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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Martin Farrer

Morning Mail: Australia’s exciting start to World Cup, scientists’ climate warning, problems at The Project

A Socceroos player in a yellow jersey and green shorts points his index fingers up to the sky and looks up after scoring a goal
Australia's Craig Goodwin celebrates after scoring the first goal in the Socceroos’ World Cup match against France. Photograph: Alessandra Tarantino/AP

Good morning. The Socceroos faced a daunting World Cup assignment against champions France in Qatar this morning, but they may have taken hope after Saudi Arabia scored one of the greatest upsets in the history of the tournament, beating Argentina earlier in the day. Anything can happen, right? At the time of writing Australia had scored the first goal of the game, but France is up 2-1 at half-time. Head to our live blog for the very latest.

Back home, Australians must get used to extreme weather such as floods and searing temperatures, experts say, and anxiety about climate is one factor in the country’s wavering social cohesion. Keep reading for more on these and other top stories.

Australia

Parts of the central business district under water at Forbes. Brown flood waters have risen up an orange shop front with a road sign and mcdonalds sign in the background
Climate scientists say extreme weather events in Australia are getting worse, with more to come. Photograph: Murray Mccloskey/AAP
  • Weather warning | Extreme weather events including torrential downpours, searing heat and dangerous bushfire conditions are all getting worse across Australia, with even more challenging events to come, according to the latest report by the BoM and CSIRO. But in New South Wales’ saturated central region, residents in Deniliquin breathed a sigh of relief as a flood warning was cancelled.

  • Lowe points | Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe warned last night that inflation is likely to become more volatile in the future as globalism retreats and climate shocks mount, requiring central banks to adjust interest rates more often.

  • Project problem | The exodus of talent from Ten’s The Project has continued with the departure of comedian Peter Helliar, who follows Carrie Bickmore and Lisa Wilkinson out the stage door.

  • Crypto fail | Failed cryptocurrency platform FTX bypassed the regular process for obtaining a financial services licence in Australia and the industry regulator did not assess its fitness to hold one in the lead up to the company’s unprecedented collapse.

  • Story time | Australia’s TV news and current affairs presenters are still mostly white and don’t reflect the country’s diversity, according to a report titled Who Gets to Tell Australian Stories?

World

Ukraine’s secret service guard the entrance to the Pechersk Lavra monastic complex in Kyiv
Authorities in Ukraine have conducted operations against Russian special services. Photograph: Efrem Lukatsky/AP

Full Story

Donald Trump
Donald Trump has announced he will run for the 2024 US presidency. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Donald Trump re-enters the battleground for the presidency

As Donald Trump gears up for another run at the White House, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Politico’s Jonathan Martin and unpacks how the Republican party can finally break away from the former president’s legacy.

In-depth

Spectators in a packed crowd at a tennis match
New research has found social cohesion is under strain as equality, climate and inflation woes heighten Australians’ fears. Photograph: Dave Hunt/EPA

One fascinating byproduct of the pandemic was that social cohesion in Australia spiked, as mapped by the Scanlon Foundation. But since the threat of the virus faded, the researchers have found that we have become less united as fears about growing economic insecurity, the war in Ukraine, geopolitical uncertainty and the climate crisis all contribute to a changing zeitgeist. Katharine Murphy delves into the data.

Not the news

Charmene Yap, photographed for New Breed at Sydney Dance Company
‘I suffer badly from motion sickness, which is funny since I’ve made my career in movement’ … Charmene Yap. Photograph: Pedro Greig/Pedro Greig/Sydney Dance Company

Dancer and choreographer Charmene Yap talks about her favourite things, plumping for a handmade yellow tartan dress, essential parenting hardware in the shape of a set of screwdrivers, and why losing her left Airpod was such a blow.

The world of sport

Travis Head hits a shot during the third one-day international (ODI) cricket match between Australia and England at the MCG
Australia have secured the one-day series win against England. Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images

Media roundup

The Herald Sun says 25% of Victorians are still unsure how they will vote in Saturday’s state election, while the Age reckons last night’s debate between Daniel Andrews and Matthew Guy was “mild-mannered” save for tetchy exchanges about corruption. The Adelaide Advertiser reports that a mother fears for her daughter’s safety after she was involved in a brawl on a train, in what the paper says is “a spate” of school-related violence. The Central Western Daily leads on the visit of Anthony Albanese to flood-hit Eugowra, while the Goulburn Post says residents are furious about the state of the rain-damaged road to Goulburn. An anti-corruption executive involved in the secret recording of a Territory politician has left his job, NT News reports.

What’s happening today

  • Nurses’ strike | Nurses and midwives in NSW will strike for 24 hours from 7am today in a dispute over pay and conditions.

  • Press club | film-maker Rachel Perkins and historian Henry Reynolds discuss a new SBS series, The Australian Wars, at the National Press club.

  • Tasmania inquest | An inquest begins in Hobart into the deaths of four Tasmania police officers – Paul Reynolds, Simon Darke, Robert Cooke and Paul Hunt.

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Brain teaser

And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.

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