Your noon Briefing: Packer’s Crown eyes $10bn Vegas merger

Your 2-minute digest of the day’s top stories and a long read for lunchtime.

Hello readers. The Coalition gives Adani the green light, and Packer’s Crown eyes mega-merger with Vegas casino giant Wynn Resorts.

Australian Environment Mnister Melissa Price speaks during House of Representatives Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra, Thursday, April 4, 2019.(AAP Image/Lukas Coch) NO ARCHIVING

Adani green light

Environment Minister Melissa Price has approved groundwater management plans for the Adani coal mine, clearing one of the final hurdles for the project with just days until an election is called. Ms Price issued a statement today announcing the move, amid intense pressure from Queensland colleagues to give the mine the green light.

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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 26: James Packer of Crown Resorts arrives to attend the Crown Resorts annual general meeting on October 26, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. The AGM comes just a week after Independent MP Andrew Wilkie used parliamentary privilege to accuse Crown of misconduct, including allegations of allege of tampering with gaming machines to increase profits. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Crown eyes Vegas merger

James Packer eyes a $2bn payday as Crown Resorts enters merger talks with Las Vegas casino giant Wynn.

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Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton speaks during House of Representatives Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra, Thursday, April 4, 2019.(AAP Image/Lukas Coch) NO ARCHIVING

Dutton ‘has a lot to explain’

Malcolm Turnbull slams Peter Dutton over “concerning” links with Huang Xiangmo, and says the PM can’t dismiss concerns. Keep up with the latest from Canberra in our live blog, PoliticsNow.

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04/07/1994 PIRATE: 1989. Musician Bill Wyman and Mandy Smith arrive for the opening of the |Rolling Stones Burger Bar|.

Rolling Stones star ‘groomed’ child

A film about Bill Wyman has been pulled from Britain’s leading documentary festival after protests about the former Rolling Stone’s alleged grooming of his second wife when she was still a child.

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TOPSHOT - An Ultra Orthodox Jewish man walks past an electoral billboard bearing a portrait of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem, on April 1, 2019. - Israeli general elections will be held on April 9, 2019. (Photo by THOMAS COEX / AFP)

The long read: Verdict on King Bibi’s reign

Israelis vote today after a hard-fought election campaign that will define their PM’s legacy.

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Comment of the day

“If we’re not supposed to eat animals, then why are they made out of meat?”

Mike, in response to ‘Reckless attacks on our food supply’