Good morning. A small Victorian tourist town has scores of houses for sale but almost none for rent – forcing local workers to live out of vans. What is going on in Bright?
A 14-year-old Queensland boy with a severe intellectual disability was sentenced to nine months’ detention – despite not verbalising a plea in court.
And: we probably all remember the first holiday – and the worst holiday – we ever took. Today we’re introducing our new Away with series, highlighting the travel tales of prominent Australians.
Australia
North Queensland | A 14-year-old boy with a severe intellectual disability was wrongly convicted by a magistrate who recorded guilty pleas to charges, despite the child being incapable of instructing his lawyers and not verbalising a plea.
Housing crisis | The small tourist of Bright in Victoria has 100 properties for sale but just two for rent – it has been described as an “extreme version” of Australia’s housing crisis.
Revealed | Mining exports are forecast to plunge more than $100bn over the next four years and deliver an $8.5bn hit to company tax receipts – a $36bn reversal in expected federal revenue compared with a year ago.
Fiji tourists | A group of Australian tourists are seriously ill in hospital in Fiji with what local authorities suspect is alcohol poisoning, after drinking cocktails at a five-star Coral Coast hotel resort.
Bali Nine return home | The five remaining members of the Bali Nine who were jailed over a drug-smuggling plot have returned to Australia under a deal negotiated with the Indonesian government.
World
Middle East crisis | Israel will close its Dublin embassy after Ireland backed a petition at the ICJ alleging Israel has committed “genocide”; Israel has launched dozens of airstrikes on Syria despite the rebel leader’s peace pledge; Syrian Alawites are fearing for their future under rebel rule.
Cyclone Chido | Several hundred people are feared dead after a powerful cyclone ripped through the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, leaving “apocalyptic” scenes.
Yoon Suk Yeol | South Korea’s conservative president has reportedly failed to obey a summons from prosecutors over charges including insurrection as he faces impeachment after declaring martial law.
US politics | A senior Republican, Lindsey Graham, has contradicted Donald Trump by saying that January 6 investigators should not go to jail; anxious scientists are bracing for Trump’s climate denialism: “We have a target on our backs.”
Black Sea pollution | Two Russian tankers carrying more than 4,000 tonnes of oil products have sunk amid stormy conditions, threatening an ecological disaster.
Full Story
Sara Haddad on why Australia’s MPs should do the reading on Palestine
This summer Australian politicians are being encouraged to read more widely on the history of Palestine. Five books were sent to all 227 federal MPs and senators as part of a campaign backed and funded by dozens of Australia’s most prominent authors. Nour Haydar speaks to author Sara Haddad – whose novella The Sunbird is in the bundle – about the summer reading for MPs initiative, Palestine, and writing as activism.
In-depth
After Luigi Mangione was revealed as the alleged assassin of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, on 4 December, the former quickly became one of the most polarising figures in US discourse. To some, he’s an anticapitalist arch villain. To others, he was allegedly exacting revenge against the unchecked avarice of medical insurance companies. To yet more, he’s a young man struggling with a variety of intense health issues.
Not the news
In our new Away with series, we’re asking prominent Australians about their life in travel. We’ll hear about the trips that shaped our favourite personalities, their holiday rituals and, yes, the times it went awry. The Sydney cook and comedian Nat’s What I Reckon shares a hard-learned lesson about booze on long-haul flights – and reveals why switching on overhead hotel lights should always be avoided.
Sport
Football | Amad Diallo inspired Manchester United’s comeback 1-2 win to stun Manchester City in an ill-tempered local derby; Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham side may return to winning ways against Southampton.
Cricket | Steve Smith steadied Australia and Travis Head put India to sword on day two at the Gabba, writes Geoff Lemon; a skittish England side collapsed in the face of a NZ fightback in their third Test.
Basketball | The Milwaukee Bucks will face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the final of the NBA Cup in-season tournament.
Media roundup
Most of Victoria will be under a total fire ban today as emergency services brace for extreme heat conditions. the Age reports. The Sydney Morning Herald looks at why, more than 105 years after his death, the remains of a decorated Australian war hero are being kept in a plastic bag inside a remote Russian morgue. Archaeologists have completed the largest mass exhumation in Australian history from an old cemetery under a school in Hobart, ABC News reports.
What’s happening today
NSW | The state government will mark 10 years since the Martin Place Lindt Cafe siege.
WA | A public hearing is scheduled in Collie in the parliamentary inquiry into nuclear power generation in Australia.
Victoria | A hearing is scheduled in Melbourne in the case of a man charged with dozens of rape offences.
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
