| | | 27/03/2024 Six missing in US bridge collapse, welfare funds diverted to gas giant, Assange wins short reprieve |
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| | | Good morning. Divers are searching for six missing people after a cargo ship smashed into a bridge in Baltimore, sending vehicles plunging into the Patapsco River. We have an exclusive investigation revealing how the energy giant AGL received thousands from welfare payments of former customers under a Centrelink scheme, Julian Assange has won a short reprieve from London’s high court in his fight against extradition, and Joe Biden is gaining ground on Donald Trump in key battleground states. |
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| Australia | | Exclusive | Acontroversial government payment system wrongly diverted $700,000 in welfare money from vulnerable Australians such as Lucy Lorenti (pictured) to the energy company AGL and helped prop up a Christian rehabilitation centre using gay conversion practices and exorcisms, Guardian Australia can reveal. | Offsets fail | Australia’s main carbon offsets method is a failure on a global scale, doing little if anything to help address the climate crisis and providing “nowhere near the forest cover that you should see”, according to a major new study. | Rock art plea | The former Labor leader Kim Beazley has joined other ex-ALP leaders in calling on the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, to protect culturally important Indigenous rock art on Western Australia’s Burrup Hub by refusing to extend the life of a major fossil fuel development by nearly 50 years. | NDIS overhaul | TheNDIS minister, Bill Shorten, will introduce a bill today to forge ahead with an overhaul of the scheme, including plans to curb the amount participants can claim in budget top-ups, amid a looming fight with state and territory leaders over who should pay for disability services. | Bravery awards | Luke Dorsett, who saved his niece before being killed himself in the 2016 Dreamworld rafting disaster, has been posthumously given a bravery award along with 89 other people recognised for heroism by the governor general last night. |
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| World | | Bridge disaster | At least six people are missing after a cargo ship ploughed into a bridge in Baltimore, which collapsed, sending vehicles plunging into the water below. The Maryland state governor, Wes Moore, said the ship’s crew had sent a mayday message warning that they had lost power about the time the vessel – which was also involved in a collision in Antwerp in 2016 – hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Follow developments live. | Assange reprieve | Julian Assange has been handed a reprieve in his fight against extradition to the US . London’s high court has asked the US for “assurances” that he will not face the death penalty and has a right to free speech – if those assurances do not come, Assange will be able to appeal against his extradition and, if they do, there will be more argument over his right to appeal. | Biden bump | Joe Biden has some good news as a new poll showshim gaining on Donald Trump in six battleground states, seven months before the presidential election. | Pakistan attack | Six people have been killed after a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a dam project in north-west Pakistan, in the third significant attack on Chinese interests in the country in a week. | Truth is out | The firm behind Donald Trump’s Truth Social went public in New York overnight at a price that values the minnow social network at more than US$9bn, leaving the former president a paper fortune of US$5bn. |
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| Full Story | | | Who screwed millennials out of a stable job? Part 4 Jane Lee and Matilda Boseley talk to chief political correspondent Paul Karp, ACTU secretary Sally McManus and former industrial relations consultant Paul Houlihan among others about how the young generation face a precarious working life. | |
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| In-depth | | In a powerful insight into the plight of Palestinians left homeless by the Israeli response to the 7 October attacks by Hamas, Rafqa Touma speaks to a young woman from Gaza who has found refuge in Sydney. But along with being worried sick about the family members she left behind in a tent camp in Rafah, Salma fears being left homeless because she has no money and is not able to work on her tourist visa. |
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| Not the news | | It can’t be often that the famous Brontë sisters are compared to the Kardashians, there being few similarities between the Yorkshire Dales circa 1800 and contemporary Los Angeles. But Natalie Ibu, whose play Underdog: The Other Other Brontë is about to open on the London stage, tells Claire Armitstead of parallels between the disruptive, backstabbing sisters with the brother no one has heard of, and the reality TV stars. |
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| The world of sport | | World Cup | Two goals from Craig Goodwin and first international goals by Kusini Yengi and John Iredale provided the Socceroos with a 5-0 win over Lebanon in Canberra last night. | AFL | Wayne Carey said he would quit commentating if Peter Wright were banned for his bump on Sydney’s Harry Cunningham, so his exile starts now after the Essendon man was given four games on the sidelines last night. | Basketball | The Utah women’s basketball coach, Lynne Roberts, said her team had experienced a series of “racial hate crimes” and had been forced to change hotels due to safety concerns during the NCAA Tournament. |
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| Media roundup | Labor MPs have told the Australian they fear Bill Shorten is “losing control” of the NDIS overhaul amid a state premier revolt against the plans. A 7,000km cloud band stretching from the Northern Territory to New Zealand threatens to bring a “rain bomb” to the east coast, reports the Courier-Mail. How Melbourne became Australia’s biggest city with a population of 5.1 million is investigated by the Age, while the Illawarra Mercury identifies the Sydney developer “slowly buying the whole of Wollongong’s CBD”. |
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| What’s happening today | New South Wales | Black summer inquest findings will be handed down at Lidcombe coroner’s court at 10am. | Economy | Monthly inflation figures are due at 11.30am. | Arts | Melbourne International Comedy festival starts. |
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| Brain teaser | And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. | |
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| Contact us | | If you have a story tip or technical issue viewing this newsletter, please reply to this email. If you are a Guardian supporter and need assistance with regards to contributions and/or digital subscriptions, please email customer.help@guardian.co.uk |
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| | | Lenore Taylor | | Editor, Guardian Australia |
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| | I hope you appreciated this newsletter. Before you move on, I wonder if you would consider supporting Guardian Australia. As we look ahead to the challenges of 2024, we’re aiming to power more rigorous, independent reporting.
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