Iran's former supreme leader lies in state at the Grand Mosalla in Tehran on the first day of funeral commemorations expected to draw 15-20 million mourners. BBC witnesses report crowds chanting against the US and calling for revenge for Khamenei's killing in US-Israeli strikes in February. The body will be moved to Qom, then Najaf and Karbala in Iraq, before burial in Mashhad next Thursday. Much of central Tehran is locked down for what is expected to be the largest funeral in modern Iranian history relative to population.
Zelensky confirms Ukrainian drones hit a major oil terminal in St Petersburg — Russia's second city — describing it as key "infrastructure that generates revenue for Russia's war." A separate naval base at Kronstadt was also struck. Governor Beglov reported 72 drones were shot down, but admitted the terminal was hit. Ukraine claims nearly 43% of Russia's oil refining capacity has been "disabled." Putin signed a law Saturday aimed at boosting domestic fuel supplies amid shortages caused by the attacks.
The Trump administration formally declined to renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on the July 1 deadline, instead opting for annual reviews that could extend negotiations for up to a decade. The decision introduces major uncertainty for North American supply chains — nearly 90% of Canadian exports were shielded by the pact. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the administration wants to "seek improvements" to the deal Trump once championed as "the best agreement ever."
The US marked its 250th independence anniversary as a brutal heatwave forced cancellation or postponement of events from DC to Philadelphia, with 165 million people enduring dangerous temperatures above 38°C. Trump's "America 250" celebrations on the National Mall saw notably thin crowds, which went viral online. Amid the July 4 milestone, ABC's Brad Ryan reports growing numbers of Americans say they feel little national pride at this point in the country's history, reflecting deep political divides.
The couple tied the knot in a star-studded New York ceremony officiated by comedian Adam Sandler. Thousands of fans queued outside MSG for hours. Swift wore a Dior dress; Kelce was described as a "man of honour" in the unique ceremony format. The wedding caps months of speculation and dominated headlines globally, with the BBC's Nada Tawfik reporting live from outside the venue. The pair's relationship has been a cultural fixation since 2023.
Morocco became the first team to reach the World Cup quarter-finals, beating co-hosts Canada 3-0 with Azzedine Ounahi scoring twice. Canada's early exit means one of the tournament's co-hosts bows out in the group stage. Elsewhere, Egypt beat Australia on penalties (Salah scored the decisive Panenka), and Germany's Julian Nagelsmann resigned as manager, with the FA seeking talks with Jurgen Klopp about the now-vacant role.
Australia's World Cup campaign ended in a dramatic penalty shootout defeat to Egypt, with Mohamed Salah coolly dispatching a Panenka to seal the win. The Socceroos rallied to draw 1-1 through an early second-half own goal, but coach Tony Popovic's controversial goalkeeper substitution — bringing on Patrick Beach for Mat Ryan just for penalties — backfired. Mark Schwarzer slammed the decision as "messing with things too much." Jordy Bos was Australia's best attacker before injury forced him off.
A seven-year broadcast deal worth at least $5 billion ($700M+/year) is expected to be announced this week, easily outstripping the AFL's $4.5B deal from 2025. Ian Verrender's analysis notes the deal cements Peter V'landys as the nation's supreme sports administrator. The question: who ultimately pays — Nine shareholders, Foxtel subscribers, or a Ukrainian-born billionaire?
Chris Minns announced at the NSW Labor State Conference that the next fleet of Tangara-replacement trains will be built in the Hunter region, at either Teralba or Broadmeadow — where the original Tangaras were built before manufacturing was outsourced to China, Spain and South Korea in 2012. The $12B project is expected to create 780 construction jobs and 550 ongoing roles. No money has been allocated in this year's budget for the 15-year program, raising funding questions.
The government has rejected all eight UN recommendations specific to LGBTQIA+ rights, including removing religious exemptions for discriminating against students and staff, banning conversion practices, and stopping unnecessary surgeries on intersex children. The overall acceptance rate of 38% is the lowest in Australia's 20-year Universal Periodic Review history — below the Morrison government's 51%. Equality Australia called it a missed opportunity; the AHRC warns Australia's human rights standing in the region is eroding.
NSW confirmed its first case of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in a giant petrel found on Bennetts Beach near Hawks Nest. It's the sixth confirmed case in Australia, amid an unusual migration pattern from the subantarctic driven by weather events. Authorities stress public health risk remains low and there's no impact on the poultry sector. The Agriculture Minister has activated increased surveillance with 500 additional staff trained, as epidemiologists warn the Wallace Line no longer protects Australia.
Investors left out of pocket by the collapse of First Guardian and Shield Master Funds are exploring a class action with Gordon Legal. Some 6,000 people lost a total of $446M when the funds collapsed last year. Netwealth reimbursed about $100M to ~1,000 investors, but payouts excluded compounding losses — the superannuation growth investors would have accumulated had their money stayed in a performing fund. AFCA complaints have been unsuccessful so far.
Australia's secret intelligence service is taking an unconventional recruitment approach, sponsoring Vogue Australia's Vogue Codes summit and appearing on the Mamamia podcast to attract women in tech, science and diverse backgrounds. ASIS Director-General Kerri Hartland said the agency needs people with "superior interpersonal skills" and fresh perspectives, acknowledging they can't compete with private sector visibility. Penny Wong says "there's no such thing as a typical ASIS officer anymore."
Broadsheet's comprehensive winter 2026 openings guide covers a wave of new venues: Joy Korean Fried Chicken relocates to Enmore; the Bentley team (Savage & Hildebrandt) opens Asian grill Ashe and basement bar Vespertine in the CBD; La Buvette in Potts Point gets a French revival from the Bar Copains trio; Lo Presti's brings Greek-Med to Redfern; Bantry Bay Grocer opens as a wine bar/alimentari in Seaforth; Super 44 launches as a Margarita bar in Newtown; and Sandwhich — a sandwich shop from two chefs who quit their jobs — opens in St Peters. Already opened: Besa (Spanish tapas, Bondi), Pizza Studio Tamaki (CBD), Bronte Road Fish (Waverley), The James (British dining at The Langham), and Vitelli's Upstairs (Italian-American, Redfern).
Mid-year bar roundup zeroes in on Daiquiri, Martini and Margarita specialists, spanning beer bars, dance bars, and what's likely Australia's smallest wine bar. Among the highlights: Bar Bridge (CBD Martini bar), Razz Room (underground Daiquiri bar and discotheque), and Super 44 (Margarita bar in Newtown). Covers the sustained inner-west cocktail boom and the CBD's bar renaissance.
The celebrated Surry Hills restaurant Arthur has completed a full-scale renovation and reopened with a completely new format. Owners Tristan Rosier and Bec Fanning have ditched the set-menu-only model for a walk-in-friendly à la carte menu. New dishes include yuzu-dressed prawns with swordfish belly, slow-braised kangaroo tail with warrigal greens, and a wattleseed custard tart with native vanilla — all showcasing exclusively Australian produce.
Highly respected Coonawarra winemaker Sue Bell has bought back her Bellwether winery after the business was placed into liquidation by the Australian Taxation Office. The Real Review reports the sale as a rare second chance for a well-regarded boutique producer. Separately, Rouge Homme — a historic Coonawarra red wine brand — has been returned to the Redman family, who originally established it. Sydney wine consultant Jon Osbeiston has been appointed to curate the wine program for a major new luxury hotel development in the Hunter Valley.
Sebastian Iannuzzi has won the most prestigious global award for achievement in the WSET Level 4 Diploma — the highest level of wine education offered by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. The award recognises top marks globally across all units of the notoriously demanding qualification. Iannuzzi has strong ties to the NSW wine industry, marking a significant achievement for Australian wine education on the world stage.
The Regional Arts Fund Project Grants officially opened on 1 July 2026 for projects starting in the 2027 calendar year. The ongoing program provides approximately $6 million per year to support artists and communities in regional and remote areas across Australia. Info sessions run 10 July (intro) and 24 July (troubleshooting), with applications closing 17 August 2026. This is the primary federal funding avenue for regional arts practitioners outside the major metropolitan grant streams.
The Albanese government's $1.1 billion arts and culture package for 2026-27 includes a $14.7M increase for Creative Australia (to $326.5M), with total arts spending of $4.6B over the forward estimates. The budget funds the ongoing rollout of the Revive cultural policy, including Music Australia, Writing Australia, First Nations Arts and Creative Workplaces. Creative Australia targets 525 artists/organisations supported and $35M in First Nations arts investment in the coming year, though some collecting institutions face staffing reductions. (Via Limelight, paywalled.)
NAIDOC Week celebrations across Australia mark the event's 50th anniversary, with a focus on the meaning of "deadly" in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contexts. The milestone offers an opportunity for reflection on Indigenous arts and cultural recognition. Creative Australia's First Nations Arts stream is expected to play a role in supporting NAIDOC-aligned cultural programming and events.
ArtsHub has published its comprehensive guide to Australian arts grants for 2026, cataloguing federal, state and philanthropic funding opportunities across all disciplines. Creative Australia's Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups ($10K-$50K) and the Music Australia Export Development Fund (up to $75K matched funding for international touring) are among key open opportunities. The guide is particularly relevant for early-career artists navigating the increasingly complex grants landscape.
Scientists from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Anthropic and Meta have abandoned their fierce corporate rivalry to issue a rare joint warning about AI safety. The statement flags that advanced AI systems are becoming increasingly opaque — even to their creators — and that the industry may be "losing the ability to understand" how models arrive at their outputs. The unprecedented collaboration signals growing concern across frontier labs about interpretability and controllability of next-generation systems.
No new frontier models were released in the last 48 hours. Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 5 (released June 30) remains the most recent major model launch. The AI release tracker shows no activity from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Meta, Mistral, or DeepSeek over the weekend. No new Hermes Agent releases or Nous Research updates detected. The calm follows a busy June that included Claude Sonnet 5, OpenAI's GPT-5.6 block by US government, and multiple fine-tune releases.