Good morning, this is Emilie Gramenz bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Monday 13 July.
Top stories
The World Health Organization has reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases, with the total rising by 230,370 in 24 hours. The biggest increases were in the US, Brazil, India and South Africa. A UK study suggests people who have recovered from Covid-19 may lose their immunity to the disease within months. In Australia, thousands of Sydney pub-goers have been asked to self-isolate for two weeks after a staff member at Casula’s Crossroads Hotel and three other people became the latest cases in an emerging cluster. Victoria flagged a return to remote schooling in lockdown areas after confirming 273 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday. Read the fifth in our six-part series on life inside Melbourne’s locked-down high-rise public housing.
The 1 million Australians who have completed their tax returns will start to receive refunds this week, but for families with children in childcare, today also marks the return to the fee-and-subsidy model. Childcare centres can start to charge parents fees again and the government will resume paying the childcare subsidy; jobkeeper will stop being paid to employees at childcare businesses from 20 July, replaced with $708m in transition payments.
The Australian Conservation Foundation has launched a legal bid to access documents related to meetings between a political party donor and authorities assessing plans for a development on protected wetlands near Brisbane. Walker Corporation plans to build a marina, hotel, shops and more than 3,000 apartments at Toondah Harbour. The development would involve dredging and reclaiming about 40 hectares of Ramsar-listed wetland.
Australia
Law firms and litigation funders have launched a campaign to fight back against claims that class actions have cost the Australian economy billions. The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has already taken action to curb class actions and litigation funders.
Next month marks 59 years since Four Corners was first broadcast on the ABC but tonight’s episode on Black Lives Matter marks a significant – and overdue – milestone. Its guest reporter, Stan Grant, looks straight into the camera and says: “Four Corners has been on air for longer than I’ve been alive and I’m the first Indigenous person ever to have reported for it.”
John Ah Kit, the first Aboriginal minister in the Northern Territory parliament and a lifetime advocate for the rights of Aboriginal people, has died aged 69. His family made the announcement last night, saying the life of the Jawoyn leader “should be the focus of celebration”.
The world
The former US special counsel Robert Mueller made a rare public statement at the weekend, castigating Donald Trump’s decision to commute Roger Stone’s prison sentence. Mueller wrote an opinion article for the Washington Post, published under the headline “Roger Stone remains a convicted felon, and rightly so”.
Sudan is to ban female genital mutilation, cancel prohibitions against religious conversion from Islam and permit non-Muslims to consume alcohol. Its justice minister said it’s a decisive break with almost four decades of hardline Islamist policies.
A report from Iranian investigators on the shooting down in January of a Ukrainian jet has blamed a misaligned air defence system giving wrong information to its operators, who did not seek authorisation to fire before killing all 176 people onboard.
The discovery of two mummies at Taposiris Magna in Egypt offers clues in the hunt for Cleopatra’s tomb. Archaeologists suggest the two “high-status individuals” could have interacted with Cleopatra herself.
Recommended reads
Up Waterfall Way, pass Never Never River and venture into Promised Lands, you’ll discover Bellingen’s romantic monikers are perfectly justified. “Bello”, roughly halfway between Brisbane and Sydney, has been many things – a timber-mill town, a dairy hub, a hippie hideout and a haven for creative types and hipsters. But as one resident puts it: “I’m a little surprised how straight it’s become. People wear clothes now.”
As Covid-19 persists around the world, death is not the only outcome to fear, writes Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz. Lengthy ICU stays and long-term mechanical ventilation can cause ongoing problems, and there are worrying trends emerging indicating the potential for long-term organ damage. There are also increasingly reports that these impacts are not wholly confined to people with severe infections. Some patients with mild symptoms are saying they have had symptoms for weeks or months.
Theatres might still be closed but one group of artists have found a way to bring the magic of performance back to Sydney. Armed with hand sanitiser, masks and gloves, a small and appropriately socially distanced audience clambers on to an old school bus. Then the show begins. Join Cassie Tongue’s adventure on Sydney Theatre Buses – an exploration, a performance and an event that includes a touchingly terrible snack.
Listen
Today’s Full Story investigates the scandal of millions of Americans deprived of running water. The Guardian’s US environmental justice reporter, Nina Lakhani, reports on her landmark investigation into America’s water crisis, revealing that millions of Americans are facing unaffordable bills for running water and risk being disconnected or losing their homes.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Lewis Hamilton said he is in a lifelong struggle to fight racism after he gave the black power salute in the wake of his victory at the Styrian Grand Prix. The Formula One driver raised his right fist in the gesture made famous by the African American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympics – once when he climbed from his car and again when he was on the podium.
The Asian Cup-winning Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak has called time on his decorated playing career, scotching hopes of a final hurrah in the A-League. The 35-year-old former Central Coast Mariners, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa midfielder has not played since May 2019.
Media roundup
A peak medical group wants coronavirus testing stations set up at checkpoints bordering Melbourne as more infections emerge in regional Victorian communities, reports the Age. Business leaders say Australia cannot afford more hard lockdowns and are urging national cabinet to maintain momentum in reopening the economy, reports the Australian. The ABC has a story about Will Callaghan, the non-verbal autistic boy who got lost for two nights in the Victorian wilderness, going back to the bush — and he couldn’t look happier.
Coming up
The University of Queensland will begin human trials of a potential Covid-19 vaccine.
The former prime minister Julia Gillard will appear on Q+A.
Sign up
If you would like to receive the Guardian Australia morning mail to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here.
