Good morning. The Queensland border has reopened to the fully vaccinated after nearly five months as WA prepares to announce its reopening plan. The US grapples with the aftermath of devastating tornadoes. And Russian missiles have been spotted near Ukraine border.
A person in NSW has been admitted to hospital infected with the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the first Omicron patient to be hospitalised since it arrived in Australia last month. Meanwhile, Queensland throws open its borders today, with thousands expected to queue to enter the state and authorities are urging drivers to be patient as they conduct checks. And the WA premier, Mark McGowan, is finally announce his state’s reopening plan today. It is the last jurisdiction in Australia to do so.
The tornadoes that hit the US on Friday are feared to have killed at least 100 people. On Saturday at least five central and southern US states reported deaths after what Joe Biden said was “likely to be one of the largest tornado outbreaks in our history”, with an estimated 22 tornadoes touching down. Dozens remained unaccounted for on Sunday as rescuers worked overnight searching for survivors in a trail of destruction from Arkansas to Kentucky. Biden has asked the US environmental protection agency to investigate what role the climate crisis might have played. Experts have said tornadoes with such intensity are rare later in the year during colder weather, and that Friday night’s storms, which included one tornado tearing a path of more than 225 miles across Kentucky, appeared to be an anomaly. The Guardian has gathered photos of the aftermath.
Foreign ministers of the G7 group of rich democracies have warned Russia of “massive consequences” if it invades Ukraine and urged it to de-escalate its military buildup on its border. The British foreign secretary has said all forms of economic sanctions against Russia are on the table if it makes an incursion into Ukraine. But this does not seem to be stopping Russia. A sighting of Vladimir Putin’s notorious Buk missiles on their way to the frontline suggest Russia is inching closer to being ready to launch a full-scale ground invasion.
Australia
After a man who bludgeoned his teenage girlfriend to death escaped a murder charge by arguing he had been provoked by her tales of infidelity, the Queensland government decided to step in. But a decade later, the government’s reforms have done little to stop men from successfully arguing they are guilty of manslaughter, rather than murder, on the grounds that they were provoked.
The government is on track for deficits totalling nearly $240bn over four years, according to Deloitte Access Economics, marking an estimated improvement of $100bn since the last budget.
Primary teachers in Victoria say children have not only suffered academically from lockdowns, they have also missed out on two deeply formative years of socialisation of school.
Upgrades to the Newell Highway near Goondiwindi on the Queensland-NSW border are changing the way water flows across the floodplain and affecting farms and ecosystems, according to local residents and experts.
The world
Paris, London and Brussels have dropped talks of a trade war and agreed to issue more post-Brexit fishing licences. But the offer did not fully meet the demands of Emmanuel Macron’s government and fishers in Brittany said they would go ahead with a planned blockade, claiming they had been “abandoned by the European Commission”.
Naftali Bennett is to make the first official visit by an Israeli prime minister to the United Arab Emirates since the two countries established diplomatic ties last year.
Globally, the superyacht industry is booming – and the number of vessels under construction or on order worldwide has hit a new record.
Recommended reads
Amanda Gorman, who became the youngest inauguration poet in US history when Joe Biden was sworn in as president, says she is attempting to “preserve the public memory of a pandemic” in a new collection published this week.
It was hard enough being a long-distance dad. But when Covid hit and travel became more difficult, Xand van Tulleken worried about not being there for his son. Over time though, he learned to let go of his guilt. “It’s useful to have a moment as a parent where you can do so little you’re forced to sit back and question what – at its core – your role is.”
From experimental elegies to political manifestos, Guardian Australia critics and staff have selected the 25 of the best reads of the year.
Listen
For the past two and half years, domestic violence awareness advocate, mother and victim-survivor Roia Atmar has been chronicling her life after abuse for the podcast Tender. In this episode Laura Murphy-Oates speaks to Atmar about the complex intricacies of what it means to live with abuse, and her journey from survival to advocacy.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
In a sparse gym in one Sydney’s most disadvantaged areas, Mayor Chagai is not only teaching basketball but also transforming Australia. Chagai, who left his village in South Sudan at the age of seven and wandered across three countries before arriving in Sydney in 2006 as a 22-year-old refugee, wants to teach his players not only how to dribble and dunk a ball but how to study and work and take their place in society. He is trying to develop not just good basketballers, but fine human beings.
Media roundup
A Victorian woman accused of forcing her daughter to marry a stranger who later murdered the young bride has pleaded not guilty to coercing her daughter into the marriage, the Age reports. In the Northern Territory, some patients are waiting up to three years for surgery, according to NT News, as the health system struggles to stay afloat.
Coming up
South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in visits Australia to meet Scott Morrison and will host a press conference in Canberra at 11.15am.
The national broadband network will announce plans to switch to 100% renewable electricity by the end of 2025 and use electric or hybrid cars where possible by 2030.
And if you’ve read this far …
Want to give someone a cookbook this Christmas? Cookbook-obsessive Max Brearley dives into where to shop, how to pick the right book, and why you should look beyond the pictures.
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