Good morning. More than 1,000 Australian early childhood education centres are predicted to go on strike today seeking better pay and conditions. Economists expect a slowdown for the Australian economy as interest rates continue to rise. And there are concerns for the health of an Australian held in a Baghdad jail.
At least 1,000 childcare centres across the country are expected to close their doors on Wednesday to protest low wages and conditions in what unions say is the biggest industrial action early educators have taken. The executive director of early education at the United Workers Union, Helen Gibbons, estimated 70,000 families would be affected. She said she expected “many more” centres were planning to join the action and attend rallies.
Movies and television shows that depict a lack of consent would get a classification warning label under a proposal pushed by a not-for-profit education organisation. The group said showing non-consensual acts without noting it, and portraying them as funny or romantic could normalise the behaviour.
The Australian government has said it holds serious concerns for the welfare of Australian engineer Robert Pether as his health deteriorates in a Baghdad jail cell, a process his wife likened to “watching his murder in slow motion”. The Guardian has obtained the first photos of Pether since he was arrested in April last year, and they show him gaunt and with new moles that doctors and his family fear are cancerous.
Australia
Single mothers have told of having to miss paid work to attend a ParentsNext appointment and being encouraged to sign up to unnecessary training by providers running the federal government’s $110m-a-year program. The scheme, part of Australia’s outsourced billion-dollar welfare-to-work system, pays companies and charities to support to single parents on benefits whose children are aged between nine months and five years old.
Economists have predicted a slowdown for Australian economy as interest rates continue to rise. Soaring commodity exports and a positive agricultural forecast are expected to be balanced by the Reserve Bank’s moves to counter inflation.
Australia could become a nuclear target due to its hosting of a US military base at Pine Gap in the Northern Territory, one of Australia’s leading defence strategists has warned. Prof Paul Dibb, an emeritus professor at the Australian National University and former director of Australia’s Joint Intelligence Organisation, said the current Russian invasion of Ukraine carried potential global nuclear consequences.
Researchers have created a solar-powered device that produces hydrogen fuel directly from moisture in the air. Researchers say their prototype produces hydrogen with greater than 99% purity and works in air as dry as 4% relative humidity.
The Queensland court of appeal has quashed the rape conviction of a Gold Coast man, and ordered a retrial, in a case where he followed a woman, 19, uninvited into the toilet of a Brisbane bar.
Pensioners will be given more support and financial incentive to downsize their homes in an attempt to increase housing stock for families, as the Labor government moves to legislate an election commitment first proposed by the Coalition.
The world
Agricultural pests that devour key food crops are advancing northwards in the US and becoming more widespread as the climate hots up, new research warns.
Brazil braces for turbulence on the eve of Bolsonaro’s independence day rallies. Rightwing excitement over Bolsonaro’s jamboree contrasts with progressive dread and anger that a day of national celebration has been hijacked by the Bolsonarian right.
Liz Truss risks igniting another row with the EU which could lead to tariffs on British exports if she tries to dilute workers’ rights too much, legal experts and union leaders have said.
One of the suspects in the stabbing deaths of 10 people in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan has been found dead, police said, but warned that his accomplice remains at large.
The Israeli army has said there is a “high possibility” a soldier killed an Al Jazeera journalist in May but that the shooting was accidental and no one will be punished.
Japan will spend about 1.65bn yen (AU$17.3m) on the increasingly controversial state funeral for the former prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot dead during a campaign speech in July, amid growing public opposition to the plan.
Recommended reads
Actor Jimi Bani is deep into preparation for two very serious roles. He is rehearsing for the role of Othello in Queensland theatre’s upcoming production and he is in talks with his uncles as part of a years-long process to become the ninth chief of the Wagadagam tribe, on Mabuiag Island in the Torres Strait.
It’s nothing, what Boris Johnson wears: suit, shirt, tie, socks, shoes. It’s how he dresses that matters, what his clothes mean, and our reactions to it. Johnson’s clothes are symbols of patriarchal power, Charlie Porter says.
I’ve had a long battle with climate despair, writes Clive Hamilton. Now I’m leaving the “denial machine” to their demons.
Listen
A new report shows fentanyl overdose deaths are rising in Australia and experts warn the potent drug could rapidly emerge as a major killer like it is in the US. Medical editor Melissa Davey speaks to Laura Murphy-Oates about why deaths are rising and how to prevent an overdose crisis.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Cameron Green and Alex Carey steered Australia to an unlikely victory over New Zealand in their opening ODI in Cairns with the hosts languishing at 44-5 at one stage. Chasing 233 to win, Australia’s innings under lights began abysmally when skipper Aaron Finch fell once again to a left-arm seamer, scoring just five for a second consecutive innings.
Media roundup
Four new performance halls – including a 2,500-seat theatre – would be built in place of the Domain car park under a radical and until now secret proposal to give Sydney a world-class performing arts precinct and transform the city’s east, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. And the Australian warns of an “environmental tragedy” unfolding in north-west Tasmania, where 158 endangered Tasmanian devils have been killed on a 25km stretch of road in a year and a half.
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