Good morning, this is Helen Sullivan bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 4 December.

Top stories

Donald Trump “abused the power of his office for personal and political gain, at the expense of [US] national security”, congressional Democrats alleged in a report on Tuesday, laying out damning conclusions after two weeks of public hearings in the impeachment inquiry. The report said evidence made plain that the president improperly pressured Ukraine to influence the 2020 election, using language that seemed to lay the groundwork for several potential articles of impeachment.

Iraqi interpreters who served the Australian defence force say they have been prevented from applying for visas to migrate to Australia. Their work with foreign forces put them in danger, they said, with many of the “thousands” of soldiers and police they trained now allegedly associated with militias and able to recognise their faces. They said the Australian embassy directed them to Lebanon or Jordan to apply for visas – a near-impossible personal and financial undertaking for many.

Australian students’ performance in mathematics has fallen to the OECD average, the first time results in one of the three core competencies has done so since international comparisons began in 2000. The Programme for International Student Assessment results, released on Tuesday evening, confirm a continuing long-term decline in Australian students’ reading, maths and science skills. The federal education minister, Dan Tehan, said the results “should have alarm bells ringing”.

Australia

The Currowan fire near Termeil, on the Princes Highway between Batemans Bay and Ulladulla. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

The 30,000-hectare Currowan bushfire near Batemans Bay has destroyed at least one home and reached the coast on Tuesday evening as NSW prepared for another hot and windy day, with thick smoke continuing to blanket Sydney and surrounding areas.

Climate change is escalating as “the most significant threat” to Australia’s wet tropics world heritage area, with an update to parliament reporting the outlook for the bioregion is a cause of “great concern”.

A Young Liberal National party leader has been suspended from the party after he was filmed laughing at a teenager saying Australia should “stop celebrating a culture that couldn’t even invent the bloody wheel”.

Less than 40% of the population will be covered by private health insurance by 2030 unless reforms are made, according to a report from the Grattan Institute.

The world

Kamala Harris has pulled out the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Kamala Harris has dropped out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. The senator from California started well in the crowded primary field, but in polling terms could not break into the first rank of candidates.

Donald Trump has lashed out at Emmanuel Macron on the first morning of a two-day Nato meeting, saying the French president’s description of Nato as brain dead was insulting and a “very, very nasty statement”. Trump also warned that a trade deal with China could be more than a year away.

The South Korean pop star and actor Cha In Ha has been found dead at the age of 27, the third young Korean star to die in the space of two months. Cha, who was a member of the K-pop group Surprise U, was found at his home.

The climate activist Greta Thunberg has arrived in Lisbon after a three-week catamaran voyage across the Atlantic Ocean from the US. The Swedish teenager now plans to head to Spain to attend the UN climate conference in Madrid.

Scientists have created artificial neurons that could potentially be implanted into patients to overcome paralysis, restore failing brain circuits and even connect their minds to machines.

Recommended reads

Teddy, a rescued sugar glider, has doubled in weight since her arrival at Wires. Photograph: Kristina-Lee Willis/Wires

As bushfires rage, wildlife rescue organisations are feeling the pressure. “We are completely inundated at the moment,” says Kristie Newton, a campaign manager for the NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service. While volunteering can be a significant time commitment, there are things anyone in bushfire-affected areas can do to help native animals.

The high court will this week examine whether Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders can be deported as aliens if they don’t hold Australian citizenship. The federal government says they can. But lawyers for two Indigenous men facing removal from the country, backed up by the Victorian state government, say there is another option: non-citizen non-alien.

Listen

Fatbergs: they’re giant balls of filth that clog up our sewers, creating millions of dollars of damage. This episode of Full Story explores the fight against fatbergs playing out in Australia’s courts and sewerage systems. Plus, reporter Naaman Zhou goes hunting for a fatberg in the wild.

Sport

Aspiring Paratilda Nicole Christodoulou is flanked by Matildas players Katrina Gorry and Ellie Carpenter

Two strokes at the age of 21 didn’t stop Nicole Christodoulou dreaming of playing football at the highest level. Thanks to the rapid rise of women’s cerebral palsy football, that dream is still well and truly alive.

You can only beat what’s in front of you but Australia’s men’s cricketers will be hoping their bloodless Test series win over Pakistan is sufficient preparation for New Zealand, writes Jonathan Howcroft.

Media roundup

The home affairs department believes “Australian values” are under threat if migrants do not become “fully integrated members of society”, according to a parliamentary submission cited by the Australian. The Hobart Mercury leads with an bitter local row over comments by the broadcaster Tim Lane that Hawthorn and North Melbourne are blocking the state’s entry into the AFL. And the ABC reports that Byron Bay’s beaches “are being smothered by a blanket of cornflake weed that just won’t go away”.

Coming up

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts awards will be held in Sydney tonight.

Cory Bernardi, the Liberal turned Conservative senator from South Australia, is expected to give his valedictory speech as he departs politics.

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