Good morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 14 August.
Top stories
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has accused the United States of stabbing his country in the back, as the European nation’s financial situation dramatically worsens. With the Turkish lira plummeting, there is now concern for other emerging markets, with the Argentinian peso and South African rand also falling dramatically against the US dollar.
In a fiery address, Erdoğan claimed Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminium was in contravention of World Trade Organisation principles, and railed against what he called “economic terrorists on social media”. But critics of the regime claim it’s Erdoğan’s own mismanagement that has caused the lira lose a third of its value inside a week. How serious is the crisis? Bad, and getting worse by the day, writes economics editor Larry Elliott.
The CSIRO had no inkling a $443.8 m grant would be offered to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, the Senate has heard, with emails tabled showing the agency “didn’t have visibility” before the government announced the grant on 29 April. The environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, faces increasing pressure to account for the decision to award the controversial grant. But CSIRO Great Barrier Reef coordinator Christian Roth’s initial response was “one of excitement”, with emails detailing plans for CSIRO staff to be seconded to work alongside the foundation in administering the grant.
New South Wales Labor will move a motion to condemn the “entirely inappropriate” prosecution of a former spy who helped reveal Australia’s bugging of the Timor-Leste government during lucrative oil and gas negotiations in 2004. Known as Witness K, the former intelligence officer and his lawyer, Bernard Collaery, still face prosecution for their part in revealing the espionage. The shadow attorney general, Paul Lynch, said that could have a “deadening effect” on free speech. Federal Labor has so far remained silent about the case.
Bill Shorten has enjoyed a slight boost to his approval rating, as Labor continues to lead the Coalition in the latest Guardian Essential poll. Following the super Saturday byelections, in which Labor retained its four seats, the opposition leader’s approval rating has risen to 34% (up 3%) with disapproval down 3% to 44%, although he still trails Malcolm Turnbull by 14% in the head-to-head poll on who would be better prime minister. Labor has increased its lead to 52% to 48% in two-party-preferred terms.
Aretha Franklin is “gravely ill”, according to reports out of her home city of Detroit. Franklin, 76, has faced bouts of ill health since 2010, when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and announced a partial retirement in 2017, with scope only for one-off performances. A champion of civil rights, Franklin performed at Martin Luther King’s funeral, and at the 2009 inauguration of president Barack Obama.
Sport
Ten months after Hannah Mouncey was unable to nominate for the AFLW draft trans athletes continue to face prejudice, writes Emily Rowe. “As a transgender person you get used to the coded language and the snide remarks. You live daily with the micro aggressions, the mockery, the hate. And here on the football field the message was delivered clearly: ‘Stop being so strong’.”
Tiger Woods’s remarkable return to golf’s top circles could be confirmed with the 42-year-old being increasingly touted as a wildcard for America’s Ryder Cup squad. It has been more than a decade since his last major win but after a second-place finish at the US PGA the 14-time major winner is being considered by captain Jim Furyk for the squad of 12 to represent the US.
Thinking time
For people living near South Australia’s demolished coal-fired power plant, the coming months could be their third straight summer of dust. A flawed site rehabilitation has led to potentially hazardous particles being blown across Port Augusta and its 14,000 residents for the past two years. Yet Alinta, the owner of the plant, and the state’s environment protection authority say the issue is being addressed. Adam Morton meets residents who have serious health concerns and who say other coal regions should be learning from the mistakes in their backyard.
Imagine a city at 50C. Once, this temperature would have been an anomaly, but increasingly, write Jonathan Watts and Elle Hunt, it’s becoming a reality. So how do we adapt our cities to survive such heat? “The city at 50C could be more tolerable with lush green spaces on and around buildings; towers with smart shades that follow the movement of the sun; roofs and pavements painted with high-albedo surfaces; fog capture and renewable energy fields to provide cooling power without adding to the greenhouse effect.”
More than one million Australian workers changed jobs last year, and the proportion of workers who are satisfied with the number of hours they are working each week continues to decline, writes Greg Jericho. “In 1962 almost all workers – whether working full-time or part-time – were happy with their hours. From the early 1970s through to the end of the 1980s this level of satisfied workers trended down – both due to economic downturns throughout much of the 1970s and the early 1980s recession, and the influx of women workers into the labour force.”
What’s he done now?
Donald Trump has again attacked former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman on Twitter, calling her “Wacky Omarosa” and describing her as “vicious, but not smart”. The president has also boasted about firing FBI agent Peter Strzok, even though the firing was ordered by the FBI’s deputy director.
Media roundup
The state opposition leader, Mike Nahan, is a “dead man walking” according to the West Australian, with fellow MPs questioning Nahan’s recent judgment, including the suggestion that mainstream media was becoming irrelevant. The Australian dollar has fallen to an 18-month low as concerns about the Turkish economy prompted large sell-offs, writes the Financial Review. And the Sydney Morning Herald reports that dust storms sweeping parts of NSW as a result of the drought may even reach Sydney.
Coming up
The banking royal commission will hear from Suncorp and Colonial First State as it continues its inquiries into superannuation.
Former Adelaide archbishop Philip Wilson is back in court for a hearing on whether home detention is suitable for him after his conviction for concealing child sexual abuse.
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