Good morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 23 April.
Top stories
Four police officers have died in a crash involving a truck on the Eastern Freeway in Melbourne. The Victoria police commissioner, Graham Ashton, said two senior constables and two constables had been killed in a “very tragic night” for Victoria police and the largest single-incident loss of life in the force’s history. The officers were struck by a truck after pulling over a speeding vehicle. A crime scene has been established and the incident is being investigated by the homicide squad and the major collision investigation unit.
The world still has “a long way to go” in tackling the coronavirus crisis, according to the World Health Organization’s director general, who added that “complacency” represented one of the biggest dangers, despite successful lockdown and physical distancing measures in many countries. The leading economist Joseph Stiglitz has slammed the US response to the pandemic, saying the “public social safety net is not working” and that food bank lines are like those seen in “a third world country”. More than 46,000 people have died in the US, with documented global fatalities passing 180,000.
Competition experts have warned that a recapitalised Virgin Australia still faces a major threat from Qantas, with Australia’s second domestic carrier at risk of being squeezed out due to diminished demand post-Covid-19. Concerns are being raised over the plight of asylum seekers and temporary residents within Australia. Despite $214bn worth of federal government support for jobs and businesses, little has been done for people with precarious visa status, Ben Doherty writes. And the NRL commissioner, Wayne Pearce, has announced domestic rugby league will restart on 28 May, after receiving the green light from “government authorities”.
A Chinese citizen journalist documenting the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan has re-emerged after two months missing, confirming he has undergone a state-ordered quarantine. Li Zehua has praised the state’s treatment of him, saying police “really cared about him” and “acted civilly and legally”. Tensions have risen in South Africa, where soldiers have been put on standby to enforce lockdown, amid a reported rise in burglary, looting and vandalism. Both France and Spain have increasingly faced backlash from citizens, as European nations enter a sixth week of lockdown. And French researchers are looking to trial the use of nicotine patches on coronavirus patients after a study suggested smokers might face less risk of contracting the disease.
Australia
A reduction in wholesale electricity prices could see energy providers under pressure to reduce consumer costs, as increasing solar and wind generation have sent prices tumbling by nearly 50%. But grid running costs have spiked due to the bushfire crisis.
More than 6% of Australian workers lost their jobs last month, with the arts and recreation industries disproportionately affected. So what else can we concretely map of the coronavirus’ effect on Australia’s economy? Greg Jericho runs the numbers.
Clear conservation management has greatly increased threatened species numbers, with a new report suggesting that populations of rare northern quolls and rock wallabies have grown again– but only in areas where strong management plans are in place.
The world
Islamist extremists have killed more than 50 people in northern Mozambique in a massacre after locals reportedly refused to join the militant’s movement to establish a caliphate in the gas-rich region. Police have only just confirmed the killings, believed to have been carried out several weeks ago.
Medical staff are scrambling to contain a potential Covid-19 outbreak inside a Palestinian refugee camp, amid fears for nearly half a million displaced persons inside Lebanon.
Police in India have been accused of targeting Muslim student activists with “bogus” charges after two prominent protest leaders were charged under anti-terrorist legislation that allows their detainment for up to six months.
Greta Thunberg has marked Earth Day by inviting climate activists to find a “new way forward” post Covid-19, arguing that the pandemic shows the current model of society is “not sustainable”.
Scientists in Germany are investigating thousands of deaths among the blue tit bird population, with more than 11,000 dead or sick birds reported over the past fortnight from a bacterial infection that causes pneumonia.
Recommended reads
For children in isolation around the world, books have taken on increased importance. And with the playgrounds cordoned off and pools and parks closed down, Celina Ribeiro looks at seven picture books that emphasise connection, curiosity and adventure within isolation or domesticity.
For those workers able to transition to the “home office” during Covid-19 the next challenge emerges: how to set it up ergonomically. So what do you do with your chair? Your desk? Your laptop? And what are the other biggest dos and don’ts?
Listen
WHO and the coronavirus pandemic. The World Health Organization has been at the forefront of the global response to new diseases, but just as the world appears to need it most, Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw funding. On this episode of Full Story the team examines just how effective the WHO has been.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
In the ongoing financial uncertainty surrounding Australian football the W-League could suffer disproportionately but, according to one A-League chief executive, it’s not a case of robbing Petra to pay Paul, as Samantha Lewis writes.
As the Premier League investigates the feasibility of completing the season, several clubs are beginning to contemplate an early termination instead, write Paul MacInnes and Paul Doyle.
Media roundup
The Victorian state government is contemplating fast-tracking major road and rail construction projects in expectation of an economic downturn, reports the Herald Sun. Retail outlets that have shut their doors to protect staff have been informed that they’re in breach of contract by one of Australia’s biggest shopping centre landlords, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. And the federal government has sent a private firm in to assist with aged care provision in a Sydney nursing home where three people have died and 42 have tested positive for Covid-19, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Coming up
A special sitting of Victorian parliament will be held to pass legislation for $500m of rental relief measures as well as urgent appropriation bills to ensure healthcare workers get paid.
Australia’s chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, and the secretary of the Department of Health, Caroline Edwards, will front the first public hearing of a Senate inquiry into the Covid-19 response.
And if you’ve read this far …
Deer in London? Jackals in Tel Aviv? Sea lions in Buenos Aires? As humans vacate public spaces en masse, the animals are moving in. And while the tourists are no longer flooding to the Welsh town of Llandudno, as this excellent series of photos shows, the mountain goats are.
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