Good morning. Los Angeles continues to battle huge wildfires this morning, with the city’s mayor saying the death toll of five is likely to rise.
Industrial relations experts say a vow by Peter Dutton to exclude the construction union from major road projects could be illegal, the east coast is set for wet and wild weather in the coming week and the five living US presidents gather to remember Jimmy Carter. Plus: Bluey is coming to a Lego box near you.
Australia
Brick by brick | The ABC’s global hit children’s TV show Bluey is to make its Lego debut, with the first sets due to hit shelves this year.
Union anger | A pledge by Peter Dutton to “exclude” the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union from Queensland road projects has been criticised as illegal by industrial relations experts.
‘Nothing but greenwashing’ | The Greens have dismissed as “greenwashing” a proposal by Woodside Energy to bury 4m tonnes of CO2 a year from its multibillion-dollar Browse project in undersea storage off the coast of Western Australia.
Exclusive | The average Victorian renter would need to put aside 20% of their gross income for almost a decade to save enough money for a home deposit, according to a new study.
Wet and wild | Showers are expected to continue for Sydney and Brisbane throughout much of the coming week but summer isn’t over yet, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
World
‘I miss him’ | The funeral of Jimmy Carter, America’s longest-lived president, was attended in Washington by all five living presidents, including Donald Trump. In his eulogy, Joe Biden praised his fellow Democrat’s strength of character.
Musk ‘lying’ | A former EU leader on tech has accused Elon Musk of “lying like hell” by claiming the bloc was trying to stop him interviewing the co-leader of the German far-right party AfD. Musk, meanwhile, says AI companies have “exhausted” the sum of human knowledge, suggesting they could begin a move to self-learning synthetic data.
Sterling slips | The pound has fallen to a 14-month low against the US dollar as the sell-off in the bond market fuelled anxiety about UK assets and ministers moved to reassure investors. The consensus is that it is not a Liz Truss-scale event, even as the former prime minister sent a legal letter to Keir Starmer, demanding that he stops making “false and defamatory” claims that she crashed the economy.
Gas guzzlers | Europe bought a record amount of liquefied natural gas from Russia last year, data shows, despite EU efforts to ditch the fossil fuels funding Valdimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
Dumped | A computer expert’s decade-long battle to recover a computer containing $1.2bn in bitcoin he says has been lost in a council dump has been halted by a judge.
Full Story
Zoë Foster Blake on how to write a book
How does a hugely successful entrepreneur and parent find the energy, creativity and time to write a novel? Zoë Foster Blake tells Bridie Jabour how she makes the most of 90 minutes and where she starts.
In-depth
Los Angeles’ mayor says historically strong winds and extensive drought created a “perfect storm” of six huge fires that have killed at least five people, destroyed 2,000 buildings and forced the evacuation of 130,000 residents. As 20 people were arrested for looting, the LA county sheriff warned that the death toll was going to rise as the fire spread into the hills above the famous Hollywood Boulevard. The fires represent the climate crisis compounded, experts say, while we also have a visual explainer on the disaster.
Not the news
Josh Butler’s petty gripe is how difficult it is to find things when you’re shopping in a new supermarket. Why, for example, are the eggs always in a weird, unexpected place? For Josh it “just feels weirdly pathetic to seek help in finding your snacks” and thinks the solution is a federally mandated layout.
Sport
Brisbane Olympics | Athletics Australia is engaged in a tug of war for some of the brightest sporting talents before the 2032 Games, such as Geelong’s Max Holmes, Maddi Levi (rugby sevens) and Payne Haas (NRL) who could all be track stars.
Tennis | Eighth-seed Alex de Minaur faces a tough start to the Australian Open after drawing the former world 22 Botic van de Zandschulp in the first round, while Nick Kyrgios faces a 23-year-old British outsider, Jacob Fearnley.
Football | Sean Dyche has been sacked as Everton’s manager hours before the club’s FA Cup third-round tie at home to Peterborough United.
Media roundup
An Australian couple has told the Daily Telegraph they are “in shock” after their home was destroyed by the Los Angeles fires. Anti-voice campaigners Tony Abbott and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price are teaming up again to help Warren Mundine fight for the federal Sydney seat of Bradfield in this year’s election, the Age says. The Adelaide Advertiser speaks to cafe owners who think the price of a flat white could rise to $7 this year. The high commissioner to the UK has signalled he won’t attend an annual Australia Day dinner, the Australian reports.
What’s happening today
Brisbane | There will be a first Queensland court mention for a man extradited from NSW over the alleged 1997 murder of Meaghan Louise Rose.
Sydney | The will be a bail review for a couple accused of a drunken assault on a Jetstar flight.
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
