Three years on from the Hamas attack on Israel, our reporters have been speaking to Israelis who survived the attacks on kibbutzim, border towns, military bases and music festivals. The cemetery at kibbutz Nir Oz now contains two lines of new headstones, marking lives that all ended on 7 October.
Mourning at Nir Oz
Shlomo Margalit, 89, embodies the loss felt by Israelis on 7 October 2023. He is the caretaker of the cemetery at kibbutz Nir Oz and showed our reporters the graves of three of his oldest friends, founding members of the kibbutz in the 1950s. “This is my life project, as well as my home,” he says. Israelis taken prisoner that day three years ago explain how they have tried to piece their lives back together despite witnessing the horrific violence. In Australia, Israel’s ambassador says the third anniversary of 7 October is an opportunity for both countries to return to “traditional friendship”.
Australia's morning headlines
At home, there are concerns that the Coalition’s plan to severely limit immigration would cause havoc with trade agreements, there are calls for Anthony Albanese to act on the unmarked graves scandal exposed yesterday, and the media world mourns ABC newsreader Richard Morecroft.
Former ABC news presenter Richard Morecroft has died at the age of 70. Michael Rowland and Leigh Sales have led tributes to the veteran ABC newsreader, describing him as “a lovely man”.
The Coalition’s plan to slash immigration risks breaching Australia’s free trade agreement with India, signed by the former Morrison government, allowing Indian students to stay and work for up to four years after completing their studies. It also seems certain to drag politics to the right, says our political editor.
Anthony Albanese has told delegates at the pre-Cop meeting in Tuvalu and Fiji that a rising “super El Niño” means Australia faces a hazardous summer, likely including floods, cyclones and extreme heat, and that it shows climate change is “here right now”.
Albanese has been urged to use national cabinet to stop the use of unmarked communal graves to bury impoverished Australians and address failings that are leaving family and friends blindsided. Our revelations about the use of such graves prompted widespread condemnation from federal Liberal MPs, state Labor ministers and the Greens, and calls for federal action.
A partially submerged body believed to be a woman has been discovered in a remote stockyard in northern New South Wales with the death being treated as suspicious.
World news in brief
Nearly 90,000 students, staff and parents have taken to the streets in cities across France as protesters blockaded hundreds of high schools in a nationwide day of action against long hours, missing teachers and crumbling classrooms.
Three alleged Iranian spies carried out surveillance and reconnaissance to target journalists in the UK as part of a plan to commit “serious violence”, a UK court heard.
Prominent US election deniers have spent recent weeks stoking fears over election security before next month’s midterms, echoing claims pushed by Donald Trump – whose Republican party is on track to lose heavily – to justify asserting more control over voting.
The Norwegian princess Märtha Louise and her husband, the American businessman Durek Verrett, are suing several former members of their inner circle for defamation over what they described as a “calculated betrayal of trust”.
In sport, Alex de Minaur was forced to retire injured after only one game of the second set of the China Open final, handing the title to his opponent Novak Djokovic. Coco Gauff alleged she received an “insane” amount of racist comments on social media following a controversial point in her win over Sun Xinran. South Africa is in the hunt to stage Africa’s first Olympics after it was named as one of seven countries that will formally present its case to host the 2036 Games.
Today, the high court judgment is due in the Mount Pleasant open cut coalmine case. Franciscan philosopher Paolo Benanti and Labor MP Andrew Leigh will address the National Press Club on AI and ethics at 5.30pm. Graeme Orr will deliver the Lucinda Lecture on political funding at 6pm.
