Good morning. The Catholic church has been able to permanently block a claim made by two Indigenous survivors over alleged abuse committed by a priest after arguing that his death meant a fair trial couldn’t take place. Lawyers for the men say the Catholic church’s legal strategy is “horrendous”.

Australian scientists fear the consequences of a waning political appetite for the surveillance and monitoring of Covid, despite “waves of mutations” and with so much still unknown about the disease. Plus: new research shows the devastating effects of the loss of Antarctic sea ice on thousands of baby penguins.

Overseas, Vladimir Putin has broken his silence to confirm the death of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who he says made “some serious mistakes”. And the clock is ticking down to Donald Trump’s formal arrest this morning in Georgia, where his mugshot will be taken as he faces racketeering and conspiracy charges over alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Queensland Labor MPs on Monday were expected to vote to suspend the state’s Human Rights Act – for a second time – to allow for the indefinite detention of children in adult police watch houses. The law change was tacked on to an unrelated child safety bill on Wednesday, allowing it to pass through parliament with no committee scrutiny. So why can the Queensland government just change the law to suit itself?

Jessica Zhan Mei Yu’s observant debut But The Girl follows a young Malaysian-Australian writer as she unpicks her preconceptions of an artist’s life, postcolonialism and Sylvia Plath.

The Australian government is trying to chart a careful course in the South China Sea as it considers joint naval patrols with the Philippines while simultaneously bidding to improve relations with Beijing, reports the Age. Queensland’s former chief scientist has called for a ban on all future oil and gas production in the Lake Eyre basin, saying it would be “ecologically reckless”, reports the Australian. The Mercury reports on why discovery of lithium in a Tasmanian mine could prove a boon for the state’s future renewable energy aspirations.

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