Morning Mail: gender-diverse Australians barred from US subs; Victoria’s election explained; and World Cup triumph

Good morning. Documents have revealed how gender diverse sailors are explicitly banned from Australia’s nuclear submarine training program because of US military policies prohibiting transgender service personnel.

Meanwhile, we head to a tiny atoll in Papua New Guinea’s sprawling archipelago where the climate crisis is biting hard – and a “supercharged” El Niño has brought searing heat, brutal drought, and water shortages.

Closer to home, we look at why many of Queensland’s e-bike riders are facing an uphill battle to get on the road legally. And Australia dominated both the men’s and women’s Rugby League World Cup finals to triumph on home soil.

Australia

• ‘Bad luck’ | Under legislation passed by the Queensland state government, electric bikes are banned unless they’ve been assessed at a registered retailer – of which there are only nine in the state.

• ‘Required to comply’ | Under Aukus the Australian navy is having to comply with a US ban on transgender people in the military, with gender-diverse navy recruits barred from US nuclear submarines.

• Exclusive | The sensitive information of Centrelink customers, taxpayers and childcare workers is among a trove of sensitive data that may be ending up in Palantir’s surveillance software in Australia.

• Explainer | As Victorians vote in the state election this month, the cost of living, healthcare, housing are high on people’s minds. Here’s a guide to the key promises made by those gunning for your vote.

• Opinion | Large-scale job losses at NAB, Qantas, Canva and Atlassian raises the question of whether the AI job apocalypse is finally here. But, John Quiggin writes, the evidence suggests otherwise.

World

• Middle East crisis | Iran has launched drone attacks against a US military base in Bahrain, casting further doubt on peace talks; Israel has killed a Hamas commander in a strike on Gaza refugee camp.

• Russia-Ukraine war | Moscow warned western diplomats to leave Kyiv immediately – but ambassadors say their presence sends a powerful signal of solidarity; Estonia will close all its border crossings with Russia after a suspected sabotage attack on a drone maker in the Baltic state.

• Rohingya persecution | The international court of justice will make a landmark ruling in a judgment this week on whether Myanmar committed genocide against its Rohingya minority.

• ‘It’s not my shame’ | Mia Latter, a woman who alleges she was raped by Russell Brand when she was 16, has waived her right to anonymity in order to campaign for a “staggered” age of consent in the UK.

• Midterms wipeout | When Donald Trump was first elected, Republicans held every lever in Arizona – now they’ve been swept in a blue tidal wave, and the road to rebuild could be fraught.

• Miami planes | Two planes collided at Miami airport a day after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop due to communication issues affecting air traffic control centres.

Full Story

What do we actually need from the next James Bond?

Five years after Daniel Craig’s James Bond left our screens, Hollywood is finally narrowing down the five actors in contention to take over the tuxedo. But how do you reinvent a 60-year-old spy franchise for a modern audience without losing what makes it tick? Sian Cain joins Taylah Strano to unpack the frontrunners, the franchise’s identity crisis and what the next era of 007 could look like.

In-depth

Ahus island in Papua New Guinea is on the frontline of the climate crisis. It is not a theoretical risk, a line in a government report or a future technical issue to be addressed, but a clear and current existential threat. The small island community, tightly bound by custom to the land and waters of the island, may not survive. They knew climate change was coming, and spent years preparing. But now they have no water – and nowhere else to go.

Not the news

A new pandemic is threatening planet Earth this week. Entire offices and worksites will be emptied; employees struck down by a mysterious illness. But you need not panic: it should pass in a few days. Anticipation for Grand Theft Auto VI, the first new game in the franchise in 13 years, is so high that a slew of news headlines have claimed it heralds economic catastrophe. So, is the whole world really taking the day off work?

Sport

• Rugby league | Australia overpower New Zealand to win fourth consecutive men’s Rugby League World Cup; Reece Walsh breaks Kalyn Ponga’s heart as Kangaroos nail one-percenters to bank World Cup trophy, Angus Fontaine writes; first-half scoring blitz secures Australia’s fourth straight Women’s Rugby League World Cup title.

• Rugby union | Scotland hold off late Australia rally to secure narrow victory in the Nations Championship.

• Cricket | Tom Banton’s century leads England to emphatic win in second ODI amid Australian soap opera.

The government says its crackdown has seen Australia’s illicit tobacco market shrink for the first time in years, ABC News reports. The outgoing head of NSW’s casino watchdog has lashed the Minns government over its inaction on poker machine reform, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. A Victorian company that bribed a WA official to win government contracts remains working on Labor’s Big Build program, the Age reveals.

What’s happening today

• Diplomacy | The Asean summit meetings will begin today in Manila in the Philippines, with Anthony Albanese in attendance.

• ACT | Richard Marles will deliver the keynote speech at the Australian Institute of International Affairs national conference in Canberra.

• NSW | The Beau Lamarre-Condon trial continues at the New South Wales supreme court.

• NSW | The trial of veteran broadcaster Alan Jones continues in Sydney.

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Brain teaser

And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.