AUSTRALIAN BOY KILLED IN BARCELONA

Seven-year-old Australian-British dual national Julian Cadman was killed when terrorists rammed pedestrians with a van on Las Ramblas in Barcelona, it has now been confirmed.

Cadman’s fate had been unclear until last night, and his father Andrew Cadman departed from Sydney on Friday in a desperate effort to help locate his missing son. Julian’s mother, Jumarie “Jom” Cadman, remains in hospital in Spain, with Fairfax reporting her condition is “less serious”. Another Australian woman, Suria Intan, is in special care in Barcelona.

Both the Cadman family and Spanish authorities have now confirmed that Julian Cadman was among the 13 people killed in the Barcelona attack. In a statement, the family grieved the loss of an “energetic, funny and cheeky” young man, and called on the media to respect their privacy.

Spanish authorities continue to hunt for the man suspected of driving the van. It now appears the Barcelona attack came after a large terror cell tried and failed to produce a bomb, with a makeshift workshop in the town of Alcanar exploding. In total, seven suspected plotters have been killed by police, and four more were arrested.

NO CELEBRATIONS FOR TURNBULL’S 18th

A new Newspoll delivers the same old story for Malcolm Turnbull and the Coalition. For the 18th consecutive time the government trails Labor, with the gap between the parties growing to 46-54. The Australian reports that One Nation’s primary vote has increased by one point to 9%, while Labor now sits at 38%, above the Coalition which has slumped to 35%.

The least bad news for Turnbull is that he still holds a 10-point lead over Bill Shorten for preferred prime minister. In the words of News Corp’s David Crowe: “Voters think they both stink.”

The citizenship fiasco that has engulfed Parliament and put Turnbull’s majority in the House at risk looks set to drag on for weeks, with George Brandis telling media that the High Court is unlikely to hear the matter before October. When it does, the future of at least seven MPs will be determined, with Nick Xenophon the latest to fall victim, confirming on the weekend that he holds dual British citizenship.

ALICE SPRINGS A LEAK

The Australian defence facility at Pine Gap, just south of Alice Springs, plays a key role in the US’ global fight against terrorism, leaked documents reveal. A joint investigation by the ABC and US publisher The Intercept shows that the centre scoops up communications data from around the world, which the US then uses to help target military strikes, including drone attacks.

The documents come from the cache taken by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and show the agency refers to the Australian base by the codename RAINFALL. According to the Human Rights Law Centre’s Emily Howie, they also raise questions about whether Australian officials could be prosecuted for war crimes.

“Australia, in so far as it is locating suspects that the US targets, is assisting the US. So it could be liable for any crimes committed by the US, in terms of aiding and assisting in that,” Howie said.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

‘IS-inspired’ trio face terror charges over arson at Melbourne Shiite centre

The era of crazy Chinese acquisitions is over as Beijing cracks down on offshore deals

Village Roadshow to sue hundreds of Australians for piracy

Greens ‘set to oust’ deputy premier Jackie Trad in South Brisbane

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Sydney: Australian Olympian Betty Cuthbert will be given at state memorial

Brisbane: One Nation media advisor Sean Black will appear for a mention relating to assault charges

Darwin: Lawyers for Dylan Voller and Jake Roper will seek leave to have Justice Judith Kelly recuse herself from their case against the Territory on bias grounds

Cincinnati: Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios takes on Grigor Dimitrov in the Cincinnati Masters final 

THE COMMENTARIAT

For us not to be defeated, we must ­actually defeat terrorists — Jose Maria Aznar (The Australian $): “We must realise there is no other path than a firm desire for victory, that appeasement does not work; we must understand we have not done anything for them to perpetrate their crimes and we cannot cease being who we are for them to stop doing what they do.”

Citizenship mess shouldn’t cost Coalition government — Brian Toohey (Australian Financial Review $): “Section 44, which was drafted in the 1890s, is a relic with archaic language that serves no useful purpose in a modern democracy.”

Malcolm Turnbull’s prime ministership saved by Liberals’ shaky grip on power — Andrew Bolt (The Daily Telegraph $): “Sack the Prime Minister and the Liberals risk losing power within months.”

THE WORLD

Venezuela continues to be rocked by its economic, legal, and political crises, with the federal Congress refusing to cede its authority to a rival body set up at the behest of Socialist President Nicolas Maduro. The opposition-controlled Congress has been backed by 12 regional powers plus the United States and says it still has the power to make laws. — Reuters

A small, far-right protest in Boston was overwhelmed by counter-protesters on the weekend. A tiny number gathered for the original protest in a gazebo in the Boston Common, the first such event since one woman was killed by an alleged neo-Nazi in Charlottesville. It rounded out a tough few days for the American far right, with Donald Trump’s chief strategist Stephen Bannon finally forced out of the White House. — Boston Globe

Slapstick American comic actor Jerry Lewis has died at the age of 91. Finding fame in the 1950s, often in conjunction with Dean Martin, Lewis inspired a generation of performers and has also been remembered for his fundraising telethons. — The Guardian

WHAT WE’RE READING

The US spy hub in the heart of Australia (The Intercept): “The base, which was built in the late 1960s, was once focused only on monitoring missile tests and other military-related activities in countries such as Russia, China, Pakistan, Japan, Korea, and India. But it is now doing “a great deal more,” said Tanter.”

The agonising, 8-page memo on how to chauffeur a congressman (Politico): “Empty his trash. Always have hand sanitiser and gum at the ready. And don’t bother with ‘unnecessary conversation’ — the congressman doesn’t have time for your chitchat … who knew it could take eight pages of instructions on how to properly escort a member of Congress around his district?”

Rewarding the politics of failure (The Saturday Paper): “If you do get fired or canned or voted out, who cares? That Sky spot will still be there, your pension will still be there, Louise Adler will be on hand to offer you a book contract, your ideas will be perpetuated in evermore fact-resistant strains. After all, who will stop you? Who will stop any of it?”

Elon Musk leads 116 experts calling for outright ban on killer robots (The Guardian): “Experts have previously warned that AI technology has reached a point where the deployment of autonomous weapons is feasible within years, rather than decades. While AI can be used to make the battlefield a safer place for military personnel, experts fear that offensive weapons that operate on their own would lower the threshold of going to battle and result in greater loss of human life.”

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