| Power independent journalism |
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| | | | 03/07/2025 Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs guilty on two of five charges, banks ignoring interest calls, pear dinkum giant |
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| Martin Farrer |  |
| | | Morning everyone. Although he could still face years in prison for two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution, Sean “Diddy” Combs fell to his knees in relief and his supporters celebrated wildly outside after a jury in New York found the music mogul not guilty of the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. A Guardian Australia analysis shows the big four banks are not making it easy for customers to get bonus interest despite watchdog recommendations, auditors have condemned the navy’s handling of bribery allegations, and a Victorian city is bidding to be the “capital of big things”. |
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Australia | |
| Storm eases | The damaging weather system that has brought widespread havoc to much of coastal New South Wales is expected to ease today. But heavy conditions will continue along parts of the coast and thousands remain without power. | ‘Factional hacks’ | Newly elected Liberal senator Jess Collins has hit out at “factional hacks” in the party’s NSW branch, insisting a push for quotas to boost female representation is the wrong approach for trying to beat Labor at the next election. | All at sea | Defence officials failed to properly document and investigate bribery allegations made against navy contractor officials, a scathing audit report on the multibillion-dollar commissioning and maintenance of two military ships has found. | Bank blank | More than 18 months after regulatory advice that Australia’s major banks should help customers qualify for bonus interest rates on savings products, several of the recommendations have not been implemented by the big four, an analysis by Guardian Australia has found. | Pear share | The regional Victorian city of Shepparton is in the running to be the “capital of big things” with a $1.3m plan to build a giant pear to go alongside the world’s largest Murray cod. |
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World | |
| Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ | The House of Representatives is at a standstill as Republican leaders continue to try to rally holdouts against Donald Trump’s sweeping tax cut and spending legislation, after it cleared the Senate with the narrowest of margins. And after last-minute negotiations, the US and Vietnam struck a trade agreement that sets 20% tariffs on many of the south-east Asian country’s exports. | Exclusive | The Israeli military used a 230kg bomb – a powerful and indiscriminate weapon that generates a massive blast wave and scatters shrapnel over a wide area – when it attacked a target in a crowded beachfront cafe in Gaza on Monday, evidence seen by the Guardian has revealed. | Combs guilty | A New York Jury has found Sean “Diddy” Combsguiltyof two counts of engaging women in prostitution but was cleared of the more serious offences of sex trafficking and racketeering, after a closely watched seven-week federal trial marked by emotional and graphic testimony. Outside the court, supporters danced and celebrated the verdict. Here are some key moments from the court drama. | Reeves’ tears | The UK chancellor, Rachel Reeves, appeared to be left in tears at prime minister’s questions as the Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, attacked the government over its U-turn on welfare cuts. That climbdown leaves the government with its authority shredded and a £5bn hole to plug. | Drought threat | As Europe’s heatwave moved eastwards, a new report says that drought is pushing tens of millions of people around the world to the edge of starvation. |
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Full Story | |
| Bougainville’s rocky path to independence
Nour Haydar speaks to Ben Doherty about the road to independence for Australia’s Pacific neighbour and the risk of repeating mistakes from the past. | | |
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In-depth | |
| It’s been miserable being a fan of North Melbourne in recent years. But the AFL club’s centenary celebrations are a chance for everyone involved to show that their investment in top-end picks and highly talented youth might just be about to pay off, writes Martin Pegan. |
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Not the news | |
| After years of fighting with her sister, Lucinda Price writes today about how it took their father’s cancer diagnosis for them “to form a truce after 26 years of full-pelt warfare … Our hatred just silently slipped away. I guess I felt as though my parents finally deserved to experience having children who didn’t hate each other”. |
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Sport | |
| Rugby union | Queensland Reds put up a good fight but the British & Irish Lions had too much class as the second tour match ended in a 52-12 defeat for the local side in Brisbane last night. | Tennis | British No 1 Emma Raducanu set up a huge third-round match against Aryna Sabalenka after beating 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova at Wimbledon, while defending men’s champion Carlos Alcaraz breezed through against plucky Ollie Tarvet. British tennis player Jodie Burrage has said she has had to stop herself looking at her phone due to online abuse – some from gamblers, some from about her appearance – after her first-round Wimbledon exit. | Cricket | India’s captain, Shubman Gill, made an unbeaten century as he dug in to steady his team and hold off England’s bowlers on the first day of the second test at Edgbaston. | Women’s football | Euro 2025 hosts Switzerland were defeated by Norway 2-1 this morning after Finland secured a narrow win against 10-player Iceland in the opening match. And Matildas star Ellie Carpenter has joined Sam Kerr at Chelsea with a big move from Lyon. |
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Media roundup | The Australian claims the public service has grown to a record size under the Albanese government. The management of Victoria’s water would be reshaped to enshrine traditional owners as rights holders under a proposal from the truth-telling inquiry, the Age reports. The Courier Mail looks at how the Brisbane-based beauty product business Lucas Papaw went from near-bust to boom in five years. And residents on the south coast of NSW might not have seen many in the past couple of rain-drenched days but this season’s whale sightings are at a record high, the Mercury reports. |
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What’s happening today | Economy | New vehicle sales figures for June released at 11am and international trade data from the ABS at 11.30am. | Brisbane | The Queensland deputy premier, Jarrod Bleijie, gives an Olympics update. |
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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 Australia I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask whether you could support the Guardian’s journalism as we face the unprecedented challenges of covering the second Trump administration.
As the world struggles to process the speed with which Donald Trump is smashing things, here in Australia we regularly wake to more shocking news. Underneath it is always the undermining of ideas and institutions we have long deemed precious and important – like the norms and rules of democracy, global organisations, post-second world war alliances, the concept that countries should cooperate for a common global good or the very notion of human decency.
This is a moment the media must rise to, with factual, clear-eyed news and analysis. It’s our job to help readers understand the scale and worldwide ramifications of what is occurring as best we can. The global news-gathering and editorial reach of the Guardian is seeking to do just that.
Here in Australia, our mission is to go beyond the cheap, political rhetoric and to be lucid and unflinching in our analysis of what it all means. If Trump can so breezily upend the trans-Atlantic alliance, what does that mean for Aukus? If the US is abandoning the idea of soft power, where does that leave the strategic balance in the Pacific? If the world descends back into protectionism, how should a free trading nation like Australia respond?
These are big questions – and the Guardian is in a unique position to take this challenge on. We have no billionaire owner pulling the strings, nor do we exist to enrich shareholders. We are funded by our readers and owned by the Scott Trust, whose sole financial obligation is to preserve our journalistic mission in perpetuity.
Our allegiance is to the public, not to profit, so whatever happens in the coming months and years, you can rely on us to never bow down to power, nor back down from reporting the truth.
If you can, please consider supporting us with just $1, or better yet, support us every month with a little more. Thank you. | | |
| Lenore Taylor
Editor, Guardian Australia |
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