Morning Mail: Exclusive Brethren school contracts revealed, Australians found dead in Philippines hotel, The Shining actor Shelley Duvall dies
Good morning. Schools set up by the Exclusive Brethren sect have spent millions of dollars with businesses owned by church members on major building projects, a Guardian Australia investigation has found.
US president Joe Biden’s press conference at the Nato summit in Washington DC later today is certain to be scrutinised for any signs of slip-up – as calls continue to grow for him to step down from the US election race.
And tributes are flowing for Shelley Duvall, the star of films including The Shining and Annie Hall, who has died aged 75.
Australia
Exclusive | Newly obtained internal documents shed light on the Australian government’s conditions for recognising the state of Palestine – and the factors it weighed up before voting yes in a highly anticipated UN vote on 10 May.
Exclusive Brethren | Schools set up by the Exclusive Brethren sect have spent millions of dollars with businesses owned by church members on major building projects, a Guardian Australia investigation has found.
CEOs pay audit | Chief executives across Australia’s largest companies are making slightly less money, a report shows – but on average are still taking home 50 times the pay package of a typical worker.
Rain, rain, go away | Since March, 12 of 19 Saturdays in Sydney have been washed out by rain, breaking young footballers’ hearts and leaving amateur and semi-professional schedules in chaos.
Conservation | In new study, Australian researchers have used a “sauna treatment” for frogs to fight a deadly fungal disease that has devastated amphibians around the world.
World
Biden’s pitch | Joe Biden is gearing up for one of the most pivotal press conferences of his long political career as the number of Democrats calling on him to step down grows, and while a flummoxed Trump campaign wants the president to stay in race.
Gaza crisis | Israeli-made weapons designed to spray high levels of shrapnel are causing horrific injuries to civilians in Gaza, surgeons say. After heavy fighting, people in Gaza City are trapped and bodies lie uncollected in the streets.
Shelley Duvall | The much-loved US character actor and star of films including The Shining, Annie Hall and Popeye, has died in her sleep at her Texas home shortly after her 75th birthday.
Russia-Ukraine war | Reports say US intelligence services have foiled a Russian plot to assassinate the boss of a German arms manufacturer supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Hotel deaths | Two Australians and a Filipina have been found dead in a luxury hotel room in the Philippines. Police said CCTV footage showed a man in a mask and a hoodie leaving their room a few hours before they were found.
Full Story
Newsroom edition: why anti-protest laws won’t stop climate activists
For the past two weeks climate protesters in Newcastle have been disrupting the world’s largest coal port. But, as protesters take to more extreme means in their efforts to highlight ecological collapse, new laws have been introduced around the country to try to stop them. Bridie Jabour speaks with Lenore Taylor and Adam Morton about why, despite the prospect of arrest and jail time, climate-focused civil disobedience is not going away.
In-depth
Data from the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency released in June showed a 20% increase in youth offender incidents over a 12-month period. After high-profile incidents, the figure has been used by media commentators to prop up claims of a “youth crime crisis”. But youth justice experts say the data is open to interpretation – and they are in fact dealing with a “small group of kids” in a “small number of postcodes”.
Not the news
It’s rare these days to see crowds of movie patrons lined up around the block, waiting to congregate in front of the big screen. But you can bet on it happening during the 72nd Melbourne international film festival in August. Our film critic, Luke Buckmaster, shares 10 picks to see – including the body horror auteur David Cronenberg’s latest, Cate Blanchett as a hapless German chancellor, India’s first film to compete at Cannes in three decades and a restored Wake in Fright.
The world of sport
Cycling | The Eritrean sprinting sensation Biniam Girmay is celebrating a hat-trick of stage wins after Primož Roglič crashes again on stage 12 of the Tour de France.
Tennis | Jasmine Paolini denies Donna Vekić in a record-breaking Wimbledon semi-final; Barbora Krejčíková is into the final after beating Elena Rybakina; Lorenzo Musetti will meet Novak Djokovic again in an acid test of the Wimbledon whirlwind.
Olympics | Australian surfers are ready to take on Teahupo’o “in all its glory” as massive waves hit the Paris Games surf venue in Tahiti.
Media roundup
The network of offshore oil and gas platforms launched more than 50 years ago in the Bass Strait turned Victoria into an Australian energy powerhouse – but now a battle is looming on how to dismantle them, ABC News reports. The NSW government has been urged to resuscitate a long-lost railway line from Port Kembla to south-west Sydney – or risk wasting the potential of the city’s new airport, the Sydney Morning Herald says.
What’s happening today
Queensland | Anthony Albanese is to meet the prime minister of Tuvalu in Brisbane.
NSW | The trial of Robert and Anne Geeves, accused of the murder of Amber Haigh, continues in Wagga Wagga.
Queensland | A judge-alone trial continues for 14 people accused of the murder and manslaughter of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs.
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
