Good morning. Nato allies are urging Donald Trump to reconsider as he continues to threaten them with tariffs in retaliation to their opposition against US ambitions to annex Greenland.
Climate campaigners are calling for an investigation into Aetium, an Australian carbon credit scheme for solar panels and electric vehicles, amid concerns that it is potentially misleading customers.
We look at what can be done as koala populations decline in some parts of Australia, but are so abundant in others they’re facing defoliation and starvation. Plus: all the latest from the Australian Open.
Australia
Packing to leave | Authorities recommend practical evacuation essentials for people living in bushfire-prone areas. We sought lessons from six households that left before Victoria’s Harcourt blaze.
‘We are disappointed’ | Jewish leaders have warned Labor and the Coalition their community remains at risk from antisemitic hatred, and urged a last-minute compromise to secure new hate speech laws.
Aetium claims | A new carbon offset company has been accused of potentially misleading customers by offering to generate credits for their solar panels and EVs in a scheme climate campaigners have labelled as junk.
Vaucluse | A 12-year-old boy was fighting for life overnight after being attacked by a shark in Sydney’s east. He was pulled from the water near Shark beach at Nielsen Park on Sunday afternoon.
‘Fundamentally opposed’ | A letter sent by the South Australian premier to the Adelaide writers’ week board criticising the inclusion of writer Randa Abdel-Fattah in the 2026 program has been made public.
World
Greenland threats | Trump’s tariff threat over Greenland risks a “dangerous downward spiral”, Nato members including the UK have warned as European Union diplomats hold crisis talks over what one has labelled “blackmail”; world stock markets are also bracing for turbulence; and the move suggests EU’s strategy of flattery and appeasement has failed, Jennifer Rankin writes.
Iran warning | Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has warned that any potential attack targeting the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would be a declaration of war.
Gaza crisis | Far-right members of Israel’s ruling coalition rejected a US-backed plan for postwar governance in Gaza – and criticised Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to annex the Palestinian territory. Reuters reports that Australia is among the countries invited to join Trump’s “board for peace”.
Cancer treatment | Scientists in the UK have developed a simple DNA blood test that can help predict which specific breast cancer treatment will be most effective for patients, even before it begins.
‘Stay out of our city’ | Hundreds of counterprotesters drowned out a far-right activist’s attempt to hold a small rally in support of the latest immigration crackdown by ICE in Minneapolis.
Epstein survivors | Multiple survivors have claimed that the financier used the lure of admission to top US universities to ensnare them in his sexual abuse network.
Full Story
Will Labor’s contentious hate laws pass?
Conceding that his hate speech and gun law omnibus bill was friendless and unable to pass parliament, Anthony Albanese over the weekend split the legislation in two. It was a move the PM said he needed to make if he wanted to get his post-Bondi reforms through. As parliament returns for a special sitting, Tom McIlroy speaks with Reged Ahmad about whether the prime minister can get his reforms over the line before parliament returns today.
In-depth
There is a paradoxical threat facing koalas across the country: in the north-eastern states, koala numbers are declining, but in parts of southern Australia, the animals are so abundant they are eating themselves out of house and home. What makes saving the celebrated species so difficult to get right? Donna Lu and Lisa Cox take a look at the beloved marsupials’ plight – and find that there are no easy fixes.
Not the news
Ultra-processed foods are a ubiquitous part of the modern western diet, but have been linked to various health issues including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and depression. Alongside the US and the UK, Australia is one of the highest consumers of UPFs. All that bad press spurred Emma Joyce to accept a challenge to ditch UPFs for a week. So, how did she get on?
Sport
Tennis | Emma Raducanu recovers from a slow start to ease through at Australian Open; an easier start for Alex de Minaur as Matteo Berrettini withdraws; Venus Williams sets an Australian Open record at age of 45 but falters with a win in sight; a tennis civil war erupts with details of an initial peace deal revealed for first time, Matt Hughes reports.
Football | Senegal are taking on Morocco in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations; Aston Villa’s title hopes hit after Thierno Barry fires Everton to victory; Newcastle struggle to find cutting edge in drab Premier League stalemate with Wolves.
Exclusive | There is a growing sense of embarrassment among mid-level and senior officials at Fifa over Donald Trump’s peace prize, Osasu Obayiuwana reports.
Winter sports | Australia dominate the snowboard halfpipe as Scotty James wins the final World Cup before the Olympics.
Media roundup
Opposition parties are vowing to scrap Victoria’s “flawed” approach to bushfire mitigation as a sharp political divide opens beneath the state’s fire defences, the Age reports. Pop-up funeral directors operating with nothing more than a briefcase and a mobile phone have prompted calls for stricter regulations for the booming industry, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. People who leave their dogs in hot cars could be sent to prison under proposed changes to NSW animal welfare laws, the ABC reports. New figures suggest more than half of Australian families are relying on credit cards and loans to cover rising back-to-school costs, the Mercury reports.
What’s happening today
NSW | The new Sydney Fish Market development is opening its doors this morning.
ACT | Federal parliament is sitting in Canberra.
Sport | Tennis action is set to continue at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Sign up
If you would like to receive this Morning Mail update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here, or finish your day with our Afternoon Update newsletter. You can follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland.
Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
• This story was amended on 19 January 2026 to specify the age of the boy involved in a Sydney shark attack is 12, not 13 as stated in an earlier version.
