Good morning. Environmental activists are calling for an embargo on Russian fossil fuels. The war in Ukraine could trigger food riots. And some Australian school students will join a global day of climate action, accusing the federal government of not caring about their futures.
Nato leaders are willing to send more powerful weapons to Ukraine after a plea from the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for tanks, rockets and air defence systems at the Brussels summit. The United States has also announced new sanctions on more than 400 Russians deemed to be part of the country’s elite – including more than half the members of parliament – as part of the campaign to increase the price Moscow pays for the invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian and Ukrainian environmental activists have made a joint call for a European embargo on Russian oil, gas and coal, as children and young people prepare to take part in the latest wave of climate crisis school strikes and protests around the world.
The impacts of the war continue to reverberate globally. The head of the World Trade Organization has said rocketing global food prices as a result of the war in Ukraine could trigger riots from those going hungry in poor countries. Taiwan is considering extending compulsory military service for young citizens to a year, its defence minister has said, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reignites debates in Taiwan over the readiness of its defence force for a potential invasion by China.
The Australian government publicly pledged to buy 70,000 tonnes of thermal coal from miner Whitehaven to donate to Ukraine before finalising the cost to the taxpayer – and failed to approach at least one other major coalminer to gauge their interest. The prime minister, Scott Morrison, on Sunday announced the federal government was buying coal from Whitehaven to donate to the Ukrainian government, to help provide energy security to the war-torn nation. The announcement was welcomed by Ukraine and trumpeted by the Coalition. The government pledged to pay the entire cost of supplying and transporting the coal. But the federal resources minister, Keith Pitt, said on Wednesday the cost of acquiring the coal and sending it to Ukraine was “still being finalised” three days after the government publicly committed to the purchase.
North Korea has launched what is thought to be its largest intercontinental ballistic missile to date, in a dramatic return to long-range testing that marks the regime’s most serious provocation for years. South Korea’s military fired a missile barrage into the Sea of Japan in response to the ICBM launch – the first full-range test of Kim Jong-un’s most powerful missiles since 2017. The launch will lead to fears that the North has made significant progress in developing weapons capable of sending nuclear warheads anywhere in the US.
Australia
A staggering 97% of aged care workers have not received the Morrison government’s promised $800 bonus, according to a survey.
The Coalition has pledged to build new specialist treatment centres for endometriosis in every state and territory, as well as committing to expanding free genetic testing for prospective parents under Medicare.
The Labor party’s head office spent weeks shopping for a celebrity candidate in a bid to railroad a local rank and file ballot in the federal seat of Parramatta, before moving to install former Kevin Rudd adviser Andrew Charlton in the seat.
A report into thousands of incidents of abuse and neglect of aged care residents that was expected to be completed by the end of last year has not been released, as bureaucrats discuss the need for a “strategic narrative”.
Building a single fibre connection to a business in Barnaby Joyce’s New England electorate is expected to cost more than $600,000, almost double the original estimate, documents obtained by Guardian Australia reveal.
The world
The Solomon Islands has signed a policing deal with China and will send a proposal for a broader security agreement covering the military to its cabinet for consideration. According to a copy of the draft security agreement circulating on social media on Thursday, it would allow China to base navy warships in the Pacific, less than 2,000km off Australia’s coast.
Ethiopia’s government has declared an immediate truce with rebel Tigrayan forces to allow aid into the war-ravaged northern province.
The rightwing presidential candidate Valérie Pécresse has promised to rewrite the French constitution in order to fight crime and illegal immigration, as she tried to boost a flagging campaign that risks her party imploding if she fails to reach the final round next month.
Uber, hit by driver shortages and a surge in food delivery requests during the pandemic, will list New York City taxi cabs on its app, a partnership that until recently would have been unthinkable with both camps fighting ferociously for the same customers.
Microplastic pollution has been detected in human blood for the first time, with scientists finding the tiny particles in almost 80% of the people tested.
Recommended reads
Our skin carries so much complex and ambiguous meaning. By definition it is superficial, but our experience of it is profound. It is the border of the body, but also porous and easily breached; it is what others first see of us, the part of our physical selves that we present to the world, and also where we register that world, touching and being touched, in return. In Phillipa McGuinness’s new book, Skin Deep, she covers everything from cancer to cosmetics and racism to skin hunger.
On her upbeat fourth album, Warm Chris, the New Zealand singer Aldous Harding embraces a gift that she sees “no point in resisting any more”. “ I’m sort of like the Jim Carrey of the indie world,” she says.
The unbearable rightness of being wrong: how do you admit fault in a post-shame world?
Listen
As the next federal election approaches, many Coalition seats face well-organised challenges from local independent candidates. Who are they, what do they stand for and can they sway the balance of power? In this episode of Full Story, Gabrielle Jackson speaks to Lenore Taylor and Mike Ticher about the climate-based challenges to Liberal seats.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
The Pakistan openers, Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique, made a solid start on Thursday to set up a potentially thrilling final day in the deciding third Test in Lahore, keeping the hosts in the hunt for a series win against Australia.
Media roundup
Almost 40 NSW private schools have been overpaid by more than $1m a year each, and four were given more than twice as much government money as they were due, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. A private Catholic school in Perth is threatening to report parents to child protection services and add charges to their school fees if they repeatedly drop their kids off early and pick them up late, according to WAToday.
Coming up
Scientists will give an update on coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef. School students will rally outside Kirribilli House in one of the many School Strike 4 Climate protests set for today.
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