Morning Mail: US warns Albanese over algorithm opt-out, cost of raising children rising, and a hot chook taste test

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Morning everyone.

The Trump administration has warned the Albanese government that its plans for a social media algorithm opt-out will be treated as “censorship” of free speech in a move that escalates tensions over efforts to curb the power of big tech.

The sensitivity comes as world leaders gathered at the United Nations to hear Donald Trump contemplate the “annihilation” of Iran.

At home, a study warns that couples are being priced out of having children, the South Australian Liberals’ “vote-losing machine”, and supermarket roast chicken gets the taste test.

Take a bough | A decades-old shady eucalyptus, an elm beloved by thousands of commuters, and a type of ginkgo once thought to be extinct in the wild are among the finalists for Victoria’s tree of the year with voting to close next month. ‘Censorship’ claim | The US has warned the Australian government that its plans to boost online safety through digital duty of care laws risks becoming a mechanism for “viewpoint-based censorship” and called for American platforms to be exempted.

Bearing the cost | The cost for Australian families of raising two or more children has risen to at least $36,500 a year, according to new research , with the money needed to maintain a family increasing by 134% in two decades. ‘Vote-losing machine’ | The ascendancy of the rightwing senator Alex Antic in the South Australian Liberals has coincided with a collapse in the party’s vote.

Could it have even further to fall now that he holds the party presidency? Mother charged | A mother has been charged after allegedly fatally stabbing one child and seriously injuring two others in the Blue Mountains.

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