Morning everyone. The waiting is finally over. Australia will tonight kickoff the Women’s World Cup in their first group match against Ireland in front of a sellout crowd at Sydney’s Accor Stadium. Expectation is high-going-on-stratospheric for the next few weeks as the Matildas bid to become world champions. We’ve got unrivalled coverage building up to the match. In a campaign of a different sort, Linda Burney has a stark warning for Australians on the voice, Yevgeny Prigozhin appears to appear, and Australia battle to 299-8 after being inserted at Old Trafford.
Australia
‘This is our moment’ | Australia may lose its only chance for indigenous constitutional recognition if the referendum on the voice is defeated later this year, the minister for indigenous Australians has told a yes vote event in Sydney.
Cup kickoff | Sam Kerr says the Matildas are really confident as they prepare to take on Ireland tonight in the Women’s World Cup. It’s Australia’s biggest sporting event for decades, with record ticket sales already making it a commercial success. Let’s hope there’s sporting success for the hosts too. Here are some predictions for the tournament: who will reach the final, who will win, who will surprise and who will take the Golden Boot.
Covid clue | An Australian-led research team has uncovered the first genetic link to strong immunity against Covid-19, which may help to explain why some people never develop any symptoms of the illness.
Transparency | A PwC-backed startup received millions of taxpayer dollars through a closed, non-competitive grant to develop a digital mental health platform, which was almost scrapped due to health workers finding it an administrative burden.
‘Sad and angry’ | An Australian photographer has spoken of her distress at what she said was the unauthorised use of an image of her daughter as the basis for a pro-Russia mural on a bombed-out building in Mariupol.
World
Prigozhin returns? | Video footage has been posted on Telegram purporting to show Yevgeny Prigozhin speaking to Russian troops in Belarus in what would be his first public appearance since leading an aborted mutiny last month. Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa has endured a second “hellish night” of attacks as Russia targeted grain facilities and port infrastructure. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will now be the country’s delegate to a Brics summit in South Africa because of the International Criminal Court arrest warrant for president Vladimir Putin.
‘Damned fools’ | The world is shifting towards a superheated climate not seen in the past 1m years because “we are damned fools” for not acting upon warnings over the climate crisis, according to James Hansen, the US scientist who alerted the world to the greenhouse effect in the 1980s. In Italy, workers are threatening to strike because it’s too hot to work.
‘Not erroneous’ | A federal judge has rejected Donald Trump’s request for a new trial in a civil case brought by E Jean Carroll, as his legal woes continued.
India pact | Leaders of 26 opposition political parties in India have united to form an alliance in an attempt to oust the country’s populist prime minister, Narendra Modi, in next year’s general election.
‘Undeniable’ antisemite | The Roald Dahl museum has acknowledged the author’s “undeniable” antisemitism in a statement on its website and to be displayed on a panel at its entrance in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire.
Full Story
The voice AMA: why is the yes campaign ‘so invisible’?
In the first of a new series, Laura Murphy-Oates, Indigenous affairs editor Lorena Allam, acclaimed journalist Kerry O’Brien, and Queensland Young Australian of the Year Talei Elu answer your questions about the voice to parliament.
In-depth
Anthony Albanese faces a fight at national conference next month over “weak” policies on native forest logging with Labor’s Environment Action Network (Lean) activist group vowing to challenge the leadership over native forest logging and broad scale land clearing.
Not the news
When Tom Gleisner’s mother-in-law went into care during Covid-19, he saw a system in crisis. And when you’re a renowned screenwriter, the natural response of course is to team up with singer, actor and composer Katie Weston and director Dean Bryant to to write your debut musical about it. Bloom is a work of hope, he says, about “what happens when old and young come together”.
The world of sport
Men’s Ashes | Australia battled to 299-8 on the first day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford after being put into bat by England, with Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Marsh (pictured) both making 50s.
Cycling | Jonas Vingegaard has taken a commanding lead over his Tour de France rival Tadej Pogacar after another mountain stage in the Alps.
Concussion | The AFL should limit “full contact practice” to reduce head injuries, a US expert has told the first day of an inquest into the death of former Richmond player Shane Tuck.
Media roundup
A levy on international student fees risks damaging the global reputation of Australia’s universities, the sector’s leaders say, according to the Australian. The decision to cancel the Commonwealth Games in Victoria has been referred to the state’s attorney general, the Age reports. The Daily Telegraph says creditors of the fugitive property developer Jean Nassif, who are owed a total of $200m, met to hear if they will see their money again. First it was dingoes but now tourists in Queensland have complained that cockatoos have disrupted their holidays with one telling the Courier Mail that the birds trashed her room and “took my bikini”.
What’s happening today
Tasmania | Bob Brown at Hobart magistrates court over forest trespass.
Melbourne | State funeral for former federal Labor leader Simon Crean.
Sydney | The NSW farming conference begins with an address by premier Chris Minns.
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
