Good afternoon. A full-page no campaign ad in the Australian Financial Review, which featured a cartoon figure of an Indigenous voice campaigner appearing to dance for money, has been condemned as a “racist trope”.
The New South Wales Liberal MP Matt Kean and independent federal MPs Monique Ryan and Zali Steggall were among those who criticised the ad. Kean called it “a throwback to the Jim Crow era of the deep south”.
And eight people in Wisconsin got stuck upside down on a rollercoaster.
Top news
Brittany Higgins defamation notice | The former Liberal staffer says she has received a defamation threat from her former boss, Linda Reynolds, over an Instagram post which included a list of complaints against the senator. It’s the the latest twist in a long-running saga about Higgins’s allegation she was raped by a colleague in Reynolds’ ministerial office in 2019. The staffer, Bruce Lehrmann has vehemently denied the allegations and has maintained his innocence. Higgins said she was “considering my legal options”. Guardian Australia has contacted Reynolds for comment.
Australian minister calls Donald Trump Jr ‘a big baby’ | Trump Jr has postponed a speaking tour in Australia, that was due to kick off in Sydney this Sunday, with his promoter blaming “cancel culture”. The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, responded on Twitter, saying: “Geez, Donald Trump Jr is a bit of a sore loser. His dad lost an election fair and square – but he says it was stolen. Now he’s trying to blame the Australian government for his poor ticket sales and cancelled tour.”
Meta launches its answer to Twitter | CEO Mark Zuckerberg boasted in a Threads post that more than 5 million users signed up to the platform in its first four hours of operation. It launched in 100 countries, including Australia, but not in the EU due to tighter privacy laws. We tried it out – read our review.
Villawood detention fire | Immigration detainees have posted videos of them preparing to jump from a top-floor window to safety, after a massive fire broke out at the detention centre in Sydney at about 11.30am. More than 40 firefighters were called in and managed to extinguish the fire.
Hotel detention lacks ‘human decency’ | The Australian government’s detention of a refugee in Melbourne hotels for more than 14 months “lacked ordinary human decency” but did not breach federal laws, a court has found. The judgment is a blow to humanitarian campaigners who argued the detention was cruel and unnecessary, and hoped it may lead to hundreds of compensation payouts.
Eight stuck upside down on US rollercoaster | Officials in Wisconsin are investigating how eight people became trapped upside down on a rollercoaster – some of them for more than three hours – at a festival over the holiday weekend. One person was taken to a hospital.
Deadly Johannesburg gas leak | At least 16 people, including three children, died when toxic gas leaked from a cylinder near Johannesburg, South African police have said. Emergency services said the leak appeared to be linked to illegal mining activities.
Ten jailed in India over lynching of Muslim man | Tabrez Ansari, 24, was tied to a pole and tortured for 12 hours in 2019, as he cried and pleaded with a mob that accused him of burglary in the eastern state of Jharkhand. Police later detained Ansari for theft while he was in critical condition, and took him to hospital days later, where he died while in custody. An Indian court has sentenced 10 men to 10 years each in jail for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Australia urged to recognise Palestine | In an interview with the Guardian, the de facto Palestinian ambassador, Izzat Abdulhadi, appealed to the prime minister to resist “pressure” and recognise Palestinian statehood, adding there was “huge support from the grassroots of the Labor party” for the idea.
In pictures
“It’s shocking what they can get away with,” says cartoonist Fiona Katauskas.
What they said …
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“The no campaign has every right to be heard but can do much better than this.” – Matt Kean, NSW Liberal MP
In numbers
The profits have stoked accusations of “greedflation” – of companies pushing through excessive price increases and driving up inflation.
Before bed read
What fruits and veggies to buy this month?
“Citrus and apples may dominate our fruit bowls in winter, but in July, don’t forget to take advantage of pear prices.”
Check out our July guide.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: AGA. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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