Good morning, this is Helen Sullivan bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 30 April.

Top stories

The fugitive Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has appeared in a propaganda video for the first time in five years, recognising the terrorist group’s defeat in the Syrian town of Baghouz. The appearance is only Baghdadi’s second on video, and comes weeks after Isis remnants were ousted from their last organised stronghold in the eastern Syrian desert. The appearance seems designed to acknowledge the loss of the remaining pockets of territory and to demonstrate that Baghdadi is still alive. Written in text on the video, but not spoken by Baghdadi, is a reference to the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka, which killed more than 250 people in churches and hotels.

Labor remains in front in the latest Guardian Essential poll, but only narrowly, with both major parties recording improvements in their primary votes from three weeks ago. Labor is ahead of the Coalition 51% to 49%, which is movement within the margin of error in the government’s favour from the last survey on 8 April, which had Labor in front 52% to 48%. On Monday night Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten faced off in their first televised debate, which provided a numbing spectacle for a very small number of viewers. “The basic dynamic of the 2019 contest was there for all to see,” writes Katherine Murphy. “Morrison really has nothing to say beyond don’t vote for Shorten. That is it.”

Clive Palmer has promised a $7m trust fund for hundreds of Queensland Nickel workers who lost their jobs but lawyers representing the workers say no details have been given. The lawyers say they are unaware of how the leader of the United Australia party intends to pay outstanding entitlements despite his claim to be establishing the fund. Queensland Nickel was placed in receivership in 2016 with 237 workers made redundant just three days before and hundreds more made redundant as part of the receivership. The liquidator has said Palmer could have advanced the funds to him for distribution but he had not been asked to assist.

World

Grounded Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

The head of Boeing has denied accusations that its two 737 Max aircraft involved in fatal crashes lacked an optional safety feature which might have alerted the pilots to technical malfunctions that partly caused the accidents.

Spain’s socialist party has begun weighing up its options for government after storming past its traditional conservative rival in Sunday’s snap general election but failing to win a majority.

A US official has warned that the UK’s leaked proposal to adopt Huawei technology for 5G mobile phone networks risks affecting intelligence cooperation.

Concerns have been raised that the anti-vaccination movement is targeting children via Amazon warehouses after a woman in the UK found a leaflet condemning the HPV vaccine tucked inside a children’s book she had bought from the online retailer.

Marine experts in Norway believe they have stumbled upon a white whale that was trained by the Russian navy as part of a program to use underwater mammals as a special ops force.

Opinion and analysis

Demonstrators at a March for Truth: Stop the Wall, Stop the Lies protest in El Paso, Texas. Photograph: José Luis González/Reuters

Donald Trump passed the 10,000th lie of his administration this week – meaning an average of almost 17 lies a day over 604 days. Not all of his lies were created equally. Some have been harmless, almost goofy claims about his physical stamina or business acumen, or obviously exaggerated anecdotes about the types of things supporters say to him. Others are downright horrifying and dangerous, about serious issues such as immigration and abortion. Luke O’Neill takes a look at some of the most memorable.

“Following the release of the 10th rental affordability snapshot by Anglicare it is fair to say the authors cannot hide their frustration,” writes Greg Jericho. After 10 years of producing the Rental Affordability Snapshot, it is clear that housing in Australia is broken. “But whereas other public policy lacks a clear solution, here one is obvious. The report argues, ‘The solution is simple, but has proven to be stubbornly difficult – government must reclaim responsibility for housing.’”

Sport

It’s the 25th anniversary this week of the Imola accident that killed the charismatic Formula One driver Ayrton Senna. “His death had a devastating impact not just on his millions of fans but on grand prix racing as a whole,” writes Richard Williams.

“As a Dutchman it goes against my principles to say this but Spurs have to stop Frenkie de Jong,” writes Martin Jol, previewing the first leg of the Champions League semi-final between Tottenham and Ajax. “He is unbelievable. You have never seen a player like him. He is like Johan Cruyff in the pass but deeper and if he can’t pass it he runs away from you. That is why he is going to Barcelona in the summer for €75m.”

Thinking time: The brilliant ‘battler’ poet

The bard of Bunyah ... Les Murray in 2002. Photograph: Alan Porritt/AAP

Australia’s most renowned poet and literary critic, Les Murray, has died aged 80. “It’s not a simple portrait when painted from this angle: a complex person, a brilliant poet with a genius for language, with some terrible politics,” writes fellow poet John Kinsella. “But it’s still a deeply admiring picture of Les Murray, whose poetry looked out to the world at large, a broader world that he was always conscious of but was never going to bend to. The world could come to Bunyah, New South Wales, as he went out and read his poems to an international audience.

“A traveller who could bring a “bat’s ultrasound” right into the room (via his poem of that name), Les had one of the most fervent and avid intellects I have encountered. Although university-educated, he was a fierce autodidact, whose facility for foreign languages informed the etymological plays and departures of his poetry. Les told me he didn’t trust the avant garde poets of anywhere or any time but, strangely, he shared more in common with many experimentalists than with the more conservative traditionalists who lionise him. He had a way of drawing you with him, of making a poem feel like a personal exchange in the paddock.”

Media roundup

The Australian Financial Review reports that Sydney’s median house price will fall below $1m in two months’ time, “even if the property downturn eases slightly from its current pace.” The Sydney Morning Herald leads on an election “blitz” to be launched by unions, who will mobilise 2,500 volunteers in 16 key government seats. The Australian’s headline on last night’s debate is Priceless: Bill’s climate costs.

Coming up

A former Victorian police officer who sold drugs to an underworld figure is due to give evidence as the public hearings into the Lawyer X scandal resume.

The Apra music awards are on in Melbourne tonight.

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