Good morning, this is James Murray bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 10 March.

Top stories

Fears of a global recession amid the spread of coronavirus worsened overnight, as stock markets and commodity prices plunged. With the FTSE and the Dow Jones both falling by more than 7%, and crude oil slumping by 30%, markets had their worst day since the global financial crisis in 2008. The Guardian’s economics editor, Larry Elliott, writes that “Crash Monday” is the natural consequence of a fragile economy “masked by perpetually low interest rates” brought into sharp focus by the coronavirus outbreak. Scott Morrison will warn today that the signs point to a recession worse than the GFC as he launches an appeal for businesses to “hold on to your people”, including casual employees, if they succumb to Covid-19. Meanwhile, Italian hospitals have started to report bed shortages as the country recorded its highest number of deaths in a 24-hour period. The head of Italy’s prison system, Francesco Basentini, said a “series of rebellions” had broken out throughout the country. Six inmates died after they broke into a prison infirmary and overdosed on methadone.

The former Indigenous affairs minister Nigel Scullion is under fire after it was revealed that money from a fund for alleviating Indigenous disadvantage was handed out to the mining giant Fortescue Metals. The retail firm Wesfarmers, two NRL clubs, and Catholic and Anglican welfare organisations were also awarded millions of dollars. Scullion approved more than $560m worth of funding before the federal election in 2019. Current Indigenous affairs staff said Scullion had awarded grants to 12 projects the department had advised against and ignored 28 of their recommended projects. These included school nutrition programs for Indigenous children and cadetships in the NSW Legal Aid Commission.

The New York attorney general says Prince Andrew will not voluntarily cooperate in the Epstein inquiry. The Manhattan US attorney, Geoffrey Berman, said: “Contrary to Prince Andrew’s very public offer to cooperate with our investigation into Epstein’s co-conspirators, an offer that was conveyed via press release, Prince Andrew has now completely shut the door on voluntary cooperation and our office is considering its options.” In a notorious interview with the BBC, the Duke of York denied allegations he had sex with a young woman provided by the disgraced billionaire. Epstein was found dead in his prison cell last year while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Australia

What are the symptoms of Covid-19 and what do I do if I think I have it? Australian health authorities have provided a stream of continuously updated advice about the coronavirus and it can be confusing to navigate. Calla Wahlquist has distilled some of that advice here to help answer your key questions.

The Indian Ocean Dipole, an ocean system that drives extreme weather events, is likely to worsen due to global heating. Scientists studying the phenomenon say Australia could experience future conditions even more extreme than those witnessed during the 2019-20 bushfire season.

Six grants totalling $260,000 were approved in the marginal seat of Longman in the month before the general election. The grants included $177,000 for the Bribie Island and Districts Junior Rugby League Club.

How will the coronavirus affect my travel plans? Here’s what you need to know if you have a trip planned or are thinking of planning a holiday in Australia or overseas.

The world

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Max von Sydow and Linda Blair in The Exorcist. Photograph: Allstar/Warner Bros

The Swedish actor Max von Sydow, star of The Exorcist, has died aged 90. Sydow’s best-known role was in Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, in which he plays chess with Death.

Russia has been accused of hiring a network of British politicians and consultants to “go after the enemies of Putin”. MPs on parliament’s intelligence and security committee, who drew up a Russia report suppressed by Boris Johnson, were given the secret evidence by the financier Bill Browder.

The world’s biggest pornography website, Pornhub, has been criticised for its lack of vetting of videos. An online petition with more than 350,000 signatures accuses the site of not doing enough to stop rape and revenge porn videos appearing.

Donald Trump has tweeted a manipulated video of Joe Biden that appears to show the Democratic presidential hopeful back Trump for re-election. The video is in fact cut to remove the end of Biden’s quote.

Recommended reads

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Cardinal George Pell is escorted to court. Photograph: Mark Dadswell/Reuters

The word in legal circles is that George Pell could walk free, after an appeal to the high court against his conviction for child sex abuse. David Marr suggests that Pell’s lawyers may have a working strategy. Acknowledging how compelling the testimony against Pell has been has become the lynchpin of their case. Pell’s counsel, Bret Walker SC, argues that the jury and the court of appeal were so swept away by the cardinal’s accuser – by his testimony and his demeanour in the witness box – that they downplayed the evidence in Pell’s favour. In lawyer speak this amounts to: “Belief in a ‘compelling’ complainant does not, ipso facto, equate to the elimination of reasonable doubt.”

What is it like to work on the frontline of the Covid-19 outbreak? Our anonymous GP describes a single Saturday at the coalface, where doctors come face to face with their first potential case of coronavirus. “I get a frantic knock on my door. It’s my colleague who has just picked up the patient I was meant to see. She’s wearing her N95 mask – one of only five for each doctor that the government has so diligently provided our practice.”

The writer Oobah Butler spends a week living as Andy Warhol in the lead-up to a landmark show at Tate Modern in London. “I’m trying to live like Andy Warhol, the pop artist who died in the 1980s but is still a household name,” he writes. “And it’s not going smoothly.” From downing tins of Campbell’s condensed mushroom soup to creating an artwork inspired by the newly ubiquitous face mask, Butler describes his life as a modern-day version of the art icon.

Listen

The Today in Focus podcast interviews Hadley Freeman about her 18-year search to uncover her family’s secrets. The Guardian journalist embarked on a quest to find out what happened to her grandmother, who fled to the US to escape the Nazis, after she found an old shoebox full of photos and documents in the back of a wardrobe.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ellyse Perry at a celebration for Australia’s victory in the Women’s T20 World Cup at Federation Square in Melbourne. Photograph: David Crosling/AAP

Sport

Australia’s women’s cricket team revelled in their success yesterday, with the captain, Meg Lanning, describing the Twenty20 World Cup win as a dream come true. “When they said they wanted to get 90,000 people to the MCG for a World Cup final, I must admit I was a little bit sceptical,” she says.

The organisers of the Australian Grand Prix have said there is no chance the event will take place behind closed doors. The Bahrain GP on 22 March will be run without spectators and April’s Chinese Grand Prix has already been postponed.

Media roundup

Australian newspapers have focused on the coronavirus’s effect on the economy this morning, with the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald leading with news that the Morrison government is closed to removing its self-imposed $600bn debt cap to try to avert a serious recession. Outside Covid-19 news, the Australian has a story about the NSW police minister, David ­Elliott, facing criminal charges after photographs surfaced of him allegedly shooting two prohibited weapons at a shooting range without an ­appropriate licence. The New Daily reports that Australia is facing an “epidemic” of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, with the trend being driven by childhood obesity and sugary drinks.

Coming up

Coronavirus stimulus is to be discussed at today’scabinet meeting.

The inquest into the disappearance of William Tyrrell continues at Taree local court.

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