Indigenous rights vote divides Australia

Australia is deeply divided over an Indigenous rights vote [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. Australia is preparing to hold the most significant referendum on the [rights of its Indigenous population]( in 50 years. One month out, the issue is already fiercely dividing the country. On Oct. 14, Australians will vote on whether to write an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament into its constitution. It would be an advisory body made up of Indigenous Australians, where they could give feedback to the government on policy affecting their people — something that’s been largely lacking up to now. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese picked up the proposal from a group of Indigenous elders and had assumed it would be a moment of unity for the country. Instead it’s opened up fractures, and polls now suggest the Voice to Parliament is set for defeat in the face of strong opposition from Australia’s center-right and some Indigenous Australians themselves. Nioka Coe, a member of the Wiradjuri Gomeroi people, says Indigenous Australians deserve more than an advisory body after centuries of dispossession and abuse. “It’s not going to fix any of the atrocities that have been imposed on our people,” she said outside Australia’s parliament in Canberra. But with Indigenous communities still suffering far higher levels of premature death and suicide than the wider population, supporters of the plan maintain it’s their people’s best hope in a long time to get a real say in policy making. There’s a lot riding on the outcome for Albanese, who has staked personal and political capital on the Voice as a flagship reform of his first term. But, as always, the stakes are highest for Indigenous Australians, who face shorter lives and lower incomes for the foreseeable future, irrespective of whether the country votes “yes” or “no” next month.​ — [Ben Westcott]( An Indigenous Australian mural in Darwin. Photographer: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images Global Must Reads President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un met at Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome space center today for their first summit in four years. The US expected them to discuss Pyongyang [providing artillery and rockets to Moscow]( for its war in Ukraine, while Kim may be looking for food aid and technology to support his plans to deploy a nuclear-powered submarine and build satellites. [Click to watch](: Putin greets Kim at the space center. Keeping up with emerging technology hasn’t been a strong point for the US government — see its stuttering attempts to oversee social media. But the [complex new field of artificial intelligence]( raises legal, national security and civil rights concerns that regulators can’t ignore. The Senate today is holding a briefing of tech experts and CEOs from the biggest companies including Tesla, Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Microsoft. After joining forces to wage war against the Iranian-backed group that threatened to overrun Yemen in 2015, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are [vying for control]( of the strategic country. A rift between the two Gulf powers looks set to escalate into a new bout of violence between the rival proxies they back in Yemen, undermining US efforts to cement a fragile truce — and end a conflict that’s claimed nearly 400,000 lives. The European Union is bracing for a difficult debate on admitting new members such as Ukraine and Moldova as it confronts fears over the Russian invasion and competition with China and the US. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen underscored just how fundamentally Putin’s war in Ukraine [has altered the bloc]( in her state of the union address today. Guatemalan President-elect Bernardo Arévalo said he would withdraw temporarily from the transition process after [prosecutors raided electoral offices]( and opened ballot boxes. The Organization of American States called the actions illegal, and the US government said they undermine the democratic transition of power. Ukraine hit the Sevastopol Shipyard in Crimea in a [missile attack overnight](, causing a fire and wounding at least 24 people, while Russia damaged Ukraine’s Izmail port on the Danube River. Aid from Libya’s neighbors and allies began to trickle in days after [a devastating storm]( ravaged the nation’s northeastern coast, leaving at least 2,300 people dead and as many as 10,000 missing. The UK economy shrank at the fastest pace in seven months in July as labor strikes and wet weather hit activity harder than expected, [reviving fears that a recession]( may be under way. Washington Dispatch A question has been haunting the Democratic Party: Why doesn’t Joe Biden get more credit for presiding over an economy that remains resilient and could stay out of recession despite a series of interest rate increases by the US Federal Reserve? Part of the answer might be found in surveys by the US Census Bureau. They showed a record surge in child poverty last year after various benefits and programs that flourished during the coronavirus pandemic expired. This reversed substantial progress made during the first years of the Biden administration. The bureau also found that household income, adjusted for inflation, fell in 2022 as costs rose. So with an economy that has proven more robust than many predicted, Biden, as he runs for reelection, might do well to recall Ronald Reagan’s devastating question during a 1980 debate with President Jimmy Carter: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” One thing to watch today: The Labor Department releases its inflation report. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 5pm ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day Carbon capture and storage is one of the [most contentious solutions]( in the drive to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. In the past three decades, governments and corporations have poured over $83 billion into projects. Last year, the technology captured just 0.1% of global emissions. Many environmentalists say it should be abandoned and that it’s simply a way for the fossil fuel industry to justify its continued existence and to avoid having to write down the value of its assets. And Finally Japan is considering building a train nearly two-thirds of the way up Mount Fuji to limit vehicle traffic and prevent overcrowding in a bid to preserve one of its top sightseeing and climbing destinations. The plans are materializing amid a recovery in tourist numbers since the country reopened its borders last year [following the Covid-19 pandemic](. Since China’s decision to lift travel restrictions for its citizens, Japan’s visitors are expected to surge to a record in 2025, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Lights carried by hikers aiming to see the sunrise from the peak illuminate the trails on Mt. Fuji at night. 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