Good morning. Anger has flared across the US after the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade. New census data will show how Covid changed Australia. And 22 young people have been found dead at a bar and nightclub in South Africa.
Protests against a supreme court decision that overturned abortion rights have continued across the US this weekend. In New York, thousands marched to voice their anger at the ruling that came at the end of a dizzying week surrounding not just reproductive rights but also gun carry laws and the US Capitol attack. “Not your uterus, not your choice,” many shouted at demonstrations in Washington DC, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Atlanta and Austin. In Providence, Rhode Island, tempers flared so much that an off-duty police officer was accused of punching a woman at an abortion protest.
Australians are about to get a clearer idea of how we are changing as a nation, and how the Covid pandemic changed us, when results from the 2021 census are released. On Tuesday the Australian Bureau of Statistics will release the first tranche of data covering topics such as population flows between cities and regional areas, how Australians are housed, the languages we use, Indigenous health and education, employment and unpaid rates of work. Demographers are eagerly anticipating the release as a snapshot of mid-pandemic Australia. But they are cautioning that on an initial glance the results will tell two very different stories: on the night the census was taken, 10 August 2021, half the country was in lockdown while other states enjoyed some of the most relaxed rules on internal movement during the pandemic.
Police forensic teams in South Africa are investigating the deaths of 22 young people at a nightclub and bar in the southern coastal town of East London. Specialists have yet to establish the cause of the tragedy, which occurred during end of school year celebrations by teenagers. Local residents raised the alarm about 4am, officials said. Bheki Cele, the police minister, tried to calm an angry crowd of relatives and residents at the cordoned-off crime site at Enyobeni Tavern in a poor neighbourhood known as Scenery Park. “At first, we were told that this was a stampede, but by the looks of things, there was no stampede that took place,” Cele said. Toxicology tests will established if the casualties were poisoned, officials said.
Australia
Peter Dutton has warned the NSW Liberal party it is “completely unacceptable” to preselect candidates on the eve of an election.
Experts warn the region’s marine environment is undergoing a “dynamic state of change” due to climate warming, freshwater runoff and storms.
The education minister has blasted Senator Hollie Hughes for “crazy” comments blaming the Liberals’ low youth vote on “Marxist” teachers.
Jim Chalmers has warned of “significantly higher” inflation and suggested a workers’ representative could soon be appointed to the Reserve Bank of Australia board.
Four frog species in Western Australia that lay their eggs on land have been identified as a new genus and named after a retired high school music teacher-turned-scientist.
The world
Boris Johnson has warned about the likelihood of “fatigue” among western nations over continued support for Ukraine as he began talks at the G7 summit in Germany, where he hopes to push for renewed sanctions against Russia. Kyiv was hit by four Russian missile strikes early yesterday morning for the first time in three weeks, during which life had been slowly returning to the Ukrainian capital.
Ecuador has been brought to a near standstill after two weeks of tumultuous protests over a spike in fuel and food prices as global inflation inflames discontent over widening inequality across Latin America.
The British journalist Dom Phillips has been laid to rest in Brazil, three weeks after he was gunned down while journeying through the Amazon with the Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira.
Recommended reads
No educator is surprised by the teacher drought Australia is now in. They’ve been watching the landscape change over the years, observing the weather patterns that don’t bode well. And now they’re leaving. Rivers of teachers drying up and no rain in sight. Why does a teacher shortage occur? Ultimately, it’s because our education system is operating under a business model which treats students and parents as customers and teachers as expendable workers expected to function as told, rather than as autonomous professionals tasked with the unique and complex responsibility of guiding young people’s learning.
At first my daughter was excited about visiting the city of my birth – Karachi, Pakistan, writes Saman Shad. After all, it was half her heritage and she’d heard about all the family over there she had yet to meet. But I couldn’t hide from her how nervous I felt. It had been 15 years since I was last back; the negative western media headlines rang loudly in my head. How would I be received by the people who last saw me as a young, childless woman?
Before her British stage debut in The Seagull, the Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke talks about her self-doubt as the hit show took off, her decision to write about her brain aneurysms – and showing her love through baking.
Listen
After the UK home secretary decided to extradite Julian Assange to face trial and a possible life sentence in the US, Ben Quinn reports on what the ruling means for the WikiLeaks founder – and for press freedom.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Outfoxed by a rookie coach, widely criticised for his team selection and ultimately ambushed and humiliated in front of a record crowd at home, Brad Fittler had both feet in the furnace. But the Blues coach held his nerve all week and now has his mojo back as NSW dominated their old foes to level the State of Origin series with a thumping 44-12 Game 2 victory.
Media roundup
The Sydney Morning Herald reports on what overturning Roe v Wade means for Australia. Accessing abortion is still a postcode lottery for women across regional Australia 12 months after South Australia became the final jurisdiction in the country to make abortion legal, experts say, according to the Age. And the ABC’s Four Corners investigates Australia’s thriving black market for nicotine vapes.
Sign up
If you would like to receive the Guardian Australia morning mail to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com.
Discover Australian Weekend
Every Saturday from 6am, enjoy early access to the best journalism planned for the weekend in one elegant app, plus a curated selection of the week’s news and analysis from Australia and the world.
