Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 23 January.

Top stories

Democrats have backed a bill to end the US government shutdown. The Senate voted overwhelmingly to advance a short-term spending measure, paving the way for the end of the deadlock that shut down the federal government over the weekend. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said that his party would support the measure – which funds the government through 8 February, while extending for six years a popular health insurance program, Chip, that provides coverage to 9 million children. The Senate must still vote on final passage of the bill before it goes to the House. It must then be signed by Donald Trump before federal employees can go back to work.

Schumer placed the blame of the shutdown squarely on the White House. He mocked Trump for not engaging in negotiations, saying “the great deal-making president sat on the sidelines”. However he felt confident the new deal would be honoured, saying “the Republican majority now has 17 days to prevent the Dreamers from being deported”. Others, however, were more sceptical. Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic senator from Connecticut, told CNN the offer was an “an empty promise, a transparent ploy without any commitment to making dreamers legislation part of a must-pass bill”.

After a two-day trial in Mongolia over a mining deal that went sour, the British-Australian businessman Mohammed Ibrahim “Mo” Munshi was jailed for 11 years and fined $15m. Now he’s taking his case to the UN human rights council. He’s the latest in a string of foreign investors who have themselves slapped with travel bans or jailed over business deals in the resource-rich country, while local partners seek to seize assets or alter agreements.

Global economic momentum is building and Donald Trump’s tax cuts in the US are likely to stimulate activity further, the International Monetary Fund says, revising upwards its global growth forecasts for 2018 and 2019 from 3.7% to 3.9%. But it warns that extreme weather events – such as droughts in Australia and hurricanes in the Atlantic – pose a significant risk to its positive forecasts. Trump’s corporate tax cuts are expected to stimulate activity, it says, but their effects will probably wear off quickly – before detracting from growth “for a few years from 2022 onwards”.

Maverick federal MP Bob Katter has questioned why two Queensland councils are paying $34m to build an airport to service a massive Adani coalmine, saying there is an “unpleasant odour” to the deal. As for the Carmichael coalmine project, Katter says: “If the foreign corporation needs $18.5m [from Townsville council], then I think we can safely assume the project is in real trouble.”

A Swedish publisher is believed to have been abducted by Chinese agents after riling Beijing with his books about the peccadilloes of the Communist party’s elite. It is alleged Gui Minhai, a Hong Kong-based bookseller, was snatched while travelling to Beijing by train with a group of European diplomats for urgent medical treatment. Human Rights Watch’s China director, Sophie Richardson, said: “This is a shocking development, for Chinese police to do this to a foreign citizen, in the company of his country’s diplomats, and when Chinese authorities have themselves said he is ‘free’.” The abduction of booksellers is widely seen as part of a broader crackdown on Communist party foes that has unfolded since Xi Jinping became China’s leader in November 2012.

Sport

Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic has crashed out to Hyeon Chung at the Australian Open. The former world No1 was beaten by the South Korean outsider 7-6 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (3). Djokovic said of Chung: “He definitely has the game to be a top-10 player, without a doubt. How far he can go, that depends on him. I respect him a lot because he’s a hard worker, he’s disciplined, he’s a nice guy, he’s quiet.”

The Nick Kyrgios train may be a rollercoaster ride, but version 2.0 of him has been the best thing going for a host nation that has failed to get a single player into the second week of the Australian Open.

Thinking time

A 38-second video showing the US comedian Danny McBride wielding a knife in what purports to be a trailer for a film called Dundee: The Son of a Legend Returns Home sent shockwaves across the web at the weekend. Could this be true? Could a Crocodile Dundee reboot really be in the works? How could it capture the spirit of the original? Well, writes Luke Buckmaster, “In addition to being vulgar and witless, the new film would need to be sexist, racist, homophobic and transphobic. It would need to have awkward jokes unfunny at the time of release and even less amusing when revisited years later.”

On Saturday evening in Manhattan a group of self-described “deplorables” threw a “Night For Freedom” party to celebrate Trump’s first year in office. Arch-conservative internet personalities, trolls-turned-citizen journalists, and conspiracy theory enthusiasts who make up the alt-right toasting the Trump presidency complete with Hillary-baiting, anti-feminism – and a surprise appearance by Chelsea Manning.

Scott Morrison was very chipper in his first press conference for the year on Sunday. And why wouldn’t he be? After a terrible year for jobs in 2016, the employment sector rebounded in 2017 with one of the best years on record. Employment grew across genders, unemployment dropped to 2013 levels, and the government looks set to meet Tony Abbott’s 2014 promise to create 1 million jobs in five years. The government will feel it has a strong case to make about its economic management as it shifts into pre-election mode, so expect to see Morrison remain chirpy for some time.

What’s he done now?

Donald Trump is the most powerful man in the United States – but he still likes to get good grades. “Thank you to Brad Blakeman on @FoxNews for grading year one of my presidency with an “A”-and likewise to Doug Schoen for the very good grade and statements. Working hard!” Trump tweeted overnight.

Media roundup

The Australian splashes with claims that New Zealand’s offer to take 150 asylum seekers from Manus Island is fuelling the people-smuggling trade to Australia, with intelligence officers claiming three recent boat intercepts have said they were heading for Australia’s “backdoor” – New Zealand. The Hobart Mercury reveals the Tasman Bridge will be closed for a fun run next month due to an escalation in the government’s anti-terror measures. JB Hi-Fi has joined Woolworths and Wesfarmers in the world’s 250 top retail companies, the ABC reports, coming in at the 218th spot. Thirty-eight of the top 250 global retailers are now operating in Australia.



Coming up

A state memorial service will be held in Melbourne to mark the first anniversary of the Bourke Street tragedy. Six people were killed and dozens injured when a car drove through crowds in the city’s busy pedestrian mall.

Australian business and union leaders will rub shoulders with royalty and the mega-rich in Davos, Switzerland, as the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting begins. The former ACTU president Sharan Burrow is one of the meeting’s co-chairs.

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