Morning Mail: Plea to save Australian theatre, Brazil overcome Japan scare, Penelope Keith dies

29 Jun, 20:49. AU edition

syd — A planned tour of Waitress to Sydney has been cancelled. Photograph: Brittany Long/Getty Images

High-profile cancellations show the theatre industry is under threat without tax help; five-time champions come from behind to beat Blue Samurai

Morning everyone. Amid a series of cancelled shows, there are warnings this morning that Australian theatre is under serious threat without help from the federal government in the shape of tax reform.

Share bikes will be put in their parking place in Sydney amid community anger about them cluttering streets, and a US supreme court decision to overturn decades of constitutional precedent has caused widespread anger. At the World Cup, Brazil recovered to beat Japan and Sam Kerr will play for Gotham FC in the American women’s league.

Plus: one of British TV’s most beloved actors, Penelope Keith, has died.

Australia

Bike brake | Shared ebikes cluttering Sydney footpaths will be kicked to the kerb in the coming months under funding to establish marked parking bays.
Stage struck | Australia’s theatre industry is in dire straits and desperately needs tax reform to keep it alive, experts have warned, after two major touring musicals and a $20m opera were cancelled in the space of a week.
Liberal ‘rebrand’ | Liberal frontbencher Melissa McIntosh has said the party might need a “rebrand” to win back voters as the Coalition hit a new historic polling low.
‘Beautiful mother’ | A Gold Coast woman who died from gunshot wounds in an alleged domestic violence murder was “a beautiful young mother” who leaves behind a two-year-old son.
Lehrmann loss | The former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann has lost a legal bid to access copies of all footage from a documentary featuring Brittany Higgins.

World

Venezuela aftershock | A strong aftershock has rattled northern Venezuela, sending terrified residents racing on to the streets five days after the twin earthquakes that killed at least 1,450 people and left tens of thousands missing.
Germany shooting | Five women and a man have been killed in a shooting at a youth welfare facility ⁠in northern Germany, police said. Two people, including the suspected ⁠shooter, were arrested after an incident believed not to be terror-related.
North star | Andy Burnham will set up No 10 North as the “nerve centre of a rewired Britain” to oversee a devolution of power and resources across the UK that he said would deliver the change the country desperately needed.
Supreme rulings | There is an outcry after the US supreme court ruled that Donald Trump can fire leaders of independent agencies or commissions, ending 90 years of court precedent that curbs executive power. In a series of other rulings, the court rejected the president’s appeal against the E Jean Carroll verdict, and also found his firing of Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook “unconstitutional”.
Keith dies | Penelope Keith, star of To the Manor Born and The Good Life, has died aged 86. We have an obituary, and Stuart Heritage remembers the actor with the unerring ability to portray domineering snobs with a heart.

World Cup

Socceroos latest | Major League Cricket featuring Australian players such as Steve Smith and Peter Siddle has arrived in San Francisco and given an unexpected bonus to travelling Socceroos fans filling time before the Egypt match in Dallas later this week.
Match catch-up | Brazil delivered a dynamic second-half performance to overcome Japan 2-1 in Houston, clinching the win with a last-minute winner.
Off the pitch | Canada’s round of 32 win against South Africa has fired hope among the country’s governing body that hosting the tournament will be a transformative moment.
What to watch today | Germany and Paraguay have kicked off in Boston and at 11am the Netherlands play Morocco in a match full of subplots.

Full Story

How a woman’s death is shining light on the dangers of non-medical births

Reged Ahmad speaks to the medical editor, Melissa Davey, and investigations correspondent Sirin Kale on the inquest into Stacey Warnecke’s death and what we know about the Free Birth Society.

In-depth

Our Washington bureau chief, David Smith, has been following preparations for America’s 250th anniversary celebrations very closely and finds Donald Trump twisting the milestone birthday into a joyless occasion.

Not the news

Kate Leaver’s love of The Hunger Games has inspired her to take up archery and in this week’s rookie era column she relates her delight in being able to release an arrow and then actually hit a target.

Sport

Women’s football | Sam Kerr is joining Gotham FC in the National Women’s Soccer League.
Women’s T20 World Cup | The West Indies captain, Hayley Matthews, says her team will have “nothing to lose” when they go into their semi-final with Australia at the Oval.
Cricket | New Zealand won a Test series in England for the fourth time by wrapping up a 160-run victory in the third Test at Trent Bridge, bringing an end to the international career of England’s captain, Ben Stokes. Vic Marks says the “brilliant, charismatic” Stokes was one of England’s best ever captains.

Media roundup

The Telegraph hears from a family forced to move from the Sydney boom area of Green Square because of a lack of high schools. The Courier Mail reports that a body found in Brisbane is believed to be that of a legendary missing restaurateur.

What’s happening today

Brisbane | Pro-Palestine protesters rally to challenge the LNP state government’s new laws.
Economy | RBA releases board meeting minutes.

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Brain teaser

And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.