Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 23 May.
Top stories
Donald Trump has said there is a “very substantial chance” his summit next month with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, will not go ahead. Trump raised doubts over the timing of the summit, due in Singapore on 12 June, at a White House meeting with the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in. Trump told reporters: “There are certain conditions we want to happen. I think we’ll get those conditions. And if we don’t, we won’t have the meeting.” Trump did not specify the conditions. “There is a very substantial chance that it won’t work out, but that’s OK,” he added. “It doesn’t mean it won’t work out over a period of time, but it may not work out for June 12.”
Harking back to his real estate career, Trump said deals that seemed certain sometimes failed while those that appeared to have little chance of success could end in triumph. “In the end it will work out. I can’t tell you how or why, but it always does.”
The EU has leapt ahead of the UK in the pursuit of free trade deals with Australia and New Zealand after member states gave the green light for talks to start within weeks. The announcement from Brussels opens up the possibility that the EU could enjoy better terms with the two Commonwealth nations after Brexit than the UK will. New Zealand’s trade minister, David Parker, said the UK’s withdrawal did not diminish huge potential gains from breaking down trade barriers with the remaining 27 member states. Talks are due to be launched in Wellington and Canberra next month, and are envisaged to include special treatment for agricultural goods to protect European producers. The UK will not be able to start its negotiations with New Zealand and Australia until 30 March 2019.
Research released today by the Salvation Army shows that the average Newstart recipient is left with just $17 a day after accommodation expenses. The finding was one of the starkest to emerge from the survey of the financial situation of 1,267 people accessing the charity’s services. It has prompted the Salvation Army to call for Newstart to be lifted. “It is simply inhumane that corporations and wealthy households are handed a tax cut, while the most disadvantaged and marginalised people in this country continue to be ignored,” the Salvation Army major Paul Moulds said. “It is widely acknowledged it will take a minimum increase of $75 a week just to ensure people can live on the poverty line.”
Mark Zuckerberg has told members of the European parliament there will be no repeat of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal as he faced accusations that Facebook has too much power. “Now what we’re doing is taking a much more proactive approach,” he told MEPs. We are going through and investigating ourselves.” There was criticism that Zuckerberg was allowed to choose what to answer during the session in Brussels, as MEPs asked dozens of overlapping questions. The Liberal leader, Guy Verhofstadt, complained he had received no answers to his charge that Facebook had monopoly power: “Are you in fact a genius who creates a digital monster that is destroying our societies?”
Christian Porter has given a strong indication the Coalition will not set up a federal independent commission against corruption, telling Labor there was no “persuasive evidence” in its favour. The attorney general has written to his Labor counterpart, Mark Dreyfus, arguing that establishment of a national integrity commission “may not be the most effective or efficient option”.
Sport
Englishman Simon Yates, who is riding for the Australian team Mitchelton Scott, has kept the pink jersey with a lead of 56 seconds after the Giro d’Italia’s toughest time trial overnight, the 34km stretch between Trento and Rovereto.
Australia’s Rohan Dennis also won his stage 16 time trial.
Arsenal’s chief executive will add Unai Emery to his ideal management structure after carrying out a meticulous coup but Arteta was a gamble too far, writes David Hytner.
Thinking time
The Miles Franklin longlist has been announced with previous winners Peter Carey, Michelle de Kretser and Kim Scott among the 11 authors making the cut – a group whittled down from a total of 71 submissions. The longlist, comprises novels from six women and five men, and includes Wayne Macauley (Some Tests), Gerald Murnane (Border Districts), Michael Sala (The Restorer) and Eva Hornung (The Last Garden). The shortlist will be revealed on 17 June before the winner is announced on 26 August.
At just 12 years old, Daniel Lavelle was placed in state care in the UK. Fifteen years after leaving the system, the writer tried to track down the children he’d lived with. He soon discovered almost everyone he knew then was reluctant to talk. Why had so many of them struggled or fallen off the map?
Has the term “straight white male” really become an insult? A lot of straight white men seem to think so – but others point out they’ve just never had their privilege questioned. Arwa Mahdawi looks at the evidence. “Comparing the phrase “straight white male” to the “N-word”, which has been used to systematically subjugate people for centuries, is plainly ludicrous,” Mahdawi writes.
What’s he done now?
Donald Trump is reportedly shunning security advice by using at least two iPhones, refusing to allow some of them to be screened for hacking attempts because it is “too inconvenient”. The US president reportedly resisted checks on the phone which he uses to check social media and update Twitter for “as long as five months”.
Media roundup
The Australian reports that the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, has blamed Australia for escalating tensions between the two countries, issuing a cool statement after meeting Julie Bishop. “Due to the Australian side, China and Australia are encountering difficulties in the relationship, and communications and cooperation have been affected recently,” he said. Western Australia teachers are warning that high school English literature courses have reached “crisis point”, with some students unable to study the subject at year 12 level, the West Australian reports. The number of WA schools offering literature dropped from 135 in 2001 to 97 last year. The Herald Sun reports that corrupt immigration officers in South Africa have been bribed to grant Australian visas to Nigerians. The two officers have been sacked over the scandal, the paper says.
Coming up
Federal parliament resumes with Senate estimates scheduled to hear from SBS and the ABC, as well as the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
The Reserve Bank governor, Philip Lowe, is delivering a timely speech about China’s economic performance and financial system and its implications for Australia, along with Bob Carr, at the Australia China Relations Institute at UTS tonight.
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