Morning Mail: $10m fines mooted for supermarkets; Israel withdraws from southern Gaza; fears over rooming house boom
Good morning. Changes are needed to redress a heavy imbalance in market power between suppliers and supermarkets in Australia’s heavily concentrated supermarket industry. So says a report ordered by the federal government, to be released today, but its author, the former Labor trade minister Craig Emerson, stops short of calling for powers to break up the big supermarkets. He says heavy penalties would be “a far more credible deterrent to anti-competitive behaviour”.
Meanwhile, an explosion of interest from investors in rooming houses has prompted concerns about vulnerable residents, and Israel has withdrawn troops from southern Gaza.
Australia
Supermarkets | A new report on supermarket competitiveness proposes a mandatory code for operators instead of the current voluntary one, but stops short of urging a breakup of the duopoly.
Housing | An explosion of interest in rooming houses from investors based on their higher rental yields has prompted concern from advocates about unregistered dwellings and vulnerable residents in this “housing of last resort”.
Child protection | The New South Wales government will review a child protection tool that disproportionately affects Aboriginal children – and that has not been updated in the state for more than a decade – as the proportion of children in care who are Indigenous nears 50%.
Gaza | The Australian government should impose targeted sanctions on Israeli officials who have called for the denial of aid to civilians of Gaza, according to humanitarian organisations, faith groups and health experts.
Tertiary education | While domestic students would benefit from boosted rent subsidies, Paul Karp writes, hiking international student visa fees to achieve that could scare away better students to competitor nations.
World
Southern Gaza | Israel has pulled all of its ground troops out of southern Gaza for “tactical reasons”, the country’s army said, after nearly four months of intense fighting in the decimated city of Khan Younis. The move came as Hamas and Israeli delegations travel to Egypt for ceasefire talks. But is Netanyahu really likely to change course on Gaza?
Russian floods | More than 4,000 people were evacuated in the Orenburg region of Russia after the Ural River overflowed, with a federal emergency declared and preparations for possible flooding under way in three other regions.
Péter Magyar | A political newcomer who is causing headaches for Hungary’s government says his experience as a regime insider can help him succeed against 14-year prime minister Viktor Orbán where other opposition figures have failed.
US politics | The Ohio secretary of state, a Republican, sent a letter to the Ohio Democratic party warning that Joe Biden could be left off the November presidential election ballot.
Long distance | After more than 16,000km over 352 days and across 16 countries, British man Russ Cook became the first person known to have run the length of Africa. He said he was “a little bit tired”.
Full Story
Sex, drugs and credit cards: new allegations heard at Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Ten
Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson reopened on Thursday, with the former Channel Seven producer Taylor Auerbach giving new evidence. Guardian Australia media correspondent Amanda Meade tells Gabrielle Jackson what the fresh evidence could mean for one of Australia’s highest-profile defamation cases.
Read more on this story: Spotlight producers warned Auerbach about dropping too much money on Seven’s company card while he courted Lehrmann over several months for an exclusive interview, text messages have revealed.
In-depth
Shortly after Charles Darwin published his magnum opus, The Origin of Species, in 1859, he started reading a little-known 100-year-old work by a wealthy French aristocrat. Its contents were quite a surprise. “Whole pages [of his book] are laughably like mine,” Darwin wrote to a friend. “It is surprising how candid it makes one to see one’s view in another man’s words.”
Darwin later acknowledged Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, as one of the “few” people who had understood that species change and evolve, before Darwin himself.
Buffon also put forward the idea that animals were becoming extinct at a time when most natural historians believed that “God would never allow any species to ever disappear or arise over time”, according to Jason Roberts, writer of a new book about the aristocrat. “The concept of species change and extinction was very controversial.”
Not the news
It’s 50 years since Ernő Rubik unleashed his mesmerising magic cube on the world. But why, despite the growth in digital games, is the Rubik’s Cube as popular as ever? The Observer heads to a two-day British competition in which, with clicks and clacks of sliding plastic, dozens of puzzlers race each other to solve the fiendish squares – some even blindfolded.
The world of sport
Formula One | Max Verstappen is back on track after a ruthless win at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix, extending his lead at the top of the championship.
NRL | South Sydney’s nightmare NRL season took another hit, with Latrell Mitchell facing a ban of up to four games for dangerous contact following their loss to the Warriors.
Premier League | Manchester United drew 2-2 with Liverpool. Spurs beat Nottingham Forest 3-1. Sheffield United drew 2-2 with Chelsea.
AFL | Port Adelaide forward Jeremy Finlayson admitted making a homophobic slur during his side’s win over Essendon and is under AFL investigation.
Media roundup
The Albanese government will select an experienced military figure as its special adviser on Israel’s killing of seven aid workers, including Australian Zomi Frankcom, The Australian reports. The Herald Sun says police have decried social media platforms for not doing more to curb the posting of youth crime online. The ABC reports on the rise of “financial sovereignty” – Australians who believe they don’t have to pay any tax.
What’s happening today
Coronial inquiry | A third inquest is scheduled to begin into the 1988 death of teenager Mark Anthony Haines, and could explore whether racism played a role in potential failures of the investigation.
Hearings | A NSW parliamentary committee will hold its final hearing in an inquiry into birth trauma. A senate committee will hold a public hearing on access to Australian Parliament House by lobbyists.
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
