Morning Mail: Gaza activists accuse Israel of brutality, cos...

Morning everyone. Gaza flotilla activists deported by Israel have accused the country’s security forces of dishing out brutal physical and verbal abuse in detention, including to Australian activists.

Also, the annual insurance cost of extreme weather has tripled to $4.5bn since the 1990s, a cloud hangs over the Coalition as MPs return to Canberra, Helen Garner has co-authored a book about the Erin Patterson case, and Australian’s top women’s tennis player calls a career halt because of “mental stress”.

Australia

Oats so good | The Melbourne food stylist Caroline Velik (pictured) has won one of the top awards at this year’s World Porridge Making Championships in Carrbridge, Scotland, with her oat-filled yoghurt flatbread jaffle.
Weather cost | The costs of extreme weather events such as floods, bushfires and storms have nearly tripled in Australia since the 1990s, insurers have warned, with poorer communities disproportionately burdened.
Deloitte refund | Deloitte will provide a partial refund to the federal government over a $440,000 report that contained several errors after admitting it used generative artificial intelligence to help produce it.
Mushroom book | Helen Garner, one of Australia’s most acclaimed authors, is to publish a new book in November about the Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial. The Mushroom Tapes, written with fellow Australian authors Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein, is billed as an exploration of both the crime itself and the public’s obsession with it.
Coalition | Andrew Hastie’s resignation from the frontbench means the clouds of discontent are continuing to linger over the Liberals as parliament returns, writes Dan Jervis-Bardy.

World

Paramount leader | The CBS News owner Paramount will acquire the Free Press, a media startup founded by the rightwing commentator Bari Weiss (pictured), and has appointed her editor-in-chief of the US news network. It appears to confirm the rightward drift of US media.
Israel ‘brutality’ | International activists, journalists and lawyers deported from Israel after attempting to breach the 16-year maritime blockade of Gaza as part of a humanitarian flotilla have alleged they were subjected to brutal physical and verbal abuse by Israeli forces during their detention. Australian activists alleged similar treatment, with one saying he had been slapped and had his arm dislocated and head slammed into the ground.
France chaos | Hours after France’s new prime minister resigned less than a month since being appointed, Emmanuel Macron has asked him to stay on for two more days in a last-ditch effort to chart a way out of the country’s rapidly deepening political crisis. Sébastien Lecornu is France’s third prime minister in a year. Read our explainer on what’s causing the chaos.
Exclusive | A Christian legal group will urge the US supreme court to overturn a ban on anti-LGBTQ+ “conversion therapy”. Elsewhere on Monday, the supreme court declined to hear an appeal from Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell of her sex trafficking conviction.
Attacker concerns | Neighbours of the Manchester synagogue attacker reported concerns to police about him and a family member being “radicalised” and attempting to “preach” the Qur’an to local children, the Guardian has been told.

Full Story

What happens when you stop weight loss jabs?

Our science editor Ian Sample talks through the dilemma facing more than a million people in the UK as the cost of the jabs jumps.

In-depth

As part of our coverage to mark two years since the Hamas attack on Israel, our reporters have been talking to Gal Gilboa Dalal (pictured), who watched attackers kidnap his brother Guy when they were ambushed at the fateful Nova festival on 7 October 2023. Gal describes how he still “hears him screaming” every day but holds out hope for his release.

Not the news

Elizabeth Harrower was on the brink of becoming one of Australia’s most important novelists when she published The Watch Tower in 1966. But then she disappeared for decades, much to the puzzlement of critics and fans. Her new biographer, Susan Wyndham, tries to explain what happened.

Sport

Tennis | Australia’s women’s tennis No 1, Daria Kasatkina, has put her career on hold for the rest of the year, stating that “mentally and emotionally I am at breaking point”.
Football | The Australian coach of the Nepali football team, Matt Ross, has a lot to contend with, not least the Gen Z riots sweeping the country. But, he tells Mark Lomas, his focus is on performing at the Asian Cup.
Formula One | The McLaren team boss has admitted that he faces “difficulties” managing Oscar Piastri’s rivalry with Lando Norris in the title run-in.

Media roundup

The Coalition is inching towards a compromise deal on net zero after the resignation of Andrew Hastie, the Sydney Morning Herald claims. The PNG defence treaty could lure Australia’s military into a Bougainville crisis, the Australian reports. Calls for Suncorp Stadium to be expanded will increase after the Broncos’ grand final win, the Courier Mail reports.

What’s happening today

Sydney | The Executive Council of Australian Jewry is holding a press conference to mark the second anniversary of the 7 October attacks at 1pm. A hearing at NSW supreme court will rule on a police bid to stop a pro-Palestine protest at the Sydney Opera House while Victoria’s Palestinian community will hold a public vigil at the Queen Victoria gardens.
Business | Walkley business lunch with chair of Productivity Commission.
Health | The Royal Australian College of GPs’ Health of the Nation 2025 report released.

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Brain teaser

And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.