Morning Mail: The public servants paid more than PM; Kean’s climate broadside; and Heeney’s comeback wish

Morning everyone. A question on notice submitted by a Greens senator has produced an insight into the pay of top public servants, with 11 paid more than $1m last year.

Climate chief Matt Kean has attacked the approval of a huge new coal project in New South Wales, Isaac Heeney says he “can’t wait” to play for the Swans again despite ongoing police investigations, Australian scientists make a breakthrough about a common infection affecting millions of women, and high school protests in France escalate into “urban violence”.

Australia

• Rugby union | The former Wallaby Nathan Charles, who became the first cystic fibrosis sufferer in the world to play a contact sport professionally, has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease aged 37.

• Pay day | Nearly a dozen federal public servants were paid more than $1m last year, with one receiving a $1.5m package worth more than double Anthony Albanese’s base salary, according to figures released after a Senate question.

• Kean observation | Matt Kean, the chair of the Climate Change Authority, has challenged the NSW government’s approval of the largest coal mining development in the state’s history, arguing “climate change isn’t someone else’s problem”.

• Infection clue | Australian scientists have identified two contributors to recurrent bacterial vaginosis infections, a common sexual health condition that affects about one in four women globally.

• AI opt-out | Anthropic has urged the Albanese government to consider giving “conditional approval” for AI companies to train its models on Australian copyrighted works under an opt-out model, after conceding it would not secure a blanket copyright exemption.

• ‘Can’t wait’ | Isaac Heeney says he “can’t wait” to continue his AFL career at the Sydney Swans after the midfielder was crowned the club’s best and fairest player. His comments come after serving a club-imposed suspension for breaching club standards in an incident still being investigated by police.

World

• France flashpoint | A fast-growing protest by high-school students over long hours, teacher shortages and decaying facilities has escalated into “urban violence”, the French government has warned, as it said many schools would switch to online classes to protect teachers and pupils.

• ‘Fake’ polling | Donald Trump deflected responsibility for misleading Americans about the length of the Iran war, dismissed low poll ratings as “fake numbers” and refused to rule out the possibility of declaring a state of emergency before the midterms, in an interview with Time magazine. The White House has again removed CNN as the primary television pool representative covering Trump.

• Pilot ‘indoctrinated’ | The Omani co-pilot who stabbed his captain in an alleged attempt to crash an Israel-bound flight from Dubai had previously undergone radical Islamist indoctrination and was suicidal, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has claimed.

• Bond sell-off | The global bond sell-off intensified overnight, driving 10-year US government borrowing costs to their highest level in 24 years in frantic trading, underlining the threat to Australia suggested by RBA governor Michele Bullock yesterday.

• Execution line | Tennessee’s governor has suspended all executions in the state until at least the end of the year and ordered an independent inquiry after a botched attempt to put a condemned inmate to death on Wednesday night.

Full Story

Greens’ David Shoebridge on his plan to beat One Nation and replace Labor

Our political editor, Tom McIlroy, speaks to the new Greens leader about taking on One Nation, pushing back on Aukus, and his vision for the party’s future.

In-depth

As conflict rages in the Middle East, John Duerden reports on how Yemen’s qualification for the Gulf Cup in Saudi Arabia helped rally the war-torn country. “The people support us,” says the coach, Noureddine Ould Ali. “It is a religion in Yemen. Everyone likes football … The Yemeni people are the same as anyone else.”

Not the news

Today’s leading question for our advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith is one from someone who says their wife is “obsessed with news from the US” and “literally spends all day sitting on the couch, watching videos and reading opinion pieces”. What to do?

Sport

• Football | The Socceroos’ two excellent performances against Brazil show that the national team are developing a new golden generation around youngsters such as Nestory Irankunda, Lucas Herrington and Paul Okon-Engstler, argues Joey Lynch. Cristiano Ronaldo has had a hissy fit but Portugal face Denmark in the Nations League.

• NRL | The Roosters are favourites but could the Knights crash the grand final party with their wave of unstoppable form?

• Golf | Phil Mickelson sought treatment earlier this year for “family trauma and addiction”, his representatives confirmed to multiple outlets on Wednesday.

Trade minister Don Farrell has suggested to the Trump administration a plan for the $4.8tn superannuation sector to invest in America’s lamb industry to head off additional tariffs, the Australian claims. Climate activists have been banned from entering a weapons expo in Perth, WAtoday reports.

What’s happening today

• Sydney | Arraignment at NSW supreme court for four teenagers after the Wakeley church stabbing.

• Art | Art Gallery of NSW preview of Sidney Nolan exhibition.

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Brain teaser

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