Morning mail: Nato says no signs of Russian de-escalation, tax cuts would ‘favour men’, Sydney shark attack

Thursday: Secretary general of military alliance contradicts Vladimir Putin's claim of a partial withdrawal of troops from Ukraine's border. Plus: sadness as Bob Hawke's watering hole set to close

Good morning. The Ukraine crisis is developing as Nato contradicts Putin's claim of a troop drawdown, Australian economists warn of vastly unequal tax outcomes and Sydney's first fatal shark attack in nearly 60 years has left the city's beaches closed.

Tax cuts planned to take effect in 2024-25 would pay male beneficiaries twice as much as women, separate analyses by the Australia Institute, the Greens and the Australian Council of Social Service have found. Men in the top 10% of taxpayers [would] get almost 40% of the tax cut," the Australia Institute said, with a parliamentary budget office report also suggesting the top 1% of earners would receive $11.8bn back, compared with $12.7bn for the lowest 60% of earners. The treasurer Josh Frydenberg's office released unpublished" data this month that said 5.2 million women had benefited from $14.4bn in tax relief across the past two and a half years.