Morning mail: Gaza assaults intensify, requires India medevac flights, who owns the outback? |

GGood Morning. It’s Monday, May 17th, and this is Imogen Dewey with today’s main stories: the deadliest attack since hostilities broke out in Gaza last Monday Medevac style return flights for Covid-positive Australians in India and a new Guardian Australia series that reaches deep into Australia Outback.

The outbreak of violence in Gaza is on the way to an “unstoppable security and humanitarian crisis,” warned the UN Secretary-General after a day of significant escalation in which 42 Palestinians were killed in air strikes. At least 181 Palestinians have been killed so far, including at least 52 children in Gaza and 10 people in Israel. Thousands marched in on Saturday Free Palestine Demonstrations Worldwide, Israeli forces bombed the office that housed the Associated Press and Al Jazeera in Gaza. A week of relentless bombardment destroyed power lines, smashed water pipes under streets and spilled human waste. Political ground shifts as the death toll rises, and Julian Borger suggests those who are determined to defend Israel, such as the US president Joe Biden, can feel increasingly isolated.

Singing and dancing are allowed again in the greater Sydney area Coronavirus-related restrictions lift today. New South Wales didn’t register any new local cases yesterday, although the source of the infection in the eastern suburbs of Sydney that sparked the temporary restrictions 11 days ago is still unclear. As reports crop up, that’s how it is Elite athlete and their families will be granted exemptions for returning to Australia, say public health experts, citizens who test positive India should be viewed as a medical evacuation and allowed to return home, emphasizing that this is not a borderline problem but a health emergency. Scott Morrison Proposals rejected yesterday, Covid-positive Australians “unfairly prevented” from returning from India despite admitting problems with the pre-flight testing regime and saying it was “pointless” for people who tested positive to return allow. Not independently of this, researchers say a Counterfeit Vaccines Market and Testing Certificates growing worldwide.

Australia’s outback covers more than 70% of the continent. So who does it belong to? Journalists Calla Wahlquist, Josh Nicholas and Nick Evershed tried to find out and uncovered a picture of increasing consolidated land ownership (with 1.2% of the country’s total land mass controlled by mining magnate Gina Rinehart) and one growing Indigenous property. Our new series the modern outback starts today and explores some of the environmental and social challenges facing the vast region – one of the last great untamed areas in the world.

Australia

Eliza Tape, who lives with physical and mental disabilities, had an NDIS study that found she had no mobility issues. Photo: Sue Tape

A nine-year-old girl who sometimes uses a wheelchair was described as not requiring mobility in a report prepared for the controversial national disability insurance process with independent ratings.

Taxpayers could be hooked for up to $ 2 billion for over a decade on the basis of a fuel security payment promised by the federal government to support the refining industry, which is intended to protect 1,250 jobs.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, meanwhile, defended the government’s decision to stop doing anything to boost wages. At the same time, he admitted that inflation would outpace wage growth this year – meaning workers are facing a real wage cut.

The ABC has required correct “misleading” claims about public trust from a right-wing think tank. Contest claims made by the Institute of Public Affairs against the Senate Media Diversity Investigation, including alleged bias of reporters, as “false”.

And Southeast Australia was shivering from an early cold snap this weekend. Snow falls a month before the start of the ski season.

The world

US Climate Commissioner John Kerry said 50% of the CO2 reductions required to go to zero come from technologies that have not yet been invented. Photo: Tom Brenner / Reuters

US Climate Commissioner John Kerry said 50% of the CO2 reductions required to go to zero will come from future technologies. and that people “don’t have to give up their quality of life”.

Fighting between the Taliban and Afghan government forces resumed yesterday. Officials said they ended a three-day truce agreed by the warring sides on the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

A “civil war” between US Republicans heats up when Liz Cheney becomes the figurehead of the conservative Never Trumpers – even though the Wyoming congresswoman supported the former president in the last election.

Recommended reading

Vegemite’s continued popularity has made spreads a strong place in Australian culture, but it seems our taste buds are evolving. Photo: bhofack2 / Getty Images / iStockphoto

Australia is experiencing a “spice revolution”. Flavored spreads made from local ingredients are on the rise – and according to connoisseurs, everything can be traced back to Covid. “We found out where the food scene in England was overnight,” a producer told Natasha May. Many brands have had a “now or never” moment when it comes to products they may not have risked before, which the industry accelerates by decades.

“The AI ​​will definitely win. How people will adapt is a fascinating problem. ” Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman explains how he applies his ideas to organizations about why we are unable to grasp the spread of a virus and the massive disruption that’s just around the corner.

And if you are curious (go on, it is you), here is what happened on MasterChef last night.

listen

To date, 188 Palestinians and 10 people in Israel have been killed in hostilities in the Middle East. At least 55 children have been killed in Gaza since the violence began last Monday, officials said. Photo: Said Khatib / AFP / Getty Images

Despite international calls for calm, there are fears that Israel and Palestine are on the verge of another war. In the past few weeks, anger over the half-century occupation of Israel, the deepening military influence on Palestinian life and a wave of displacement and destruction has risen sharply. Today on Full Story, Oliver Holmes, the Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent, speaks to Rachel Humphreys about the violence that has broken out.

Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcasting app for free.

Sports

Alastair Clarkson has been the Hawthorn coach since 2005 and has won four flags. Photo: Michael Willson / AFL Photos / Getty Images

The Hawks have had the worst start to an AFL season under their longtime coach. Is Alastair Clarkson Still the Right Choice? asks Scott Heinrich. “The Hawthorn mentor was the mastermind behind one of the greatest teams in life. Those days are over. Clarkson may be the best and most learned coach in the game, but whether he’s still the right man for Hawthorn is another matter. “

David Saker, the former Australian bowling coach, said it was “a lot of people to blame” for the 2018 ball rigging affair that’s surfaced after Cameron Bancroft’s recent interview with the Guardian.

The Matildas have received a huge boost ahead of a home World Cup in 2023 with a state-of-the-art facility to be built especially for them in the north of Melbourne.

Media summary

The state governments want vaccine targets in connection with the reopening of the borders Age Reports, To calm the community and business down, the country won’t be closed forever. On the first anniversary of the Chinese trade strike against Australian exporters, the ABC notes that producers are giving up on the return to normal and trying to make new bonds. And after the New every dayFrydenberg has “failed to explain how statutory tax cuts for high-income earners will lead to stronger economic growth”.

Come up

Australia’s stranded cricketers are at home.

A report emerges from the Australia Post investigation into the dismissal of former managing director Christine Holgate.

And when you’ve read this far …

In a legal dispute between David and Goliath and Trappist monks, a Belgian mineral empire is brewing (sorry). how the silent religious order tries to protect the taste of their beer.

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