As it happened: PM pays tribute to Joe Biden as he exits presidential race; National housing target unlikely to be met

Thanks for reading the national news blog. This is where we will end today’s coverage.

But first, let’s take a quick look back at the day’s major stories:

• Much of the focus was on US politics, after President Joe Biden announced he was withdrawing from the 2024 election amid concerns from within his own party that he would be unable to defeat Donald Trump.

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked Biden for his “leadership and ongoing service”, while Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he appreciated the “support and abiding friendship [Biden] has shown to Australia”.

• Vice President Kamala Harris moved to swiftly secure Democratic support behind her campaign for the White House. But with only four months until election day, Harris will need to overcome the fact she has only limited time unite the party, according to North America correspondent Farrah Tomazin.
• Back on home soil, Albanese continued his dismissal of calls to reinstate the Australian Building and Construction Commission to regulate industrial relations in the sector, following reporting of wrongdoing and criminal behaviour within the CFMEU. “If it worked, we wouldn’t be talking about this issue today,” he told reporters on Monday morning.
• Opposition Leader Peter Dutton told 3AW Victoria has become “the gangster state” and questioned why Victoria Police hadn’t investigated the state’s CFMEU branch more.

• Michael Stutchbury, editor-in-chief of The Australian Financial Review, announced he will retire next month after 13 years in the role and will be replaced by former executive editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age James Chessell.

• The federal government will fall 260,000 homes short of its 1.2 million target by the end of the decade, with warnings the nation faces chronic housing affordability problems that will weigh on younger generations for years, senior economics correspondent Shane Wright writes.

Woodside, the largest Australian oil and gas company, has agreed to buy a huge liquefied gas export terminal under construction in the United States, doubling down on demand for the fuel even as the world tackles climate change.

Perth-based Woodside on Monday said it had struck a $US1.2 billion ($1.8 billion) deal to buy all of Tellurian’s stock and gain ownership of its Gulf Coast Driftwood liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, boosting its foothold in the Atlantic Basin.

The project, while yet to receive a final financial go-ahead, has already secured permits to produce 27.6 million metric tons a year of LNG – natural gas that has been super-chilled to the point that it turns into a liquid and can be loaded onto special ships.

At full capacity, Driftwood would be able to produce more than double the current LNG output from Woodside’s LNG assets in Australia.

“The acquisition of Tellurian and its Driftwood LNG development opportunity positions Woodside to be a global LNG powerhouse,” Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill said.

Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to Washington to make a politically precarious speech for the US Congress just as US President Joe Biden announced he will drop out of the race for the White House.

With efforts ongoing to bring about a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, rising concerns about the war spreading to Lebanon and Yemen, and the United States in the midst of a dizzying election campaign, Netanyahu’s speech has the potential to cause disarray on both sides of the ocean.

The risks only increased with Biden’s decision on Sunday (Monday AEST) to withdraw his re-election bid, especially since the choice of a replacement Democratic nominee – and the potential next American leader – is still up in the air.

A person familiar with Biden’s schedule confirmed the president will host Netanyahu at the White House. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to comment publicly, said the exact timing of the meeting had not been established because Biden was recovering from COVID-19.

Netanyahu, who was travelling on Monday, is scheduled to address Congress on Wednesday. He is also expected to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris, who is seeking the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

Read the full article here.

New Delhi: The video, taken this month, shows a Bangladeshi protester wearing a black T-shirt and standing on one side of an empty street. His arms are outstretched, and he is holding a stick in one hand.

Across the street stand several police officers, wearing bulletproof vests and helmets and pointing their guns at him. He does not move, daring the officers to shoot. They begin to fire.

As Bangladesh was going through one of its worst bouts of violence since it gained independence in 1971, the video – verified by the news agency Storyful and carried by multiple television channels in the country – came to symbolise the helplessness and defiance of student protesters demanding the reform of a system of preferential treatment for coveted government jobs.

The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina responded to the escalating protests by deploying ever greater force. Officials shut down the internet. Paramilitary troops were called in. A curfew was declared. Protesters were beaten, and more than 100 were killed. Late Friday, the government declared a nationwide curfew and brought the army in to restore order. On Saturday alone, the police reported that 12 people had died.

On Sunday, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh stepped in with a ruling that was a significant concession to the protesters – and one that could open up job opportunities for thousands of students.

Read the full analysis piece here.