Morning Mail: Trump and Putin talk Syria, wealthy feeling mortgage stress, asylum boat turnbacks 'illegal'

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Guardian Australia's Morning Mail Wednesday 3 May 2017 g Nauruans jailed over protest to appeal in Australia Good morning, and welcome to the Morning Mail. Among the stories leading our website this morning: Three Nauruans charged over a 2015 protest at the suspension of opposition MPs from parliament, have had their prison sentences increased up to seven-fold on appeal, but will now take their case to the high court of Australia, the ultimate court of appeal of Nauru's legal system for cases other than constitutional matters. Keep reading for the rest of the top stories this morning, with more news from around Australia and the world.

Headlines Labor frontbenchers reignite debate over 'Buffett rule' to stop wealthy avoiding tax Essay by Andrew Giles and Terri Butler argues tax policy can be used to address societal inequality and comes after Chris Bowen declared ALP will not adopt it Wealthy feel pinch of housing costs as one in four Australians face mortgage stress Households in affluent suburbs struggle to meet repayments as survey finds financial distress from property price surges reaching beyond 'battlers and mortgage belt' Asylum seeker boat turnbacks illegal and don't deter people, report finds Neither Australia's or Europe's deterrence policies save lives, but rather 'hamper desperate people fleeing war and persecution from finding safety' William and Kate 'seek €1.5m in damages' in trial over topless photos Prince's lawyer says duke found invasion of privacy 'particularly shocking' considering his mother's battles with paparazzi Budget repair plan relies on big tax hikes, leading economist warns Australia needs to hold a national tax summit, Bob Gregory says – with all taxes on the table for reform Australian news and politics Bob Brown's lawyer argues Tasmania's anti-protest laws designed to stop free speech Ron Merkel tells high court laws not designed to protect businesses but to stop environmental protests Coalition's Gonski 2.0: less peace in our time than a new front in education wars Malcolm Turnbull dearly wants the next budget to mark a turning point but Gonski (round two) already looks familiar Safe Schools: organiser of petition for new program defends 'tolerance' goal Petition calling for students to be taught tolerance about sexuality and gender attracts strident criticism for not appealing for acceptance instead Hundreds of IT contractors left unpaid as payroll company ceases trading Company suspends transfers amid 'commercial dispute' and says it is attempting to recover any missing money New Zealanders call Australia's university fee hike an 'act of bastardry' New Zealand students will no longer receive fee subsidies available to domestic students, forcing them to pay full cost 'Gonski 2.0' review to allocate resources as funding is cut to private schools Government announces 10-year plan to bring school funding to the same level for all institutions, with David Gonski to lead second review Victoria's budget tackles family violence with unprecedented $1.9bn Funding to implement all 227 royal commission recommendations: 'It's big, it's important and it's necessary' Around the world Merkel presses Putin over anti-gay purge in Chechnya German chancellor raises reports of torture and persecution of gay men during joint press conference with Russian president Majority of Mélenchon supporters will not back Emmanuel Macron, poll finds Poll suggests 65% of those who backed hard-left candidate will not vote for centrist fighting Marine Le Pen for French presidency FBI translator married Isis recruiter she was meant to be investigating Daniela Greene moved to Syria to be with her jihadi groom, a former German rapper, before realising she was involved 'way over her head' Greece will avoid default after bailout deal – but faces more austerity Unions vow strike action after leftist-led government agrees to further slash pensions and cut tax breaks Trump and Putin had 'good' talk about ending Syria war, White House says US and Russian presidents hold first known phone conversation since missile strikes last month, addressing question of safe zones and 'eradicating terrorism'

One last thing 'I had an intimate knowledge of Hitler's drug habit that no one else possessed'Norman Ohler recalls his excitement on discovering records of Nazi Germany's deep involvement in drugs – and the hornets' nest his book Blitzed stirred up."Little did I know what I was getting myself into. Especially when I took a swing at Hitler. This had in fact been my main source of enjoyment while writing; discovering that the so-called Führer took hard drugs, especially opiates, and was not quite the teetotaller that Nazi propaganda liked to portray. Hitler was not even a vegetarian – he mainlined pigs' liver extracts and swallowed capsules filled with bulls' testicles. These are the simple facts, and I dutifully wrote them down." Have an excellent day and if you spot something I've missed, let me know on Twitter at @earleyedition.

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