Good morning. There is breaking news this morning that the US military has shot down an Iranian drone that it said approached an American aircraft carrier “with unclear intent” in the Arabian Sea. Also overseas, UK police have launched an investigation into Peter Mandelson, over the former ambassador to the US’s alleged communications with Jeffrey Epstein. In Australia, there is debate around moves to prevent hate speech in schools, and we look at planned protests around the Israeli president’s visit to Australia next week. Australia Speech and debate | New “hate speech” laws governing NSW school staff could silence discussion of the killing in Gaza, teachers and legal experts say. Meanwhile the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, has been invited by the government on the basis of healing wounds after the Bondi attack, but some fear his visit will provoke further division as protests are planned. Rate pain | After a brief and shallow respite, interest rates are on the rise. It’s leaving some Australians with new financial challenges, and big regrets. Columnist Greg Jericho argues it was a bad decision. Safe home | An Iranian woman living in Australia with weeks left on her student visa fears execution if she returns to the country in the midst of a brutal crackdown on protests. Political donations | A campaign group that attacked Labor, the Greens and teal independent candidates at the last federal election was almost entirely funded by a coal industry lobby group. Gambling ads | Meta failed to act on nearly a dozen reports against an Australian influencer with more than 800,000 followers on Instagram promoting illegal offshore crypto-gambling. World Two prongs | Prosecutors have raided the French headquarters of Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, and summoned the tech billionaire and the company’s former chief executive for questioning as part of an investigation into alleged cybercrime. Separately, the UK’s data protection watchdog has placed X and its parent company, xAI, under formal investigation after the Grok AI tool produced indecent deepfakes without people’s consent. US warship | The US military says it has shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively” approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. Cold war | Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia on Tuesday of violating an agreement with Donald Trump to hold off from attacking Ukraine’s energy systems in the depths of a freezing winter, as its forces carried out large-scale airstrikes on Kyiv on the eve of three-way talks in Abu Dhabi. Royal pleas | The son of Norway’s crown princess has pleaded not guilty to four counts of rape on the first day of his trial for multiple offences. House of mouse | Disney has unveiled Josh D’Amaro as its next CEO, taking over from Bob Iger in March. Full Story Greg Jericho on the ‘cowardly’ rate rise Last August, to the relief of many homeowners, the Reserve Bank’s governor, Michele Bullock, announced a cut in interest rates and expressed confidence that inflation was heading in the right direction. But on Tuesday, the RBA hiked rates for the first time in over two years. Guardian columnist and chief economist of the Australia Institute, Greg Jericho, talks to Nour Haydar about what the rate hike means, why he sees it as “cowardly”, and what it all has to do with the Ashes. In-depth Labor did little to contain its glee at the diminished opposition during yesterday’s parliament, observes Josh Butler. With the Liberals and Nationals still separated, independent MP Andrew Wilkie was quick to point out the opposition is now the same size as the crossbench. Butler writes: “With no Coalition reunion yet in sight, this could be the status quo for parliament this week: an opposition in disarray, a government skating through with insufficient scrutiny.” Not the news Nicholas Jordan has overcome his self-confessed fear of coconut water to find out which supermarket beverage reigns supreme. Jordan and friends assessed 18 unflavoured coconut waters, including one fresh coconut. Did the real thing hold up against the pretenders? Sport Men’s rugby union | The 2027 World Cup will get off to a low-key start with Australia kicking off against Hong Kong after the organisers opted against beginning the tournament with the Wallabies’ blockbuster pool fixture against New Zealand. Tennis | The tennis pay row has escalated further with the world’s top 10 male and female players rejecting an offer from the grand slams to set up a player council with a greater say in the running of the major championships. Winter Olympics | The Spanish figure skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté has been spared a last-minute scramble to redesign his Winter Olympic short program after overcoming a copyright dispute that had threatened to block him from using music from the Minions franchise. Meanwhile, we have collected Australia’s five greatest moments at the Winter Olympics. Media roundup Posters of the Bondi shooter mimicking artist Peter Drew’s “Aussie” format have appeared across Melbourne, reports the Age. A landmark “union snooping” bill could pass NSW parliament as soon as this week, according to the Financial Review. The Brisbane lord mayor, Adrian Schrinner, said he is “not happy” with the city’s bin collection service, the Brisbane Times reports. What’s happening today Sydney | Former NSW governor Dame Marie Bashir’s state funeral will take place at St James’ church Canberra | Former defence minister Christopher Pyne will address the National Press Club Data | Human Rights Watch will release its World Report 2026 Sign up If you would like to receive this Morning Mail update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here, or finish your day with our Afternoon Update newsletter. You can follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland. Brain teaser And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword