Morning everyone. The feisty trade war between Canada and the United States deepened overnight when the Canadian government said it would impose retaliatory 25% tariffs on American imports. They’re also falling out over water rights and we have a podcast on this dispute.
At home, we have interesting details about Peter Dutton’s expenses, some shocking new numbers on Indigenous incarceration, and we look at the difficulty of building a program for a writers’ festival in our age of polarisation.
Australia
Gap widens | The rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people imprisoned increased by 12% in a year and was up 20% since 2019 – despite state and federal governments agreeing to reduce rates of incarnation by 15% by 2031 in June 2020, the latest Closing the Gap figures show.
Dutton flights | Peter Dutton billed taxpayers for flights to Sydney on the days of three NRL grand finals, a rugby tournament and a Matildas World Cup game, a Guardian analysis of records show. Last night, the Coalition was again forced to clarify its policy on breaking up the big insurance companies, with Dutton now saying “certainly something has failed” in the market.
Baby death | A woman whose baby died after it was born in distress at Sydney’s Northern Beaches hospital had a vaginal birth 50 minutes after doctors called an emergency, according to staff present on the night.
Super difficult | Donald Trump’s tariffs are disrupting financial markets all over the world and they could also be affecting your super. Our consumer affairs reporter looks at what’s happening, what the impact might be and what you can do.
‘Emergency situation’ | One of the most mentally unwell patients in Victoria has been detained for almost a decade and will deteriorate further if she continues to be held in solitary confinement, a court has heard.
World
Ukraine hopes | Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said he hopes the US will take “strong steps” against Russia if Moscow fails to support a 30-day ceasefire, agreed at a meeting between Ukrainian and US delegations in Saudi Arabia. But what leverage does Trump have over Putin when the latter thinks he is winning the war? Here’s what you need to know about the proposals.
Canada retaliates | Canada says it will impose 25% tariffs on nearly $30bn in US imports as the trade war between the two countries flares, while the US has paused negotiations with its northern neighbour on a key water-sharing treaty. Marco Rubio has said he is not planning to discuss Donald Trump’s threat to “take over Canada” during a visit to Quebec for a G7 summit. The Trump administration has slashed in half the US Department of Education, firing more than 1,300 employees in a single day. Follow the action live.
Measles fear | Doctors in Texas say they are worried about measles spreading to population centres in an outbreak the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to “expand rapidly”.
Old bones | Bone fragments unearthed at an ancient cave in Spain belong to a human who lived up to 1.4m years ago, researchers say, making it the oldest known human face in western Europe.
Care for carers | Emma Heming Willis, the primary carer for her husband, the actor Bruce Willis, who is suffering from a rare form of dementia, has spoken out after the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife, saying “carers need care too”.
Full Story
Can Canada’s ‘rock star’ banker PM take on Trump and win?
Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, has a new role – saving his country from becoming America’s 51st state. Leyland Cecco reports.
In-depth
On the eve of the launch of the lineup for this year’s Sydney writers’ festival – which includes Anna Funder, Plestia Alaqad and Jeanette Winterson – the organisers tell Kelly Burke about the difficulties of curating such events in the “incredibly polarised environment” of the Israel-Gaza conflict. Nevertheless, it will feature a diverse program with the conflict discussed directly during several sessions.
Not the news
Out latest local’s guide takes us to Orange in the central tablelands of New South Wales. Tom Ward, who was brought up in the region and now runs the local Swinging Bridge winery, says the city has excellent shops, bike trails, a popular food week event (pictured) and pubs that are “busier than Sydney’s”.
Sport
Football | The final ties in the last 16 of the Champions League take place this morning with Atletico v Real Madrid the pick. We’re covering the action live.
Golf | As Tiger Woods begins his recovery from yet another injury, Rory McIlroy has firmly dismissed any notion of his own career stretching into his 50s.
Cricket | Our writer Daniel Gallan says we should love the Indian team that won the Champions Trophy but somehow it’s hard to feel positive.
Media roundup
Liberal MPs are “losing faith” in Peter Dutton’s “small target” strategy and are calling for bolder economic policies, the Australian claims. The Climate 200 group says its polling shows a safe Labor seat in the ACT is “in play” at the federal election, the Canberra Times reports. Education officials face embarrassing questions after a new school sign contained a glaring spelling mistake, the Courier Mail reports. After two years of renovations and millions of dollars spent, Luna Park’s famous Wild Mouse is back, the Telegraph reports.
What’s happening today
Indigenous affairs | The latest Closing the Gap report is released.
Canberra | Clive Palmer speaks at the National Press Club.
Economy | RBA assistant governor Brad Jones speaks at the International Institute of Finance Australia forum in Sydney.
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
