Morning mail: Russia accused of using novichok, net zero within reach, scientists defy gravity

Good morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 3 September.

Top stories

German chancellor Angela Merkel has accused Russia of the attempted murder of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, after toxicology reports confirmed traces of novichok poisoning. The 44-year-old fell ill during a flight to Moscow on 20 August, before being transferred to Germany, with German doctors identifying “unequivocally” the presence of the nerve agent used to poison the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Britain two years ago. Both the UK and US governments have condemned the reports as “outrageous” and “completely reprehensible” respectively, with one associate of the Russian dissident saying: “Choosing novichok to poison Navalny in 2020 is basically the same thing as leaving an autograph at the scene of the crime.”

The New South Wales’ Liberal premier, Gladys Berejiklian, says it will not take much to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and it would be “the stuff of dreams” for an Australian Coalition government to legislate that target. Berejiklian made the comments during a Wednesday night webinar conversation with the former British prime minister Theresa May, hosted by the group Coalition for Conservation. Drawing an implicit contrast between her administration and the Morrison government, Berejiklian said it was “music to her ears” to hear May describe Britain as “a modern progressive democracy with a centre-right government” that had world-leading emissions policy that promoted economic growth.

Legal experts have accused the Victorian police of exceeding their authority, with dozens of people receiving fines for activities they are allowed to do under public health orders, including going to the supermarket and exercising. Meanwhile, a data analysis of three million patients across New South Wales and Victoria has identified a significant increase in anxiety, depression and eating disorders in young people since Victoria’s second wave of Covid-19 infections began. The amount of GP appointments for children aged zero to 19 concluding in anxiety-related diagnoses more than doubled since last year, with prolonged time indoors also believed to be relate to a spike in various skin diseases such as eczema.

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been diagnosed with the coronavirus, with staff for the 83-year-old reporting he was in isolation just outside Milan. France’s daily infection rate has hit near-record levels, with 7,017 new confirmed cases overnight, while the president of Madrid has said that “practically all the children” returning to school will contract the virus over coming months. In brighter news, an analysis of seven different trials conducted across the globe has found that two different types of steroid can reduce the risk of death from Covid-19 for one in five seriously ill patients.

Australia

International students in Australia are losing up to $270m in wages each year, according to new modelling. And while exploitative bosses are offering thousands well under minimum wage, now groups of students are fighting back.

Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert is being closely surveilled inside Iran’s notorious Qarchak prison, with two prisoners ordered to follow her every move, a human rights monitor in Iran has reported.

Pro-forestry politicians have seized on an error in a scientific paper on logging in Tasmania, claiming that there is no scientific consensus around the notion that deforestation could make severe fires even more dangerous.

The world

Samoa’s Tuilaepa Sailele Lupesoliai Malielegaoi, one of the world’s longest serving prime ministers, could see his 22-year rule abruptly ended. Poor handling of the nation’s 2019 measles crisis has prompted three opposition parties to unite to dump the ruling cadre after nearly four decades in power.

Three in four Democrat supporters worry that Donald Trump will reject a presidential election outcome that sees him lose, a Guardian poll has found. Last week two congressional Democrats wrote to the Pentagon seeking assurance that the military would ensure an orderly transfer of power should Joe Biden win office.

A judge in Spain has ordered the family of General Franco to hand back a Galician summer palace, after 82 years in private possession. The dictator’s heirs had attempted to sell the property in 2018.

German authorities are facing a growing trend of illegal street racing, with politicians calling for stricter speed controls after two women were badly hurt following a crash in Berlin.

Recommended reads

As a performer, Paul McDermott has always blended the beautiful and the sinister - the sweetness of nectar with an aftertaste of poison. But from the acerbic wit of the Doug Anthony All Stars and Good News Week, it’s still a sharp turn to producing a picture book that meditates on loss and environmental degradation, writes Kristen Krauth. “What if animals had souls and if they had the same trajectory as us?” McDermott muses. “The older I get, the more animalistic I think we all seem.”

Ninety percent of Australian adults check Facebook more frequently than we read a newspaper, listen to the radio, or watch a TV show combined. So just how serious could Facebook’s threat to pull news content from its platform be? Belinda Barnet takes a look. “Public discourse will suffer because the main platform on which we engage in it will be awash with more misinformation than it is now.” And the move could also hurt the internet giant itself.

We don’t know their name, or even what they looks like – but Pixelated Boat, one of the comedic greats of the Twittersphere, is our guest contributor for Guardian Australia’s series, the 10 funniest things on the internet. And from the Japanese take on fake American baseball players names, to geese taking over your daughter’s bedroom, they’ve served up some piping comedy.

Listen

The world’s most expensive painting. It set tongues wagging when it fetched a world record $450m in 2017. But as art historian Ben Lewis explains on this episode of Full Story, Salvator Mundi, described as Leonardo da Vinci’s devotional companion piece to the Mona Lisa, holds even greater secrets yet.

Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.

Sport

It’s the day that determines the future of Australian rugby, at least for the next five years. On 4 September the deadline for broadcasters to submit bids will close – and, as Bret Harris explains, it could be the pivotal negotiation to keep rugby as a major sport in an already crowded landscape.

As a first hit out post-Sandpapergate, Australia’s 2018 short-format series with England was a disaster. But as a reference point for just how far the team have developed under the leadership of Justin Langer, it’s extremely illuminating, writes Adam Collins.

Media roundup

The Herald Sun reports Melbourne’s stage four lockdown could be extended for a fortnight based on draft leaked documents outlining Victoria’s roadmap for easing restrictions. The tourism industry could lose $33m this financial year, as state and territory leaders continue to dodge calls from the prime minister to agree nationwide definitions of hotspot-related travel restrictions, writes the Australian. And, it’s the case of the missing two trillion litres of water – how enough water to fill four and a half Sydney Harbours went missing during one of the driest periods on history, the ABC investigates.

Coming up

The inquiry into Victoria’s Covid-19 hotel quarantine outbreaks continues.

Sentencing begins for former family court litigant Leonard Warwick who was found guilty in July of bombings and three murders during the 1980s.

And if you’ve read this far …

Scientists say they have officially turned the world upside down. Forget the immutable principle of gravity, thanks to studies into the impact of certain vibrations on liquids, physicists in Paris have successfully sailed toy boats upside down. And far from a simple trick, it’s a breakthrough that could have wide-reaching ramifications, ranging from mineral processing, to filtering out water pollutants.