Morning, everyone. Anthony Albanese should unpack his diplomatic toolkit and become an active mediator to engineer a detente between the US and China and head off a potential war. So say dozens of prominent Australians in an open letter to the prime minister today. That’s our top story but there are plenty more: we’re also looking at how Labor is trying to wedge the Coalition over those tax changes, Biden’s response to the drone attack in Jordan and an Israeli raid in a West Bank hospital to kill suspected Hamas militants.
Australia
Tax wedge | The Albanese government is heaping pressure on the Dutton opposition to support its income tax changes, releasing its own analysis showing up to 89% of taxpayers in some regional and suburban Coalition electorates will be better off.
‘Avert horror of conflict’ | Former foreign ministers, a Nobel laureate and academics have signed a letter urging the Albanese government to step up diplomatic efforts to “avert the horror of great power conflict” between the US and China. Writing for Guardian Australia, former foreign ministers Bob Carr and Gareth Evans argue Canberra can help the superpowers “enter into a comprehensive new detente to resolve differences peacefully”.
Vape audit | Vape stores are concentrated around schools and in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, according to a study in Western Australia, with almost nine out of 10 dedicated shops within walking distance of schools.
Bushfire cost | The black summer bushfires ripped $2.8bn from the country’s tourism economy, according to new report, amid concerns that global heating is making the cost of natural disasters worse. Meanwhile, Melbourne is about to mark an unusual milestone with not one day this summer classified as “hot” – that is, above 35C.
Fire ant threat | Fire ants could sting 8.6 million Australians a year if they were to become endemic, a government study has found, although there is hope that pesticide-loaded drones might help curb their march south from Queensland.
World
Gaza war | Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says Israel will not withdraw forces from the Gaza Strip or free thousands of what he described as Palestinian security prisoners, pushing back against reports about how a possible truce with Hamas might be structured. Earlier, footage was released showing Israeli special forces disguised as women and medical workers storming a hospital in the occupied West Bank, killing three suspected Palestinian militants.
‘Everyone is affected’ | Pressure is growing on the French government to do a deal with farmers whose blockade of Paris over low food prices, red tape and threats to rural life is causing increasing disruption to daily life.
‘Smoking gun’ | Documents unearthed in the US show the fossil fuel industry-backed Air Pollution Foundation knew about the potential harm of climate change as long ago as 1954.
‘He’s nothing’ | E Jean Carroll says the US$83.3m awarded to her in her defamation case against Donald Trump shows “we don’t need to be afraid” of the former president.
Biden’s call | Joe Biden says he has decided how to respond to a drone attack in Jordan that killed three US soldiers and wounded dozens more, but has also stressed he does not want to spark a wider war.
Full Story
Contamination risk: how asbestos can end up in our parks
Environmental reporter Lisa Cox tells Gabrielle Jackson why recycled contaminated building waste such as asbestos is being found in our soil.
In-depth
A quick-thinking DJ and organisers of a dance music party in Sydney could have helped save the lives of ravers exposed to a highly potent opioid at the weekend. When one partygoer became ill, tests quickly showed that they had taken a dangerous opioid that had been mixed into the popular party drug MDMA. So the beats stopped and revellers were told what had happened in a “bold” new move that experts say marks a turning point in festival management.
Not the news
Darren Robertson of The Farm and Three Blue Ducks in Byron Bay is renowned for catering to yoga retreats, providing healthy food for hungry yogis that is “fresh, punchy, full of citrus and herbs”. He tells Sarah Ayoub how his specialism developed almost by accident, his love for locally sourced “proteins, wholefoods, and vegetables roasted in their skin for colour and fibre” and he also shares his mouthwatering recipe for herby miso eggplant.
The world of sport
Women’s T20 | Beth Mooney rose from her sick bed to produce a masterful 82 with the bat as Australia bounced back from a shock T20 loss to South Africa to take the series 2-1 in Hobart last night.
Tennis | Australian Open bosses have promised to splash the cash to keep the major in Melbourne despite the growing threat from Saudi Arabia and China.
Cricket | Shamar Joseph’s stunning seven-wicket haul against Australia gave us one of the great Test cricket stories of late. But it can’t hide cricket’s disparity.
Media roundup
A judge in Perth has urged Linda Reynolds, Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz to settle their legal dispute instead of going to cort, the Australian reports. The Sydney Morning Herald has a dramatic account of the Sydney Harbour shark attack, while a regular harbour swimmer reveals that bull sharks are her deepest fear. The only way to fix traffic congestion in the Adelaide Hills is to improve rail services, the engineer who designed the freeway tells the Advertiser. The impact of flooding in south-east Queensland could last months as the region prepares for another deluge, the Courier-Mail reports.
What’s happening today
Canberra | There will be a directions hearing for Shane Drumgold’s action against the ACT government and the board of inquiry chaired by Walter Sofronoff.
Politics | Allegra Spender and Richard Denniss will address the National Press Club about the tax changes.
Environment | Judgment will be handed down in the Bob Brown Foundation’s application to prevent logging in swift parrot breeding forests.
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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.
