Your morning Briefing

Welcome to your morning roundup of what’s making news and the must-reads for today.

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

Senator Jim Molan in his Office,at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture Kym Smith

Molan’s war

New Liberal Party senator Jim Molan is considering defamation action against Adam Bandt unless the Greens MP apologises for suggesting the decorated army chief could be a war criminal. Senator Molan yesterday told The Australian he had been approached by financial backers and lawyers who would support legal proceedings against Mr Bandt. The Greens MP said yesterday the former army general would “probably be up for prosecution” if there was an independent review into his actions in the Iraq War. Senator Molan, who had a decorated 40-year military career and was the chief of operations for the US-led coalition forces in Iraq, said he wanted an apology from Mr Bandt or he would consider pursuing him in court.

“I would invite Mr Bandt to offer me a public apology. If he publicly apologised to me for the statements that he made, then that would end the problem.”

Jim Molan

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Barnaby Joyce has appeared on 7.30

Inside the Joyce affair

The Turnbull government went to enormous lengths to keep the Barnaby Joyce ­affair secret, a process that deserves scrutiny, writes Caroline Overington in our Inside Story. Make no mistake: the government hid the story, tried to bury it deep — not because they thought this was a private matter, and therefore nobody’s business, but because so much was at stake. Focus is expected to remain on Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce when parliament resumes sitting today, while Labor will continue to face pressure to refer Longman MP Susan Lamb to the High Court over citizenship. Keep up with events as they happen in our live rolling blog, PolticsNow.

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ABC TV video still of self-styled Islamic radical Abdul Nacer Benbrika (aka Abu Bakr) during an interview with ABC-TV at his home in Melbourne.

New terror team

A new counter-terrorism unit set up to investigate radical activity inside the prison system will target up to 100 suspected Islamic State extremists, amid fears the next wave of radical violence will come from within the justice system. NSW Police has established the High Risk Terrorism Offenders Unit, a team of police and Corrective Services officers tasked with investigating radical activity involving the growing number of convicted terrorists and suspected Islamic extremists inside the state’s jails.

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Pedestrians are reflected in the glass as market trading boards are seen at the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in Sydney, Tuesday, February 6, 2018. The worldwide plunge in equity markets has infected Australian shares with the local key indexes opening more than 2.5 per cent lower. (AAP Image/David Moir) NO ARCHIVING

More volatility

Analysts have warned investors to expect wilder swings in stock prices this year as central banks around the world unwind their unprecedented stimulus. Taking their cue from a resurgent Wall Street, local blue-chip shares yesterday clawed back some losses, the ASX 200 index rising 0.9 per cent yesterday to 5885. The gains were about half those US stocks enjoyed a day earlier, but the market remained almost 5 per cent down from its January peak of 6141 — the highest point since the global financial crisis a decade ago. Stay abreast of all the business news in our live blog, Trading Day.

“Volatility has jolted to life in the last few days. Global growth has been running hot and some in the market have forgotten this was facilitated by large amounts of monetary and interest-rate stimulus, which needs to be slowly withdrawn.”

Dermot Ryan, AMP Capital

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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 02: Nicola Stevens of the Blues gets tackled by Moana Hope of the Magpies during the round one AFLW match between the Carlton Blues and the Collingwood Magpies at Ikon Park on February 2, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

‘Entertain us’

The AFL has issued an extraordinary edict telling the coaches and footballers in its women’s competition to be more entertaining. A day after the AFL contacted clubs to express its frustration after a series of low-scoring or defensive matches in the opening round of the AFLW, the league escalated the issue. A letter from the league’s football operations manager, Steve Hocking, was sent to the eight competing clubs ahead of this weekend’s round, urging more free-flowing play. The letter proposes initiatives to dictate team structures, ­designed to eliminate flooding.

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Kudelka’s view

Jon Kudelka letters page cartoon for 07/02/2018Version: (650x366)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.