Morning Mail: Musk’s ‘censorship’ jab at Albanese, Trump on trial accused of election fraud, confusing supermarket labels

Martin Farrer
<span>Elon Musk, owner of X, formerly Twitter, has hit back against an Australian court order against the site.</span><span>Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters</span>
Elon Musk, owner of X, formerly Twitter, has hit back against an Australian court order against the site.Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

Morning everyone. The skirmish between the Australian government and Elon Musk over extreme content on his social network has continued, with the tech billionaire using his X platform to accuse the prime minister of censorship. A court in New York has heard that Donald Trump tried “to corrupt the 2016 election” as his hush-money trial began in earnest, and at home the consumer group Choice has stepped up its campaign against supermarket pricing.

Australia

  • Tough Choice | Consumer advocacy group Choice has called on the competition regulator to stop supermarkets using slogans, designs or colours that imply a discount is on offer when it is not a genuine deal.

  • Musk move | The Australian federal court has ordered Elon Musk’s X to hide posts containing videos of a stabbing at a Sydney church last week from users globally, after the eSafety commissioner sought an injunction. But the billionaire hit back, describing X as the home of “freedom” and branding Australia as the home of “censorship”.

  • Fatal failing | Relatives of a dead 15-year-old Indigenous teenager with a significant cognitive impairment say they were not told he had left his residential care facility days before a fatal car crash outside federal Parliament House.

  • Murder charge | A man has been charged with murder after a 28-year-old woman was found dead in a home in Forbes in New South Wales after concerns were raised for her welfare with police.

  • Essential poll | Voters have backed Anthony Albanese’s Future Made in Australia plan according to the latest Guardian Essential poll, but are under the misapprehension that renewables are the most expensive form of power, illustrating the difficulty for Labor of selling the energy transition to voters.

World

  • Trump on trial | Donald Trump “orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election” in his efforts to cover up an alleged affair with the adult film star Stormy Daniels, the prosecution said in its opening statement in the former president’s criminal trial overnight. The defence countered that “there’s nothing wrong with trying to influence an election”.

  • Protest problems | The Met police chief has defended an officer who stopped an antisemitism campaigner at a pro-Palestinian march in London and warned that officers had been “set up” by activists using “fakery” to undermine the force. In the US, Columbia University announced that classes would be held remotely after more unrest on the New York campus following the arrest of pro-Palestinian protesters there last week.

  • Flights jammed | Flights in and out of Britain are among thousands that have been affected by suspected Russian jamming of GPS systems.

  • ‘Moscow Marjorie’ | The pro-Trump Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has been mocked by the rightwing media in the US for her opposition to the now passed Ukraine aid bill, with the New York Post depicting her wearing a Soviet cap.

  • Black Dog day | Taylor Swift fans have flocked to a London pub after they decided that it was the subject of song of the same name on the singer’s new album.

Full Story

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In-depth

Just one homeowner out of 336 applicants in the New South Wales northern rivers has received a grant to elevate their house more than two years after disastrous flooding hit the region. Hundreds have had their homes bought back by the government but it has spent less than half of the $700m recovery funding it committed to the region. One Mullumbimby resident, Nikki Malone (pictured), said accessing help felt like a “lottery”.

Not the news

A hard-hitting new SBS drama series, Swift Street, follows Elsie (Tanzyn Crawford), a street-smart 21-year-old and her father, Robert (Cliff Curtis), as they embark on a hair-raising attempt to pay off his $26,000 debts. Set in Melbourne’s inner north, it is written by Zimbabwe-born Tig Terera and explores what he describes as the “nuances of being black Australian”.

The world of sport

Media roundup

Economists have told the Financial Review that they haven’t ruled out the chances of the Reserve Bank raising interest rates again as the economy picks up. “Fed-up powerbrokers” are plotting to overthrow the entire board of Rugby Australia, the Australian claims in an exclusive. Melbourne city council is pressing pause on the construction of new CBD bike lanes, the Age reports. A man shot dead by police at a rest stop in central Queensland had pulled a rifle on officers and fired first, according to the Courier Mail.

What’s happening today

  • Sydney | There will be a NSW parliament committee hearing into the Rozelle interchange.

  • New South Wales | Inquest findings at Bourke local court into the deaths of two First Nations teenagers in a 1987 car crash.

  • Sport | Rugby league legend Wally Lewis addresses the National Press Club in Canberra about living with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

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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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