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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Antoun Issa

Afternoon Update: Titan sub oxygen could run out tonight; Australia issues Twitter warning; and ABC ratings tank

Image of the missing Titan submarine in the Atlantic Ocean
More equipment, including deep sea vehicles, have been sent to aid the search of the missing Titan sub, as the theoretical limit of oxygen supply nears. Photograph: EyePress News/Shutterstock

Good afternoon. The crew aboard the missing Titanic sub could run out of oxygen by this evening Australian time, according to estimates, as more equipment was sent to aid in the search.

The search is focused on an area where underwater sounds have been heard. “I can’t tell you what the noises are. What I can tell you is we’re searching where the noises are, and that’s all we can do at this point,” said US Coast Guard captain, Jamie Frederick.

In local news, a 10-year-old boy has been attacked by a dingo on K’gari beach.

Top news

Twitter’s blue bird logo on a building
Australia’s eSafety commissioner has issued a legal notice to Twitter amid rise in online hate. Photograph: Constanza Hevia/AFP/Getty Images
  • Australia’s Twitter warning | Australia’s eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has issued a legal notice to the social media giant headed by Elon Musk demanding an explanation about what it is doing to tackle online hate. “We are seeing a worrying surge in hate online,” she said. “Twitter appears to have dropped the ball on tackling hate.”

  • Dingo attack on K’gari beach | A 10-year-old boy was walking along the water’s edge on the sand island formerly known as Fraser Island when he was stalked and attacked by the dingo near a camping area last Friday. He was saved when his 12-year-old sister intervened, with rangers chasing the dingo away.

Aerial shot over Cadia goldmine before tailings dam wall breach
Newcrest’s Cadia Hill goldmine has failed to meet clean air standards. Photograph: Stuart Riles
  • Toxic Newcrest mine | Newcrest’s Cadia Hill goldmine in central west NSW – one of the largest goldmines in the world – is releasing “an unacceptable level of dust” and failing to meet clean air standards. The state EPA has ordered the mining company to take immediate action or face regulatory action. It comes a month after dozens of local residents, including children, reported blood tests with high levels of selenium, nickel and copper.

  • NSW cashless gaming trial delayed | The Minns Labor government has been accused of bowing to pressure from gambling lobbyists after confirming its promised expanded trial was delayed. The trial on 500 poker machines in clubs and pubs was due to begin 1 July.

Former police commissioner Mick Fuller
Former police commissioner Mick Fuller. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP
  • PwC-AFP contract under scrutiny | PwC won a contract with the Australian federal police without a tender process and public discussion, and was ironed out between “two mates, some other partners from PwC and the chief operating officer from the AFP”, according to Greens senator David Shoebridge. The two mates in question are AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw and his friend, PwC partner and former NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller (pictured).

  • ABC current affairs ratings tank | Insiders is the only ABC current affairs show to grow its broadcast audience since 2019, lifting its TV numbers by 4% while Q+A dropped by 36% and Four Corners by 19%, as audiences abandoned traditional broadcast television. These shrinking audiences are not unique to the ABC but part of a trend across the industry including for Nine’s 60 Minutes (down 25% since 2019) and Ten’s The Project (down 20% since 2019).

Firefighters attempting to put out a blaze
31 people have died and seven are receiving treatment after a gas explosion at a restaurant in China. Photograph: CGTN Global Watch News
  • Deadly China restaurant explosion | At least 31 people have been killed when an explosion – caused by a gas leak – ripped through a barbecue restaurant in the north-western Chinese city of Yinchuan on the eve of a popular local holiday.

  • Paris gas blast | A separate gas explosion occurred in Paris, injuring at least 37 people, four of whom are in a critical condition. The blast sparked a blaze in buildings in the Latin Quarter of Paris.

The channel swimmer Iain Hughes sharing a thumbs up to the camera
The search for the swimmer has been called off. Photograph: Instagram (don’t add this credit)
  • Missing English Channel swimmer | The search for British firefighter, Iain Hughes, has been called off after he went missing in French waters on Tuesday evening local time. Hughes, 42, was hoping to use the swim to raise money for the British Heart Foundation, Midlands Air Ambulance and Fire Fighters Charity.

In pictures

Cartoon
The RBA has said more people need to lose their jobs for inflation to stabilise. Illustration: Fiona Katauskas/The Guardian

The Reserve Bank says more people need to be unemployed for inflation to be brought under control. One such person who could soon be without a job is RBA governor, Philip Lowe, with the treasurer today saying he will make a call on renewing Lowe’s position next month. Cartoon by Fiona Katauskas.

What they said …

The eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra
eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

***

“Twitter has always been fiery in terms of discourse, but it’s turned into an absolute bin fire.” – Julie Inman Grant, eSafety commissioner

In numbers

Infographic that reads: $3.2bn, the amount private schools will be overfunded over the next six years, according to government figures

Inequity in the education system is deepening. The flipside to this is that the vast majority of government schools are not receiving sufficient funding to meet student needs.

Before bed read

Sad evicted woman worried moving house sitting on the floor in the kitchen
Some Sydney renters are being evicted without notice. Photograph: Antonio Guillem Fernández/Alamy

Kirby Warren was on annual leave when she received a no-grounds termination notice for her Sydney inner-west apartment.

“I want people with the power to change things to know how difficult and damaging it is to experience housing stress,” she writes. “It’s reprehensible that so many people are subjected to similar or worse situations or forced to pay most of their wage in rent just to be housed in this city. And for anyone thinking, ‘If you don’t like renting, save to buy’, I say, ‘Where?’ Sydney is where I work but it’s unaffordable to buy, and now rent, so what are we supposed to do?

Daily word game

Word game
Wordiply. Photograph: The Guardian

Today’s starter word is: WHA. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.

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