Good morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Friday 27 September.

Top stories

The whistleblower who sparked the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump was a CIA officer assigned to the White House, US media have reported, on a day in which the Trump administration was accused of attempting to “cover up” the president’s Ukraine conversation. Democrats have continued to question the behaviour of the state department and Trump’s lawyer Rudy Guiliani in their dealings with the Ukrainian government. The governor of Vermont, Phil Scott, has become the first Republican to come out in support of the impeachment inquiry.

Age pensioners could be the target of more than 1 million new robodebt calls as the government seeks to expand its heavily criticised data-matching program over the next three years. Having primarily focused on targeting Newstart and Youth Allowance recipients, departmental projections put to the Senate suggest the scheme will be expanded to include pensioners, to help meet fiscal savings targets of $2.1bn. The peak welfare body has called for the program to be abolished: “People have reported their life being ruined as a result of robodebt,” Acoss said.

The Queensland government is poised to sign a significant royalties agreement with the mining company Adani but risks shortchanging taxpayers from the state unless it first secures access to the company’s rail line, the Australia Institute has warned. A sophisticated quid pro quo devised by the state’s Labor government could see Adani receive between $250m and $700m in royalties before the infrastructural criteria of the deal – an airport, a rail line and a second port terminal – have been met.

The former army general Jim Molan could face a challenge for Senate preselection as jostling factions within the Liberal party consider rival nominations. Richard Shields and Kent Johns are understood to have gathered significant support from moderates within the party, with many conservatives also believed to have been angered by what was dubbed a “rogue campaign” by Molan before the previous federal election.

World

Boris Johnson has faced another tumultuous day. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Boris Johnson has suffered a seventh consecutive vote defeat as a motion for a mini recess was lost on another tumultuous day in British politics. Meanwhile, experts have warned that the heated rhetoric engaged by politicians debating Brexit risks triggering violence on the streets.

The self-proclaimed heir to Charles de Gaulle, the former French president Jacques Chirac, has died aged 86. Acclaimed for his opposition to the Iraq war but condemned for political inaction in office and corruption allegations, Chirac remained fondly remembered for his charm.

The Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad has used a chemical weapon, the US has alleged, in contravention of terms agreed after airstrikes on Syria in 2018. The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, told the media Assad’s “innumerable atrocities” accounted to “crimes against humanity”.

The whistleblower who exposed the spread of HIV and hepatitis C through blood contamination in China has died while hiking in the US. Dr Shuping Wang is believed to have saved tens of thousands of lives by urging widespread screening.

Opinion and analysis

The Beatles in 1967. Photograph: David Magnus/Rex/Shutterstock

As Abbey Road turns 50, Alexis Petridis asks: what was the Beatles’ all-time greatest single? From the “charmless” Ballad of John and Yoko to the simplicity and naivety of Love Me Do, the earthy and troubled Lady Madonna to the “satire of swinging London’s thrusting ambition” in Paperback Writer. There can be only one number one – where does your favourite rank?

Having a sports-mad dad is tough when you’re in the 13-Is. A team that was objectively and statistically appalling didn’t appear to dampen his enthusiasm, writes Ben Jenkins. “I thought Dad was just in denial about having a dud kid and I sort of felt sorry for him having to turn up, week after week and have his son let him down.” But having watched his own eight-month-old boy achieve rudimentary feats the penny has dropped: when it comes to family it’s all relative.

Sport

Mitchell Starc, Kevin Sheedy and Melissa Doyle show support for the Greater Western Sydney Giants. Photograph: Matt King/Getty Images

Dismissed as a “plastic” football club and even a “hoax” when launched, the Greater Western Sydney Giants have finally rewarded AFL’s long-game thinking. And an inaugural flag this weekend against Richmond would be the capstone on head office’s expansion strategy, writes Scott Heinrich.

Australian rugby league has always had an on-off love affair with English players. But South Sydney and Canberra have taken the relationship to brave new heights, as what was once a trickle of UK talent has become a flood, writes John Davidson.

Thinking time: life as a cancer patient

‘Chemotherapy, like most medical treatments, is boring.’

For Anne Boyer, being confronted with cancer presented an unenviable choice. Succumb to the illness or submit to a cure so poisonous it could mean a loss of memory, speech or even sight. Facing a rare form of breast cancer with few treatment options and a significantly poorer prognosis than usual, Boyer opted for “neoadjuvant chemotherapy”.

“Chemotherapy, like most medical treatments, is boring. Like death, it is a lot of waiting for your name to be called. It is also waiting while the potential for panic and pain hangs around, too, waiting for its name to be called. In this it is like war.” And as for many survivors of war, even after the event the scars run deep. Here is an excerpt from Anne’s “beautiful book against beauty”.

Media roundup

More than 60,000 people are awaiting a review of their migration appeal, reports the Australian, as a record number of visa refusals has overwhelmed the administrative appeal tribunal. Women over 40 are more at risk of developing Alzheimer’s than men, research into the disease suggests, according to the Herald Sun. And a long-neglected legal loophole for drug drivers is about to be closed by the WA government, writes nine.com.au, including reforms that target those who are both drunk and on drugs.

Coming up

The AFL grand final parade takes place in Melbourne today before the grand final tomorrow.

Scott Morrison will return from his US trip and visit a drought-affected property in Queensland.