Good morning, this is Helen Sullivan bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 12 December.

Top stories

A day out from the UK general election, Boris Johnson has hidden inside a fridge to avoid an interview with Piers Morgan, amid rattled nerves over a narrowing in the opinion polls that saw a hung parliament become a real possibility. The “presidential” nature of the election campaign has been illuminated by research that also reveals how Labour and the Conservatives have hidden away senior figures deemed to be embarrassing or “off message”. Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson has urged LibDem activists to make one final election push, which she said could deny Boris Johnson a majority, thwart Brexit and potentially remove some high-profile Conservative MPs. Martin Farrer explains how the UK’s voting system works and what it could mean for Brexit. The Guardian’s view on the election? A fleeting chance to stop Johnson in his tracks.

Australia’s plan to use an accounting loophole to meet its commitment under the Paris climate agreement has no legal basis and suggests it has reneged on a pledge to make deeper emissions cuts once a global deal was reached, a new report says. An analysis by Climate Analytics, a Berlin-based science and policy institute, found there were no grounds for Australia to claim credit towards its Paris emissions target for having beaten targets under its predecessor, the Kyoto protocol. It found the two agreements were separate treaties and should not be treated as a continuation of one agreement.

Almost a third of big companies are still not paying any tax despite a government crackdown that has included forcing technology multinationals to admit they do business in Australia, new data shows. Taxation office deputy commissioner Rebecca Saint said the data, which covers 2,200 companies, showed good progress in cracking down on corporate tax evasion but more needed to be done. She said the ATO wanted to improve voluntary compliance with tax law by big companies from 92% to 94%. The latest results, released on Thursday, show 32% of the companies in the data set paid no tax in the 2017-18 year – down from 36% three years previously.

Australia

Surgeons are working around the clock to help tourists who suffered horrendous burn injuries in the White Island/Whakaari volcano eruption, health experts have said. Seven Australians had been confirmed dead on Thursday morning, including Brisbane mother and daughter Julie and Jessica Richards and Adelaide father Gavin Dallow and his step-daughter Zoe Hosking. One other Australian is still missing and two Sydney families are unaccounted for.

Thousands of people have rallied in Sydney to protest against inaction on the climate crisis, after months of bushfires and hazardous smoke in New South Wales and Queensland.

A Liberal party member who helped organise a Chinese-Australian fundraising dinner denies links to the Chinese Communist party after references to China’s Belt and Road initiative appeared on invitations to the event.

Australia’s ageing coal-fired power plants could be shuttered earlier than expected if competition from renewable generators and carbon budgets render them uneconomic, according to a new assessment by the Australian Energy Market Operator.

The world

Aung San Suu Kyi defends Myanmar against genocide charges at the international court of justice in The Hague. Photograph: Koen van Weel/EPA

Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has defended Myanmar’s government against accusations of genocide at the international court of justice, calling the allegations an “incomplete and misleading factual picture of the situation”.

Hotel brands owned by Hilton, Intercontinental and Best Western are among a number of leading chains accused of profiting from sex trafficking. In a landmark case that lawyers claim demonstrates “industry-wide failures” to prevent sex trafficking, it has been alleged that women and children were held captive, abused and sold for sex in their guest rooms across the US.

US regulators allowed Boeing’s 737 Max to keep flying after their own analysis found the plane could have averaged a fatal crash every two or three years without intervention.

Police in the New York metropolitan area were on high alert to protect Jewish neighbourhoods on Wednesday after two suspects opened fire on a kosher market in Jersey City as part of an hours-long attack that left six people dead, authorities said.

Greta Thunberg was named Time magazine’s person of the year for 2019 on Wednesday. She is the youngest person to have ever received the accolade.

Recommended reads

‘It strained belief of both our supporters and opponents that we could be for Adani and not for Adani. In truth we were too much for ourselves.’ Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images

Richard Flanagan imagines an alternative speech from Labor leader Anthony Albanese this week. “Today we witness an unprecedented situation as a people and as a nation. Our country is burning and there is no end in sight, nor will there be an end unless we have the courage to face the truth. Our country is burning because it is warming up and drying out, and these things are happening because of a climate crisis for which human beings all over the world are responsible. We cannot escape our responsibility to act on these truths.”

Surging house prices are limited to Sydney and Melbourne, and they cannot hide the economy’s weakness, writes Greg Jericho: “The drive to a surplus over everything continues to place the burden of lifting the economy on monetary policy. It also means that housing prices are more likely to move out of step with household incomes. Because while house prices are generally a sign of strength, we should not forget that when prices rise ahead of incomes, housing affordability falls.”

Listen

On Today in Focus: in the UK, a record number of homeless people died in 2018 and charities are warning this year could be worse. Simon Hattenstone and Daniel Lavelle have been delving behind the statistics into the lives of those sleeping rough. Also today: Haroon Siddique on how British Hindus are being targeted in the election.

Sport

Tim Paine leads out Australia again when the Test series with New Zealand gets under way at Optus Stadium today. The wicketkeeper’s leadership has been excellent since he took over the reins, but there is a nagging sense the captaincy indelibly belongs to his predecessor, Steve Smith, writes Sam Perry.

The All Blacks have taken a risk, despite the perception of Ian Foster as the safe option, writes Matt McIlraith.

Media roundup

“Facebook was responsible for nearly two-thirds of the 18.4 million worldwide reports of child sexual abuse material last year,” the Australian reports. NSW environment minister Matt Kean will commit to new emissions reductions targets, the Sydney Morning Herald reveals. The Australian Financial Review writes that PwC has started giving a “strange warning” to the corporate boards of audit clients.

Coming up

Westpac faces investors at its AGM on Thursday – and the prospect of a second strike on executive pay following explosive money laundering and child exploitation allegations.



Australia and New Zealand renew their rivalry on the cricket pitch when the first of three Tests gets under way at Perth’s Optus Stadium today. Play begins at 1pm local time (4pm AEDT) – follow every ball of the day-night Test with our liveblog.

And if you’ve read this far …

Two pigeons have been spotted in Las Vegas wearing tiny cowboy hats. Cluck Norris can be identified by the red hat he is wearing, as opposed to Coo-lamity Jane’s pink headgear. The Las Vegas metropolitan police department told the New York Times it “does not appear to be a police matter at this time”. But, as the hats appear to be glued on, there are concerns for the pigeons’ welfare.

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