Morning mail: impeachment report, bushfire summit, CIA 'spying' on Assange
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Version 0 of 1. Tuesday: 658-page impeachment report claims Donald Trump abused power and obstructed Congress. Plus: former emergency leaders say they will host their own bushfire summit Good morning, this is Helen Sullivan bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 17 December. Top stories The US House of Representatives judiciary committee has released its 658-page impeachment report alleging “little doubt” of bribery, ahead of scheduled vote on impeachment on Wednesday. In the report, Democrats accuse Trump of committing constitutional and criminal bribery by trying to press Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and the 2016 election as the country’s military aid was held up. Follow the liveblog for the latest. Democrats are also pressing for John Bolton to be called to testify in the impeachment trial expected to be held in the Senate next month. The former national security adviser fired by Donald Trump in September joins the president’s acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney in being in the Democrats’ sights. Former emergency leaders say they will convene their own summit on the bushfire crisis, after pushing the Morrison government to take action on the climate. The Emergency Leaders for Climate Action say they will hold the summit after the current bushfire season because of their “huge disappointment in the lack of national leadership during a bushfire crisis”. It comes as fires raged across New South Wales and Western Australia on Monday; extreme heat is forecast for much of Australia this week; and as Australia was named as one of a handful of countries responsible for thwarting a global deal on the rulebook of the Paris climate agreement. Julian Assange’s fight against extradition to the US could last years, and his argument could hinge on reports he has been illegally spied upon and his sensitive information given to the CIA. Meanwhile, more than 100 doctors from across the world have written to the Australian government, urging it to act and “protect the life of its citizen”, in a letter to be delivered to the foreign affairs minister on Tuesday, amid warnings Assange’s health continues to deteriorate. Assange is currently being held in London’s Belmarsh prison, ahead of an extradition hearing that will begin in February. Australia The Australian Medical Association has joined a Law Council of Australia push to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 to prevent the jailing of children as young as 10. The feral horse population in Australia’s alpine national parks has more than doubled in the past five years, with conservationists blaming what they have called a disgraceful lack of management by the New South Wales government. Human rights commissioner Ed Santow says people need to be held accountable for the mistakes AI and algorithms make such as that seen in the government’s robodebt scandal. Australia’s biggest defence projects have suffered another $1.2bn budget blowout in 2018-19, with the cost of the 26 projects rising by a total of $24bn compared with what was originally announced, the auditor general has found. The world Intense protests against an Indian citizenship law that excludes Muslims have spread to university campuses nationwide, fuelled by a brutal police crackdown on a demonstration in Delhi at the weekend. A high-profile UN whistleblower, who made claims of sexual assault at UNAids, has been sacked for alleged sexual and financial misconduct, along with another colleague. Twenty-three women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault have said the disgraced movie mogul is “trying to gaslight society”, after he told the New York Post his “pioneering” work on “movies directed by women and about women” was being forgotten. A landmark legal case has been launched against the world’s largest tech companies by Congolese families who say their children were killed or maimed while mining for cobalt used to power smartphones, laptops and electric cars, the Guardian can reveal. The Fawlty Towers actor Nicky Henson has died at the age of 74. A statement from his family said: “Nicky Henson has died after a long disagreement with cancer.” Recommended reads The Christmas that Changed Emma Beddington was the one where her boyfriend dumped her. “We headed back towards my house, through the merry crowds. By this point the Dickensian York street scenes had degenerated into something closer to Hogarth’s Gin Lane: all pretence of Christmas shopping had been abandoned in favour of heavy drinking, Santa hats were askew and the odd halfhearted punch-up was breaking out. He walked me to my front door, then turned to leave. ‘But I’ve got you a present!’ I whimpered.” Resettling to the United States has allowed some long persecuted people to flourish, writes Elaine Pearson: “We are in a bustling restaurant on Chicago’s north side. This midwestern city seems a million miles from Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, or the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru, yet it’s now home for several Rohingya men resettled under an agreement between Australia and the United States.” More than 600 refugees who were held on Nauru and Manus Island have been resettled in the US so far, but others haven’t been so lucky. Listen On Today in Focus, the Guardian and Observer’s Sonia Sodha looks at what happens next for the Conservatives and Labour. Plus, Samanth Subramanian on the hidden cost of the home delivery revolution. Sport Early figures suggest scoring rates are drying up in the W-League this season, but the drama of late goals and narrow margins is more than compensating for the lack of goals, writes Ella Reilly. Jonathan Wilson has your Champions League last 16 draw tie-by-tie analysis. PSG may have got it right at last, Frank Lampard returns to Munich – and it’s now or never for Cristiano Ronaldo and Juve. Media roundup The ABC reveals that three former AFP commissioners’ Medicare card details have been advertised for sale on the dark web; and that Kevin Frost, an Australian commando who raised allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan, has died. The Australian reports that “a plan to give drought-stricken farmers more water is on the verge of collapse, ahead of talks between state and federal ministers”. The Sydney Morning Herald is liveblogging the state’s Year 12s receiving their HSC results. Coming up Water ministers from across the country will meet to discuss the Murray-Darling Authority review. Adelaide is forecast to hit 40C degrees on Tuesday, with temperatures expected to rise even further over the next four days, reaching a top of 44C degrees on Thursday. And if you’ve read this far … Two huge fatbergs together weighing almost 100 tonnes and threatening to cause floods in homes and businesses over Christmas have been cleared from sewers in central London. Thames Water asked people not to “feed the fatberg” over Christmas. Stephen Pattenden, Thames Water’s network manager, added: “Fatbergs are like monsters from the deep, lurking and growing under our feet.” Sign up If you would like to receive the Guardian Australia morning mail to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here. |