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| Brain teaser | And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. | |
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| Contact us | If you have a story tip or technical issue viewing this newsletter, please reply to this email. If you are a Guardian supporter and need assistance with regards to contributions and/or digital subscriptions, please email customer.help@guardian.co.uk |
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