Morning Mail: rightwing blitz in Dunkley, third man sought in Sydney mystery, stocks soar on AI boom

Sydney disappearance | Police are seeking a third person as they investigate the suspicious disappearance of the former Network Ten presenter Jesse Baird and his partner, Luke Davies, pictured, from Sydney’s eastern suburbs after bloody items were found in a skip bin.

Advance attack | The rightwing group Advance is outspending the Liberal party in its attempts to ensure that Labor does not retain the Victorian federal seat of Dunkley in next Saturday’s byelection, using attack ads blaming Anthony Albanese for the cost-of-living crisis and playing on fears about immigration. The prime minister said the group wanted to “frighten” people and “spread a whole lot of misinformation”.

Reef fears | Scientists are reporting that corals are bleaching white and dying from rising ocean temperatures across a more than a 1,000km stretch of the Great Barrier Reef.

Class divide | Five elite private schools spent about the same amount of money on new facilities in 2021 as governments gave to more than half of Australia’s public schools for building works, research has found.

Fire warning | An out-of-control bushfire in western Victoria will “get worse before it gets better”, a fire chief says, as thousands of people in 28 communities are being urged to evacuate their homes.

AI stock boom | Japan’s main stock index, European shares and Wall Street’s S&P 500 have hit record highs as strong results from the chipmaker Nvidia stoked investor exuberance over an artificial intelligence investment boom.

‘Extrauterine children’ | A second Alabama provider announced that it would pause its in-vitro fertilisation treatments, days after the state supreme court ruled in a first-of-its-kind decision that embryos are “extrauterine children”.

Gaza shift | Australia voted for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza after officials advised the government the “shifting positions” of allies could justify a policy shift. The organisers of the Eurovision song contest have said they are “scrutinising” the lyrics of Israel’s entry after it was claimed it makes reference to the Hamas attacks on 7 October.

Vaccine side-effects | Two new but exceptionally rare Covid-19 vaccine side effects – a neurological disorder and inflammation of the spinal cord – have been detected by researchers in the largest vaccine safety study to date.

Navalny ‘blackmail’ | Alexei Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila, has said she has been shown the body of her son but that the authorities were “blackmailing” her into burying him in a secret ceremony without mourners.

AFL | Tarryn Thomas has been cut by North Melbourne after he was handed an 18-match suspension for several conduct breaches including threatening a woman by direct message.

Formula One | Christian Horner wants his future as Red Bull’s team principal to be resolved as soon as possible as the investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour continues.

Football | There’s a busy program of Europa League and Europa Conference matches this morning, including a heavyweight clash between Roma and Feyenoord.

Canberra | Thehouse economics committee will hold a hearing into insurers’ responses to 2022 flood claims.

Media | The Senate inquiry into the prominence and anti-siphoning bill will hear from the heads of free-to-air, pay TV and streaming services.

Quick crossword

Cryptic crossword