Spain celebrate winning the Women’s World Cup following victory against the English team.

21/08/2023

Spain triumph at World Cup, population growth to slow, CPAC ‘comedian’ criticised

Charlotte Graham-McLay

Good morning. Spain have won the Women’s World Cup, denying England’s Lionesses with a fluid and mesmeric display of football. We have reflections on the game and on a wonderful tournament.

Australians are expected to live longer and remain healthier to an older age while having fewer children over the next 40 years, according to the latest intergenerational report from Treasury. The briefing has found population growth is projected to slow to an annual average of 1.1% over the next 40 years, compared with 1.4% over the past four decades, with overseas migration expected to continue to support Australia’s population growth, along with natural increase – although both are projected to fall.

Plus, Russia’s moon mission has crashed. And we have a question: if an airline advertises a fare that’s almost impossible to find, was it a misleading ad?

Australia

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the care sector ‘is where the lion’s share of opportunities in our economy will be created’.

Population | Australia’s population is forecast to grow at its slowest rate since federation, the latest intergenerational report from Treasury found.

Consumer issues | Qantas denied it was engaging in misleading conduct despite promoting a special return fare to London on its website that was scarcely available and which its own sales staff were unable to book for customers.

Defence | The Albanese government announced a $1.7bn spend on hi-tech missiles, making Australia the third nation after the US and the UK to have access to Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Immigration | Refugees and asylum seekers employed to sort rubbish were systematically exploited and underpaid by one of the biggest recycling organisations in Victoria.

‘Hoax speaker’ | The CPAC conservative conference featured a comedian whose routine referred to traditional owners as “violent black men”.

World

Rocket booster with Luna-25 lunar lander blasts off at Vostochny Cosmodrome on 11 August.

Space | Russia’s first moon mission in 47 years failed after its Luna-25 spacecraft spun out of control and crashed into the moon, dealing a significant setback to the embattled Russian space program.

Lucy Letby | Police believe Lucy Letby, the nurse convicted of murdering seven babies, may have harmed dozens more infants at two hospitals in the north-west of England.

Wildfires | An out-of-control wildfire on Tenerife that has forced thousands to flee was started deliberately, authorities said, as four more villages in Greece were evacuated in the face of another advancing blaze.

France | The mayor of St-Tropez threatened sanctions for “racketeering” restaurateurs in the former fishing village – a hotspot for celebrities and the international jet set – after reports that some eateries are employing “wealth screening” tactics.

US shooting | A California store owner was shot dead after a dispute over her displaying an LGBTQ+ Pride flag.

Full Story

One minute you’re doing the downward dog, the next you’re listening to conspiracy theories about Covid or the new world order …

The wellness-to-conspiracy pipeline

For many people, alternative therapies and wellness routines provide comfort and pleasure. For others, they can be a pathway to far-right conspiracies. Author and journalist James Ball speaks to Michael Safi about the connection between wellness and conspiracy theories.

In-depth

Australian fire chiefs are warning of the most significant fire risk since the 2019-2020 bushfires as the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts warmer than average temperatures.

Australia is heading into a dry summer with a high fuel load – due to three wet La Niña years – and the Bureau of Meteorology has warned the country could face a season of heatwaves and fires, with warmer than average temperatures and lower than average rainfall forecast through October.

Guardian Australia spoke to fire chiefs about how to prepare your home for bushfire season – and how to read the new bushfire danger rating system.

Not the news

Room assigned to the slaves found in Civita Giuliana.

Archaeologists discovered a small bedroom in a Roman villa near Pompeii that was almost certainly used by slaves. Its contents included two beds and a series of urns and ceramic containers with the remains of two mice and a rat inside.

“What we are learning about the material conditions and social organisation of that era opens up new horizons for historical and archaeological studies,” said Gennaro Sangiuliano, Italy’s culture minister.

The world of sport

Spain’s players celebrate with the trophy after winning the Women’s World Cup on Sunday night.

World Cup | Spain beat England 1-0 to win the football Women’s World Cup for the first time. Here’s the play-by-play and our analysis. Meanwhile, Prince William faced criticism for not flying to Australia to support the Lionesses.

Matildas | As the 2023 World Cup final played out without them, the Australian women’s football team vowed to go one better on the world stage at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Meanwhile, the World Cup was “close to perfect” for millions of Australians, Jack Snape writes.

Premier League | West Ham beat Chelsea 3-1; Aston Villa beat Everton 4-0.

AFL | For Sportsblog, Jonathan Horn explains the confusion and fury over the score review system. When the AFL can’t tell viewers whether a goal is a goal, he writes, fans and players ask: what’s the point?

NRL | The Rabbitohs mourned the death of South Sydney premiership-winning player Kyle Turner, who died on Friday aged 31.

Media roundup

The Australian says corporate leaders are urging the federal government to raise the GST rate and remove regulations in order to power clean energy and bolster material wellbeing. There’s a crisis brewing in attracting and retaining school principals due to burnout and social media abuse, according to the Mercury. The Herald Sun covers a new blood test developed by Melbourne researchers that helps detect whether a patient has ovarian cancer.

What’s happening today

Markets | Full-year results are expected for the insurer IAG, and BlueScope steel.

Childcare worker | A court appearance is scheduled for a 45-year-old Gold Coast man who allegedly committed more than 1,600 offences against more than 90 children at 10 Brisbane childcare centres, as well as at one centre in NSW and another overseas.

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Brain teaser

And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.

Quick crossword

Cryptic crossword

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At the time of writing, I am in Australia covering the final stages of a landmark Women’s World Cup tournament.

When I was taken on in June 2017 to write regularly on women’s football, I could never have imagined how quickly this wonderful game would grow, flourish and win hearts and minds. That growth has been fought for; by players, by fans, by those working within the game and by the media.

Great quality women's football coverage plays a vital role in the growth of the sport. At the Guardian, we report with rigour and detail on matches, tournaments, and the hurdles that the world of women's football continues to face.

We have broken ground in the way we cover the women’s game and our coverage of this World Cup in Australia and New Zealand has been no different. From profiling all 736 players and sending a small but dedicated team of our best football journalists from three continents to Australia and New Zealand to cover the tournament, to producing three Women’s Football Weekly podcasts a week and having David Squires capture it in iconic cartoon form, we are the home of women’s football.

We don’t just want to maintain this level of coverage; we want to expand it and continue to be a driver and pioneer of the women’s game in the industry. If you value our coverage of what happens both on and off the pitch, please consider supporting us today from as little as £1.

Support the Guardian

Suzanne Wrack
Guardian football writer

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