Your morning Briefing: China warned on aggression

Welcome to your 2-minute briefing on the day’s top stories and must-reads.

Hello readers. Here is your 2-minute digest of what’s making news today.

This US Navy photo obtained October 21, 2016 shows An MH-60R Sea Hawk, assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 49,as it takes off from the flight deck aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG 73) on September 14, 2016 in the Sea of Japan. A US destroyer sailed close to a string of islands claimed by China in the South China Sea on October 21, 2016, the Pentagon said, amid continued tensions in the contested waterway. The USS Decatur passed close to the Paracel Islands and "conducted this transit in a routine, lawful manner without ship escorts and without incident," Pentagon spokesman Commander Gary Ross said. / AFP PHOTO / Navy Media Content Operations (N / MC3 Gerald Dudley REYNOLDS / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / US NAVY/Specialist 3rd Class Gerald Dudley Reynolds" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

China ‘aggression’

Australia has warned Beijing that the use of “intimidation or ­aggressive tactics” was “destabilising and potentially dangerous” following reports a Chinese navy destroyer launched an “unsafe” challenge to a US warship in the South China Sea. In the latest conflict between the US and China, the Pentagon revealed that a Chinese warship had issued a challenge to the ­guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur as it sailed within 12 nautical miles of the Gaven and Johnson reefs in a freedom-of-navigation operation.

Greg Sheridan, meantime, labels China’s act a risky game of macho chicken.

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US President Donald Trump addresses the National Electrical Contractors Association Convention at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 2, 2018. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP)

No country for young men

President Donald Trump said allegations of sexual misconduct against his US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh showed that “it’s a very scary time for young men in America” who now may be presumed guilty even when innocent. Five days after a Senate hearing in which a university professor, Christine Blasey Ford, detailed her sexual assault allegation against Judge Kavanaugh, Mr Trump seemed to raise the issue of false accusations against men.

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Dean Webber, 19, is assisting police with inquiries after a stabbing incident at Alva Beach near Ayr.

Teen released, claims self-defence

A teenager who helped an injured woman who fled to his home has been released from custody without charge after claiming self-defence in the subsequent stabbing deaths of two men at a small seaside town in north Queensland. It emerged yesterday that Dean Webber, 19, had helped an injured and distressed 29-year-old Candice Locke when she rushed to his Alva Beach home, south of Townsville, in the early hours of Monday.

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Malcolm Turnbill twitter page october 2018

Unkindest cut

If you are judged by the people you follow on Twitter, what does this tell us about Malcolm Turnbull? The former prime minister has culled his list of people he’s interested in from several thousand to just a handful. So who’s made the cut?

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Johannes Leak’s view

Johannes Leak Letters Cartoon for 03-10-2018. Version: Letters Cartoon (1280x720 - Aspect ratio preserved, Canvas added)COPYRIGHT: The Australian's artists each have different copyright agreements in place regarding re-use of their work in other publications.Please seek advice from the artists themselves or the Managing Editor of The Australian regarding re-use.