That’s a wrap – thank you for reading the Need to Know blog today. These were some of the main stories:

• Labor to force social media companies to pay for Australian journalism: Labor will charge social media companies operating in Australia, but will provide a “generous offset for the commercial agreements” in an effort to force digital platforms to pay for Australian journalism.

• NRL team confirmed for PNG in $600m deal that comes with a catch: Papua New Guinea’s National Rugby League team will be shut down if Port Moresby signs a security agreement with China as a condition of Australian taxpayers bankrolling its elite rugby league dream with $600 million.

• Pesutto loses Deeming defamation trial: Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto has lost a defamation trial brought by ex-Liberal MP Moira Deeming, who has been awarded $300,000 in damages.

• Australia votes with UN General Assembly for ceasefire in Gaza: The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved resolutions on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and backing the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which Israel has moved to ban.

• Dutton suggests Indigenous flag should not be on Sydney Harbour Bridge: Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has suggested only the Australian flag should be displayed on the Sydney Harbour Bridge after saying he would not address the nation in front of the Indigenous and Torres Strait Island flags.

• Virgin Australia starts selling long-haul flights: Tickets for flights to Doha and beyond in the peak summer season are now on sale from Virgin after the competition watchdog gave interim approval for its alliance with Qatar Airways.

• Worldwide Meta outage impacting Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp: Meta has confirmed an outage on its platforms as some social media users cannot access Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp.