Coalition’s ‘Willy Wonka’ summit complaint, property investor splurge, Trump hopes for Putin deal

Koala threat | Habitat for threatened koalas that are part of a population described by one expert as nationally significant would be bulldozed under plans to extend a Queensland coalmine.

‘Candy man’ | The Coalition has likened the treasurer’s much-anticipated economic summit next week to Charlie and Chocolate Factory and dubbed Jim Chalmers “Australia’s candy man” as it challenges Labor proposals it says would increase taxes and pass debt to future generations.

NSW | The Minns government will establish a $1m program to combat anti-Muslim hate, including establishing a support hotline for victims and a program to build awareness of Islamophobia.

Investor record | Property investors borrowed a record sum, nearly $130bn, to buy homes over the year to June, supported by interest rate cuts but squeezing out first-time buyers, according to figures out today.

Stratton tributes | Legendary film critic David Stratton has been remembered for his “incredible insight”, “humility” and “deep love of cinema” in tributes after his death at age 85. Catch up with Luke Buckmaster’s personal tribute here, and our obituary of the revered cinephile.

Deal or no deal? | Donald Trump believes Vladimir Putin is ready to make a deal on the war in Ukraine as the two leaders prepare for their summit in Alaska, but his suggestion the Russian leader and Volodymyr Zelenskyy could “divvy things up” may alarm some in Kyiv. The Russian president is expected to tempt his US counterpart with financial incentives from Russia’s “untapped” economic potential in exchange for siding with him. Keir Starmer and Zelenskyy met in Downing Street (pictured) and hailed “a visible chance for peace” – so long as Putin takes steps to prove he is serious. And our American politics podcast asks if Trump is too weak to be a strongman.

Settler split | Israel appears set to give formal planning approval to a highly controversial settlement project for more than 3,400 new homes – which has been frozen for decades – which critics say would split the occupied West Bank in half.

Cholera outbreak | The “worst cholera outbreak in years” has killed at least 40 people in the past week in Sudan, according to the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières.

India floods | At least 37 people have died and more than 200 are missing after a sudden rainstorm in Indian Kashmir, the second such disaster in the Himalayas in a little over a week.

Aztec gold | Nearly five centuries after Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés signed it and decades after someone swiped it from national archives, a priceless manuscript page has been returned by the FBI to Mexico.