Good morning, this is Emilie Gramenz bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 26 August.
Top stories
Legal experts are warning Australia’s strict caps on international passenger arrivals could be unconstitutional. Hundreds of desperate Australians stranded overseas without access to flights home are considering a potential class action. The caps on international arrivals are also causing unease within federal government ranks, with four members speaking out on the issue at a joint Coalition party room meeting on Tuesday. Social service groups are warning against a $300-a-fortnight cut to the coronavirus supplement, saying it has allowed their vulnerable clients to afford food and accommodation. Analysis by Guardian Australia shows that Victoria’s coronavirus outbreak has had a far greater impact in disadvantaged areas. Regional healthcare workers are reaching “breaking point” as state border restrictions make filling roles outside city hubs nearly impossible.
A textbook used in some Victorian schools includes portions that repeat Chinese Communist party propaganda. It also features a controversial map in which China claims most of the South China Sea in contradiction of Australian government policy. The Guardian can reveal concerns about the material have prompted the publisher, Cengage Learning Asia, to apologise for the “carelessness” of the inclusion of the map and recall unsold copies of the textbook. The Melbourne-based authors said they had written the book to suit the course design of the Victorian senior school subject Chinese language, culture and society and “never intended to take a political stance”.
Trials of the Oxford coronavirus vaccine may have gathered enough data to show whether it works and is safe by the end of the year – but it will then need to go through the regulatory process, scientists say. It’s now believed a 75-year-old woman from Nottinghamshire was the first known person to catch coronavirus in the UK and the earliest to die from it, with research showing the disease was circulating widely in the country in early February. The first Covid-19 cases have been detected within Gaza and Palestinians there say they are facing a “catastrophic” situation. As officials across Spain wrestle with a surge in the number of coronavirus cases, a chorus of voices is warning that another lockdown could have dire consequences. Online posts claim residents in the locked-down capital of Xinjiang are being forced to take traditional Chinese medicine, being handcuffed to buildings and ordered to stay inside for weeks.
Australia
A group of Liberals predict a new coal-fired power plant in north Queensland being championed by the Nationals will never proceed because there are cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternatives for energy generation. The group has been outspoken in its opposition to taxpayer funding of new coal projects.
Australia’s chief scientist has rejected a letter from leading scientists warning his advocacy for increased use of gas-fired electricity was at odds with the Paris climate agreement. The letter was prompted by a speech Dr Alan Finkel gave to the National Press Club in February.
The Morrison government says it will bring forward $1bn of planned defence spending over the next two years. The stimulus package includes upgrading capital works on defence properties and funding extra days for reservists who have lost their jobs during the pandemic.
An investigation has concluded there were “systemic failures” at the hospital in the remote Cape York community of Bamaga, Queensland, which in 2017 turned away a sick child who later died from a serious bacterial infection.
The world
Following protests over the shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed black man, by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the state governor has promised to move forward with reforms. Tony Evers has demanded state legislators meet on 31 August in a special session to consider a set of nine police reform bills to curb law enforcement misconduct.
Pupils in England will no longer be advised against using face masks in secondary schools, after Boris Johnson made an 11th-hour U-turn, days before students head back to the classroom.
Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, is facing a growing backlash over claims that he is breaching state department rules by addressing the Republican party convention from Jerusalem. Pompeo’s staff said four teams of lawyers had reviewed the speech to ensure that it did not cross ethical lines.
Recommended reads
Cycling is booming, which is good news as cyclists decongest roads, car parks, the health system and the environment. But not everyone is obeying etiquette or safety measures, writes Gary Nunn: “Newbie riders won’t always get it. So the following is intended as friendly advice, even if my cantankerous side projects it out as a little grumble. You won’t always find these hacks in the rules: this is all about courtesy.”
Throughout the history of film and TV, trans people have existed on screen as an abomination: the butt of jokes for straight people to laugh at and for queer people to be ashamed of. Suzy Wong, a star of SBS series Hungry Ghosts, writes: “We don’t always have to be portrayed in a positive light but we must strive to no longer see ourselves as individuals without agency. Neither can we afford to keep ingesting narratives that only portray us as perpetually suffering.”
Before she made her new album, Megan Washington had to ask herself some big questions. The most important of which was: what happens to the music if you’re happy?
Listen
Who are the people risking everything to cross the English Channel? The number of migrants arriving to the UK in small boats this year is already double that of 2019. But those who manage to reach the country find themselves confronted by a government that is increasingly hostile to new arrivals.
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Sport
Lionel Messi has told Barcelona via fax that he wants to leave the club immediately. Messi’s camp believes that a clause in his contract means that he can walk away for no fee. Barcelona, by contrast, insist that he is still bound by a €700m (A$1.15bn) buy-out clause.
Harry Maguire has been withdrawn from the England football squad due to face Iceland and Denmark early next month, after being convicted in a Greek court following a high-profile fracas outside a bar in Mykonos last week.
West Indies have once again come to the rescue of English cricket. Their women’s team will arrive next month for a five-match Twenty20 series that includes one match shown live on BBC TV.
Media roundup
The director of Australia’s commonwealth national parks has resigned, following calls from Kakadu Aboriginal traditional owners for him to be sacked, ABC reports. The Australian Financial Review reports that the retail union has launched legal action against Woolworths to force it to pay wage rises immediately to tens of thousands of staff instead of delaying them until next year due to the Covid-19 crisis. The Masked Singer outbreak that forced the shut down of the show has now extended to 16 members of the production, according to the Herald Sun.
Coming up
Sentencing continues for the Australian gunman who pleaded guilty to murder and terror charges over the Christchurch mosque attacks that killed 51 people.
The Victorian government’s Covid-19 inquiry continues. Witnesses include attorney general Jill Hennessy.
Findings from an inquest into the death of Indigenous man Tane Chatfield in custody in Tamworth are expected.
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