Good afternoon. The Sofronoff inquiry report into the ACT prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann was released today, making a series of damning findings about the conduct of former ACT director of public prosecutions, Shane Drumgold.
The report, which was released by the ACT government after extensive leaks, concluded that Drumgold “at times … lost objectivity and did not act with fairness and detachment” throughout the prosecution of Lehrmann.
The ACT government is now considering whether the premature release of the report was unlawful. In a statement accompanying the release of the report, it says it is “extremely disappointed” that the report was provided to two journalists prior to key parties.
In other news, the Matildas are preparing for a round of 16 clash against Denmark and environmentalists have welcomed a NSW government plan to allow aerial shooting of feral horses in the Kosciuszko national park.
Top news
Sam Kerr primed for World Cup clash with Denmark | Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson confirmed Australia’s star striker was available for selection, but said he would make a decision on how many minutes she could play when he met medical staff before the match. Students at a Sydney girls school are among those excited to watch the match.
Fire ants control efforts hampered by funding shortfall | A lack of proper funding is hindering efforts to contain the spread of invasive fire ants by Australian authorities, according to documents obtained by the Invasive Species Council. The documents show a stark contrast between the original $133m plan to fully eradicate the ants and an $89m “revised work plan” to continue for the next 12 months.
Police give ‘closer scrutiny’ to deadly fire | A crime scene has been established at the site of a deadly Queensland house fire that claimed the lives of five young boys and their father on an island near Brisbane. The man, named by multiple media outlets as 34-year-old Wayne Godinet, was reportedly trying to rescue his children when he succumbed to the blaze on Russell Island.
Plan to allow feral horse shooting national park praised | A government plan to allow aerial shooting of feral horses in the Kosciuszko national park has been welcomed by environmental advocacy groups that say endangered species need urgent help, even if “no one likes to see animals killed”. Aerial shooting could be added to a suite of measures being used to control the surging feral horse population under proposed changes to the park’s management plan.
Michelle Bright murderer jailed | A man convicted of the 1999 murder of the 17-year-old has been sentenced to at least 24 years in jail. Craig Henry Rumsby attacked Bright, who was a high school student, as she walked home after a friend’s birthday party in Gulgong, in central western NSW, in February 1999.
Peter Dutton under fire for not attending Garma | The opposition leader says Country Liberal Party senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price misspoke when she incorrectly said he had been to the Garma festival “several times already”. Dutton has been criticised for not attending the festival, the country’s biggest Indigenous gathering, held every year in north-east Arnhem Land.
Japan to start Fukushima water release | Japan plans to start releasing treated radioactive water from the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean as soon as late August, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported on Monday, citing unnamed government sources. The release is likely to come shortly after the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, meets the US president, Joe Biden, and the South Korean president, Yoon Suk-yeol, next week in the US.
Scientists achieve net energy gain for second time | US scientists have achieved net energy gain in a nuclear fusion reaction for the second time since a historic breakthrough in December last year in the quest to find a near-limitless, safe and clean source of energy.
Niger closes airspace | The west African country closed its airspace on Sunday until further notice, citing the threat of military intervention from a regional bloc after coup leaders rejected a deadline to reinstate the country’s ousted president. A junta representative said in a statement on national television on Sunday evening that the airspace had been closed “in the face of the threat of intervention that is becoming more apparent”.
Full Story
Why are more people under 50 being diagnosed with cancer?
Scientists are worried about the rising amounts of people under 50 being diagnosed with cancer. Deputy news editor Josephine Tovey shares her story of battling bowel cancer in her mid-30s. And science writer Donna Lu explains what’s behind the worrying rise in cancer rates
What they said …
“The deaths are really unexplained and we’re trying to get to the bottom of it … Of recent time, we have not had any cases like this.”
Det Insp Dean Thomas spoke to media after three people died from suspected mushroom poisoning in Victoria’s South Gippsland region.
In numbers
A$1.56bn (USD$1.0315bn): The amount of money the Barbie movie has made so far, breaking records for female directors and making it the biggest film to be directed by one woman.
Before bed read
Why is the gay man/straight female friendship such a caricature in popular culture? It’s an question Caroline O’Donoghue, considers in her piece on rethinking the ‘gay best friend’ and its status in pop culture.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: SHE. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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