Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Friday 15 March.

Top stories

British MPs have voted to delay Brexit beyond 29 March, by backing a government motion forced on Theresa May by the Commons. The motion, which May was forced to agree to if her own Brexit plan was defeated again, as it was on Tuesday, was passed by 413 votes to 202. The motion says that if a Brexit plan is agreed by 20 March then this would be a brief, technical extension until 30 June – if not, it says, it would probably involve a longer period, and the UK taking part in upcoming European elections. Now it’s up to the EU countries to decide whether to grant the extension. Read Aditya Chakrabortty’s take on May’s leadership crisis – and why Britain has become ungovernable.

The Australian federal police is in danger of losing its independence and integrity, and must split from Peter Dutton’s home affairs portfolio, the force’s union leader has warned. Unease in AFP ranks has grown since it became part of the huge home affairs portfolio in late 2017 under Dutton’s direct control. But the Australian Federal Police Association, which represents 6,500 AFP members, says that move has compromised the AFP’s integrity and its ability to carry out investigations without government influence. Speaking exclusively to Guardian Australia, the association’s president, Angela Smith, said it was “an embarrassing situation ... We look the least independent police force in Australia, surely the other police forces are laughing at us.”

A former National party deputy director and tobacco industry lobbyist has emerged as one of the biggest donors to One Nation in the past six months. Strategic Political Counsel, a Sydney lobbying firm headed by Michael Kauter, has donated $30,000 to the far-right party’s Queensland branch since November. Its clients include British American Tobacco and its e-cigarette offshoot Nicoventures, Adani, the gas pipeline company APA Group and the Australian Lotteries and Newsagents Association. But despite admitting that he has targeted the One Nation crossbenchers in parliament, Kauter said the donations were not linked to his lobbying business. “I just have a soft spot for Pauline Hanson,” he said.

World

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Donald Trump with Theresa May. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Donald Trump has criticised Theresa May’s handling of the Brexit talks, saying he was surprised “how badly” they had gone and that Brexit was “tearing countries apart”.

Hundreds of thousands of children in more than 100 countries are expected to walk out of their classrooms on Friday for a global climate strike, amid growing anger at the failure of politicians to tackle the escalating ecological crisis.

Only one former British paratrooper is to be charged in connection with the 1972 killings of civil rights demonstrators in Derry on Bloody Sunday, to the dismay of families who lost relatives more than 40 years ago.

A French gynaecologists’ union has threatened to halt abortions, in an attempt to force the country’s health minister to meet disgruntled doctors. The health minister said the protest was was “taking women hostage”.

The Connecticut supreme court has ruled that gunmaker Remington can be sued over how it marketed the Bushmaster military-style rifle, which was used to kill 20 children and six adults in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre.

Opinion and analysis

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tourists and residents in Bali. Photograph: Johannes Christo/Reuters

A frequent visitor to Bali, Brigid Delaney loves the culture and people of the island. But a recent trip has made her reflect more about the impact of tourism on the ecosystem. A visit to the replica urban-hipster village of Canggu brings her face-to-face with the dilemma of modern travel: it may be great enjoying beautiful flat whites and yoga classes in paradise, but is relentless development killing Bali?

Australia’s peak consumer group says consumers could be the losers after the government gave in to the demands of the mortgage broking industry and rowed back from major reform of the sector. Amy Remeikis and Lisa Martin examine accusations that after committing to banning trailing fees from 2020, a key recommendation of the banking royal commission, Josh Frydenberg has capitulated to his “political mates” by watering down Kenneth Hayne’s blueprint to reform the industry.

Sport

The Australian men’s cricket squad heads off to Dubai with a spring in its collective step after a successful tour of India. The dilemma now for national selectors is where to find space for the soon-to-return Steve Smith and David Warner, in a team with no obvious vacancies.

Chelsea have extended the domination of British clubs in this season’s European competitions by crushing Dynamo Kyiv 5-0 (8-0 on aggregate) in their Europa League round of 16 second leg.

Thinking time: Is the meat-free mega trend as good as we think?

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Impossible Burgers. Photograph: Tom Levitt

Makers of animal-free products such as the Impossible Burger aim to revolutionise the very idea of meat – but is their hi-tech approach really the answer? Impossible Foods claims its product is better for humans and the Earth than a beef burger. But some believe we should be sceptical of these claims. The original formulation had no cholesterol, but more salt and saturated fat than a Five Guys beef patty. As for its environmental footprint, many have criticised the push to eat more soy, which the Impossible Burger contains, since it is a soil-depleting mono-crop. (In case you’re wondering, the Impossible Burger is also not organic.) Jessica Glenza explores the booming fake-meat market, and investigates why burgers that “bleed” are so popular.

“At the bar, I told my partner why I was eating this meal: I wanted to write about this new, engineered vision for our food – vegan meat replacements today, meat grown from cells tomorrow. Cell-grown meat, I told him, would be spurred on by synthetic serums refined from the crude system currently used, where cells are bathed in fetal bovine serum. The serum, which promotes cell growth, is collected from the hearts of calf fetuses found in pregnant cattle gone to slaughter. Would he eat meat grown that way? ‘Yeah I’d eat it. It’s science,’ my companion said. ‘I eat science.’”

Media roundup

Malcolm Turnbull has warned the “idiocy” of a renewed fight over coal-fired power among federal MPs is damaging the chances of the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, as she enters a tough state election, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The ABC questions why Labor’s “extraordinary” announcement that it would use federal funding arrangements for state-run hospitals to pressure them to provide abortions has gone v “virtually unmentioned” and unscrutinised. And smokers who immediately light up after stepping outside a pub, hospital, airport or shop in WA will be fined $1,000, the West Australian reports, with the new restrictions catching the hospitality industry by surprise.

Coming up

School and university students are taking strike action over climate change all over Australia. Follow our live blog for full coverage from about 10am AEDT.

A parliamentary inquiry into the counter-terrorism bill holds hearings in Canberra today on the provisions for delaying and managing the return of foreign fighters.



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