Good afternoon. The climate emergency is being felt across the planet, with hundreds of millions of people from Europe to the US to Asia hit by extreme heat. Japan has issued heatstroke alerts, China has recorded its highest temperature ever (52.2C), thousands have been evacuated in Spain due to wildfires, a firefighter has died fighting wildfires in Canada and California’s Death Valley is sizzling at 53.33C.
So what is the world doing about it? China and the US – the world’s biggest polluters – began climate talks in Beijing today, which the US envoy, John Kerry, hopes “will send a signal to the world about the serious purpose of China and the United States to address a common risk, threat, challenge to all of humanity created by humans themselves”.
Top news
Call to break up consultancies | Allan Fels, the former chair of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, told a parliamentary inquiry that in the wake of the PwC tax scandal the big four consultancy firms must be broken up to ensure they focus solely on auditing.
Raw footage subpoenaed in Lehrmann defamation case | Lawyers for Network Ten are examining raw footage of Channel Seven’s recent interview with Bruce Lehrmann as part of their defence. The interview, broadcast last month, also featured CCTV footage from Parliament House on the night in question and leaked audio recordings from a pre-interview meeting between Wilkinson, her producer, Higgins and Higgins’ partner, David Sharaz. The broadcast prompted an angry response from Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson’s lawyers, who said it may have amounted to contempt of court in the ACT.
Mystery object on WA beach not from missing aircraft | A giant metal cylinder has washed up on a beach in Western Australia, with police dismissing the idea it had come from the vanished flight MH370, which disappeared on its journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014. Its unusual shape, colour and the state of its wear and tear have led many on social media to speculate that it could be from the third stage of India’s polar satellite launch vehicle rocket, but that is yet to be confirmed by officials.
Woman hospitalised after K’gari dingo attack | A pack of dingoes attacked a woman while she was jogging this morning near the Orchid Beach area in the island’s north-east. The woman ran into the ocean to escape. She was flown to Hervey Bay hospital in a stable condition with wounds to her limbs and torso.
Australian man rescued after two months stranded in the Pacific | Tim Shaddock, 51, and his dog Bella had set off from La Paz in Mexico in April in the hope of reaching French Polynesia. Instead, they were hit by a storm, causing damage to Shaddock’s catamaran’s electronics and communication system. He survived on a diet of raw fish and rainwater until a helicopter conducting surveillance for a Mexican fishing trawler found them on 12 July.
‘Emergency situation’ on Crimean Bridge | Explosions have reportedly hit the Kerch Bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula to Russia, a heavily guarded road and rail link and a vital logistical link for the Russian military. Moscow has declared it an “emergency situation” and is reporting two people were killed.
Fifa criticised for rainbow armbands ban | Football Australia’s chief executive, James Johnson, has expressed disappointment at Fifa’s refusal to allow players to wear rainbow armbands during the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Fifa recently confirmed players wearing a rainbow armband in support of LGBTQ+ rights would face on-field sanctions, such as yellow cards, as was the case at last year’s men’s World Cup in Qatar.
Bodies pulled from flooded tunnel | Rescuers in South Korea have recovered a total of 13 bodies from a flooded road tunnel in a central city, as the death toll from flash floods and landslides triggered by days of heavy rain rose to at least 40 today. South Korea’s president has urged action on the climate crisis.
Iran’s ‘morality police’ resume patrols | Iranian authorities have announced a new campaign to force women to wear the Islamic headscarf as “morality police” returned to the streets 10 months after the death of a woman in their custody sparked nationwide protests.
Full Story
PwC and the problem with political donations
As part of the consulting firm’s attempts to rebuild its reputation, PwC has announced it will cease donations to political parties – but some parliamentarians say this doesn’t go far enough, calling on the government to impose a blanket ban on the big four consultancy firms. Listen to this 21-minute episode.
What they said …
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“Are you really worth seven times the salary of the prime minister?” – Labor senator Deborah O’Neill to Deloitte’s chief executive, Adam Powick
Powick faced a Senate grilling today, with the huge salaries of senior partners in the spotlight. Consultancy firms like Deloitte have profited from the outsourcing of work once done by the public service.
In numbers
“That money has gone to the wrong place,” says Trevor Cobbold, an economist and the national convener of Save Our Schools. “It has gone to those least in need.”
Before bed read
Who’s playing, when and where – bookmark this guide to the Women’s World Cup, which kicks off this Thursday 5pm AEST with New Zealand hosting Norway. The Matildas’ first game – against Ireland – is shortly after at 8pm in Sydney.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: ROUP. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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