Good morning. The AFL admits it has lost the reins on online gambling oversight, as leaked documents seen by Guardian Australia reveal the league is struggling to detect if its players are using inside information to manipulate betting markets.
The UK leader, Keir Starmer, says Europe is at “a crossroads in history”, as leaders gather in London to discuss how to bolster Ukraine’s security – and their own.
Meanwhile, Western Australia’s premier claims the state is a “renewable energy powerhouse” – but a leaked document has revealed how electricity from wind and solar projects has actually flatlined.
Australia
Renewable energy | Officials have warned the WA Labor government that work to build wind and solar farms for the state’s electricity grid has stalled under its leadership, a leaked document shows.
‘Blindspots’ | The AFL has admitted its integrity system for online gambling is seriously deficient and struggles to identify whether players, coaches and staff are using inside information to manipulate betting markets.
Online safety | Social media companies would have six months to implement new measures to stop children from accessing adult content online, or face fines up to $50m under proposed new codes.
Defence spending | The Coalition says it would spend $3bn for 28 fighter jets to add a fourth squadron to the country’s F-35 fleet – but it won’t reveal where the money is coming from.
Aurimas Mockus | A Lithuanian ocean rower’s two-day wait to be rescued off Australia’s east coast is due to end this morning with the arrival of a navy ship.
Bureau of Meteorology | Four million Queenslanders have been warned they could be in the “firing line” when Cyclone Alfred heads towards the coast, with the bureau saying guidance “favours landfall on Thursday”.
World
Russia-Ukraine war | UK PM Keir Starmer says Europe is “at crossroads in history” and must support Ukraine; “We have to urgently rearm Europe,” EU’s Ursula von der Leyen says; King Charles has met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy after a security summit in London; and the Kremlin says the US’s foreign policy pivot “largely coincides with our vision”.
Gaza crisis | Israel has cut off humanitarian supplies to Gaza as it seeks to change the ceasefire deal. As Palestinians gather amid the rubble in Rafah for the first iftar of Ramadan, Julian Borger writes that halting aid to Gaza is aimed at giving Israel the upper hand in talks with Hamas.
US politics | Civil rights pioneers have warned of a “surge backwards” under Trump; Tesla owners are offloading cars after Elon Musk’s fascist-style salutes; and the US Postal Service faces murky future as Trump mulls dismantling the institution.
Vatican City | Pope Francis, who is in hospital with pneumonia, has thanked well-wishers for their support after missing his Sunday Angelus for a third week – and says he prays “above all for peace”.
Cryptocurrency | Bitcoin has recorded its largest monthly loss since June 2022, pushing it into a bear market as the euphoria over cryptocurrencies after Trump’s election win faded.
Full Story
How Donald Trump unleashed chaos in science
In his first month in office, the US president has thrown science in the US into chaos, delaying projects and casting the future of research funding and jobs into doubt. To understand what the impacts could be, Madeleine Finlay speaks with Ian Sample and Prof Harold Varmus, a Nobel prize winner and former director of the National Institutes of Health under Bill Clinton.
In-depth
It wasn’t that long ago Australians had only a handful of fast food options. However, fast food options have exploded over the past two decades and are now set to rise even faster. Outlets are capitalising on cash-strapped consumers “trading down” from expensive restaurants as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite.
But experts warn of the long-term health costs for Australians from eating ultra-processed foods.
Not the news
In her second novel Elegy, Southwest, the Australian author Madeleine Watts writes into the climate crisis from a millennial perspective with a mixed sense of melancholy and hope. It’s a novel of apocalypses, imminent and historical, paused beside and sped past as a married couple attempt to follow the elusive, overused Colorado River. It traverses the death of a parent and a miscarriage, as well as disappearances: water, animals, people – and love.
Sport
Rugby league | Rugby league has dazzled on Las Vegas return to show the gamble was worth it, as the Canberra Raiders walloped the New Zealand Warriors, and the Penrith Panthers prevailed over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
Football | Danny Welbeck has fired Brighton into FA Cup quarter-finals, while Fulham have beaten Manchester United; Barcelona has returned to the top of the La Liga table.
Cricket | Varun Chakravarthy has spun out New Zealand in the Champions Trophy to ensure India is top group.
Golf | Australian Ryan Peake, a former motorcycle gang member, described his New Zealand Open triumph as a “life-changing moment”.
Media roundup
The former Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe says lack of productivity growth – not interest rates – is to blame for cost-of-living challenges, per the Australian. Environmental groups have accused the Northern Territory of taking a “chainsaw” to fracking safety laws in changes to the code of practice, NT News reports. Young people consume vast amounts of information on personal finance on social media, but that thirst for knowledge is not translating into action, ABC News reports.
What’s happening today
ABS | The Australian Bureau of Statistics is set to release its latest business indicators figures.
Los Angeles | The glitz and glamour of Hollywood is all set for celebration at the Academy Awards later today.
South Australia | The Adelaide writers festival continues.
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
