Good morning. Europe faces an unwelcome new climate record, Australia is urged to do more on emissions reduction by a top US climate aide and Covid-19 deniers fan the take-up of a fake check-in app across Australia’s east coast. Plus: meet Scott Morrison’s favourite protester.
The chief executive of a Newcastle aged care facility has said “vaccine access” was a factor behind a Covid-19 cluster that has infected 14 people – 11 residents and three staff. Fewer than one in three staff at the venue had received vaccines, with two of the three infected workers awaiting a scheduled appointment. Anti-lockdown activists and Covid conspiracy theorists have been blamed for the rapid rise in circulation of a fake check-in app, with networks promoting spoofing software providing a “near identical” check-in screen to government-run apps in NSW, Victoria and Queensland. Melbourne has extended its lockdown by a week after recording 20 new cases, while NSW has extended restrictions across the state, with the north-west region around Bourke placed into lockdown after 344 new cases were recorded in the state.
A senior US climate official has warned Australia that it needs to increase its emissions reductions by 2030, saying that as a “leading developed country” Australia’s targets are “not sufficient”. The target of a 26% to 28% reduction by 2030 has been unchanged since 2015 but the drastic findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is expected to add “a lot more pressure” on recalcitrant nations, before the Cop26 summit in Glasgow. Meanwhile, Scott Morrison has singled out a Canberra woman as the climate activist “I’m listening to”, contrasting her peaceful sign holding with the “foolishness” of Extinction Rebellion protesters. The prime minister has also been forced to contradict his deputy, Barnaby Joyce, after an interview in which the Nationals leader claimed politicians “don’t actually come up with the plan” when it comes to climate change.
The Italian meteorological society has reported the highest temperature in European history, with 48.8C recorded in Sicily, as part of a scorching heatwave that’s sweeping the Mediterranean and north Africa. It comes after a run of extreme weather events across Europe and North America that include wildfires across the world’s biggest forest, the Siberian taiga, and floods in Germany that claimed the lives of more than 180 people.
Australia
The Greens and Labor have called for the introduction of an insurance guarantee for the live performance industry after research suggested $84m had been lost through the closure of more than 28,000 events nationwide since the pandemic began.
A leading consumer advocacy group has slammed the prevalence of misleading packaging on children’s snacks. A review of 78 toddler foods by Choice found more than half contained harmful added sugars, with some snacks more than 60% sugar.
Hopes for the conservation of Victoria’s giant burrowing frog have been buoyed after the successful metamorphosing of 15 tadpoles under the watchful eye of herpetologists at Zoos Victoria.
The world
Julian Assange’s battle against extradition to the US has suffered a setback after a UK high court ruled that undue weight was given to a psychiatric assessment that found the WikiLeaks founder was likely to take his own life if extradited.
Poland’s government is being accused of another major attack on media freedom, proposing a bill that would force the owners of the country’s largest independent broadcaster to sell most of their stake. Shortly after taking office in 2015 the populist Law and Justice party assumed direct control of the public broadcaster.
The US Senate has passed a massive $3.5tn package of family, health and environmental supports just hours after also rubber stamping a $1tn infrastructure package. The legislations form major tranches of Joe Biden’s plan for reshaping national priorities.
Recommended reads
“Like a lot of people, I never believed I could get Covid.” That was the view of Michael, a man in his 30s, who ended up fighting for his life in ICU after contracting the Delta variant in south-west Sydney. As Sheila Ngoc Pham writes, the severity of his experience was brought into sharp relief by the story of another friend, also Michael, who sailed through an infection largely unscathed. “The difference between the two men’s trajectories couldn’t be more stark. But there are a few things they have in common. Neither knows how he caught it, and contract tracers were unable to work out the sources of their infections. Both felt they got the runaround when it came to care.”
“Hope needs two thoughts to stay alive: that a better life is possible, and that it’s desirable.” As advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith explains, prolonged pain or suffering can train us to stop hoping. So how to help those near or dear to you, trapped in this predicament? “You have to find a way to defibrillate some hope in her. Doing that will not be easy. It is astonishing how much we can ignore or push aside until things get to a crisis.”
It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for the funnies. The guest curator for this week’s 10 funniest things on the internet, is the one and only Jan Fran, and she’s scoured the depths of the universe on our behalf to trawl for lols. Like a definitive explanation of the universe. And also, how the internet is just made of tubes.
Listen
For many Australians living overseas, the idea of losing the freedom of movement in and out of their home country was previously unfathomable. On this episode of Full Story, reporter Elias Visontay considers how the federal government’s new travel restrictions will affect Australians abroad.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
After 24 Covid tests, 100+ bus and taxi rides, and 14 days in the Olympic bubble, Kieran Pender craves some downtime. And while Guardian Australia’s prolific sports writer – alongside hundreds of Australia’s Olympians – is now back in Australia in quarantine, it’s a very different confinement after the excitement of Tokyo 2020.
It was the act of kindness that led to Olympic gold. Jamaican hurdler Hansle Parchment was on the wrong bus, going to the wrong venue. Then a volunteer helped out with the money for a taxi. 110m and some hurdles later, Parchment had become an Olympic champion. But he didn’t want to leave Tokyo until he found his good samaritan.
Chelsea and Villareal have one goal each in the Uefa Super Cup. The fixture is traditionally seen as the first silverware of the European football season – follow the action on our live blog.
Media roundup
Uncertainty reigns over the legality of businesses mandating compulsory vaccinations for staff, the Australian writes. All South Australians aged 16 to 39 will be eligible for Pfizer vaccines, the Advertiser reports. And cheap, portable air cleaners could hold the key to preventing Covid clusters, the Financial Review reports.
Coming up
A high court decision is expected on the special appeal application for the Murugappan family, seeking a return to the Queensland town of Biloela.
Acoss will release a study on the links between income and experiences of health.
And if you’ve read this far …
He’s the subject of an ongoing $1.3bn defamation lawsuit but former Trump confidant Rudy Giuliani may have found a new income stream, telling fans in a short video message: “Hi. It’s Rudy Giuliani and I’m on Cameo.”
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.
