Good morning. Boris Johnson has resigned as Conservative leader in the UK, while Anthony Albanese meets with Jacinda Ardern again in the lead-up to the Pacific Islands Forum.
The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has resigned and blamed the “herd instinct” of Tory MPs for pushing him out of office, after a series of cabinet ministers told him he had lost the support of the party. In a statement outside Downing Street, Johnson acknowledged that “no one is remotely indispensable” and accepted that it was the “will of the parliamentary Conservative party” that he should leave No 10. But he also signalled his intention to stay on as prime minister while the party picks his successor, potentially until October, triggering an immediate backlash among Tory MPs.
Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, will meet her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Bali on Friday in a direct conversation that is a further sign of thawing relations between Canberra and Beijing after a diplomatic deep freeze. After days of speculation, China’s foreign ministry announced on Thursday night Canberra and Beijing’s foreign ministers would meet on the sidelines of the G20 in Indonesia for the first time since 2019. Wong had said both countries had an interest in “stabilising the relationship” but warned any durable rapprochement would require the removal of Beijing’s “coercive” trade sanctions. Meanwhile the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has flown into Bali for the gathering of G20 foreign ministers, which is likely to be overshadowed by Moscow’s war in Ukraine and deep divisions within the bloc over how to respond to the crisis.
Former Pacific leaders have called for “urgent actions” to reduce global carbon emissions, including a commitment to no new coal or gas projects as Anthony Albanese prepares to travel to Fiji for the most important diplomatic regional meeting in the Pacific. A group of former leaders of Pacific island nations, called Pacific Elders Voice, have called for accelerated efforts to move beyond coal and gas, and for new finance to be made available for loss and damage caused by the climate crisis, in the foreword to a new report released today by the Australia-based Climate Council. “The latest assessments are clear: global emissions must be halved during this decade. There is no room for new coal and gas,” wrote the group.
Australia
The Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher, says she will kickstart implementation of the Jenkins review in the opening fortnight of the new parliament, declaring the mission to eradicate toxic parliamentary staffing culture is not going to “die a little slow death”.
Timor-Leste’s president, José Ramos-Horta, has welcomed the “wisdom and fairness” of the decision to end the prosecution of Bernard Collaery, saying the lawyer is a “good man” who represented the best of Australian ideals.
Supermarkets and chemists are limiting purchases of facial tissues as stocks dwindle amid soaring influenza and Covid-19 infections.
People living in regional areas are at risk of becoming the “last people in the world” left driving petrol cars because incentives for electric vehicles have been targeted at city drivers.
Rain continues to threaten New South Wales communities as the east coast low-pressure system moves over the Hunter, Central Coast and mid-north Coast.
The world
Vladimir Putin has said “everyone should know that” Russia is just getting started in Ukraine and has not “started anything yet in earnest”. Any prospects for peace negotiations will grow dimmer the longer the conflict dragged on, the Russian leader said, adding if the west wanted to defeat Russia on the battlefield, it was welcome to try.
The Democratic governor of Colorado has mandated that his state will not cooperate with any investigations into abortions led by other states. Jared Polis signed an executive order on Wednesday pledging not to assist other states in criminal or civil investigations used to prevent people from accessing abortions.
A Toronto woman who was set on fire last month on a public bus in a suspected hate crime has died of her injuries, police say. On 17 June, a woman in her 20s who was travelling to her job as a caregiver, was sitting on an idling bus in the city’s west end when she was assaulted by another passenger.
American actor James Caan has died aged 82. Caan was renowned for his role as Sonny Corleone in the mafia epic The Godfather, as well as a string of key films in the 1970s.
Recommended reads
Helen Fitzgerald writes books that seem made for television: compelling page-turners with characters pushed well beyond their limits. Child kidnappings, viral videos, couples on the brink – it’s the stuff of train wrecks and soap operas and there’s certainly no shortage of viewers for either. In Keep Her Sweet, Fitzgerald’s latest thriller, a therapist navigating her own family crisis finds comfort in the disintegration of others.
Publishing is awash with titles for kids focused on worries, feelings and emotional literacy – and parents are buying them in droves. Why are there so many children’s books about anxiety?
My best friend is stuck in a rut but I’ve grown up, writes a Guardian reader. Do I let this friendship go or keep trying? “Trying to change someone is a recipe for frustration,” says advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith. “Stop hoping for change and you could find a renaissance within your friendship.”
Listen
The US supreme court has struck down the constitutional right to an abortion, one of several landmark decisions that will affect the lives of millions of Americans for decades to come. Jonathan Freedland and Jill Filipovic discuss whether it’s still possible for a deeply divided court of nine judges, a group that now has a 6-3 conservative majority, to keep the promise to the American people of ‘equal protection’, and what happens if it can’t.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Australia’s Nick Kyrgios is through to his first grand slam final after an injured Rafael Nadal pulled out of their Wimbledon semi-final clash due to an abdominal strain he sustained during his quarter-final win against Taylor Fritz.
Glenn Maxwell is a chance to make a shock return to Test cricket after Australia dropped a selection bombshell and revealed the Victorian was duelling with Mitchell Starc to play in Galle.
Media roundup
The former prime minister Scott Morrison has revealed a desire to join the Australian Rugby League Commission, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Rainfall records have been toppled in some mid north coast areas, including Taree where 305 millimetres fell in the 24 hours to 9am on Thursday, the ABC reports. Jim Chalmers’ first budget will include a new “wellbeing” statement aimed at measuring how Australians are faring in their daily lives, the Australian says.
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