Morning Mail: Council refuses Gaza mural; fifth rate rise looms; and inside the midterms’ record spend

Morning everyone. It has been shown at Parliament House in Canberra, and many other cities across Australia, but a council in New South Wales is refusing to exhibit a world-renowned art installation about children killed in Gaza. We have the full, exclusive story.

Our Full Story podcast looks at whether Labor can be blamed for the worsening economy as the RBA is forecast to lift rates again today, a poll suggests Australians are falling out of love with the Melbourne Cup, and supermarkets in Europe have been hit by another cyber-attack in which fridges and freezers were turned off.

Australia

• Exclusive | A record number of Australians are turning their backs on the Melbourne Cup, with more than two-thirds surveyed in our Guardian Essential poll saying they have low or zero interest in the annual horse race.

• Exclusive | A NSW council has refused to show a world-renowned artwork about children killed in Gaza after asking organisers to investigate hiring “armed guards” to counter the risk of “community conflict” over the mural.

• Slowdown threat | Australia’s economy is set for a “sharper, longer slowdown”, major bank economists say, as the Reserve Bank appears poised to continue raising interest rates today in its fight against inflation.

• Legal challenge | Australia’s world-leading under-16s social media ban will face its first major legal challenge today as Reddit and an advocacy group headed by a libertarian politician seek to overturn the law in the high court.

• Silvey sentenced | The award‑winning author Craig Silvey has been jailed for seven months after he sent multiple messages about his sexual desire for young boys and was caught with explicit images of children and adults.

World

• Democrat’s ‘betrayal’ | Michigan Democrat Haley Stevens’ shocking last-minute endorsement of Mike Rogers, a Republican Senate candidate, has sparked fierce backlash from members of her party. We look at how Israel is at the heart of the controversy, and we also have reports on the tight race for the Senate in Texas, as well as contests in New Hampshire and North Carolina. What will Democrats do if they actually win power? Follow developments in the US here.

• Cold war | Supermarkets in at least seven European countries said the temperatures of their refrigerators and freezers rose overnight on Sunday, prompting fears of another cyber-attack. Unknown hackers have targeted Ukraine’s emergency alert mobile app, sending residents in Kyiv a warning that they were at risk of an imminent nuclear strike.

• Trump’s legal woes | E Jean Carroll’s lawyers are fighting Donald Trump’s efforts to toss her $83m damages verdict in the US supreme court, telling the justices that they do not need “to bail out this president from the consequences of his repeated litigation choices”.

• Oil dip | The oil price has fallen to its lowest level in more than two weeks amid new hopes of a breakthrough to end the Iran war.

• Animal passions | A tender love affair between a bull, Achille, and a donkey, Patroclo, has been discovered in Ethiopia and has helped to shed new light on social and sexual interactions between animals.

Full Story

High inflation and interest rates: can Labor escape the blame?

Our economics editor, Patrick Commins, joins Reged Ahmad to unpack whether Labor is losing control of the economic narrative.

In-depth

The fact that Elon Musk has spent nearly half a billion dollars trying to influence the US midterms is just the top line in a story of how more than $11bn has been spent on the current cycle – a massive increase since rules were changed in 2010. Jacqueline Sweet investigates.

Not the news

Before her Australian tour, which begins in Perth on Monday, the Grammy-winner Ashanti talks to Sian Cain about her marriage to Nelly, fans rushing the stage and how her most embarrassing moment came when her bodysuit snapped off on stage.

Sport

• Olympics | Fewer sports, fewer athletes and a need for the Olympics to modernise means emerging sports are competing with traditional pursuits such as fencing and wrestling for a spot at Brisbane 2032, writes Jack Snape.

• Formula One | How did Kimi Antonelli see off a grid packed with former champions to become the youngest ever world title winner?

• Football | The final match of the latest Premier League round sees Newcastle United take on Everton, who are again without the errant Jack Grealish. Follow it live here.

Year 5 students will return to pen and paper for Naplan writing tests from 2028, the Australian reports, after the nation’s education ministers agreed to scrap online exams. The Fin Review finds that although a rate rise today is a near certainty, some traders are betting on the opposite. The Newcastle Herald hears from residents who feel they are being forced to sell their homes because of the city’s flood forecasts.

What’s happening today

• Technology | Social media ban high court challenge begins in Canberra.

• Sydney | Pre-trial hearing at supreme court of NSW for SAS soldier charged with war crimes over alleged Afghan killing.

• Courts | Alan Jones alleged sexual touching trial.

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