Yahoo News Morning mail: experts urge NSW restrictions, Biden picks Kamala Harris, Palmer sues WA
Good morning, this is Emilie Gramenz bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 12 August.
Top stories
Experts are urging new restrictions in New South Wales to avoid uncontrollable spread of Covid-19. The premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has reiterated the state is on a “knife-edge” when it comes to containing the virus. Victorians overwhelmingly support the public health restrictions imposed to curb the second wave of coronavirus infections, according to a Guardian Essential poll. And flaws are being exposed in the government’s jobkeeper support package as shareholders reap millions in subsidised dividends.
Joe Biden has named Kamala Harris to be his vice-presidential running mate. The California senator is the first woman of colour to be nominated as vice president by a major party in US history. Biden has pitched himself as a “transitional candidate” who would serve as a “bridge” to a new generation of leaders, fuelling speculation that should he be elected, he would be a one-term-president. His running mate will be considered Biden’s potential successor and the person who could become the nation’s first female president.
Russia has approved a controversial Covid-19 vaccine for widespread use after less than two months of human testing, drawing scepticism from experts. The World Health Organization said the vaccine should not be produced until it had completed phase three trials. New Zealand has recorded four new cases of Covid-19 after 102 days without any community transmission. Auckland was swiftly put under a three-day lockdown after four cases were confirmed in one family in the city. New daily coronavirus infections in the Netherlands are back to roughly half their level at the peak of the pandemic. And Lebanon has announced a record daily number of infections.
Documents obtained under freedom of information law show Walker Corporation lobbied former federal environment minister Josh Frydenberg to de-list an area of critical wetlands to make way for its Toondah Harbour apartment and retail development. Walker Corporation has applied to build 3,000 apartments, a marina, a hotel and shops inside Moreton Bay, south-east of Brisbane. The site is an important habitat for migratory birds and is listed under the Ramsar convention, an international treaty set up to protect the ecological character of listed wetlands.
Australia
The mining billionaire Clive Palmer is suing the Western Australian government for $30bn, the state’s attorney general has revealed. John Quigley introduced emergency legislation into the state’s parliament in a bid to “prevent potentially dire consequences for the state”.
A new survey suggests a quarter of Australian scientists have struggled to carry out their work due to anxiety and mental stress during the pandemic. One in 10 has seen a drop in their paid work hours.
The head of Sydney’s Newmarch House aged care home has spoken out about a “frustrating level of dysfunction” between state and federal health authorities. The aged care royal commission heard evidence about the facility’s handling of a widespread coronavirus outbreak among its residents and staff.
The Bjelke-Petersen estate has gone under the hammer. The auction list of items once treasured by Queensland’s most controversial couple reveals a large collection of kitsch souvenirs and nightmarish vases.
The world
As he fights for his political survival, Alexander Lukashenko has taken a big gamble by cutting off the internet across most of Belarus. It’s a rare example in modern Europe of government voluntarily knocking its entire country offline to stifle dissent.
Research from Oxford University suggests that like banks in the 2008 financial crisis, Facebook and other tech giants are “too big to fail”. A paper calls for new regulations to protect users, and society, in the event of a possible collapse.
The UK government has been urged to demonstrate there was no favouritism at play in awarding Serco a contact-tracing contract worth £108m. A leaked memo revealed the firm was enlisted to help with the Covid-19 response as early as January.
Recommended reads
Given the pandemic’s impact on mental health, the media must not self-censor when it comes to covering suicide in Australia, writes Martin McKenzie-Murray: “This reticence isn’t unique to the newsroom. A version of it exists inside many of us. It’s the fear of directly confronting someone we love, someone we think might be at risk of suicide. The fear that the suggestibility of that person is vastly greater than the power of compassionately blunt intervention.”
Where can you be safe in this world? Maybe we’re asking the wrong question, writes Jane Rawson. “The overarching project of my life has been making myself safe. No alarms; no surprises … Searching for safety is a panicked thrashing around that drags you deeper and deeper into the quicksand.”
In lockdown, shared spaces have become busy and contested. To a questioner who resents tiptoeing around her housemate’s work zone, Eleanor Gordon-Smith suggests being vocal and coming up with material solutions.
Listen
After the Beirut explosion: anger, grief and the fall of a government. The deadly explosion that ripped through Beirut last week has left more than 200 people dead, thousands injured and hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes. The blast happened in a summer of already simmering tension in Lebanon as an economic crisis has taken a devastating toll on the country.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
There are more than a few similarities in current trans-Tasman imbroglio over the future of Super Rugby with the way a previous discord blew out of control and ended with New Zealand losing hosting rights for the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
Three young adults in their 20s stuck at home together on a midweek afternoon could very well be attributed to Covid-19 lockdown measures. However, it is also now typical for three young women who play AFLW football. Rebecca Beeson writes that the economic impact of the pandemic has only plunged players deeper into uncertainty.
Media roundup
The Australian reports elderly people in aged-care facilities infected with Covid-19 are being refused hospital admission and are instead being heavily sedated in nursing homes. The pandemic has brought Australia’s LNG industry to a crossroads, according to the Australian Financial Review. And the Sydney Morning Herald has a story about Indigenous architects and artists leading the redevelopment of the Meeting Place precinct in Kamay Botany Bay.
Coming up
The Covid-19 aged care royal commission hearing continues.
Wage growth looks likely to plunge to record lows when the latest wage price index is released.
The CSIRO’s chief executive, Dr Larry Marshall, will address the National Press Club.
And if you’ve read this far …
This is a story all about how a beloved 90s sitcom got flipped, turned upside down. Will Smith is teaming up with Quincy Jones to create a serious-minded new version of his show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The development is based on a viral trailer, created by director and super-fan Morgan Cooper, which reimagined the hit comedy as a drama telling the story of a working-class Philadelphia teen adapting to life with his richer family in Los Angeles.
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