Good morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 17 December.
Top stories
John Howard has savaged Donald Trump’s failure to handle the coronavirus pandemic, saying his inability to manage the crisis even “half-decently” cost the Republicans the US election. Speaking during a question and answer session in Canberra, the former PM pulled no punches, saying: “Every time [Trump] had a news conference he was penning a political suicide note.” The 81-year-old contrasted Trump’s approach with that taken by Australian leaders, with a social attitudes survey confirming the high approval ratings of leaders such as Scott Morrison, Mark McGowan and Annastacia Palaszczuk owing to their perceived management of the Covid-19 threat.
Families should wear masks and try to celebrate Christmas outdoors, the World Health Organization has counselled, as many nations around the world battle with how to approach restrictions during the festive season. Germany has recorded its worst-yet single day death toll of 952, amid more than 400 deaths daily for the past 11 days. The Netherlands has reported record infections, and the Danish prime minister has confirmed a hard lockdown during Christmas and the new year. In the US, Congress is close to settling on a $908bn coronavirus relief package as the nation recorded just shy of 200,000 new infections yesterday.
NSW has reported three new cases of Covid-19, prompting fears of a fresh outbreak after weeks with no community transmission of the virus. In an alert issued on Wednesday evening, NSW Health said two new cases – a woman in her 6os and a man in his 70s – lived on Sydney’s northern beaches and that no link to other cases had yet been identified. The announcement came after the state recorded its first new case in weeks, when a 45-year-old man from south-west Sydney returned a positive test on Wednesday morning. He worked as a van driver shuttling airline crew between Sydney airport and their accommodation.
Much of NSW is reeling after a night of heavy rainfall and thunderstorms, continuing a week of wild weather and chaos. The record rainfalls driven by a La Niña weather pattern have many in the state and in Queensland hoping that an eight-year drought may have broken. But temperatures of between 44.2C and 48.7C in central Queensland last month mean that for many, the drought remains firmly in place. “We’ve always had extreme heat, but the problem is now that we get longer, hotter periods,” a grazier, Angus Emmott, told Guardian Australia. “The water sources, the soil moisture just disappears more rapidly.” And the Bureau of Meteorology is also remaining cautious: “La Niña certainly elevates the odds of above-average rain but that doesn’t necessarily mean that every month is going to be wet everywhere.”
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Australia
The alleged child abuser Malka Leifer could be back to face justice in Australia within two months after Israel’s justice minister signed an extradition order. Accusers have campaigned for more than a decade for the former teacher to be tried in person.
The Coalition’s pre-Christmas economic forecast is expected to be brighter than anticipated, despite the ongoing trade feud with China casting a pall over rosy iron ore export predictions.
Some 7.2m Medicare-subsidised mental health services were provided between March and September this year, with mental health hotlines seeing spikes of more than 20% due to the coronavirus, reports have shown.
A judge who backed George Pell during his proceedings has been appointed by the Morrison government to act as special investigator into allegations that Australian special forces soldiers committed war crimes in Afghanistan.
The world
Fourteen people have been convicted in relation to the 2015 Charlie Hebdo terror attacks after a marathon 54-day hearing. Those in the dock were accomplices facing an array of lesser charges, as the three assailants were killed at the time.
The value of bitcoin, the world’s best known cryptocurrency, has reached an all-time high of more than US$20,000 amid growing interest among big investment companies attracted to its potential for quick gains.
Saudi Arabia’s state prosecutor’s office is recommending the maximum sentence for the women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, potentially a 20-year sentence for offences including driving a car. Amnesty International has condemned the decision, saying: “A regime that sees women’s activism as terrorism is deeply broken.”
A raid on a French treasure hunter’s house has revealed an astonishing hoard of more than 27,400 archaeological riches, including bronze and iron age necklaces, Roman brooches and treasures of the Merovingian kings.
Recommended reads
Refugees from Manus Island and Nauru are being resettled in Europe and Canada, without any involvement from the Australian government. Hannah Ryan and Michael Green report that the UN’s refugee agency, a Canadian non-profit and an army of volunteers are stepping in to help these refugees finally find peace with security. Almost 100 people are approaching the final stage of acceptance into Canada, with European nations like Norway, Denmark and France also taking in survivors of the offshore processing regime.
2020 has been a rich year for Australian authors. From the multi-generational saga of one Greek-Australian family and their cafe empire to the “perfect holiday read” that flits between hilarious one-liners and “lingering grief for its characters”, Guardian Australia staff and critics bring you the year’s best Australian books.
Almost as many Australians are back in work as they were at the start of the pandemic. It’s just one of the indicators that suggest 2021 could be rosier than many predict, writes Greg Jericho. But before you start reaching for the champagne, there are several signs that suggest a full recovery, or something resembling “normality”, remains still some distance down the track.
Listen
After fleeing danger in their homeland, a mother and children have been offered permanent protection, but the father remains in limbo. On this episode of Full Story – a continuation of our series, Temporary – Sisonke Msimang continues to delve into the real stories of people seeking safe haven in Australia.
Full Story
Stuck in an endless loop
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Sport
Lisa De Vanna has always been one to do things her own way. But after 15 years at the very top, the Matildas striker has finally found space for reflection, family and an entirely new football adventure, as she tells Samantha Lewis.
West Bromwich Albion appear poised to throw their veteran manager Sam Allardyce a shock return after Slaven Bilic became the Premier League’s first coaching casualty of the 2020-21 season, with the team sitting 19th.
Media roundup
Food delivery riders would be protected under a compensation scheme funded by a customer levy on food orders under a landmark proposal to go before the NSW government, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Crown’s Melbourne casino licence is facing severe scrutiny after “explosive admissions of money laundering”, the Herald Sun reports. A Victorian review has been brought forward after the findings of the NSW commissioner Patricia Bergin’s inquiry into Crown’s Barangaroo venture. And WA’s bikie gangs face a “full-force” police crackdown, according to the West Australian, after the murder of a local boss.
Coming up
Economists await new labour force statistics that are expected to show a 40,000 rise in employment during November.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare is set to release several key Covid-related reports.
And if you’ve read this far …
It’s the 649kg question. Police in the Marshall Islands have made their biggest drug bust – finding more than half a tonne of cocaine packed into a boat found on a remote atoll, more than 5,000km off Australia’s north-eastern coast. The question is: whose is it? The “ghost boat” is believed to have drifted for several years, possibly from South or central America. Bad news for its erstwhile owners – the tiny Pacific nation’s law and order department has incinerated the lot.
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