Morning everyone. An Auschwitz survivor has made a moving speech at the ceremony to mark 80 years since the camp’s liberation, warning of a “huge rise” in antisemitism.
In other big overseas news, tech stocks have plunged as a new Chinese AI appears to outperform its US rivals.
On home soil, the increasingly two-tier dental care service is the subject of a special Guardian investigation today; deaths of our roads are rising faster than since the 1960s; and the Hobart Hurricanes have claimed their first Big Bash title thanks to an astonishing century from a 23-year-old rising star.
Australia
Whale spot | A young Antarctic minke whale has been spotted in the water off the Cronulla ferry landing in a rare sighting of the creature in warm water.
Road danger | Australia’s roads are getting deadlier with 1,300 people dying last year compared with 1,258 the year before. The total has been rising over the past four years and marks a trend of increasing danger not recorded since the 1960s, before seatbelts were compulsory.
‘Helpless’ | With psychiatric care in New South Wales hit by a pay dispute, one mother relates how her daughter’s descent into psychosis showed that the state needs a properly funded mental health system.
Sparking change | Electrification programs to spark the household transition from gas are being rolled out in targeted suburbs across the country with subsidies to install solar batteries and replace gas heaters, cooktops and hot water systems.
Dutton: the movie | Peter Dutton’s election campaign video shows him drinking tea with constituents and laughing with his kids. But it skates over the wealth from his family business.
World
Antisemitism warning | An Auschwitz survivor, Marian Turski, has warned of a “huge rise in antisemitism” as world leaders joined some of the surviving inmates at a ceremony marking 80 years since the death camp’s liberation.
DEI gone | Donald Trump is expected to shortly sign executive orders removing diversity, equity and inclusion from the military and reinstating thousands of troops who were kicked out for refusing Covid vaccines. In Chicago, the TV personality Dr Phil joined Trump’s border “tsar” on immigration deportation raids with the promise of more to come. Follow developments in the US live with our blog. Bill Gates has labelled Elon Musk’s embrace of far-right politicians and attempt to interfere in the politics of other countries as “insane shit”.
Congo claim | Fighters from the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group claim to have taken the eastern city of Goma, forcing thousands from their homes and risking a broader regional war.
Deep trouble | Global technology shares have taken a hit as the emergence of a Chinese chatbot competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, DeepSeek, raised doubts about the sustainability of the US artificial intelligence boom.
Coin collection | A hoard of British coins bearing the inscription of the Celtic ruler King Cunobelin and found in a Dutch field have been identified as very likely to be the spoils of war of a Roman soldier from the conquest of Britain.
Full Story
Why Australia needs better whistleblower protections
Kieran Pender, associate legal director at the Human Rights Law Centre, tells Nour Haydar why more needs to be done to ensure workers who speak up about wrongdoing are protected.
In-depth
In a special investigation, Natasha May reports on how the inequality of Australia’s dental care system is forcing people to skip regular checkups and leading to record numbers turning up to hospitals for dental procedures. The share of costs that the patient pays for dental care is nine times higher than GP visits, and half of the federal money earmarked for dentistry goes to subsidising the uptake of private health insurance. Our chart shows how Australians pay a lot more than people in other OECD countries for dental care.
Not the news
Katie Cunningham fantasises about renovating midcentury homes and has set up a Facebook group to gather like-minded fixer-uppers. The only problem is, too many of them have been spoiled by whitewash. And on the subject of housing, Patrick Lenton laments the decline of the share house as more young people live with their parents and miss out on the fun – and sometimes squalor – of communal living.
Sport
Big Bash final | An inspired Mitchell Owen produced the innings of his career by blasting 108 off 42 balls to rout the Sydney Thunder and deliver the Hobart Hurricanes a maiden Big Bash League title.
Cricket | Steve Smith is set to reach 10,000 Test career runs for Australia and take his place among the greats of cricket when the Test series in Sri Lanka begins tomorrow. West Indies secured their first Test win in Pakistan since 1990 after beating the hosts by 120 runs in the second match in Multan.
Premier League | Tottenham’s chair Daniel Levy is keeping faith with Ange Postecoglou to turn the team’s season around despite a continued run of poor league form.
Media roundup
Labour is investing $3.8bn to improve NBN speeds and head off a possible challenge from Elon Musk’s Starlink, the Sydney Morning Herald claims in an exclusive. The latest Newspoll in The Australian shows Anthony Albanese’s popularity continuing to decline. It was a stormy night in Sydney, but Territorians are still sweltering in the heat with the monsoon yet to appear and now officially later than it has ever been, NT News reports.
What’s happening today
Sydney | Return of subpoena for police officer Beau Lamarre accused of murdering Jesse Baird and his partner.
Brisbane | Bail application for woman charged with poisoning infant and posting video online.
Melbourne | 10am Committal mention at magistrates court for teenager accused of terror plot.
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. And check out the full list of our local and international newsletters, including The Stakes, your guide to the twists and turns of the US presidential election.
Prefer notifications? If you’re reading this in our app, just click here and tap “Notifications” on the next screen for an instant alert when we publish every morning.
Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
