Morning mail: war criminal dies after drinking poison Thursday: Former Bosnian Croat general shocks UN tribunal seconds after his sentence is upheld. Plus: Australia bans transvaginal mesh products Slobodan Praljak in court in The Hague. Photograph: Robin Van Lonkhuijsen/EPA Eleanor Ainge Roy @EleanorAingeRoy Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 30 November. Top stories A former Bosnian Croat general has died after drinking a phial of poison at a UN tribunal in The Hague. Seconds after his sentence of 20 years was upheld at the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, former commander Slobodan Praljak shouted angrily: "Praljak is not a criminal. I reject your verdict." The 72-year-old then raised a small brown bottle to his lips, and drank it in full view of the cameras filming the hearing. "I just drank poison," he said. "I am not a war criminal. I oppose this conviction." The Croatian prime minister, Andrej Plenković, said: "His act, which we regrettably saw today, mostly speaks about a deep moral injustice towards six Croats from Bosnia and the Croatian people ... We voice dissatisfaction and regret about the verdict." Dutch police have turned the courtroom into a crime scene while they investigate the death, who supplied him with the poison and how he could have smuggled the bottle into court. The unprecedented scenes came as judges were handing down judgment in the appeals case of six former Bosnian Croat political and military leaders. They are the court's final verdict on war crimes committed during the bloody 1990s break-up of Yugoslavia. Praljak was charged with ordering the destruction of Mostar's 16th-century bridge in November 1993, which judges in the first trial had said "caused disproportionate damage to the Muslim civilian population". Praljak had already completed a significant proportion of his sentence and before the Bosnian conflict had been a writer and film director. Transvaginal mesh products used by surgeons to treat pelvic organ prolapse have been quietly banned overnight by Australia's medical devices regulator, which found the products are too risky. In an update on its website, the Therapeutic Goods Administration said the move followed its review of the latest published international studies and an examination of the clinical evidence for each product supplied in Australia. "Based on this new information, and since the publication by the TGA of the results of review into urogynaecological surgical mesh implants, the TGA is of the belief that the benefits of using transvaginal mesh products in the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse do not outweigh the risks these products pose to patients," its statement said. Donald Trump has threatened "major sanctions" against North Korea after its latest missile tests. The president said he had spoken to China's leader, Xi Jinping, and "this situation will be handled" after North Korea fired a powerful, ballistic missile that appeared capable of reaching most, if not all, of the mainland US. The security council is due to meet on Wednesday afternoon in New York to discuss possible new measures against the rogue regime, and the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, made clear that the US would press for tougher measures allowing North Korean shipping to be stopped and searched at high sea. Most observers doubted that another set of UN sanctions would stop the North Korean missile and nuclear programs, but predicted that once the regime felt it had perfected its weapons, it might be ready to talk. After two-and-a-half months of relative quiet, outside governments and analysts concurred North Korea's latest missile launch showed the country had made a jump in capability. Scott Morrison has asked a business audience not to lose faith in the Coalition, despite acknowledging some of them might have criticisms of it and frustration with its "handling of politics". The treasurer spoke to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry's annual dinner in Canberra last night and discussed his government's economic achievements, warning of the threat Labor posed. Morrison said the opposition had a "dark vision" for Australia's economic future, and urged business leaders to stick with the Coalition. To back up his point, Morrison had Treasury conduct some modelling to cost eight Labor policies, demonstrating a future Labor government would lumber the economy with $164bn in extra taxes over the next 10 years. But he failed to ask Treasury to model any of Labor's savings measures, which would have provided a complete picture of Labor's policy platform. The Labor senator Sam Dastyari was in fresh strife last night after a recording emerged of a press conference in which he contradicted Labor's official position on the dispute in the South China Sea. The new recording followed revelations earlier on Wednesday that Dastyari had tipped off a Chinese political donor, Huang Xiangmo, that his phone was probably being tapped by security agencies. The recording, broadcast by the Nine Network on Wednesday evening, has Dastyari saying: "The Chinese integrity of its borders is a matter for China, and the role that Australia should be playing as a friend is to know that we think several thousand years of history, thousands of years of history, when it is and isn't our place to be involved. As a supporter of China and a friend of China, the Australian Labor party is playing an important role in maintaining that relationship and the best way of maintaining that relationship is knowing when it is and isn't our place to be involved." Sport Corban McGregor of Australia is tackled during the Women's Rugby League World Cup match between the Canadian Ravens and the Australian Jillaroos. Photograph: Mark Nolan/Getty Images For the first time, the Women's Rugby League World Cup tournament (held in Australia) was televised in its entirety by Seven network. This reflects a growing interest in the women's game – both from a participation and sponsorship/broadcasting perspective. With the final between the Australia Jillaroos and New Zealand (Kiwi) Ferns on Saturday, young girls across the nation have the chance to aspire to participate in elite rugby league competition. Ben Stokes's chances of making a dramatic comeback to England's Ashes squad appeared to suffer a setback on Wednesday, when police confirmed they would be referring his assault case to the Crown Prosecution Service. Stokes has been unavailable for England selection since his arrest on 25 September after a late night incident in Bristol. Thinking time The customs vessel Cape St George. Photograph: Australian Customs and Border Protection Service/AAP The most dangerous mistruth in current Australian politics is that for lives to be saved at sea, other people must be indefinitely and arbitrarily punished. Ben Doherty and Helen Davidson, who report on immigration for Guardian Australia, explain why those who say offshore detention prevents drowning deaths are wrong. "Australian government policy is to begrudgingly treat those who legally sought its asylum – by one mode of transport, by boat – with axiomatic cruelty, in order to discourage others from paying people smugglers and hopping into leaky boats across south-east Asia. This policy saves lives, they say, because it deters others. But it's not this policy that's stopping the boats from reaching Australian shores." The latest OECD report on Australia takes a rather sunny view of the country's economic future, writes Greg Jericho, despite forecasting gross domestic product and consumption growth in 2018 and 2019 that is lower than was projected in the May budget. He writes: "Its major recommendation that the Reserve Bank should increase interest rates despite evidence of ongoing weak inflation and wages growth is one that would likely undermine that rosy outlook – especially if it were to occur while our under-employment levels remain at record highs." Being a migrant in Australia is a lot like constantly applying for a visa to somewhere you grew up, according to the author, rapper and poet Omar Musa. "I was thinking a lot about what Yassmin Abdel-Magied went through, or is going through," he says, speaking to Guardian Australia's Naaman Zhou. "Early on, Yassmin was embraced as a very fun and friendly and vivacious presence – and she is – but as soon as she was perceived to have put a foot wrong, all of a sudden she wasn't Australian anymore. She was demonised and people were baying for her blood." What's he done now? Donald Trump has retweeted three anti-Muslim videos posted by the deputy leader of the UK far-right group Britain First, Jayda Fransen, prompting condemnation from the British prime minister, Theresa May, who called his actions "wrong". Trump, who has 43.5 million followers on Twitter, retweeted three separate posts by Fransen on Wednesday, which all included separate, unverified, anti-Islamic videos, one which purported to show a group of Muslims pushing a boy off a roof. "Britain First seeks to divide communities by their use of hateful narratives that peddle lies and stoke tensions," a statement from No 10 said. "They cause anxiety to law-abiding people. British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far right which is the antithesis of the values this country represents, decency, tolerance and respect. It is wrong for the president to have done this." Media roundup The West Australian splashes with the resignation of the Labor MP for Darling Range, Barry Urban, who quit after questions were raised about his education and military service history. The newspaper revealed this month that Urban was wearing an "illegitimate peacekeeping medal to commemorative services around the state", and that two UK universities he claimed to have attended had no record of his study there. The Herald Sun splashes with a large picture of a crying baby under the headline "Great baby draft – wanted: 160,000 Victorian bubs", and says babies across the state are being sought for a world-first study, which will track the health and wellbeing of every Victorian baby from birth to old age. The $55m study, entitled Generation Victoria, will help scientists better understand obesity, asthma, autism, food allergies, mental illness and learning difficulties. And the ABC's Papua New Guinea correspondent Eric Tlozek reveals that 10 Manus Island staff working with refugees have been forced to leave the island after fears for their safety were raised after protests at the refugee accommodation centres yesterday. Coming up The Senate sitting week continues, and with the same-sex marriage bill passed and sent on its way to the lower house, attention turns to private member's bills. One of these is expected to be a proposal for a parliamentary inquiry into the banking industry. Campaigning continues for the federal byelection in New England, New South Wales, where the former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce is expected to win back easily on Saturday. Today the shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, will be in the region campaigning with Labor's candidate, David Ewings. Supporting the Guardian We'd like to acknowledge our generous supporters who enable us to keep reporting on the critical stories. If you value what we do and would like to help, please make a contribution or become a supporter today. Thank you.  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