Trump lashes Maga ‘weaklings’ over Epstein case, Australia’s ‘baby recession’, a Hiroshima love story

Price challenge | As Aldi announces a trial of grocery delivery, our consumer affairs reporter Catie McLeod has put it to the test, pricing a basket of goods from the discount supermarket against the same products from Coles and Woolworths.

Birth-rate blues | Baby recessions in Australia’s biggest cities deepened last year amid sustained cost-of-living pressures, dragging the nation’s birthrate to a near-record low. Outer-suburban and regional residents are increasingly likely to have higher numbers of children per person than inner-city dwellers.

Strait talking | After Torres Strait Islanders lost their legal case about climate change, experts and advocates say it’s time for the law to change.

Race warning | Australia’s race discrimination commissioner has warned there is limited detail in how Jillian Segal’s plan to combat antisemitism would be implemented, and said he would work with her to ensure it does not restrict fundamental rights and freedoms.

Albanese in tune | Anthony Albanese will return home from China after hitting the right notes on his diplomatic mission but it could become harder for the two countries to stay in tune, writes our chief political correspondent Tom McIlroy.

Iceland eruption | A volcano on Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland has erupted for ninth time since 2023 and residents have been told to stay indoors because of high levels of toxic gas from the 2.4km fissure.

Maga uproar | Donald Trump has called his own supporters gullible “weaklings” for questioning the transparency of a secretive government inquiry into the late high-profile socialite and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as he spent another day trying to stamp out a conspiracy-fuelled uproar among his Maga base. We have a timeline of the Epstein story and you can follow developments in Washington live at our blog. Elsewhere in Trumpland, the president has privately indicated he is on the verge of firing the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, rattling Wall Street and renewing questions over the US central bank’s independence.

Gaza crush | At least 20 Palestinians have been killed in a crush at a food distribution site in southern Gaza after guards used teargas or pepper spray on hungry crowds arriving at the centre.

Mega Meta | Mark Zuckerberg says Meta will spend hundreds of billions of dollars on developing AI products and will build a data centre the size of Manhattan to drive the plan.

We’re not going on a bear hunt | The hunt for a brown bear that bit a man on the elbow in Norway has been put on hold after officials shot the wrong bear.

Cycling | There was chaos on stage 11 of the Tour de France in Toulouse as the defending champion, Tadej Pogacar, crashed and an anti-Israel protester ran on to the final straight. Norway’s Jonas Abrahamsen claimed the stage win.