Yahoo News Morning mail: global cases spike, rents fall, taxpayers could underwrite gas industry
Good morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 21 May.
Top stories
The world has seen its biggest one-day increase in confirmed Covid-19 cases, with the World Health Organization issuing a strong warning that the pandemic is far from over, after 106,000 new cases emerged in the past 24 hours, with infection rates in Latin America growing rapidly. The EU’s coronavirus chief said that between 85% and 90% of the population remain susceptible to the virus, meaning a second wave of infections is only a question of “when and how big”. Donald Trump has accused China of “mass worldwide killing”, with the US president also inviting censure over comments that American’s figure of 1.52m positive infections was a “badge of honour” and indicative of its rigorous testing regime.
A leaked draft document before the National Covid-19 Coordination Commission has recommended that Australian taxpayers underwrite an expansion of the domestic gas industry. The report makes little reference to renewable alternatives and does not mention climate change, recommending instead the opening of new gas fields and the building of hundreds of kilometres of new pipelines, including a mooted $6bn trans-Australian pipeline. A new Coalition discussion paper has also flagged examining “emerging nuclear technologies” as part of Australia’s energy mix, as part of its technology roadmap towards 2022, 2030 and 2050.
Rents in major Australian cities have fallen to 2013 levels, with figures released on Wednesday suggesting a combination of economic downturn, decreased migration and a glut of unutilised Airbnb lettings are forcing down landlord expectations. Victoria’s attorney general tabled data this week that suggested renters are paying 31% less on average, due to the coronavirus. Elsewhere, unions have renewed calls for a government bailout to support ailing airline Virgin Australia, despite administrators expressing confidence the carrier has sufficient cash reserves to see it to a potential mid-June sale.
Australia
Labor and the Greens are calling for an audit into $150m of Coalition pre-election commitments, with just $9m for female sport facilities being delivered, more than a year after the money was pledged.
$35m has been allocated in Australian Research Council grants to 77 projects, including studies looking into the extent of LGBT conversion therapy in Australia, shark deterrence, and offshore oil and gas prospecting.
The federal government is considering a request from employer groups for urgent legislative reform, after a federal court judgment found that casual staff could receive further entitlements if they performed regular, permanent work.
The koala population at NSW’s proposed Shenhua coalmine faces localised extinction, with company documents suggesting habitat clearing will accelerate a decline in numbers, already under severe duress from bushfires, drought and chlamydia.
The world
“Catastrophic failures” are responsible for tens of thousands being evacuated in Michigan, where overflow from a decommissioned dam threatens major flooding for towns downstream.
Benjamin Netanyahu has been ordered by an Israeli court to appear in person at the opening day of his trial for corruption, after the prime minister’s bid for an exemption was rejected. The 70-year-old faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
Oxfam International will close operation in 18 countries and lay off nearly 1,500 staff, with the Covid-19 pandemic dramatically affecting the global aid organisation’s financial circumstances and magnifying the fallout from the Haiti sex abuse scandal.
Attacks on a mosque in northern Afghanistan have killed 14 people, on the eve of US-brokered peace talks between the newly united government and the Taliban. The Taliban admits killing nine militiamen but denies targeting the civilians.
Recommended reads
It’s a satirical lifestyle show “for a world in which nobody has a life”, but will the ABC’s Home Alone Together stay punchy as Australia emerges from lockdown? “It’s good to see the ABC back such a worthwhile experiment and lean into full nonsense,” writes Meg Watson. “It’s a smart move considering the defining art form of the moment has been deeply stupid TikToks.”
The latest slowdown of Covid-19 job losses has been touted as good news, but the situation remains very dire, writes Greg Jericho: “It is good that we are not losing jobs at the same speed we did when the shutdowns occurred (not surprising really), but given 2% of people in their 30s lost a job in the first week of May, only slightly down on the worst weekly fall of 2.85%, it might be a bit early to start relaxing.”
It’s a novel about “a bunch of miserable Melburnians waiting to die slowly and horribly from radiation poisoning”, but Nevil Shute’s 1957 classic, On the Beach, is a “dynamite isolation read” according to author Chris Flynn, especially as “a microcosm of 1950s Australian paranoia and inadequacy”. The subsequent film starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner and Fred Astaire may not have landed all its punches, but the book absolutely does.
Listen
The coronavirus in prisons. As lockdowns ease around Australia and people return to a partially normal life, Laura Murphy-Oates speaks to prison staff and prison reform advocates about a potential second wave of Covid-19 that threatens prisons and could put the Indigenous population, and other vulnerable people, at risk.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
For Super Netball the 2020 season will come with extra challenges, post-Covid-19. Not only will crowd-free stadiums heavily damage the code’s financial bottom line, but with new rules there’s more for fans to get their heads round, writes Megan Maurice.
Formula One is set to unveil its reduced season – and an eight-race, behind-closed-doors European start appears on the cards. But the coronavirus and British quarantine regulations still might scupper F1’s plans.
Media roundup
Skills minister Michaelia Cash will announce a plan to entice 10,000 new workers into the disability and aged care sectors, writes the West Australian, with new trainees expected to be on the job within months. The judge in the long-running inquiry into alleged war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan has warned his findings will cause “distress” for some of the soldiers involved, reports the ABC. And the federal government is contemplating a move to allow young Australian to remain on their parents’ private health insurance plans until the age of 30, according to the Age, with health funds reportedly keen to halt their falling membership rates.
Coming up
The World Health Organization will hold its annual general assembly via video link, with US threats, ongoing funding and a pandemic probe likely to dominate talks.
And if you’ve read this far …
It’s not right at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of post-Covid-19 needs, but for one Paris entrepreneur, it’s become a mission. As thousands of offices around the world return following long lockdown closures, countless office plants have been left untended, unwatered and halfway to the compost bin. Enter “Merci Raymond” and a plan to rescue, replace and revive France’s ailing greenery.
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