Morning mail: first charges in Trump-Russia inquiry Tuesday: Three former Trump aides accused of collusion, money laundering and conspiracy. Plus: Manus on the brink Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager who has been charged over illegal lobbying, speaking to Ivanka Trump at the Republican Convention in Cleveland, Ohio in 2016. Photograph: Brooks Kraft/Getty Images Mike Ticher Good morning, this is Mike Ticher, standing in for Eleanor Ainge Roy, bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 31 October. Top stories The special counsel investigation into the Trump campaign's links to Moscow has unveiled its first charges, alleging collusion with Kremlin-linked Russians, money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the US government involving three of the president's former aides. George Papadopolous, a former foreign policy adviser, has pleaded guilty to lying to FBI investigators over his contacts last year with an unnamed Russian professor who offered "dirt" on Hillary Clinton – and with a woman the professor identified as "Putin's niece". The special counsel, Robert Mueller, has also charged Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort, and another senior campaign operative, Rick Gates, with money laundering, tax evasion and failing to register as agents of foreign interests. Manafort is accused of illegally lobbying on behalf of former Ukrainian president Victor Yanukovych and using hidden offshore cash to buy properties, one of which he rented on Airbnb. Conservatives have questioned Mueller's fitness to investigate and Donald Trump has tried to play down the significance of the findings. But the story could not be bigger, and the stakes could not be higher, writes Tom McCarthy. Tensions are high on Manus Island, where detainees have launched legal action over the closure of Australia's immigration detention centre, saying their human rights are being breached by the removal of basic services such as water and electricity. The centre is due to close today, but there is no clear plan for what will happen to more than 600 refugees and asylum seekers. Authorities face a potential standoff with detainees who refuse to leave, as well as locals reportedly blocking the construction of new refugee accommodation. The Papua New Guinea government has warned Australia it will take no responsibility for "non-refugees" and people who refuse to settle in PNG. Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian refugee and journalist on Manus, writes about the terrible conditions in the centre. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased at record speed last year to hit a level not seen for more than three million years, the UN weather agency has warned. Its report found globally averaged concentrations of CO2 reached 403.3 parts per million in 2016, up from 400.00 ppm in 2015 because of a combination of human activities and a strong El Niño, raising alarm among scientists. The acceleration occurred despite a slowdown in emissions, because El Niño intensified droughts and weakened the ability of vegetation to absorb carbon dioxide. More than half of Australians believe the national broadband network will fail to meet the country's future internet needs, and almost 40% blame the Turnbull government for problems with the network, the latest Guardian Essential poll has found. The survey found 39% believed the Turnbull government was to blame for the current problems with the NBN, while just 19% laid the blame with Labor. That's more bad news for the government after it dropped to 46% to Labor's 54% on the two-party-preferred measure, a two-point drop from the last poll. Kevin Spacey is under fire for linking his sexuality to an apology about allegations of sexual advances towards a 14-year-old actor. The House Of Cards star said he could not remember sexually harassing Star Trek actor Anthony Rapp in 1986. The LGBT lobby group Stonewall said conflating Spacey's sexual orientation and the serious allegations he faces was "extremely damaging". The Guardian's Owen Jones says Spacey has "fuelled a vicious lie about gay men". Sport With the addition of Cooper Cronk to their squad, the Sydney Roosters have found the final piece of their puzzle, the type of leader and organiser they have been longing for, says Nick Tedeschi. It may force Mitchell Pearce out of the club, but that is a price the Roosters are prepared to pay – it means the rugby league premiership is theirs to lose. The next rugby World Cup may be two years away, but the Wallabies already need to be thinking about how to manage the workload of their players, writes Bret Harris. The intense physical demands on a player like Michael Hooper put him in the high-risk category to suffer a serious injury. Coach Michael Cheika needs to force him and others need to rest at times. Thinking time Richard Flanagan has warned of the dangers of losing our private lives to the tech giants. Photograph: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images The Booker Prize-winning author Richard Flanagan has been occupied with notions of truth, alternative facts and privacy since writing his latest book, First Person. What is the difference between truth and reality? What do we give up when we hand over our private information to the behemoths of social media? In this essay Flanagan warns that anyone wanting to gain control over us always first seeks to know everything about our lives, and the erasure of privacy has long been the goal of totalitarian regimes. Australian workers face more weak wages growth, despite improved employment, and the interest rate rises the market keeps predicting won't happen for quite a while, Greg Jericho argues. "One of the oddest things about Australian economics is the market's continuing desire to believe inflation growth is going to come sooner rather than later and that, as a result, interest rates will also begin to rise. And yet time and time again, the inflation figures disappoint them." Many of Rosamund Young's insight about cows sound like the thoughts of a sentimental and slightly batty English eccentric. Each of her 113 cows has a name. She credits them with strong emotions, analyses their sophisticated family networks and believes they are "the most qualified individuals to make decisions about their own welfare". But Young, the modestly celebrated author of The Secret Life of Cows, still drives most of her cows to the abattoir once they reach two. "I went through a phase of finding it incredibly difficult," she says. "I'm OK about it now." What's he done now? Donald Trump had a lot of question marks over the sensational developments in the Mueller investigation, tweeting: "Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign. But why aren't Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????" Apparently as an afterthought, he added: "....Also, there is NO COLLUSION!" Media roundup The Daily Telegraph splashes on a row between Malcolm Turnbull and Warren Mundine, saying the Indigenous leader has savaged the PM's efforts on Indigenous affairs as pandering to "inner city elites and ABC lefties". The Herald Sun hails the 21,400 dobbers who helped recover $40m in public funds last year, proudly noting that Victorians are "grassing up their neighbours over welfare fraud and dole bludging at a greater rate than ever before". And the ABC says three Coalition MPs – Warren Entsch, George Christensen and Ann Sudmalis – are threatening to cross the floor to vote to establish a banking royal commission. Coming up Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten are among the politicians representing Australia in Israel for the commemoration of the centenary of the battle of Beersheba and the charge of the Australian Light Horse Brigade. Paul Daley has tried to disentangle the myth from reality of those contested events. A damages hearing is scheduled in Sydney after the West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle won his defamation lawsuit against Fairfax Media on Monday. Guardian News & Media Limited - a member of Guardian Media Group PLC. Registered Office: Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU. Registered in England No. 908396