Morning mail: Shorten rebuffs Greens, Biden enters race, rainforest razed

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/26/morning-mail-shorten-rebuffs-greens-biden-enters-race-rainforest-razed

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Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Friday 26 April.

Top stories

Bill Shorten says Labor will run its own race on climate change and will not replicate Julia Gillard’s joint policy process with the Greens if his party finds itself in a minority government after the election. In an interview with Guardian Australia this week, the Labor leader rebuffed an overture from the Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, to work together on environmental policies. Shorten said: “Richard is looking for relevance at the moment. I don’t blame him for doing that, it’s legitimate, but I’m going to lead a Labor government.” Meanwhile, environment groups have attacked Labor for its commitment to unlocking huge gas supplies from the Beetaloo basin in the Northern Territory, saying the emissions released would dwarf those from Adani’s proposed Carmichael coalmine.

The former US vice-president Joe Biden has announced he is running for president, becoming the most prominent name to enter the crowded field of Democratic candidates. He made his announcement in a video posted on Twitter, declaring: “If we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation.” It is Biden’s third run for the presidency, after two attempts at earning the Democratic nomination in 1988 and 2008. Bolstered by his legacy as Barack Obama’s vice-president, Biden was expected to be an early frontrunner in a diverse Democratic field that features several heavyweight contenders but no clear favourite.

Labor has pledged an extra $107m to combat Indigenous Australians’ disadvantage in the justice system, in an attempt to reduce stubbornly high incarceration rates. The package includes $44m for legal aid and $21.75m for justice reinvestment programs. If elected, Labor will adopt the principle that imprisonment should be a last resort and work with states and territories to adopt justice targets as part of the Closing the Gap framework. Labor and the Coalition have come out with competing funding promises as election campaigning resumes. Labor will commit to spending more than $660m on family violence prevention if it takes power, while the Coalition will pledge $60m to double a regional apprentice scheme that helps cover an employer’s cost of taking on trainee workers.

World

Millions of hectares of pristine tropical rainforest were destroyed in 2018, according to satellite analysis, with beef, chocolate and palm oil among the main causes. Clearcutting of primary forest by loggers and cattle ranchers in Brazil dominated the destruction but losses were also high in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Indonesia.

Sri Lankan authorities have revised the death toll from Easter Day’s string of bombings down to 253 people from the previous estimate of 359. Health authorities said the nature of the bombings in confined spaces had left many bodies in pieces.

As many as 200 former members of the British security forces are under official investigation for alleged criminal actions during the Troubles, as a rift opens up over how to deal with historical accusations.

UK cabinet members who attended the National Security Council meeting on Tuesday have been sent an ultimatum by the government’s most powerful officials, to confess or deny leaking a controversial decision to allow Huawei to help build the the country’s 5G phone network.

Young refugees held in a detention centre in Libya have described being shot at indiscriminately by militias advancing on Tripoli in an attack that reportedly left at least two people dead and up to 20 injured. Phone footage passed to the Guardian highlights the deepening humanitarian crisis in the centres set up to prevent refugees and migrants from making the sea crossing to Europe.

Opinion and analysis

History shows that people with comfortable lives can easily be drawn towards violent extremism, so the Sri Lanka attackers’ wealthy backgrounds shouldn’t surprise us, writes Jason Burke. “There are many examples of terrorists with good educational qualifications among Islamic militants. The current leader of al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is a qualified paediatrician, while two-thirds of the 9/11 attackers had degrees.”

Every Australian is directly or indirectly affected by mental illness. But improvements in mental healthcare have been patchy, says Pat McGorry. “For more complex and severe forms of mental illness, the situation has become worse in terms of access, quality and the humanity of treatment. That is a big statement when one considers we have replaced the old Dickensian institutions.” But McGorry sees genuine hope and a pathway for progress.

Sport

Haile Gebrselassie has upped the ante in his extraordinary row with Mo Farah, telling the Guardian that the British star had “punched and kicked” a husband and wife during what he said was an unprovoked attack while Farah stayed at his hotel in Ethiopia.

Lewis Hamilton has warned Ferrari it may face opposition from Charles Leclerc if it continues to impose team orders on him. Hamilton compared his experience to his rookie Formula One year when partnered with Fernando Alonso at McLaren to Leclerc at Ferrari alongside Sebastian Vettel, and suggested the young driver was passionate enough to balk at further orders.

Thinking time: Mads Mikkelsen, Hollywood’s super villain

Mads Mikkelsen, the star of Hannibal, The Hunt and new film Arctic, doubts frank conversation is possible in the wake of #MeToo. But is he really also sceptical about climate change? Speaking to the 53-year-old actor, you sense a tension between the desire to speak plainly and concern about the controversy that might cause. We touch on the wider #MeToo movement against sexual harassment in cinema. He is at pains to note that “there has obviously been a very, very disturbing culture, and thank God it’s being addressed” but also says that he is “reluctant to go there”.

“One word wrong and you’re a dead person,” he says, before citing the fate of Matt Damon, who was criticised for suggesting that sexual abuse allegations should be treated on a “spectrum of behaviour”. For Mikkelsen, Damon is “the most politically correct person in history. He said something quite common sense and he got fucking slaughtered. So this is not a healthy discussion any more.”

Media roundup

Melissa Price signed off on one of Western Australia’s most contentious mining projects, the Yeelirrie uranium mine, the day before Scott Morrison called the federal election, reports the Australian. The ABC says Morrison will fight plans to build a five-storey development on the sight of the Sari Club in Bali, where dozens of Australians died when a car bomb exploded in 2002. The Victorian government is exploring how to make it easier for bullied students to sue their schools, the Age reports, after a private school refused to pay compensation to a student who was so badly beaten he required surgery.

Coming up

The man accused of killing Natalina Angok is due to appear in Melbourne magistrates court.

Commemorations will be held for the victims of the Sri Lanka terrorist attacks, including a candlelight vigil in Melbourne and a remembrance mass in Sydney.

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