Good morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Friday 20 December.

Top stories

Two volunteer firefighters have been killed and three have been taken to hospital with severe burns as the bushfire emergency raging across the east coast of Australia reached a new crisis point on Thursday, destroying up to 40 homes. The two were killed when a truck believed to have been travelling in convoy near the town of Buxton late on Thursday hit a tree and rolled off the road. Earlier on Thursday, three firefighters were treated for burns after their truck was enveloped by the bushfire. The scale of the bushfire crisis is so immense that climate scientists have warned that the fires could create their own dangerous thunderstorms, causing violent and unpredictable conditions on the ground for firefighters. Pyrocumulonimbus are able to generate lightning strikes, mass downdrafts of air, gusty winds and even hail blackened with soot, and are able to shoot embers that start new fires up to 30km away.

Josh Frydenberg was “keen to see [if] he can accommodate Angus Taylor’s requests” regarding a possible law change around native grasslands clearing, new documents obtained under freedom of information suggest. It’s not clear what Taylor’s request to the then environment minister was, but the embattled member for Hume was subject to an investigation into illegal clearing by Frydenberg’s department at the time on a property he co-owned. Illegal land clearing carries civil and criminal penalties of potentially $1.05m for individuals and $10.5m for corporations. More than two years on, the department says the investigation into Taylor remains “ongoing”.

Increasingly partisan animosity has clouded the timeline for Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, with both Republican and Democratic leaders threatening delays to the looming Senate trial. The Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, called the actions of the House Democrats “precedent-breaking”, warning of potential precedent breaches of his own, while the House speaker and Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, hinted at delays in naming House prosecutors until she saw evidence that a “fair” trial would proceed. Trump has been bullish, trumpeting his “100% Republican vote” of support in the House, claiming the party was “united like never before”.

Australia

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Older Australians are being forced to leave their homes for residential care. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Delays in the home-care waitlist are forcing thousands of older Australians into residential homes, locking more than 120,000 others in a holding pattern, which Scott Morrison’s $537m aged care commitment last month is not predicted to clear.

“Common industry practice” has seen an insurer deduct $64,868 from a disabled man over three years, with the insurer, TAL, agreeing to repay the man’s Centrelink debt in full after the issue was brought to the social services minister by the Greens senator Rachel Siewert.

The former SBS reporter Scott McIntyre faces Christmas in detention in Japan after he was arrested reportedly trying to locate his children, having gained unauthorised access to his parents-in-law’s building. Supporters have condemned the severity of Japanese detention laws, with the 45-year-old being held in a cell that’s lit 24 hours a day.

The world

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Police and soldiers stand guard outside the Italian national anti-mafia services HQ in Rome. Photograph: Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images

Italian police have conducted the second biggest mafia raid in history, with more than 300 people – including politicians and a police commander – arrested in raids in southern Italy after a four-year investigation. “Today is a beautiful day for legality,” said the anti-mafia commission president, Nicola Morra.

Boris Johnson has promised “a new golden age” for the UK, outlining his blueprint for the next decade during the Queen’s speech. More than 30 pieces of legislation have been flagged, including a bill that revises parliament’s role in upcoming Brexit talks.

Three people have been killed after a gunman opened fire on Russia’s main intelligence agency in Moscow. FSB security agents then shot the gunmen dead, with several more people wounded during the attack.

A New York quarry has unearthed the world’s oldest known fossil forest, dated at about 386m years old. The remnants of the ancient forest, which would have stretched to Pennsylvania and beyond, included species unrecognisable “as a modern tree”.

Recommended reads

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Crack open an aromatic white as the temperature soars. Cocktails, sparkling wine and non-alcoholic beverages are also popular Australian summer drinks. Photograph: Marianne Lannen/Alamy

Summer is all about situational drinking. And while the reign of the Aperol spritz has been long, Samantha Payne explores some alternative summer 2020 drink options – from grown-up non-alcoholic offerings to experimental cocktails. And this year savoury is in: “Whether it’s a non-alcoholic salted raspberry tisane … or an unfiltered ferment that actually tastes fermented.”

Forget the landslide elections, global protests and Fleabag season two – 2019 was the year the climate crisis arrived on our doorstep. Whether through Greta Thunberg at the UN, or the bushfires intruding on our lifestyles, 2019 has been a sudden slap in the face, writes Brigid Delaney. “At the mansion there was a DJ, sommeliers and a chef, who explained in great detail the origin of the scallops … Later there was a wine tasting where we gathered around to swirl and spit. Every varietal had notes of bushfire.”

Listen

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Santa, seen here at Chadstone shopping centre in Melbourne

In shopping centres, at schools, in public spaces across the world Santa-mania appears to be getting bigger and bigger. On this episode of Full Story, Laura Murphy-Oates speaks with Celina Ribeiro about 24m Christmas trees, virtual reality north pole expresses, and we hear from a Santa talent manager.

Full Story Full Story podcast: has Santamania gone too far? Sorry your browser does not support audio - but you can download here and listen https://audio.guim.co.uk/2019/12/19-40869-FS__Santa.mp3 00:00:00 00:19:21

Sport

As we count down to revealing the Guardian’s best male footballer of 2019, here’s a recap of 100-11. Last year’s winner, Luka Modric, has tumbled down the rankings, and with six players already in the top 100, will Liverpool be the big movers?

It’s Friday and our cartoonist David Squires, statuettes in hand, announces the winners of Australian football’s most-coveted awards – the ones he makes up.

Media roundup

Australia’s transition to a low-carbon economy could pose huge challenges for banks and insurance companies, reports the Australian, as the central bank and regulators adopt new globally encouraged “stress tests” to assess their climate-related vulnerability. The Victorian government is contemplating a new Geelong fast train proposal, writes the Age, which could receive $2bn of federal funding. And dock workers in Port Botany have been stripped of $120,000 worth of Christmas bonuses after reportedly stopping work due to poor air quality, the Sydney Morning Herald says – a decision which has been dubbed by union leaders as “an act of bastardry”.

Coming up

Sydney to Hobart yacht race organisers will release the long-range weather forecast at 10am.

The former NSW Labor minister and sex offender Milton Orkopoulos is set to be released from Long Bail jail.

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