In today’s newsletter: A timeline of increasing dissent as Chinese citizens demand ‘food, not PCR tests’ and blame Xi Jinping’s government for restrictions they say have cost lives

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Good morning. After days of escalating protests across China unprecedented since Xi Jinping came to power a decade ago, the state hit back on Monday night. “There was a massive police presence [at the expected protest sites] in Shanghai and Beijing questioning passers-by,” the Guardian’s Helen Davidson, covering the story from Taipei, told me this morning. “They scared people off, which was obviously the intention.” And yet the unrest that has grown over recent days and weeks remains a sign of an extraordinary rupture in China’s political system.

“This isn’t going to lead to a revolution,” Helen said. “But I do think it is a point of no return in the relationship between the general population and the CCP [Chinese Communist party], at least as far as Covid goes. There are frequent protests in China. But people who have been living in China for decades say they haven’t seen anything like this since Tiananmen Square in 1989.”

Foreign policy | Rishi Sunak has signalled the end of the “golden era” of relations between Britain and China, using his first major foreign policy speech to warn of the creeping authoritarianism of Xi Jinping’s regime. Sunak called China a “systemic challenge to our values and interests”.

Internet safety | Social media platforms that breach pledges to block sexist and racist content could face substantial fines under new changes to the online safety bill. Ofcom will have the power to fine companies up to 10% of global turnover for breaches.

Ukraine | Fighting around the key eastern Ukraine town of Bakhmut has descended into a bloody morass with hundreds of dead and injured reported daily, as neither Russian or Ukrainian forces were able to make a significant breakthrough after months of fighting.

Environment | A report by Unesco and IUCN has concluded that the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s biggest coral reef system, should be placed on a list of world heritage sites that are in danger.

Media | More than 70 media figures, including the editors of the Guardian and the Daily Mail, are calling on the government to back a proposed law to tackle “abusive legal tactics to shut down investigations”. A letter calls for urgent action against the global super-rich’s use of ‘“strategic lawsuits against public participation” (Slapps).

Andrew Gee breaks ranks to say he will support ‘yes’ campaign while WA branch also states it will back Indigenous recognition in constitution

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Andrew Gee has become the first federal Nationals MP to break ranks and declare he will back the Indigenous voice to parliament after the party room vowed to oppose First Nations constitutional recognition.

The West Australian branch of the Nationals also said it would support the voice as the federal party came under fire from Indigenous groups and the Albanese government for panning the proposal before concrete details were finalised.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says she won’t jeopardise state’s ability to give profits from state-owned power generators back to public

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The Queensland premier has resisted calls to allow a wholesale price cap on coal as a way to reduce household energy bills, telling the federal government: “hands off our generators.”

Guardian Australia reported on Monday the Albanese government may struggle to provide comprehensive energy price relief unless New South Wales and Queensland cooperate with a plan to temporarily cap the wholesale price of coal.

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Industry code credited with helping reduce scam calls by almost 550m since 2020 but text messages said to be more difficult to stop

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The scourge of SMS scams is proving a knotty problem for Australian telcos despite their success in reducing the number of scam phone calls people receive.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch says that between 1 January and 13 November this year, reports about phone scams decreased by 61% from 135,400 in 2021 to 57,400 this year.

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Number of homes at high risk likely to almost double by 2055, warns report by infrastructure commission

In England more than 600,000 properties face flooding in the future without investment in drainage, a report from the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has found.

At the moment, 325,000 English properties have a 60% risk of flooding in the next decade, according to calculations by the NIC, due to a lack of investment in infrastructure.

Researchers find no such link for women, suggesting connection between diet and bowel cancer is clearer for men

Eating a plant-based diet rich in vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes can reduce the risk of bowel cancer in men by more than a fifth, according to research.

A large study that involved 79,952 US-based men found that those who ate the largest amounts of healthy plant-based foods had a 22% lower risk of bowel cancer compared with those who ate the least.

Mélanie Joly, the foreign minister in Ottawa, says Russia’s targeting of energy grid and civil infrastructure only strengthens allies’ support

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Nato remains firmly committed to supporting Ukraine through a “difficult” winter, even though an end to the conflict with Russia remains out of sight, Canada’s foreign minister has told the Guardian.

“Russia isn’t at the negotiation table at all. And so our goal right now is just to reinforce Ukraine’s position on the ground through military aid, intelligence sharing and financial support,” said Mélanie Joly. “Because when we do that, we’re actually reinforcing their position at the negotiation table. There will be a diplomatic solution eventually. That’s been the case in every single conflict. But we’re not there yet.”

Exclusive: Library discovery of undocumented transcripts of German philosopher’s lectures like ‘finding new Beethoven score’

A biographer researching the German philosopher Hegel has uncovered a massive treasure trove of previously undocumented lectures that could change perceptions regarding one of the leading figures of modern western philosophy.

More than 4,000 pages of notes on Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s lectures were found by Klaus Vieweg in the library of the archdiocese of Munich and Freising.

Protesters in China deploy creative means to make political statements in order to evade censors

Blank sheets of paper, mathematical equations and even alpacas: protesters in China have found creative ways to express anger at the government’s zero-Covid measures, unleashing a wave of dissent against long and severe lockdowns, the deaths of factory workers in Urumqi, and the censorship they’re not allowed to talk about.

The extraordinary protests, which began over the weekend and spread to cities across China including Shanghai and Beijing, have been characterised by acts of civil disobedience, including clashes with police.

Withdrawals now suspended at the Brisbane-based cryptocurrency exchange Digital Surge for more than a week

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The collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX continues to reverberate in Australia with customer withdrawals suspended at the Brisbane-based exchange Digital Surge for more than a week.

Close to 30,000 customers in Australia are believed to have been caught up in the collapse of FTX this month, but the flow-on effects are now being felt by other businesses.

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Maguire has been charged with criminal conspiracy over alleged offences committed while he was a NSW MP

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Former MP Daryl Maguire has been charged with criminal conspiracy over an alleged visa fraud underway while he was sitting in the New South Wales parliament.

The former Wagga MP, who was previously in a relationship with ex-premier Gladys Berejiklian, is accused of conspiring with migration agent Maggie Sining Logan between January 2013 and August 2015.

Strict measures that continue almost three years into pandemic are prompting widespread protests. Here are the factors

China’s strategy of controlling Covid-19 with lockdowns, mass testing and quarantines has provoked the greatest show of public dissent against the ruling Communist party in decades.

Initially, China succeeded in suppressing the virus, but then more transmissible variants emerged, and in recent weeks the outbreak has grown with record numbers of cases reported.

The strike, planned for Friday 9 December at 27 airports nationwide, could result in grounded international and domestic flights, union says

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Passengers across Australia may face major flight disruptions nextweek when firefighters at 27 airports walk off the job.

The United Firefighters Union aviation branch announced on Tuesday members will stop work on Friday week in protest over staffing levels and safety concerns amid months of negotiation with Airservices Australia over a new enterprise agreement.

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World’s largest active volcano spews ash and debris for first time in 40 years as eruption migrates to a rift zone, US Geological Survey says

Waves of orange, glowing lava and smoky ash belched and sputtered Monday from the world’s largest active volcano in its first eruption in 38 years, and officials told people living on Hawaii’s Big Island to be ready in the event of a worst-case scenario.

The eruption of Mauna Loa wasn’t immediately endangering towns, but the US Geological Survey warned the roughly 200,000 people on the Big Island that an eruption “can be very dynamic, and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly”.

Governor attends Monday ceremony as Chesapeake residents mourn diverse group

Hundreds gathered on Monday in Virginia’s second-largest city to honor six people killed in a mass shooting at a Walmart, with the state’s governor pledging to confront a “mental health and a behavioral health crisis”.

Chesapeake’s candlelight vigil paid tribute to a diverse group of third-shift workers, ages 16 to 70, who unloaded trucks, broke down cardboard boxes and stocked shelves in this sprawling but tight-knit community near the coast.

Court victory by Redfern Legal Centre prompts government to cancel half of all fines issued for breaching pandemic restrictions

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The New South Wales government has been forced to cancel 33,121 Covid restriction-related fines after a court case found they were too vague.

On Tuesday Revenue NSW announced it had cancelled the Covid-era fines, which is about about half of the total number of fines issued by the government for breaches of Public Health Orders during the height of pandemic restrictions.

Thomas Mayor has spent 18 months travelling around the country speaking about the Uluru statement and says rural people agree with it

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A key campaigner for the yes vote says the National party is “out of touch” with regional Australia after the party announced it would not support a referendum on the Indigenous voice to parliament.

The Torres Strait Islander man Thomas Mayor spent 18 months travelling around Australia speaking to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people about the Uluru statement and the proposal for a voice, addressing large crowds in cities and small groups in country halls.

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The 66-year-old musician postpones six months of gigs, saying ‘stomping around stages for nearly 50 years [has] finally caught up with me’

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Jimmy Barnes is in “constant and severe pain” and will undergo back and hip surgery as soon as possible to address it, meaning he will postpone half a year of performances while he recovers.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the 66-year-old musician said: “I’ve been jumping off PA’s and stomping around stages for nearly 50 years, but it’s finally caught up with me. I’ve had niggling back and hip issues for years, but things suddenly got a lot worse over the last few weeks and I’m now in constant and severe pain.

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Police reportedly demand information from Beijing protester as show of force appears to largely prevent fresh demonstrations

Police are out in force in China to stamp out zero-Covid protests amid reports some demonstrators have been interrogated by authorities over the phone after attending the rare street gatherings in cities across the country.

On Monday police stopped and searched people at the sites of weekend protests in several Chinese cities, after a show of civil disobedience unprecedented since president Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago.

Minor party resolves to support a crossbench amendment instead of Coalition on key appointment

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The national anti-corruption commission bill is set to pass after Labor successfully stared down a Greens threat to support a Coalition amendment on the appointment of the Nacc commissioner.

On Monday Guardian Australia revealed the Greens’ threat to combine with the Coalition to require a super majority of three-quarters of the Nacc oversight committee to appoint a commissioner, in a move that could have derailed the bill.

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