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

Top stories

Donald Trump has announced his administration will drop climate change from the national security strategy on global threats. Climate change was added to a list of threats to US interests under Barack Obama, a decision the president has now reversed, instead focusing on the need for the US to regain its economic competitiveness. White House officials said the Trump strategy – confirmed in a speech on Monday – was the culmination of 11 months of collaboration between leading government agencies. But the exclusion of climate change appears to conflict with views previously expressed by the defence secretary, James Mattis, and other senior administration figures.

The new strategy suggests the Trump administration will actively oppose efforts to reduce the burning of oil, gas and coal for energy. “US leadership is indispensable to countering an anti-growth energy agenda that is detrimental to US economic and energy security interests,” it says. In June, Trump pulled the US out of the Paris climate agreement, saying: “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.”

Malcolm Turnbull has ended 2017 as he did 2016 – trailing Labor in the Guardian Essential poll on two-party-preferred but leading Bill Shorten as preferred prime minister. Voters were largely unimpressed by the Coalition’s continued push for tax cuts for medium and large businesses but more enthusiastic about the idea of personal income tax cuts. More than half the respondents in this week’s survey said large international companies (72%), large businesses (69%), mining companies (61%), people on high incomes (63%) and religious organisations (53%) did not pay enough tax. A majority, 67%, supported a ban on foreign donations to political parties. Voters also strongly supported continuous disclosure of political donations (84%), a requirement on all politicians to disclose meetings with representatives of companies, donors or unions (82%), a cap on donations of $5,000 (59%) and a ban on political donations by companies and unions (58%).

At least six people are dead after a train plunged off the track and on to a freeway south of Seattle. The train was heading south on a high-speed rail route that had just opened on Monday when it came off its tracks, with pictures showing it hanging off an overpass above Interstate 5. Dozens of people were taken to hospital and a US official told the Associated Press the death toll was expected to rise. Debris struck several cars, injuring numerous motorists, but none were reported among the dead. Local politicians had previously expressed concern about plans to introduce high-speed rail to the region. “Come back when there is that accident, and try to justify not putting in those safety enhancements, or you can go back now and advocate for the money to do it, because this project was never needed and endangers our citizens,” Don Anderson, the mayor of Lakewood, said this month.

The wealthy businessman Cyril Ramaphosa has been chosen to lead South Africa’s ruling ANC party in a landmark vote that could determine the country’s trajectory for decades. The battle to lead South Africa’s ruling party, in power for 23 years but hit by declining support and a series of scandals, was decided on a knife edge – Ramaphosa won with 2,440 votes to 2,261 for his rival, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. The delegates’ choice will almost certainly determine the next president of South Africa, due to be decided in an election in 2019. The victory of Ramaphosa, 65, will come as a relief to those who feared populist and potentially divisive policies from Dlamini-Zuma, a former senior minister and party stalwart who had promised “radical economic transformation”. It will be a disappointment to those who believe Ramaphosa lacks the will to take measures needed to redistribute wealth and lift millions out of deep poverty.

The ACTU says the Australian government has confirmed that employers will be able to hire workers from Canada, Mexico, Chile, Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam in 435 occupations without first advertising jobs to Australians under the revised terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. The consultation from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade appears to confirm for the first time that the text of the new TPP11, negotiated after Donald Trump withdrew the US from the agreement, will lower Australian barriers to skilled migrants. Australia will get reciprocal access to the labour markets of those six countries but the unions say the government was unable to quantify the benefit of those arrangements.

Sport

Australia’s crushing victory over England in the Ashes, secured on the final day of the third Test, leaves the hosts jubilant and few consolations for the visitors. England didn’t lose because of Ben Stokes’s absence but because Australia were the superior team, Vic Marks writes, and the England captain, Joe Root, admits his team were outclassed. Rob Smyth looks back on the top 10 moments that decided the series.

Paolo Bandini delves into Milan football club’s misery, with the team facing mounting defeats, questions about their finances and even “moral violence”. Can the ship be steadied so fans can once again enjoy their club’s games without the baggage?

Thinking time

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A coal ship leaving Newcastle. Photograph: Darren Pateman/AAP

When the chairman of the port of Newcastle – the world’s largest coal terminal – said it needed to “urgently diversify”, it was hailed as another sign fossil fuels were in decline. But the politics and economics behind Roy Green’s claim that the “long-term outlook for coal is a threat to the port” are less to do with giving environmentalists an early Christmas present than sending a cry for help to the premier of New South Wales, Michael McGowan writes . The real point of Green’s comments is that diversification is out of Newcastle’s hands because of a deal the state government did when it privatised the competing port of Botany in Sydney.

Ken Bone, Chewbacca Mom and Keaton Jones all fell victim to the milkshake duck phenomenon. And if that sentence doesn’t make sense to you, you may not have spent enough time online in 2017. Luckily, Elle Hunt is here to explain the origin of the milkshake duck, and why it was very nearly the Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year. The whole internet loves the milkshake duck. Or does it?



Olivia Solon takes an in-depth look at Syria’s volunteer rescue workers, the white helmets, and investigates why they became victims of an online propaganda machine. The Russia-backed campaign to link the volunteer rescuers with al-Qaida was a textbook example of how conspiracy theories take root online and spread like wildfire. “This is the heart of Russian propaganda,” says David Patrikarakos, an expert on social media propaganda. “In the old days they would try and portray the Soviet Union as a model society. Now it’s about confusing every issue with so many narratives that people can’t recognise the truth when they see it.”

What’s he done now?

Donald Trump managed to turn the Washington state train crash into another firestorm on Twitter, initially failing to refer to the victims. Hours after the crash he tweeted: “The train accident that just occurred in DuPont, WA shows more than ever why our soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly. Seven trillion dollars spent in the Middle East while our roads, bridges, tunnels, railways (and more) crumble! Not for long!” Ten minutes later he remembered to add that “thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved”.

Media roundup

Facebook Twitter Pinterest West Australian front wrap

The major newspapers all go big on Australia’s Ashes victory, with crowing headlines such as “No contest, Ashes bragging rights urned”, at the Australian, “The Ashes reclaimed! Long may we reign over them” at the Sydney Morning Herald, and “We urned it” at the West Australian. The Hobart Mercury reports on the deepening crisis surrounding the state health minister, Michael Ferguson, who faces accusations that he misled an upper house committee over the existence of a confidential report which criticised the Tasmanian health service executive and recommended a long list of improvements. And SBS has an interactive feature exploring Indigenous people’s relationship with the sky and stars, and the observation skills passed down by generations.

Coming up

The prime minister is expected to announce details of a cabinet reshuffle, with George Brandis likely to be off to London to take up the post of high commissioner.

The auditor general is due to report on the effectiveness of electronic Medicare claims.

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