Morning everyone. American progressives are in a celebratory mood after Zohran Mamdani’s New York mayoral election and other electoral successes yesterday. They offered a future that was, in the words of Barack Obama, “a little brighter” today. We have live coverage, reports and analysis.
At home a report says rezoning to allow the building of townhouses could slash the cost of new homes, we have a chilling investigation into what it’s like to be an avatar on the Roblox gaming platform, and Helen Garner tells about finding street cred at 82.
Australia
‘Grim future’ | The Great Barrier Reef will undergo “rapid coral decline” until 2050 but could recover if global heating is kept below 2C, according to University of Queensland modelling of what it calls a “grim future”.
Top storey | Homes could be $100,000 cheaper over a decade if Australia’s capital cities dramatically overhaul their zoning rules to allow three-storey townhouses and apartments to be built on all residential land, a thinktank says.
Exclusive | The Liberal party would be “rewarding standover tactics” from its junior Coalition partner if it caves to dropping a net zero emissions commitment, says former party president and MP Jason Falinski, who also warns that the party made a mistake by running as “Nationals-lite” at the last election.
Funding gap | Australian scientists and independent MP Monique Ryan are urging Labor to speed up funding for cutting-edge Australian medical innovation, taking advantage of the growing vacuum caused by Donald Trump’s gutting of US research.
Gas spin | A secret report for the WA government found that Australian gas exports slow the switch to cleaner energy in Asian countries.
World
France attack | Five people have been injured, two of them seriously, after a driver rammed into pedestrians and cyclists on Île d’Oléron, a popular tourist destination off France’s Atlantic coast.
‘A little brighter’ | Liberal Americans have been enjoying a rare recent moment of political celebration with Democratic victories in several elections led by the election of Zohran Mamdani as the next mayor of New York, with Barack Obama saying the future “looks a little bit brighter”. Progressive politicians around the world hailed Mamdani’s victory as a template on how to beat rightwing populists, but Donald Trump’s allies exploded with unrestrained vitriol at their victorious opponents. We assess the scale of the task facing Mamdani if he wants to fulfil his pledge to make New York more affordable, and you can follow our US coverage live.
Pokrovsk pressure | Russian forces appear to be tightening their grip on Pokrovsk as street fighting continues in the strategic eastern Ukrainian city.
High-speed Europe | A faster, “truly European” high-speed rail network could be possible by 2040, the EU executive said as it revealed plans to dramatically cut journey times between major cities.
Louvre suspect | One of the men arrested on suspicion of stealing the French crown jewels from the Louvre museum is reportedly a minor social media star with a passion for motorbikes who has worked as a security guard at the Pompidou centre.
Full Story
What does it take for top bosses to lose their bonuses?
Senior reporter Henry Belot speaks to Nour Haydar about the enduring culture of paying big bonuses to company executives, despite community outrage over company conduct.
In-depth
The gaming platform Roblox, where you can create block-like avatars to interact with millions of user-generated games aimed at children, has so far escaped the government’s upcoming under-16 ban. But over a week exploring the site posing as a 13-year-old, Sarah Martin found a disturbing world of sexualised fashion games, dungeons, casinos, horror games and countless role-playing games where her “experiences” included being sexually assaulted, beaten up and shat on.
Not the news
Helen Garner’s career now has a neat symmetry: this week she won the UK’s main nonfiction book prize for her diaries, decades since her debut novel, Monkey Grip, saw sniffy reviews for being like a “private journal”. Added to recognition from Dua Lipa and Carrie Bradshaw in And Just Like That, she tells Sian Cain about finding street cred at the age of 82, female anger and why she’ll keep writing.
Sport
Cricket | After Australia’s selectors named their surprise-free Ashes squad yesterday, Martin Pegan rates each player tasked with retaining the urn. Ashes fever is building up with England’s arrival in Perth to the usual chorus of hostile media coverage and attacks on the whingeing tourists’ “Baz Bawl” style.
Football | Manchester City host Dortmund, Newcastle are at home to Athletic Bilbao and Chelsea are playing halfway to Australia against Qarabag in Azerbaijan in this morning’s Champions League matches.
Tennis | Iga Świątek v Amanda Anisimova in the latest WTA group matches in Riyadh, while earlier Elena Rybakina has beaten Ekaterina Alexandrova in straight sets.
Media roundup
WAtoday claims that the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, has held “secret talks” with senior Liberals to try to hash out a compromise on climate policy. Foreign investment created by the Victorian government has fallen by $400m in the past two years, according to the Age, increasing pressure on state finances. Shore school in Sydney will become the third school in the city to raise fees to the $50,000 mark, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
What’s happening today
Society | Matt Tyler and Kate Fitz-Gibbon launch research on attitudes of teenage boys at the National Press Club.
Sydney | Findings from the inquest at Lidcombe coroner’s court into the death of German backpacker Simone Strobel in 2005.
Canberra | National architecture awards this evening.
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
