News Corp is campaigning full-bore for the US president, with reports of a Wuhan lab ‘intelligence’ dossier being seeded across its empire

In liberal democracies, the integrity, impartiality and professionalism of intelligence agencies matters. That’s why it is essential that intelligence agencies remain aloof, not only from the political debates of the day, but also from the policy decisions that individual governments may take. The intelligence community’s core task is to provide brutally realistic analysis on the threat environments we face so that governments can then make the best-informed policy decisions possible to preserve our common security.

The failures of the intelligence community before the Iraq war, the gullibility of much of the western media, as well as the cynical manipulation of both by the political class of the day, provide us with a stark reminder of what can go radically wrong. On 8 September 2002 the New York Times published one of this century’s most consequential news articles. The front-page story, supplied by the Bush administration, claimed that Saddam Hussein had stepped up his quest for weapons of mass destruction by acquiring key components for a nuclear weapon. In the UK, the Blair government’s “dodgy dossier” compounded the error. John Howard did the same in Australia. The problem was that it just wasn’t true. These were over-egged stories designed to soften the public up for what would become a disastrous war.

They’ve faced drought, extreme heat and bushfires, and now they have to deal with a new paranoia courtesy of the pandemic

Australia’s bats are turning up in increasing numbers in city suburbs. But as they search for food, they’re bringing for some a newfound paranoia thanks to a global pandemic that likely sprang from one of their overseas relatives.

In Ingham in far north Queensland, an influx of more than 200,000 little red flying foxes in January was variously described as a “swarm”, a “tornado” and an “infestation”.

Deep recessions have long shadows and already there is a gaping hole opening up in our pandemic response

• Sign up for Guardian Australia’s daily coronavirus email
• Download the free Guardian app to get the most important news notifications

The great recession was followed by Brexit, the election of Donald Trump and the rise of authoritarianism particularly in Europe.

Big economic events have big political consequences.

Politicians have set a high bar for themselves – success on coronavirus has created community expectations that will be challenging to shift

• Sign up for Guardian Australia’s daily coronavirus email
• Download the free Guardian app to get the most important news notifications

“Let’s not give everything back, let’s not throw away all the progress we’ve made by letting our frustration get the better of us.” This was Daniel Andrews on Friday afternoon, shortly after national cabinet resolved to gradually restart economic and social activity by July.

The Victorian premier wanted people to understand he’d be hastening slowly – the message being here in the Massachusetts of Australia, we decide how quickly we’ll remove coronavirus restrictions. We don’t apply an arbitrary national average.

The Toronto Zoo announced on Wednesday it had successfully hatched a baby Madagascar spider tortoise, its first successful hatching of the critically endangered species.

Tomlinson appears in a bathtub wearing nothing but a shower cap in the cover video

The 99-year-old is walking the length of his garden 100 times to raise funds

The actress has resurfaced as a TikTok star

Draper is one of the thousands of people in the UK to have been diagnosed with coronavirus

Beckham is also sacrificing her own pay

The singer posted the sweet snap on what should have been the start of the summer term

The Quiz star says she still feels like she constantly has to prove herself as an actor

The Heart Radio star is still bringing a touch of glamour to her working day

Singer Marianne Faithfull has been discharged from hospital after being admitted for treatment while she displayed symptoms of coronavirus.

Perry never misses out on an opportunity to dress up...

Gigi and Bella Hadid have posed for a photoshoot at the family farm they're isolating in

The actor made the confession on Red Table Talk

Lord Sugar has been criticised for sharing a conspiracy theory on social media which stated that Covid-19 was man-made.

Pioneering Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen has died at the age of 79.

The YouTube sensation has already raised £80,000 from his PE videos, which he is donating to the NHS

Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan has tested negative for Covid-19.

The pair got into character as Sandy and Danny for Barlow's latest Crooner Sessions video

It's the latest twist in the pair's ongoing feud

Draper has been in hospital with Covid-19 since late March

The singer also suggested women aren't encouraged to get into music production from an early age

The snap sees the star pose in a black minidress and heels

YouTube has seen a spike in content built on sharing the mundane, often isolating experiences of people's daily lives.

Most of the improvements were performance-based. The new 13-inch laptop features double the storage and a speed boost, and prices start at $1,299.

Apple holds 55% market share in the smartwatch category followed by Samsung and Garmin. Sales rose despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Perfecting your sourdough? These podcasts are an essential accompaniment

Is there any look she can't pull off?

Due to popular demand, M&S has created Percy Pig-flavoured ice cream

The humble jigsaw has become a timely distraction

No clothes? No worries! Instagram is teaching us how to style our bedding

Glossier's helping hands

Get it while you can, before Carole Baskin does!

Perfect for the armchair traveller

Laura Hampson talks to Zeynep Tansug about growing up in Turkey and family ski holidays to Aspen

Take a walk on the wild side

It's not all doom and gloom, here are the things worth celebrating

From the now-trapped together couple who had just decided to divorce, to a cramped houseshare of ten people... Londoners on their new lockdown lives

Forget sourdough, how about Japanese brioche or Navajo bread?

A fully-connected hospital had to be built in only seven days

'People like stories' says New York-based Glass

Like father, like son

People are flocking to the hyper-local app to stay connected during the lockdown

From Joshua Tree to Formentera, Ibiza legend Dawn Hindle shares her favourite travel memories

Have you got bags of style?

The Government has faced pressure from airline bosses, tour firms and passengers to offer certainty around refunds for cancelled Easter and summer holidays.

A magical time filler