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
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
Monastery mystery | Ukraine’s security service and police have raided a 1,000-year-old Orthodox Christian monastery in Kyiv as part of operations to counter suspected “subversive activities by Russian special services”.
Power cuts | Ukraine’s energy chief has warned its grid has suffered damage on a “colossal” scale.
Iran fears | Iran’s footballers face possible reprisals from authorities back home after they refused to sing the national anthem at the World Cup in support of anti-government protesters.
Kosovo clash | A row over car number plates in Kosovo is threatening to erupt into open unrest and one of the most serious regional crises in years as tensions between Serbia and its breakaway former province continue to mount.
Taking back control | Owen Paterson, the former UK MP sacked over a lobbying scandal, is taking his case to the European court of human rights even though the Brexiter once argued Britain should “break free” from the court.
Full Story
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
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
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
Cricket | Australia thumped England by 221 runs thanks to tons from David Warner and Travis Head, pictured, to complete a whitewash of the old enemy in the ODI series.
‘Messi, where are you?’ | Saudi Arabia pulled off one of the biggest World Cup shocks of all time overnight with a 2-1 win over Argentina in Group C in Qatar. It left Saudi fans to taunt Argentina’s Lionel Messi with a chant of “Where are you?”.
World Cup | After the Saudi shock, Group C remained open after Poland and Mexico drew 0-0. And in Australia’s group, Denmark and Tunisia also ended goalless. And in other big football news, Cristiano Ronaldo has left Manchester United after his public falling out with the club’s management.
Rugby league | Last weekend in Manchester produced three world champions – men’s, women’s and wheelchair – and gave us a glimpse of the future.
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.
