Morning, everyone. First it was Queensland, now it’s South Australia where the “shocking” mistreatment of children in detention centres can be exposed. Some youngsters have been locked up for 23 hours and there are fears children are self-harming to be admitted to hospital for a break from the regime. We have the details, plus concerns about a change to ocean dumping laws, an earthquake that shook Victoria early this morning and a decent day for Australia in the Ashes marred by injury to Nathan Lyon.
Australia
Gas risk | Proposed changes to laws about dumping at sea that would allow carbon dioxide to be pumped into international waters could be used to justify the expansion of the gas industry in areas such as the Tiwi Islands, the Greens and environment groups say.
‘Shocking’ | Children are being locked in their cells for up to 23 consecutive hours partly due to staffing shortages at South Australia’s youth detention centre. The state’s guardian for young people says the situation is “shocking” and at the same time the average hours spent in school dropped from just over three hours a day to one.
Victorian tremor | Melburnians were shaken by a 4.6 magnitude earthquake at 1.32am. The Bureau of Meteorology said the earthquake’s epicentre was in Rawson in Gippsland, 170km east of the state’s capital.
Double murder | Police in South Australia have launched a double murder investigation after the deaths of an elderly couple in hospital more than a year apart and amid suspicious toxicology results.
Ticket test | Ticketek says it is prepared for a flood of traffic today when Taylor Swift tickets go on general sale but the much-criticised ticketing site has admitted that its queueing system isn’t really a queue but more of a lottery.
World
Sweetener risk | Aspartame, the popular artificial sweetener used in thousands of products worldwide including Diet Coke, ice-cream and chewing gum, is to be declared a possible cancer risk to humans by the WHO, according to reports.
Catholic crisis | The Catholic church in Germany has revealed it is losing followers like never before, with more than 500,000 people deciding to renounce their membership last year.
France unrest | A police officer involved in the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy in Paris has been placed under formal investigation – akin to being charged – for voluntary homicide, as President Emmanuel Macron struggles to contain mounting public anger.
Putin ‘weakened’ | Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said the failed Wagner mutiny has weakened Vladimir Putin’s authority, as the Russian president sought to repair the damage to his standing with a rare public walkabout in Dagestan.
Rwanda plan ‘illegal’ | The UK court of appeal judges have ruled that it is unlawful to send asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their claims processed, in a judgment that delivers a serious blow to Conservative government policy.
Full Story
Newsroom edition: How Icac found Gladys Berejiklian to be corrupt
Gabrielle Jackson speaks to Guardian Australia’s editor, Lenore Taylor, and investigations editor, Anne Davies, about the Gladys Berejiklian report, criticism of Icac and the public’s right to know.
In-depth
“I am the boss, even when you’re the premier.” Daryl Maguire’s words to Gladys Berejiklian, revealed in excruciating detail by the Icac inquiry, lie at the heart of the corruption scandal that brought down the popular NSW premier. While she says she served the state to her best ability, Christopher Knaus asks why she kept secrets from her colleages and voters. We also look at why, despite some damning evidence, she won’t be prosecuted.
Not the news
As international students return once again to Australia, the latest novel by the Sydney-based Indian writer Vidya Madabushi, The Days Toppled Over, is well-timed. It concerns two Indian siblings, Malli and Surya, who are dividing their inheritance after their parents’ untimely deaths in a car accident. When Surya goes missing while studying in Australia, Malli travels to investigate and Madabushi draws on her own experience of studying in the city to explore the intersections of race and class.
The world of sport
The Ashes | Nathan Lyon pulled up with a worrying calf injury as Australia did well to contain England to 278-4 still 138 behind when they looked set to cut loose. Read Geoff Lemon’s analysis piece here.
Tennis | The 2013 Wimbledon women’s singles winner Marion Bartoli tells how the tournament made her amid her battles with anorexia.
Cycling | We offer a full team-by-team guide to the Tour de France as the riders prepare for the start of the famous race on Saturday.
Media roundup
The fate of Gladys Berejiklian is given the full treatment in the Sydney Morning Herald, which reports she is considering an appeal against the Icac verdict, while the Age wonders whether she would even have been investigated in Victoria. The Adelaide Advertiser says the South Australian bakery Balfours, maker of the famous “frog cake”, has been sold to a rival in Western Australia. Sports fans in Northern Territory have been warned to rug up when attending matches this weekend with temperatures feeling as low as 4C, NT News says.
What’s happening today
Economy | The ABS releases figures on people looking for work, finding work, changing jobs, or their reasons for not working.
Brisbane | There will be a hearing in corporate watchdog Asic’s fraud investigation into Clive Palmer and his company Palmer Leisure Coolum.
NSW | There is a parliamentary inquiry into the state’s use of consulting firms in wake of PwC tax scandal.
Sign up
If you would like to receive this Morning Mail update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here. And finish your day with a three-minute snapshot of the day’s main news. Sign up for our Afternoon Update newsletter here.
Prefer notifications? If you’re reading this in our app, just click here and tap “Get notifications” on the next screen for an instant alert when we publish every morning.
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.
