Albanese to Unveil 'Practical Policies' at Labor Conference Amidst Global Tensions and Domestic News

Anthony Albanese will put “practical policies” such as expanding paid work experience in healthcare professions at the heart of Labor’s offering when he makes his keynote speech to Labor’s national conference today.

Australia’s emergency services and military personnel are being trained to read paper maps, navigate without GPS support and sail by the stars in case something knocks out the nation’s space capabilities.

Students in 10 fields including physiotherapy, speech pathology and clinical psychology will receive financial assistance to complete mandatory placements under a major expansion of the federal government’s paid work experience program. The announcement will come at Labor’s national conference today as part of the government’s plans to set out “practical policies”.

Penny Wong will warn China today that Australia and other neighbouring nations will not be bullied by its “provocative” actions, after its involvement in another “destabilising and dangerous” incident this week.

More than a decade after the human microbiome was comprehensively mapped, scientists have now identified the vast communities of microbes that make up the Great Barrier Reef.

Virtually every phone in the country will sound an emergency siren at 2pm AEST on Monday as part of the first Australia-wide test of a new national warning system called AusAlert.

A modelling scout who recruited women for Jeffrey Epstein, and who was under investigation for human trafficking in France, has been found dead at his home near Paris.

France recorded more than 5,700 excess deaths during its June heatwave, authorities have said, as swathes of southern Europe continue to endure another record-breaking period of extreme temperatures.

The price of oil has breached $95 a barrel for the first time in six weeks as the escalating Middle East conflict threatens further disruption to global supplies.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is under growing pressure to reinstate his sacked defence minister after campaigners said they would continue indefinite nationwide protests until Mykhailo Fedorov gets his job back.

Elon Musk has said his AI platform Grok Imagine will make a “historically accurate” adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey after the SpaceX founder repeatedly criticised the casting in the current movie blockbuster.

Nour Haydar speaks to the Guardian’s south Asia correspondent, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, about what’s behind India’s growing protests.

The Reserve Bank wants to improve Australians’ economic literacy.

The problem with drawing people from life is they tend to move. The same is true of greyhounds, but they also don’t understand when you ask them to hold a pose, writes Josh Nicholas, who expanded his artistic skills at a greyhound life drawing class in Eltham, Victoria. Grappling with drawing their soulful eyes and “reverse chicken legs”, Nicholas rises to the challenge.

Pole vaulter Nina Kennedy will carry the Australian flag at the opening ceremony in Glasgow in the early hours of tomorrow morning AEST, as organisers hope for a late surge in ticket sales.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has held talks about joining the consortium that is seeking to buy about 30% of Liverpool, while Pep Guardiola could become the next Italy coach.

Anti-doping authorities at the Tour de France have rejected accusations of preferential treatment towards France’s teenage hope, Paul Seixas, as the testing row continues to overshadow the race.

The Australian reports that One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts has broken with the party line on Aukus, calling the plan “absurd”.

Australian companies are preparing to cut jobs as they face slowing domestic demand and oil-driven inflation, according to the Fin Review.

Hobart council is considering a historic return of land to the Aboriginal community, the Mercury reports.

A $240m revamp of Perth CBD involving a 240-room hotel, sky bar and restored heritage arcade has been given the green light, WAtoday says.

The ALP national conference begins in Adelaide with Anthony Albanese speech.

A trial is starting in Melbourne for a convicted murderer suing the justice department for the right to eat Vegemite.

Labour force statistics for June are released.