Erin Patterson awaits sentencing, Coalition anger at koala national park, and Russia’s big strike on Kyiv | The Guardian

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Erin Patterson is led from court after a pre-sentencing hearing

08/09/2025

Erin Patterson awaits sentencing, Coalition anger at koala national park, and Russia’s big strike on Kyiv

Paul Gallagher

Good morning. After an 11-week trial that gripped the nation, mushroom murderer Erin Patterson will learn her fate this morning as she is sentenced at the Victorian supreme court.

A government building in Kyiv has been set ablaze after the largest Russian air attack of the war as hundreds of drones and missiles targeted sites across Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s security needs caused the US Open men’s singles final to be delayed – and Oscar Piastri’s lead in the F1 championship has been cut after a controversial third-place finish in the Italian GP.

Australia

Conservation | The Minns government’s $140m great koala national park project would add 176,000 hectares of forest to existing reserves – but the Coalition claims the plan will “obliterate” regional towns.

Mushroom murders | Victoria’s supreme court will hand down triple-murderer Erin Patterson’s sentence on Monday morning, with the hearing to be broadcast live in a historic first for the state.

Explainer | A deadly shark attack at Long Reef beach has reignited debate about the NSW shark safety program, with plans to reduce shark net numbers put on hold. So what’s the plan this summer?

Strait tensions | Australian and Canadian warships sailing through the Taiwan Strait have been followed and warned by China’s military, with Beijing describing the incident as a “provocation”.

Cobblebank stabbings | A fatal attack on two boys in Melbourne by eight masked attackers armed with machetes had “the hallmarks of a youth gang crime”, Victoria police say.

World

An explosion lights up the sky during a Russian missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Russia-Ukraine war | Russia has launched its largest-ever air attack on Ukraine, hitting a key government building in Kyiv for the first time and killing at least three people, Ukrainian officials said.

Gaza crisis | Israel has bombed a third Gaza City residential high-rise in as many days as its military carried out further attacks ahead of a threatened ground offensive; Israel’s supreme court says the government is not giving Palestinian prisoners enough food.

‘Despicable’ | A Republican senator has criticised US vice president JD Vance for his comments in apparent support of extrajudicial military killings after a strike against alleged drug traffickers.

‘Change course’ | Iran is ready to form a lasting agreement that includes strict monitoring of its domestic uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, its foreign minister has said.

Carlo Acutis | A London-born Italian teenager who died in 2006 age 15, has been declared the Catholic church’s first millennial saint during an open-air mass in a packed St Peter’s Square.

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