It’s been dubbed New Zealand’s biggest weather event in a century. Cyclone Gabrielle has ravaged the North Island, causing widespread flooding, major destruction and leaving more than 200,000 people without power.
Satellite images show the vastness of the cyclone, hovering above the North Island and parts of the South Island, and we’ve compiled a photo gallery of the impact.
New Zealand’s climate minister, James Shaw, gave a furious speech to parliament linking the cyclone to climate change.
“We need to stop making excuses for inaction. We cannot put our heads in the sand when the beach is flooding. We must act now.”
Top news
Peter Bol provisional doping suspension lifted | The Australian Olympian, whose athletics career was in the balance after failing an out-of-competition doping test last year, has said he has been cleared after a B sample did not match the original A sample, as Sport Integrity Australia continues its investigations.
Iran spying on Australian diaspora | The Iranian regime allegedly monitored the home of an Iranian-Australian critic of the Islamic republic, and extensively researched them and their family. The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, revealed the incident, saying Australian security forces managed to foil the plot.
Scott Morrison’s Pep-11 court ruling | The former PM’s decision to refuse Asset Energy’s application to drill for gas off the New South Wales coast has been formally quashed by the federal court. But it doesn’t mean the project will go ahead. That decision is now in the hands of a “joint authority”, i.e. the NSW and federal governments. Neither have indicated they will support it proceeding.
Consumer sentiment dips | If the Reserve Bank’s intent is to make us less inclined to spend, it’s working. Not so gloomy for big business, however, who have seen their confidence rebound after two months of negative readings. NAB has raised its interest rate forecast, predicting the RBA will hike the cash rate to 4.1%.
High court hears EV tax case | Two Victorians have taken their state government to court over its electric vehicles tax, claiming it’s unconstitutional. “If our clients are successful, it will mean Victoria’s electric vehicle tax is invalid and will likely also prevent other states from implementing similar legislation,” lawyer David Hertzberg said. The high court is hearing the case from today to Thursday.
Syria opens two border crossings | The Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad, has agreed to allow in a greater volume of emergency aid for victims of last week’s earthquake. Aid to Syria has been mired in political controversy as the Assad regime is still in conflict with rebel-held areas devastated by the earthquake.
Catholic child abuse in Portugal | Catholic clergy in the country have abused nearly 5,000 children since 1950, an independent commission revealed after hearing hundreds of survivors’ accounts.
What they said …
***
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt as sad or as angry about the lost decades that we spent bickering and arguing about whether climate change was real or not, whether it was caused by humans or not, whether it was bad or not, whether we should do something about it or not, because it is clearly here now, and if we do not act, it will get worse.” – James Shaw, NZ climate minister
Watch Shaw’s extraordinary speech to the NZ parliament.
In pictures
Guardian photographer Alessio Mamo travelled to the earthquake-hit city of Idlib and captured powerful images of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria – see the full gallery.
In numbers
Survey results from McAfee’s Modern Love report also found that 72% of Australian respondents could not tell a test love-note was written by AI.
Before bed Sudoku
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