Former shadow attorney-general says the referendum should be about ‘hope’; Peter Dutton and NSW premier speak at Sydney gathering. Follow the day’s news live

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Morrison-era climate agency to be reviewed on effectiveness in preparing for natural disasters

A climate agency created in the wake of the Black Summer bushfires will be put under the microscope as Australia heads into a hot weather season predicted to deliver extreme weather events.

Our government is committed to building greater national climate and disaster risk information capability, to provide authoritative data and analytical tools for governments, industry, and the public.

Shoemaker lands on NYSE with $8.3bn valuation but analysts warn public debut comes amid difficult market conditions

Shares in Birkenstock have opened 11% below their offer price on the company’s US stock market debut, valuing the German shoemaker at $8.3bn as investors bet there was less mileage in consumer demand for its cork-soled sandals, which have become an unlikely fashion success story.

On Tuesday evening the footwear firm priced its shares at $46 ahead of the first day of trading in New York, where it is using the symbol “BIRK”. That figure was in the middle of the $44 to $49 guidance provided last week and valued the company at $8.6bn (£7bn).

Monarch’s recognition will come as country prepares to celebrate 60 years of independence from Britain

King Charles will acknowledge the “painful aspects” of Britain’s past actions in Kenya during a state visit later this month.

The visit follows an invitation from the country’s president, William Ruto, whose country will celebrate the 60th anniversary of its independence from Britain on 12 December. The two countries have enjoyed a close relationship in recent years despite the violent colonial legacy of an uprising in the early 1950s, which led to a period known as “the emergency”, which ran from 1952 until 1960.

One wild-born owl remains in British Columbia, where logging concerns have destroyed the species’s old-growth forest home

• Related: ‘All I see are ghosts’: fear and fury as the last spotted owl in Canada fights for survival

Canadian cabinet ministers have rejected a plea by the country’s environment minister to save an endangered owl, casting doubt on the species’ survival in the coming years.

The Wilderness Committee environmental advocacy group announced on Wednesday that federal ministers had rejected a request for an emergency order to protect the northern spotted owl – a request submitted by environment minister Steven Guilbeault.

Rescuers searching for people under rubble of school in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk, says regional governor

• Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 595 of the invasion

Secretary general of Nato Jens Stoltenberg is greeting Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy outside Nato headquarters. They are expected to address the media. I will bring you any key quotes or lines that emerge.

Netherland’s defence secretary Kajsa Ollongren has said outside the Nato headquarters in Brussels that there is “no doubt” that the alliance “will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes”.

We will say today in presence of president Zelenskiy that the war in Ukraine, the Russian aggression in Ukraine, is not a regional conflict, is not just Ukraine’s problem. We feel it is also our responsibility to support Ukraine to withstand this aggression, to fight back against this aggression, and we are very much aware of the fact that they need us to do so. They need us for training, for capabilities, for ammunition. And we are steadfast in our support.

Alliance’s chief says if there is proof of attack it will be met with ‘determined’ response, amid speculation about Russian sabotage

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

Nato has promised a “determined” response if damage to an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia proves deliberate, as investigators said traces of an “external, mechanical force” had been found on the seabed.

Amid widespread media speculation about the likelihood of Russian sabotage, Risto Lohi of the Finnish national bureau of investigation told a press conference in Helsinki on Wednesday: “There is reason to suspect an external force … caused the damage.” The force, he added, “appears to have been mechanical, not an explosion”.

Practice ruled to be discriminatory, but Conseil d’État says it does not have power to force change in policy

France’s highest administrative court has recognised discriminatory police identity checks based on racial profiling exist in France and are not isolated cases, but said it could not change political policy on the issue.

In a class action against the French state, six French and international organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Justice Initiative had asked for French authorities to be found at fault for failing to prevent the widespread use of racial profiling.

Campaigners use traditional Sámi tents to block roads in Norwegian capital in protest against turbines on reindeer pastures

Hundreds of Indigenous and environmental campaigners have blocked a main thoroughfare in Oslo to demand the demolition of two windfarms that have been described by the Norwegian government as a “violation of human rights”.

The Wednesday protest traces its roots to a landmark 2021 decision by Norway’s supreme court that found 151 wind turbines in the western region of Fosen had trampled on the rights of Sámi reindeer herders by encroaching on their pastures.

Amid rising tensions between supporters of Israel and Palestinians, the prime minister says Jewish people will be protected from any antisemitic threat

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Anthony Albanese has told Australian Jews that his government is committed to keeping them safe amid rising inter-community tensions following the Hamas attack on Israel and the prospect of all-out war in the Middle East.

As thousands of people gathered in Sydney on Wednesday night to commemorate the deaths of civilians and show support for Israel, the prime minister addressed the Jewish community at St Kilda Shule in Melbourne.

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Brazil president calls for humanitarian aid to protect Israeli and Palestinian citizens, while Latin Americans also taken hostage

The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has called for an end to “the insanity of war” as it emerged that more than a dozen Latin Americans were killed during Hamas’s assault, with citizens of Brazil and Argentina taken captive in the Gaza Strip.

By Wednesday morning, Latin American government and media reports had confirmed the deaths of seven Argentinians, two Brazilians, two Peruvians, one Colombian and one Paraguayan. At least 15 Argentinians, three Peruvians, two Mexicans and one Brazilian remain missing.

A US news report claimed Donald Trump discussed secret US naval capabilities with the billionaire Australian businessman

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It was a revelation that could have had explosive ramifications.

US news outlet ABC News reported that an “excited” Donald Trump allegedly discussed top-secret details of US nuclear submarines with the Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt, who later allegedly shared the information with at least 45 people, including “three former Australian prime ministers”.

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Kerry White, a Narungga elder, former One Nation candidate and Warren Mundine backer, also claims the stolen generation was not ‘stolen’

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A no campaigner linked to Warren Mundine’s Recognise a Better Way group has falsely claimed supporters of the Uluru statement want “their own military” and voiced a conspiracy theory that the creation of Indigenous treaties would see the UN take over Australian land.

Kerry White, a Narungga elder, one-time One Nation candidate, and committeemember of the Recognise a Better Way group set up by Mundine, went on to allege the stolen generation “wasn’t stolen” and that there was “nothing wrong” with assimilation policies.

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Exclusive: Labor government to introduce centrepiece climate legislation on Thursday, saying it shows it is ‘serious’ about driving down emissions

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New South Wales is poised to have its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets of 50% by 2030 and net zero by 2050 enshrined in law and an independent advisory panel created to monitor the state’s progress.

The Minns government will on Thursday introduce its centrepiece climate change legislation to NSW parliament to entrench the targets and set up the Net Zero Commission and fulfil two election commitments.

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‘Remain in Mexico’ policy, which forces people seeking asylum to wait in Mexico while US claims are processed, set to be revived

The Mexican supreme court is poised to give new life to a controversial US-Mexico border policy at a time when both countries are looking for ways to slow the flow of migrants heading north.

The “Remain in Mexico” policy, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols, is a Trump-era policy that forced people seeking asylum in the US to wait out their legal proceedings in Mexico for months or even years. The government of Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador accepted the arrangement and allowed thousands of asylum seekers to be sent back to the country from the US.

Trial in Brisbane of Sharon Graham hears that a bigger machine was found to carry out the killing of her ex-partner, Bruce Saunders

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A woman asked two men to murder her ex-partner to gain $700,000 from his insurance and later asked them why he was still alive, a jury has been told.

Sharon Graham, 62, faced the second day of her trial at Brisbane supreme court on Wednesday after pleading not guilty to the murder of Bruce Saunders at a rural property in Goomboorian, about 70km north-west of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

People are ahead of governments, says David Cooper, who blames backtracking on parties seeking ‘wedge issues’ for electoral gain

Government backtracking on environmental promises is being driven by politicians and vested interests, not the public, the acting UN biodiversity chief has said, as he called for greater support for those experiencing short-term costs from green policies.

David Cooper, acting executive secretary for the UN convention on biological diversity (CBD), told the Guardian he believed the public mood was not moving against greater environmental protections, and that vested interests opposed to action on the climate crisis and nature loss were trying to frustrate progress.

Women’s rights campaigners denounce ‘hugely regressive’ proposals from political and religious leaders to decriminalise practice

Political and religious leaders in the Gambia are threatening to introduce a bill to decriminalise female genital mutilation, eight years after the practice was outlawed.

Members of the country’s national assembly have backed a proposal for the 2015 law to be scrapped while the Supreme Islamic Council has issued a fatwa condemning anyone who denounces the practice and calling for the government to reconsider the legislation.

Kyoto to sell its obsolete manhole covers in a bid to cash in on the public’s fascination with the decorated pieces

They are heavy disks of wrought iron that separate us from our subterranean sewage, but in Japan, they are also highly coveted works of art, symbols of regional pride, and now, sources of revenue.

Local authorities are cashing in on the public’s fascination with the country’s decorated manhole covers, with Kyoto now joining a list of locations that are putting obsolete lids up for sale.

• Former Afghan spymaster, convicted millionaire and former Libyan colonel among those who became Dominican citizens
• Sales of passports soared after the Caribbean state was granted visa-free travel to the EU in 2015
• Luxury rooms and a swim-up bar: hotel with funding from Dominica’s golden passport scheme

The Caribbean state of Dominica has sold citizenship to thousands of individuals including a former Afghan spymaster, a Turkish millionaire convicted of fraud and a former Libyan colonel under Muammar Gaddafi, the first detailed examination of the country’s controversial “golden passports” scheme has found.

The findings are from Dominica: Passports of the Caribbean, an investigation by the Guardian and 14 other international news organisations, in partnership with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

Former Afghan spy chief among those to gain citizenship though investment in Caribbean island

• Revealed: thousands who bought ‘golden passports’ through Dominica’s $1bn scheme

Nestled in a valley formed by an extinct volcano on the Caribbean island of Dominica, the InterContinental Cabrits resort has 101 luxurious rooms overlooking an emerald bay. Its website invites guests to “explore and unwind in paradise while discovering the pristine island”.

But waterfront views and a swim-up rum bar are not the hotel’s only attraction: for the wealthy investors who helped fund the project, it was also a route to another nationality.

Former prime minister appealed to voters in Facebook video after being noticeably absent in lead up to 14 October election

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Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s former prime-minister, has made an eleventh-hour appearance to throw her support behind the party she once led, just days out from the country’s general election.

Ardern, who was elected in 2017 on a wave of ‘Jacindamania’ and enjoyed extraordinary popularity for much of her leadership, led the governing party for nearly six years up until her shock resignation in January 2023. But the former leader has been noticeably absent in the lead up to the 14 October election.

Unnamed driver who crashed car into consulate building was shot by police and later died in hospital

The White House has denounced the violent incident at the Chinese consulate in San Francisco that began with a car crashing into the building and ended with police shooting the driver, who later died at a hospital.

“We condemn this incident and all violence perpetrated against foreign diplomatic staff working in the United States,” Adrienne Watson, White House National Security Council spokeswoman, to the Associated Press.

Governing party still trails National as NZ First’s support grows, strengthening Winston Peters’ position in any rightwing coalition

Support for Labour has registered a burst of energy in a Guardian Essential poll days before the New Zealand election– but not enough to overcome an advance by the populist group New Zealand First, which is expected to propel a rightwing coalition to power.

The minor party’s steady climb in recent surveys threatens to vex what once appeared an easy route to victory for the right in Saturday’s election, after months of polls showed governing Labour languishing. Led by the maverick, veteran lawmaker Winston Peters, New Zealand First recorded 8.2% in October’s poll – which includes undecided voters in its total – up 2.2 points from September’s survey, and the party’s strongest showing of any major poll this year.

Despite it being taboo and illegal to kill critically endangered primate, 30% of villages have evidence of killing in ‘last five to 10 years’

Orangutans on the island of Borneo continue to be illegally killed, likely in large numbers, even when there are nearby projects to save the critically endangered primate, according to new research.

Despite the taboo and illegal nature of killing orangutans, researchers heard evidence of a direct killing from at least one person in 30% of 79 villages surveyed in Indonesia’s Kalimantan region.

Property developer has about $200bn in liabilities and says its sales are ‘under remarkable pressure’

China’s largest private developer has warned it could default on its international debts, dealing another blow to the country’s embattled property industry.

Country Garden has about $200bn (£163bn) in liabilities and nearly $11bn in dollar-denominated offshore bonds. It has not defaulted so far, but has missed coupon payments on some dollar bonds since last month and faces the end of 30-day grace periods for making payments from next week.

In today’s newsletter: A complicated legal battle over whether the UK government plan to send thousands of migrants to Rwanda could cause a fundamental shift in how asylum seekers are treated

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Good morning. Five supreme court judges are this week deciding whether the UK government plan to deport tens of thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda should go ahead.

The decision of the UK’s highest court will be life-changing for more than 24,000 asylum seekers issued with letters warning them that they are being considered for forcible removal. It will also either make home secretary Suella Braverman’s “dream” come true or poleaxe a key part of Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats”.

Israel | The leaders of the UK, US, France, Germany and Italy have released a joint statement expressing “steadfast and united support” for the state of Israel and “unequivocal condemnation” of Hamas. Earlier, Israel declared a “complete siege” of Gaza, cutting off water, food and power supplies.

Environment | The damage caused by the climate crisis through extreme weather has cost $16m (£13m) an hour for the past 20 years, according to a new estimate.

Transport | A list of transport projects to be funded using HS2 money, which included schemes that had already been built or were swiftly deleted, was intended only to be “illustrative”, the prime minister has said.

Labour | A new Labour government would give all towns and cities in England new powers and funding to boost local economies, Keir Starmer will announce, in the biggest expansion of devolution since Labour was last in power.

Scotland | A hoard of coins linked to a Highland chief – which may have been stashed away as he tried in vain to escape the Glen Coe massacre– has been discovered underneath a fireplace.

Human Rights Watch report detailing alleged abuses at home and abroad raises questions over UK government’s asylum plan

Rwandan authorities are coordinating a systematic campaign of repression at home and abroad against political activists, suspected dissidents and their family members, according to a Human Rights Watch report, raising questions about plans by the UK government to send asylum seekers there.

The US-based rights group details an alleged campaign of extraterritorial killings, kidnappings and intimidation, as well as arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances on Rwandan soil.

Only a third of countries with climate crisis plans include access to sexual, maternal and newborn health services, UNFPA report finds

Only a third of countries include sexual and reproductive health in their national plans to tackle the climate crisis, the UN has warned.

Of the 119 countries that have published plans, only 38 include access to contraception, maternal and newborn health services and just 15 make any reference to violence against women, according to a report published by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and Queen Mary University of London on Tuesday.

Order comes after UN approved mission to send Kenya-led police officers to help Haiti combat rampant gang violence

A Kenyan court temporarily blocked the government from deploying hundreds of police personnel in Haiti in a UN-approved mission aimed at helping the Caribbean nation tackle rampant gang violence.

The court order issued on Monday is valid until 24 October and followed a petition jointly filed by one of the opposition political parties and two Kenyans who say the decision to deploy the police officers outside the east African country is illegal.