Morning Mail: Australia joins war on Isis, Pistorius book, childcare at the pokies

Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria. Photograph: Photograph: AP

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Isis

Australia will send 600 personnel, including special forces and eight jets to make up military contribution to international coalition against Islamic State militants in Iraq.

The announcement comes after the release of a video showing the apparent beheading of British hostage David Haines. Attorney general George Brandis says the video demonstrates how ‘barbaric and evil’ Islamic State is, and why Australia needs to fight Isis.

As David Haines is remembered as ‘a fantastic man and father’, the UK is closer to taking military action against Isis, with British PM David Cameron leading international outrage over the latest killing.

In a major boost to the US, Arab states including the UAE and Saudi Arabia are prepared to fight Islamic State.

Australian news and politics

• A submission by Clubs Australia to provide childcare at poker machine venues ‘surely must be some kind of sick joke’, says independent senator Andrew Wilkie.

• Who is Warren Truss? A poll shows Australians’ grasp of politics is lacking, as 4% of those surveyed thought Tony Abbott was the deputy prime minister.

• An investigation is underway into the death of an eight-year-old girl who was flung from a carnival ride at the Royal Adelaide Show.

Around the world

June Steenkamp, mother of Reeva Steenkamp, is angered by the verdict: ‘I can’t believe that they believe it was an accident.’ Photograph: Photograph: Alon Skuy/AFP/Getty Images

• The parents of Reeva Steenkamp expressed anger and disbelief after Oscar Pistorius was formally acquitted of their daughter’s murder over the weekend, insisting: “Justice was not served.”

• After being convicted of culpable homicide, Oscar Pistorius plans a book that could be a global bestseller, while his relationship with Reeva Steenkamp was far from ‘normal’

• The head of the ‘No’ campaign in the Scottish independence referendum claims polling shows ‘beyond doubt’ that Scotland would vote to reject breaking up the 300-year-old union.

• American Matthew Miller has been jailed for six years in North Korea, found guilty of attempted espionage after tearing up his tourist visa at Pyongyang airport.

• Russian rocket launchers seen moving through eastern city as Ukraine’s PM says his country is in ‘stage of war’ with Russia

More from around the web

The Queen has said she hopes voters in the Scottish independence referendum will ‘think very carefully about the future’. Photograph: Photograph: Chris Jackson/PA

• Among the most read on the Guardian this morning: Queen hopes Scottish independence voters will ‘think carefully about future’.

• The Australian Financial Review reports leaked emails from Leighton Holdings reveal plans by senior employees to make payments to “friends” in the ­Middle East and to inflate and backdate contracts to win work in Iraq.

• Tony Abbott is being urged to consider dedicating up to three Senate seats to guarantee Indigenous represent­ation in the Australian parliament, The Australian reports.

• Police have escalated their search for five rocket launchers believed to be buried in Sydney bushland by a terror cell linked to the Islamic State, the Daily Telegraph reports.

• David Hicks may have his terrorism conviction overturned after a superior court in the United States ruled the charges he pleaded guilty to were ‘not war crimes’, the Herald Sun reports.

One last thing

Boris Fishman … ‘I wanted it to resemble the epic lovelorn couplings in Marquez’s books.’ Photograph: Guim

Boris Fishman on how, when he was 16, ‘my parents helped me lose virginity’.

Have an excellent day – and if you spot anything I’ve missed, let me know in the comments here or on Twitter @earleyedition.

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