Good morning, this is Helen Sullivan bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 15 October.
Top stories
An estimated 50 nuclear bombs stored at a US airbase in Turkey have become potential bargaining chips in the tense relationship between Washington and Ankara in the wake of the Turkish offensive into Syria. Syrian troops have begun sweeping into Kurdish-held territory on a collision course with Turkish forces and their allies, a day after the beleaguered Kurds agreed to hand over key cities to Damascus in exchange for protection. The deal, which Kurdish leaders emphasised they had made reluctantly after four days of bombardment by Turkish artillery and jets, threatens to open a new front in Syria’s nearly nine-year civil war, and signals the likely end of US and European military deployments in the country’s north-east. Meanwhile three orphans believed to be British citizens have been evacuated from an area in northern Syria that was the focus of recent attacks by Turkish troops and their allies.
The former environment minister Josh Frydenberg sought “urgent” information about Angus Taylor’s grasslands investigation, Guardian Australia can reveal. A week after parliament resumed in February 2017, and shortly after his department began an investigation into clearing of critically endangered grasslands at the Taylor family-owned property, Frydenberg’s office contacted the environment and energy department saying it required “urgent talking points” because the case had been raised in parliament. But Hansard transcripts for that time show no record of the matter being raised in either the House or the Senate chambers, raising the possibility it was discussed with Frydenberg by an unnamed person privately.
The Chinese government is sweeping up vast amounts of data from all around the world to bulwark the nation’s security, but most critically to secure the political future of the Communist party, a new report argues. Engineering Global Consent, a policy brief by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Samantha Hoffman, argues that the Chinese party-state seeks to influence – and where possible control – global online and political environments so that public sentiment around the world is more favourable towards its interests.
World
Boris Johnson is edging towards the parliamentary numbers needed to pass a Brexit deal after more hardline Eurosceptics and pro-deal Labour MPs indicated they could back a new agreement made with the EU. Britons seeking to secure residency rights in EU countries in the event of a no-deal Brexit face a citizens’ rights “lottery” in event of no deal, a Guardian investigation can reveal.
The Catalan independence crisis erupted again on Monday as police and protesters clashed at Barcelona airport hours after the Spanish supreme court jailed nine Catalan separatist leaders over their roles in the failed bid for secession two years ago.
Poland’s ruling rightwing Law and Justice party appears to have won a second term in power, final results from Sunday’s parliamentary election showed, but its drive to push through its agenda may be hampered by its loss of the upper house.
Workers making Lululemon leggings have claimed they are beaten. Young female workers at a factory in Bangladesh making clothing for the label gave detailed accounts of how they faced physical violence and regular humiliation.
Pharrell Williams has distanced himself from Blurred Lines, his 2013 collaboration with Robin Thicke, which provoked controversy for its depiction of sexual politics.
Opinion and analysis
On Sunday evening, when more than 6 million people gathered online via streaming services to watch the end of the world, writes Keith Stuart, they were also watching video game storytelling change for good. It wasn’t our world ending, thankfully, but the world of Fortnite, which was sucked into a black hole, taking the whole game and all player characters with it. If you try to load Fortnite today, you’ll be presented with a blank screen. When developer Epic Games called the finale of Fortnite Season 10 “The End”, it wasn’t kidding.
Call your bank and ask for a better mortgage deal, writes Greg Jericho. But read this first. “Before we get to it, I want you to promise me that when you have finished reading this you will check out the range of mortgage rates being offered and then ring up your bank and ask for a better deal. Seriously. Do it! For what it is worth, I finally got around to doing this two weeks ago and saw my home loan cut by 0.59% points. A friend then had hers cut by a whole 1% point after hearing what I had done. I have no idea if you will get a rate cut, but I can tell you this – no bank will offer you a deal if you don’t ask.” Martin Farrer, meanwhile, asks whether Australia’s banks are gouging consumers.
Sport
Guardian Australia can reveal the plans for an independent W-League, one which aims to transform the league into a sustainable, competitive and professional competition over the coming years.
A Euro 2020 qualifying match between Bulgaria and England being played in Sofia has had to be stopped twice because of racist chants and abuse by the crowd. England were leading 4-0 just after half time. Follow the latest.
Lisa Alexander’s career with the Australian netball team has been marked by firsts, writes Megan Maurice. “From becoming the first coach of the team who is not a former Diamond herself, to this Wednesday when she becomes the first coach to notch up 100 games with the national team, Alexander has been a pioneer in many ways.”
Thinking time: Tinker Tailors
At one workbench Pam is making a table out of a piece of recycled timber and applying a coat of shellac to its surface. At another, Pat is using a nib burner to complete a pokerwork sign spelling out the name of her neighbour’s property on weathered palings, before drilling them together as a gift. Tanya is finishing her first attempt at mosaic and thinking about a plant stand as her next project. Sharyn is assembling broken tiles from a box of donated materials to create decorative edging for her garden beds. Terry is making a gumboot stand for her grandchildren out of discarded and varnished chair legs.
These tinkerers are part of a global movement. From Amsterdam to Perth, people are visiting repair cafes, maker-spaces and workshops to discover how they can repair and reuse – rather than repeating a cycle of buying, breaking and re-buying. In Shellharbour, many of the tinkerers met at the local bromeliad and succulent society, where they encouraged each other to have a go at this new initiative. Learning how to use power tools was the big attraction. “Our husbands are not very handy,” says one. Several heads nod. “Some of us were already pretty crafty, doing things like decoupage or rag rugs, but we’d never attempted furniture or upholstery before,” says another.
Media roundup
The Australian reports that Labor senator Kim Carr “has supported collaboration with Chinese researchers and launched an assault on ‘cold-war warriors’, ‘Sinophobes’ and ‘hawks within the defence and security establishments’.” The Sydney Morning Herald reveals that revised figures for the number of asylum seekers who arrive by plane is 65 per day, not the 80 per day claimed last week. Westpac’s warning that “a political pile-on could result in the loss of its AA credit rating” leads the Australian Financial Review this morning.
Coming up
International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, which commemorates the death of a newborn, will be acknowledged by a cross-party motion in the Senate to mark the day.
Australia’s Socceroos play Taiwan in a Fifa World Cup qualifier match at Kaohsiung National Stadium, Taiwan.
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