| | 03/03/2025 AFL loses control on gambling oversight; Europe at Ukraine ‘crossroads’; WA renewables stall |
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| | | | Good morning. The AFL admits it has lost the reins on online gambling oversight, as leaked documents seen by Guardian Australia reveal the league is struggling to detect if its players are using inside information to manipulate betting markets. The UK leader, Keir Starmer, says Europe is at “a crossroads in history”, as leaders gather in London to discuss how to bolster Ukraine’s security – and their own. Meanwhile, Western Australia’s premier claims the state is a “renewable energy powerhouse” – but a leaked document has revealed how electricity from wind and solar projects has actually flatlined. |
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| Australia | | Renewable energy | Officials have warned the WA Labor government that work to build wind and solar farms for the state’s electricity grid has stalled under its leadership, a leaked document shows. | ‘Blindspots’ | The AFL has admitted its integrity system for online gambling is seriously deficient and struggles to identify whether players, coaches and staff are using inside information to manipulate betting markets. | Online safety | Social media companies would have six months to implement new measures to stop children from accessing adult content online, or face fines up to $50m under proposed new codes. | Defence spending | The Coalition says it would spend $3bn for 28 fighter jets to add a fourth squadron to the country’s F-35 fleet – but it won’t reveal where the money is coming from. | Aurimas Mockus | A Lithuanian ocean rower’s two-day wait to be rescued off Australia’s east coast is due to end this morning with the arrival of a navy ship. | Bureau of Meteorology | Four million Queenslanders have been warned they could be in the “firing line” when Cyclone Alfred heads towards the coast, with the bureau saying guidance “favours landfall on Thursday”. |
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| Full Story | | | How Donald Trump unleashed chaos in science In his first month in office, the US president has thrown science in the US into chaos, delaying projects and casting the future of research funding and jobs into doubt. To understand what the impacts could be, Madeleine Finlay speaks with Ian Sample and Prof Harold Varmus, a Nobel prize winner and former director of the National Institutes of Health under Bill Clinton. | |
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| In-depth | | | It wasn’t that long ago Australians had only a handful of fast food options. However, fast food options have exploded over the past two decades and are now set to rise even faster. Outlets are capitalising on cash-strapped consumers “trading down” from expensive restaurants as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite. But experts warn of the long-term health costs for Australians from eating ultra-processed foods. |
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| Not the news | | In her second novel Elegy, Southwest, the Australian author Madeleine Watts writes into the climate crisis from a millennial perspective with a mixed sense of melancholy and hope. It’s a novel of apocalypses, imminent and historical, paused beside and sped past as a married couple attempt to follow the elusive, overused Colorado River. It traverses the death of a parent and a miscarriage, as well as disappearances: water, animals, people – and love. |
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| What’s happening today | ABS | The Australian Bureau of Statistics is set to release its latest business indicators figures. | Los Angeles | The glitz and glamour of Hollywood is all set for celebration at the Academy Awards later today. | South Australia | The Adelaide writers festival continues. |
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| id: 'cb55'}} | Brain teaser | And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. | |
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A message from Lenore Taylor editor of Guardian AustraliaI hope you appreciated this newsletter. Before you move on, I wonder if you would consider supporting our work as we prepare for a pivotal, uncertain year ahead.
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| Lenore Taylor
Editor, Guardian Australia |
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