Hundreds of Australian public servants call on government to ‘cease all military exports to Israel’

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More than 300 employees of federal, state and local governments sign letter warning against Australia’s ‘complicity’ in war crimes

Hundreds of public servants from across Australia and across state and federal agencies have signed an open letter calling for the federal government to “immediately cease all military exports to Israel”.

The letter, signed by more than 300 people, notes a warning from UN experts in February that the transport of weapons or ammunition to Israel to be used in Gaza is likely to violate international humanitarian law.

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Australia politics live: government has discretion over acting on ICC arrest warrants, officials say

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Meanwhile, government to rewrite visa cancellation rules after independent tribunal gave non-citizens with serious criminal convictions their visas back. Follow the day’s news live

Andrew Giles was asked why he wasn’t told about what was happening with his directive in the tribunals – why there weren’t meetings to receive updates.

He said there were meetings with his department which were taking place “pretty regularly”.

What has been unacceptable is the fact that these AAT decisions to set aside cancellations that were made under section 99 that were made by this government by my department – we were not advised, I was not told that these cancellations had been overturned by the tribunal.

That’s the issue that I’m deeply concerned about. And that’s what I’m focusing on fixing now.

There are around 30 that I’ve called up as a matter of absolute urgency and they are dealt with through the day and night.

I’m gonna get to the bottom of this – a protocol that I put in place was not adhered to, that is entirely unsatisfactory. As I said, I’m now focused on dealing with the urgent issue which is the cancellation consideration, I put in place a new protocol and I want to get to the bottom of what happened and why.

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Israel in effective control of entire Gaza land border after taking Philadelphi Corridor in south

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The IDF says that it is in ‘operational’ control of the buffer zone on Egypt’s border, a move which risks complicating relations with Cairo, amid Rafah offensive

Israel is in effective control of Gaza’s entire land border after taking control of a buffer zone along the border with Egypt, Israel’s military has said, a move that risks complicating its relationship with Egypt.

In a televised briefing on Wednesday, chief military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces had gained “operational” control over the Philadelphi Corridor, using the Israeli military’s code name for the 14km-long corridor along the Gaza Strip’s only border with Egypt.

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Archibald prize 2024: Baker Boy portrait wins packing room prize

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Yolŋu rapper says it was ‘an honour’ to be painted by Matt Adnate, who wins category judged by Art Gallery of New South Wales staff

A portrait of Indigenous rapper Baker Boy by Matt Adnate has won the $3,000 packing room prize in the annual Archibald prize.

The judges hailed the Victorian artist’s portrait for its accuracy and ability to capture “its kind and kindred spirits and a strong Indigenous voice through music”.

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‘Hong Kong 47’ trial: first verdicts due after national security crackdown

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Sixteen of the 47 pro-democracy campaigners have denied charges of subversion for organising pre-election primaries in landmark case

Judges in Hong Kong are set to start delivering verdicts on Thursday in the territory’s largest national security prosecution yet, with 16 of the “Hong Kong 47” pro-democracy campaigners awaiting their fate in a landmark case.

The 16 have pleaded not guilty to charges of subversion for organising pre-election primaries, and are among the cohort who were detained in mass dawn raids by national security police in January 2021.

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Samantha Murphy: police end targeted search as they examine phone found in dam near Ballarat

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Forensic assessments being carried out on ‘items of interest’ found in search for missing woman

Victoria police have ended their search of farmland south of Ballarat amid forensic testing of “items of interest”, after finding a phone at a dam during their investigation into missing woman Samantha Murphy.

Murphy, 51, was last seen nearly four months ago, when she left her Ballarat East home to go for a run on 4 February.

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China lifts most remaining trade bans on Australian beef exports

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Murray Watt says Beijing has removed sanctions for five abattoirs that lost export licences in 2020 amid diplomatic spat

China has lifted suspensions from Australian beef exporters, removing almost all of the $20bn worth of trade sanctions it imposed.

The agriculture minister, Murray Watt, said Beijing on Wednesday night lifted the bans, with immediate effect, for five different abattoirs.

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Beloved surfboard-stealing otter seen in California after disappearing for months

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Photos of otter 841, who gave birth to a pup last year, show her floating over holiday weekend in popular Santa Cruz surfing spot

Otter 841, who shot to international fame last year for her surfboard-stealing interactions with northern California surfers and kayakers, has been spotted recently after disappearing for several months. Over Memorial day weekend, photos of the now six-year-old otter posted to social media showed her floating on her back at Steamer Lane, a popular surfing spot in Santa Cruz. She was identified by her signature blue tag attached to one of her flippers.

Otter 841 began making waves last summer after Mark Woodward, a local photographer, began posting images and videos to social media of her biting and commandeering surfboards. People were captivated by her fearlessness when interacting with humans and quickly projected human motivations to her behavior.

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Nigeria’s rushed reversion to old national anthem met with incredulity

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Post-colonial anthem dropped in 1978 reinstituted with little debate amid escalating economic crisis

Nigeria has reverted to a national anthem it dropped nearly 50 years ago after lawmakers replaced the current one, prompting widespread criticism over the lack of public consultation on the change.

The country’s president, Bola Tinubu, confirmed the law on Wednesday, a day after it was approved by both chambers of Nigeria’s national assembly, which is dominated by the governing party. The federal lawmakers introduced and passed the bill in less than a week – an unusually fast process for important bills that usually take weeks or months to be considered.

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‘I need you’: Biden-Harris campaign launches initiative to court Black voters

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President and vice-president gear up for 2024 election with ‘Black Voters for Biden-Harris’ rally at majority Black Philadelphia school

Gearing up for the 2024 election, the Biden-Harris campaign launched its Black voters initiative on Wednesday at Philadelphia’s Girard College, a majority Black boarding school.

Around 2pm in an auditorium filled with hundreds of Black Philly residents, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris approached the podium to applause and an audience shouting “four more years”.

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Junior doctors’ strike could delay care for 100,000 NHS patients in England

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Rishi Sunak says timing of action days before general election appears to be ‘politically motivated’ to help Labour

Up to 100,000 patients in England face having their NHS care cancelled days before the general election after junior doctors announced a fresh wave of strike action, with Rishi Sunak saying it appeared to be politically motivated.

Health leaders expressed alarm, warning the five-day strike would jeopardise efforts to tackle the record waiting list and “hit patients hard”.

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Sunak rejects Farage’s offer of electoral deal with Reform party

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Brexit campaigner suggested he and prime minister should ‘have a conversation’ after favours he had done Tories over the years

Rishi Sunak has ruled out a deal with Nigel Farage after the Reform politician suggested they should “have a conversation” before the election.

Farage has held back from running as a candidate for the Reform party, which is led and funded by Richard Tice, but on Wednesday he extended an olive branch to Sunak in an interview with the Sun, telling him: “Give me something back. We might have a conversation.”

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