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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Martin Farrer

Morning Mail: Matildas’ hopes in the balance, vape crackdown, UN warns of ‘global boiling’

A dejected Alanna Kennedy after Australia lost to Nigeria in Brisbane last night
A dejected Alanna Kennedy after Australia lost to Nigeria in Brisbane last night. Photograph: Dan Peled/Reuters

Morning, everyone. The sporting gods giveth and they taketh away. While Australia’s men’s team have made an excellent start in the fifth Ashes Test, the Matildas hopes of World Cup glory are in the balance after a disastrous 2-3 defeat against Nigeria. They must now win their last group game against Canada next week or suffer a humiliating exit from their home tournament. The UN chief has warned the “era of global boiling” is upon us, Australian police are cracking down on vape stores, and Birmingham is considering stepping in for Victoria as Commonwealth Games host.

Australia

Jim Caviezel in Sound of Freedom
Jim Caviezel in Sound of Freedom. Photograph: Angel Studios

World

Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa meets Russia’s Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg
Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa meets Russia’s Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg. Photograph: Vyacheslav Prokofyev/AP

Full Story

A woman’s hand pressing a key on a laptop keyboard
Online scams are in the spotlight. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Newsroom edition: how to protect Australians from scams

Gabrielle Jackson speaks to editor-in-chief Lenore Taylor and head of news Mike Ticher about how the big banks and big platforms can better protect Australians from scams.

In-depth

Burnt vegetation around the ancient temple of Segesta in Sicily
Burnt vegetation around the ancient temple of Segesta in Sicily. Photograph: Antonio Cascio/Reuters

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, stepped up the climate crisis rhetoric overnight by declaring that the era of global warming has ended and “the era of global boiling has arrived” after scientists confirmed July was on track to be the world’s hottest month on record. Drone footage showed the scorched land around the 2,500-year-old Segesta temple in Sicily as wildfires continued in the Mediterranean. In the US, more than 170 million people are under heat alerts this week as the heatwave moves north. Our climate editor wonders how the global community will respond.

Not the news

Shelves full of books
‘I am a big-time “dipper’’ into our home library.’ Photograph: David Madison/Getty Images

For any bookworm with limited space at home, storing all those volumes becomes quite the problem in the age of minimalism. For Paul Daley, it’s becoming so acute that he is considering a one-in, two-out policy to clear some room. But what if he wants to check something in one of the 12 volumes of The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918? Or dip back into that history of surfing? It’s a real-life dilemma for our resident bibliophile.

The world of sport

Mitchell Starc celebrates with Pat Cummins after taking the wicket of England’s Ben Stokes
Mitchell Starc celebrates with Pat Cummins after taking the wicket of England’s Ben Stokes. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters
  • Men’s Ashes | Pat Cummins won his first toss of the series and saw his decision to put England into bat pay off as they were dismissed for 283 on the first day at the Oval, with Mitchell Starc taking four scalps. The batsmen then added 61 for the loss of David Warner.

  • Football | Bayern Munich executives will have talks about signing Harry Kane with the Tottenham Hotspur chairman, Daniel Levy, amid growing interest in the England captain from Paris Saint-Germain.

  • Swimming | Australia’s swimmers have continued their golden run at the world championships with Kyle Chalmers claiming the 100m freestyle, Kaylee McKeown the 50m backstroke, and the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team setting a world record.

Media roundup

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the attack on the city’s “cocaine kingpin” Alen Moradian was the spark for a spate of shootings. Daniel Andrews will press ahead with a plan to limit the power of local councils ($) in planning issues after a damning Ibac report, the Herald Sun says. Macquarie has defended ($) the $1m-a-week salary of its star commodities trader Nick O’Kane, the Australian reports. And the Courier-Mail issues an “SOS Sam” ($) after the Matildas defeat in Brisbane.

What’s happening today

  • Courts | The defamation case brought by the former soldier Heston Russell against the ABC begins.

  • Sydney | Missing and murdered First Nations women and children across Australia will be the focus of a federal public hearing.

  • Commonwealth Games | Craig Phillips fronts a media conference to discuss the withdrawal of Victoria as host for 2026.

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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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