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Good morning, this is Helen Sullivan bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 12 February.
Top stories
The parents of an Australian toddler stranded in China’s Hubei province are pleading for her evacuation. So far more than 500 Australians have been airlifted out of the city of Wuhan. But 18-month-old Chloe Luo, an Australian citizen, remains in the neighbouring city of Suizhou – which has the world’s fourth-highest number of coronavirus cases and has been under lockdown since 24 January. The toddler from Canberra was being looked after by her grandmother, who was hospitalised last week with a cold, unrelated to coronavirus, leaving Chloe with her great-aunt. Her parents, Yufei Luo and Yi Zhao, who live in Canberra, said they were willing to fly into Suizhou to bring Chloe back home. But the Australian government has said it is not planning on organising a third evacuation flight for citizens remaining in Wuhan and Hubei.
Polling averages in New Hampshire show Bernie Sanders with a comfortable lead over Pete Buttigieg, but after the shock of the Iowa caucus debacle eight days ago, New Hampshire could deliver a surprise of its own, with the previously unheralded Amy Klobuchar making a late surge as the state votes in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. If Tulsi Gabbard drops out of the Democratic nomination race in the coming days, her unique campaign is likely to be remembered more for her spats with the Democratic party, accusations of being a Russian operative and her promise to “bring a soldier’s heart to the White House” than a realistic bid for the presidency. Joe Biden is pulling up his stakes from New Hampshire and heading to South Carolina tonight, he has told supporters. Follow the latest on our live blog.
Scott Morrison will argue on Wednesday for a new approach to address Indigenous disadvantage as the latest Closing the Gap report finds little progress has been made on five of seven targets, including life expectancy and child mortality rates. According to Wednesday’s report, the target to have 95% of Indigenous four-year-olds enrolled in early childhood education by 2025 was achieved in 2017 but has slipped backwards to 86.4% in 2018, compared to 91.3% of non-Indigenous children. The report card also notes that attendance in inner regional areas is almost 17% higher than the lowest attendance rate in very remote areas.
Australia
Industrial greenhouse gas emissions in Australia have risen 60% in the past 15 years, putting the country on a path that, if it continues, will lead to it missing the target set at the Paris climate conference.
LGBTQI groups are concerned over a government change to the volunteer grants program that requires MPs to “invite” applications. Groups working with the LGBTQI community are particularly worried, warning they could be discriminated against by their local federal MP if they do not support their work.
A Herald Sun journalist has been suspended by Sky News after joking on air that Bridget McKenzie should take a bottle of whisky and a revolver and shoot herself amid the sports grants controversy.
The European commission chief mocked Boris Johnson’s claims to be willing to accept an Australian-style trade deal with the EU. Ursula von der Leyen reminded MEPs that no such agreement exists.
The world
A Belfast couple have tied the knot in the first same-sex marriage to take place in Northern Ireland. Robyn Peoples, 26, and Sharni Edwards, 27, made history at a ceremony in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, on Tuesday afternoon. Their marriage came after a legal change.
A US citizen evacuated from China amid the coronavirus outbreak was mistakenly released from hospital, after officials were told by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the person was in the clear. The coronavirus epidemic could spread to about two-thirds of the world’s population if it cannot be controlled, according to Hong Kong’s leading public health epidemiologist.
Sudan is to hand over former dictator Omar al-Bashir to the international criminal court in The Hague to face trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity, the country’s military council has said.
Two-thirds of migrants fleeing Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have had a relative taken or killed before their departure. The Doctors Without Borders study said 42.5% of interviewees reported the violent death of a relative over the previous two years.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder Joseph Shabalala has died aged 78. Shabalala died in hospital in Pretoria, South Africa.
Recommended reads
Joe Biden called a voter a ‘lying, dog-faced pony soldier’. His time is up, writes Arwa Mahdawi. “Biden and verbal blunders go together like Donald Trump and fake tan; there is nothing new about him coming out with an inappropriate turn of phrase. This latest exchange felt different, though. It was not just a gaffe; it was a giveaway, a glimpse into how rattled Biden is. The fact that he resorted to an insult rather than introspection when challenged on his poor result in Iowa does not bode well.”
“If I had a single-use magic wand, I’d use it to get every one of us fully engaged with the democratic process,” writes Ian Chubb of his 2020 vision. “Rather than expecting that ‘she’ll be right’ because we still have something to dig up, or grow, and sell, we need a community that listens carefully to the options put to it; one which can smell a marketing cliche, half-truth or lie from a long way away, and one that will act accordingly. When we wake up, we will demand leadership: one that is bold, courageous and open, with an unswerving commitment to our right to know.”
Listen/Watch
On today’s episode of Full Story: How do you make love last? Mori and Liz met in London in 1980 but she was from Australia and he was from Iran. In this episode of Full Story, they tell how they overcame war, distance and disapproving parents to form a bond that has lasted 35 years.
How do you make love last?
Sport
Australia take on India in the cricket tri-series final in Melbourne today, in a preview of next week’s Women’s T20 World Cup opener between the two sides. Follow every ball at Junction Oval with our liveblog this afternoon.
Media roundup
The Australian reveals that Lyn Dawson, whose disappearance was the focus of the podcast Teacher’s Pet, “broke down in her kitchen and declared that her teenage babysitter ‘wants to get rid of me’’ just six months before she vanished,” according to a 101-year-old witness. In the Australian Financial Review: Sydney house prices are predicted to increase by 10% by the end of 2020. The Age reports that “The Victorian government wants superannuation payments for all Australian workers to rise to at least 15 per cent.”
Coming up
Voters in the US state of New Hampshire cast ballots for their preferred Democratic presidential candidate in their state primary.
Scott Morrison to deliver to parliament the latest Close the Gap report on Indigenous Australians.
And if you’ve read this far …
Guardian writers name the songs they can’t listen to any more. Take Rihanna’s S&M, for example. “At one point, my mum asked, curiously: ‘What does S&M mean?’ There was silence in the car, filled only with aggressive synths and the words: ‘Sex in the air, I don’t care, I love the smell of it!’ No one said anything and my mum asked again, impatiently. Eventually, someone mumbled: ‘You can look it up when we get home.’”
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