| | | 01/05/2024 Reef’s ‘year from hell’, PM eyes action on online misogyny, Trump fined for contempt |
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| Martin Farrer |  |
| | | Morning everyone. Our visit to the Great Barrier Reef is a must-read this morning – a moving account (and stunning pictures) of scenes at the “graveyard” confronting scientists after the latest bleaching event. We also have details of what Anthony Albanese and national cabinet will discuss today to help curb domestic violence, a shocking sword attack in London, how Donald Trump has been fined for breaking his gag order, and a grisly find under Hitler’s wartime HQ. |
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| Australia | | ‘Agree to disagree’ | David Sharaz has thrown in the towel in his defamation battle against the Liberal senator Linda Reynolds, saying on X that he can’t afford to pay for a likely six-week legal battle. His statement came as Brittany Higgins failed to convince the court that her case should be delayed due to her mental health issues. | ‘Year from hell’ | Off the coast of Heron Island in Queensland, a 300-year-old coral outcrop or bommie is washed-out white instead of its proper purplish-brown colour. It’s a sure sign of bleaching that has devastated the Great Barrier Reef this summer and left experts calling it the “year from hell”. | Domestic violence | Anthony Albanese has called for a debate on the blocking of misogynistic content online before a snap national cabinet called for today to focus on women’s safety. | Industry boost | Foreign investment approvals will be made quicker but greater scrutiny will be placed on potential risks as Australia tries to balance economic and security interests, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will say today. | The classroom divide | Thousands of students with a disability are receiving repeated suspensions from schools, according to a Guardian Australia analysis, amid calls from advocates for an overhaul of the education system. |
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| World | | London attack | An attack by a man armed with a sword has left a 14-year-old boy dead and four others injured in east London, including two police officers who sustained serious wounds. | Trump’s contempt | The judge presiding in Donald Trump’s criminal trial has fined the former president $9,000 for repeated comments about witnesses, while the court heard about a text in which a former National Enquirer editor asked a lawyer for an ex-Playboy model: “Did he cheat on Melania?” | Columbia takeover | Dozens of protesters have taken over a building at Columbia University in New York, barricading the entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag out of a window. It comes as Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to raid Rafah “with or without” a hostage and ceasefire deal. | Wolf’s Lair find | Amateur archaeologists have unearthed five human skeletons missing their hands and feet under the former home of the Nazi war criminal Hermann Göring at Hitler’s Wolf’s Lair military headquarters in present-day Poland. | Bee very afraid | A couple in North Carolina were shocked after discovering that their four-year-old’s “monster in the closet” was in fact the noise of 50,000 bees that had made a hive in a wall. |
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| Full Story | | The fringe groups taking an interest in Queensland’s council elections With the Queensland state election coming up in October, we look at the potential impact on the results of online groups such as My Place which grew out of opposition to Covid lockdowns and which promote the alleged danger of vaccines, fluoride in water and 5G. | |
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| In-depth | | To the roll call of Tigerair, Air Australia, Ozjet, BackpackersXpress, Impulse, Ansett and Compass can now be added the name Bonza – the latest airline to crash to earth after failing to break the dominance of Qantas and Virgin. Our transport reporter, Elias Visontay, examines the reasons for the collapse of the so-called “bogan” airline and where it sits in the runway of shattered dreams. |
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| Not the news | | “It’s a greater!” After 25 years of logging and bushfires, there is palpable excitement when conservationists spot a greater glider – Australia’s largest flying marsupial – in the Deongwar state forest north of Brisbane. “It’s awesome to get confirmation that they are still here after the logging and fires,” says Paul Revie, an ecologist with the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland. Aston Brown goes out on the trail. |
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| The world of sport | | NRL | Anchored in 17th position after a disastrous 12 months where the team has won just five of its last 20 games, the dismissal of Jason Demetriou as coach of South Sydney was inevitable. | Women’s A-League | Concerns about the size of the crowd are dominating the run-up to this weekend’s final between Melbourne City and Sydney FC rather than talk about the actual football. | Champions League | It’s a heavyweight clash this morning as Bayern Munich take on Real Madrid in the first semi-final. | NBA | The futures of LeBron James and Darvin Ham with the Los Angeles Lakers are uncertain after their first-round playoff exit to the Denver Nuggets. |
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| What’s happening today | Sydney | Bail will be reviewed for a sixth teenager accused of terrorism after the Wakeley church stabbing. | Courts | A costs hearing in the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case will begin at 2.15pm. | Yoorrook | Representatives from the Catholic, Anglican and Uniting churches will face Victoria’s truth-telling commission. |
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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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| | | Jonathan Watts | | Global environment writer |
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| | Conflict in Gaza, war in Ukraine, a battle over the global environment – the world is becoming an increasingly hostile place, particularly for frontline journalists.
The Guardian is marking World Press Freedom Day with a series of articles about the threats posed to all types of reporters.
We want to use our platform to highlight the work they are doing, often in incredibly dangerous circumstances. Without the courage of correspondents working in conflict areas, press organisations warn the world will start to see “zones of silence” where important stories go unreported.
The risks may be growing, and the space to operate may be increasingly constrained, but we are more determined than ever to tell the stories of our age so that you, the readers, have the information to act as voters, citizens, consumers and participants in the web of life on Earth. | | If you’re able to, please support the Guardian’s independent, open journalism on a monthly basis today from as a little as £4. | | |
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