Good morning. A year since the Donald Trump administration abruptly slashed foreign aid funding, Australian charities still grappling with the impacts say the cuts have resulted in preventable deaths.
Closer to home, Anthony Albanese is set to push states over the looming gun buyback scheme prompted by the Bondi beach terror attack – despite staunch opposition to the plan from Queensland and the Northern Territory.
In international news, Donald Trump has warned Tehran that “time is running out” as a massive US naval fleet moves closer to Iran. And the US federal agents involved in the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis have been placed on administrative leave.
Australia
World
‘With great power’ | The threat of a US-Iranian war may be looming closer after Trump warned time was running out for Tehran as a massive American armada moves quickly towards the country; Iran appears to ease its internet blackout as cost of shutdown mounts.
Minneapolis shootings | The two federal agents involved in the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti have been placed on administrative leave. Trump has said he’ll “de-escalate” the Minnesota immigration enforcement crackdown – even as ICE raids continue.
‘Disgusting’ | US lawmakers condemned Trump’s comments about Ilhan Omar after the Minnesota congresswoman was sprayed with an unknown substance at a meeting in Minneapolis.
Russia-Ukraine war | As the fighting drags on, new analysis suggests that the number of Russian and Ukrainian troops killed, wounded or gone missing in nearly four years of war could soon reach 2 million.
Kim Keon Hee | The wife of South Korea’s ousted president Yoon Suk Yeol has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for corruption as her husband awaits a verdict that could result in the death penalty.
‘A violation’ | Iraq’s former PM Nouri al-Maliki has denounced “blatant American interference” in the country’s election after Trump threatened to withdraw US support if he returned to power.
Full Story
How can humans and dingoes co-exist on K’gari?
A preliminary assessment has found that 19-year-old Piper James was bitten by dingoes before and after she died on the island K’gari, and that there was “evidence consistent with drowning”. Officials have ordered that the 10 dingoes linked to her death be euthanised. Graham Readfearn speaks with Nour Haydar about why the culling has sparked outrage – and what it means for the survival of the protected species.
In-depth
When Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the world wide web in 1989, his vision was clear: it would be used by everyone, filled with everything and, crucially, it would be free. Today, the British computer scientist’s creation bears little resemblance to the democratic force for humanity he intended. In Australia to promote his book This is for Everyone, he reflects on what his invention has become – and the “battle for the soul of the web”.
Not the news
Mem Fox’s 1984 picture book Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, illustrated by Julie Vivas, is competing in our reader poll of the best Australian children’s picture book of all time. It’s about a boy called Wilfrid climbing through the fence to visit the aged care home next door. “I’ve read this picture book so many times,” Guardian Australia’s editor, Lenore Taylor, writes, “but only 25 years later with my dad in a nursing home do I really understand it.”
Sport
Tennis | Jannik Sinner is set for his “toughest challenge” in the Australian Open semi-final against Novak Djokovic after swatting Ben Shelton; Novak Djokovic survived after Lorenzo Musetti retired hurt while two sets up; and Iga Swiatek has backed Coco Gauff over privacy concerns.
Football | Raheem Sterling is seeking a fresh start after leaving Chelsea by mutual consent; West Ham has agreed a deal to sell Lucas Paquetá to Flamengo.
Cricket | Taha Hashim asks if England is missing a trick by not taking Joe Root to the T20 World Cup.
Media roundup
Renewable energy supplied more power than fossil fuels across Australia for the first time in a three-month period last quarter, ABC News reports. The Labor health minister who led the campaign to establish VicHealth 40 years ago has urged the Allan government to reverse its decision to scrap it, the Age reports. And the Daily Telegraph reports that a fundraiser to repatriate the bodies of two men who drowned in a NSW river to India gathered more than $100,000 in a single day.
What’s happening today
Sport | All the action continues at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Diplomacy | Anthony Albanese continues his official visit to Timor-Leste.
NSW | An inquest into death of a teen pilot who crashed a plane in his first solo flight continues in Lidcombe.
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.
