Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Friday 19 January.

Top stories

The UN has allowed sexual harassment and assault to flourish in its offices around the world, with accusers ignored and perpetrators free to act with impunity, a Guardian investigation has found. Dozens of current and former employees have described a culture of silence across the organisation and a flawed grievance system that is stacked against victims.

Employees working in more than 10 countries spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity. Of those interviewed, 15 said they had experienced or reported sexual harassment or assault within the past five years. The alleged offences ranged from verbal harassment to rape. Seven of the women had formally reported what happened, a route that campaigners say is rarely pursued by victims for fear of losing their job, or in the belief that no action will be taken. “If you report it, your career is pretty much over,” said one consultant, who alleged she was harassed by her supervisor while working for the World Food Programme. “It’s like an unsaid thing.”

The government’s bill requiring Australians to register if they are lobbying on behalf of foreign entities has been criticised for over-reach and labelled an “attack on the freedoms of expression and association that all Australians currently enjoy”. The Australian Financial Markets Association said in its submission to the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security that the bill was “startling” in its reach, and the registration scheme would have an “adverse impact on many organisations ... that should be functionally outside of its scope”. The group attacked the government for “the absence of prior consultation” and said unsuspecting organisations would face criminal penalties for failing to register. Tony Kevin, an Australian career diplomat for 30 years and former ambassador to Poland and Cambodia, was even more scathing, labelling the bill an attack on freedom of expression and association.

Dylan Farrow has denied she was “brainwashed” or “coached” into accusing her father Woody Allen of sexual assault, in her first televised interview about the allegations. In the interview on CBS This Morning, Farrow detailed her allegation that Allen assaulted her on 4 August 1992, when she was seven, and denied that her mother had influenced her. “What I don’t understand is how is this crazy story of me being brainwashed and coached more believable than what I’m saying about being sexually assaulted by my father?” she said. Allen denied the allegations again, saying: “I never molested my daughter – as all investigations concluded a quarter of a century ago.”

The Labor party is already getting on a war footing for a federal election, despite August being the earliest it could be held. The opposition has begun putting in place its campaign infrastructure, with preselections in targeted states expected to be completed by March. Labor has also begun internal recruitment for its communications, policy, targeted seats, legal and advertising and research units. “It is early to be starting this,” a Labor insider said. “But I think it indicates just how seriously the party is taking the election. Campaigning in areas we need to win, like Queensland and Western Australia, never really stopped.”

Australia must act on the “serious shortcomings” in its human rights record if it wants to be a credible leader on the global stage, Human Rights Watch has said in its annual world report. The Australian chapter of the review said “Australia has serious unresolved human rights problems”. The report said Australia was “undeterred” by UN calls to end offshore processing and “maintained its cruel practice of warehousing asylum seekers in abysmal conditions”. The report also criticised Australia’s Indigenous incarceration rate, abuses in juvenile detention centres, “over broad” counter-terrorism laws, involvement in airstrikes against Isis and weapons sales to the Middle East.

Sport

Stan Wawrinka’s comeback tournament ended with a second‑round straight-sets defeat against Tennys Sandgren at the Australian Open, while Australia’s Ashleigh Barty won through in three sets against Camila Giorgi. Novak Djokovic raised serious health fears for the players after beating Gael Monfils in 39C heat.

The England all-rounder Ben Stokes is to appear in court on an affray charge on the same day he was supposed to be making his international comeback in a Twenty20 tri-series match in New Zealand. But England’s head coach, Trevor Bayliss, said he had no doubt Stokes will be welcomed back “with open arms” by the England squad whenever he returned.

Thinking time

Unease about the notion of celebrating Australia’s nationhood on 26 January is not a new phenomenon. In 1888 Henry Parkes was asked what activities would be included for Aboriginal people in the celebrations marking a centenary of the British colonisation of Australia. He replied: “And remind them that we have robbed them?” The first formal protest on 26 January took place 50 years later, in 1938. Calla Wahlquist delves into the history of Australia Day, and looks at what Indigenous and other political leaders are saying about it today.

Brigid Delaney has been keeping a diary of conversations with friends, colleagues and strangers about the Harvey Weinstein allegations and the #MeToo movement. “How we talk about it among ourselves is much messier and more emotional than the clear-eyed essays and hot takes suddenly filling the feminist canon,” she writes. “It’s been like a drone flying overhead trying to film a fast-moving target: the picture will only ever be partial. But this is what we talk about when we talk about #MeToo.”

The pop music charts were once dominated by pornified raunch but, in an era of identity politics and empowered women, a new kind of sexuality is emerging, writes Laura Snapes. “Pop’s portrayals of sexuality have been complicated – and muted – by an unusually eventful half-decade. Intimacy has been corrupted by technology and anxiety. Female artists are redefining sexuality. Would-be seducers must acknowledge conversations about consent and gender politics. Provocateurs who aren’t progressive are soon rumbled.”

What’s he done now?

Donald Trump has contradicted his chief of staff over proposals for a wall along the US border with Mexico, stating his opinion on the wall “has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it” and unleashing a torrent of overnight tweets. “We need the Wall for the safety and security of our country. We need the Wall to help stop the massive inflow of drugs from Mexico, now rated the number one most dangerous country in the world. If there is no Wall, there is no Deal!”, Trump tweeted.

Media roundup

The Age and other Fairfax papers report the dramatic tale of businessman Rohan Arnold, who took part in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race mere weeks before being arrested in Serbia for serious drug offences. Having made his fortune in the steel and livestock industries, Arnold is now in custody, accused of links to an international drug syndicate that attempted to smuggle more than a tonne of cocaine into Sydney. The Australian says a potentially life-saving blood test has been developed that identifies the eight most common types of cancer before they turn lethal. And the ABC digital team delves into the stats to reveal that Donald Trump is more popular with his own party than Barack Obama or Bill Clinton were at the same time in their presidency. Despite low overall approval ratings, Trump’s conservative base remains loyal.



Coming up

A high court directions hearing in Brisbane wil hear arguments about the status of the Labor MP David Feeney and the senator Katy Gallagher, who face disqualification from parliament over questions on citizenship.



Nick Kyrgios takes on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as the Australian Open continues in Melbourne.

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