Morning everyone. The challenges of the AI revolution are highlighted by our lead story this morning as experts warn about the huge amount of water needed to cool datacentres crucial to the new tech.
The Albanese government is being urged to take on the big gas producers and secure a better deal for Australians for east coast reserves, we have the intriguing tale of “Bitcoin Rodney” and an alleged Ponzi scheme, and England actually manage to bat all day at the Gabba despite another six wickets for Mitchell Starc.
Australia
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Deal for the Devils | A contentious $1.13bn AFL stadium has been given the official tick of approval by Tasmania’s parliament to pave the way for the Devils to enter the AFL and AFLW.
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Thirsty work | Australia is riding the AI boom with dozens of new investments in datacentres in Sydney and Melbourne, but experts warn the massive projects will put new demands on strained water resources. Sydney’s facilities alone will need more than Canberra’s entire drinking water supply.
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Gas plea | Unions and manufacturers want the Albanese government to stare down the gas giants as it designs a new gas reservation scheme.
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Nauru hunger | Asylum seekers sent to Nauru by Australia say they are going hungry on the island because they are banned from working and receive only $115 a week for food despite very high prices.
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‘Bitcoin Rodney’ | An American promoter of an alleged global $3bn Ponzi scheme claims in newly filed US court documents he was trapped by an “elaborate” fraud orchestrated by an Australian, Sam Lee, and should be released from custody.
World
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‘Killed more than it saved’ | America’s top vaccines official has promised to revamp regulation after claiming without evidence that it had “killed more than it saved”. It comes after turmoil at US health agencies under the leadership of Robert F Kennedy Jr.
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Song contest | Four countries say they will boycott the Eurovision song competition next year after organisers gave Israel the all-clear to compete.
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Ukraine ‘betrayal’ | Emmanuel Macron has warned European leaders that “there is a chance that the US will betray Ukraine on territory”, according to German magazine Der Spiegel, quoting a leaked note from a recent call. US envoy Steve Witkoff meets Ukraine’s security chief in Miami.
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Fortunes fuelled | Two fossil-fuel billionaires with close ties to Donald Trump bought millions of shares in the company they co-founded just days after a meeting with senior White House officials.
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‘Woke bubble’ | A restrictive sex education bill backed by Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government and intended to crack down on “gender ideology and the woke bubble” has provoked fury in Italy.
Full Story
Newsroom edition: the dangers of automated governance
As NDIS executives confirm most claimants will no longer be able to appeal against their plans, Bridie Jabour speaks to the editor, Lenore Taylor, the head of newsroom, Mike Ticher, and deputy editor Patrick Keneally about what happens when you take the human out of human services, and if the government has learned any lessons from robodebt.
Full Story
Newsroom edition: the dangers of automated governance
In-depth
The warnings about a heatwave this weekend and bushfires ripping through parts of Tasmania might not sit with forecasters’ predictions that Australia is in the grip of a La Niña cycle this summer. This pattern brings typically wetter and cooler weather, so why is it tracking to be hotter than expected over the coming months? Graham Readfearn, our environment and climate correspondent, explains what’s going on.
Not the news
Toni Lamond, who died this week aged 93, was a giant of the Australian stage as a vaudevillian of the Tivoli circuit, star of musicals such as Anything Goes, and a TV and variety show regular. Cassie Tongue remembers how, after seeing an old VHS tape of Lamond in The Pirates of Penzance, she “fell in instant, dizzying love”.
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Sport
A Gold Coast school principal has told the Bulletin that he fears for children’s safety when they are riding e-bikes. Fire crews in Tasmania are battling 12 out of control fires wreaking havoc in the state’s south and east, the Mercury reports. The death of business tycoon Richard Collins has sparked a battle over his Jarvis Group fortune between his widow and his children, the Adelaide Advertiser claims.
What’s happening today
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Politics | Mention at supreme court over legal challenge of Victorian Liberals’ $1.55m loan to former leader.
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Melbourne | Federal court family violence prevention forum.
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Northern Territory | Inquest into death of disabled inmate who had seizure.
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.