Good morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 28 August.

Top stories

Aboriginal leaders have called for an immediate review of the “absolutely unacceptable” numbers of Indigenous deaths in custody, following the launch of Guardian Australia’s Deaths Inside project which tracks all such deaths since 2008 – 147 of them. At least 407 Indigenous people have died in custody since the end of the 1991 royal commission into deaths in custody.

“Our people are dying in custody under circumstances that often appear to be entirely preventable,” social justice commissioner June Oscar said. “I am deeply concerned about the reported lack of access to medical care, and about deaths in custody of people suffering mental health and cognitive impairments. These are not just statistics, they are the human stories of what happens as a result of government inaction.” Despite the royal commission recommendations, these statistics are not recorded in a way that makes them easy to access – here’s why we created the database.

Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed he will resign from parliament on Friday, triggering a byelection in the Sydney seat of Wentworth and potentially calling into question the Coalition government’s one-seat majority. A Guardian Essential poll has confirmed the public’s negative reaction to Turnbull’s ousting with Labor moving 10 points ahead of the Coalition. Of those who responded, 58% disapproved or strongly disapproved with the leadership coup, with 57% agreeing with the statement “the Liberal party is divided and no longer fit to govern Australia”.

Myanmar’s military has been accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, in a damning report by United Nations investigators. The military’s actions in the northern state of Rakhine are believed to have caused the deaths of 25,000 people, with 700,000 Muslim Rohingya fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh. The armed forces are accused of killing indiscriminately, gang-raping women, assaulting children and burning entire villages in Rakhine, actions which investigators say meet the legal threshold to be considered genocide.

Politicians have “no real appetite” to address the drought and are ignoring its links to climate change, the former president of the National Farmer’s Federation has said. As Scott Morrison toured drought-affected areas in Queensland, Brent Finlay accused politicians of “jumping in front of the cameras” while shirking the responsibility of creating a drought white paper. “Climate change and connectivity are the two biggest issues facing the bush,” Finlay told Guardian Australia. “Climate change is real and we have to have a national drought policy framed on what we know about climate change – the two are interlinked.”



The writing skills of Australian children have declined, with Naplan tests showing that those students completing the test online have fared better in some sections than children using pencil and paper. The percentage of children meeting the minimum standards for writing has declined from 95.3% in 2011 to 94.4% in 2018. But the head of the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, Rob Randall, said the results are comparable: “The difference may be due to students at this year level having greater confidence writing online than on paper.”



Sport

Unrest over José Mourinho’s tenure at Manchester United has been raised another notch after his side were humiliated 3-0 at home by Tottenham in the Premier League. Lucas Moura scored twice and Harry Kane once to continue United’s miserable start to the season.

The US Open has started in dramatic fashion with world No1 Simona Halep crashing out, going down 6-2, 6-4 to Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi. Australia’s James Duckworth took the first set against the returning Andy Murray, but ultimately went down 6-7, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.



Thinking time

There is growing political will to end family violence, and yet there remains no systematic national approach to the problem, writes Rosie Batty. Given that three times as many Australian women have experienced family violence than are smokers, Batty wonders whether a co-ordinated national approach to the issue could learn from the success of the 1985 Quit campaign, which helped reduce smoking rates by 60%. “Ending family violence will not happen overnight,” Batty says. “It requires deep commitment and considerable funds nationally and in every state over the long term. It will take acknowledgement across our entire community that equality and respect across gender is not only a right for all, but fundamental to tackling the scourge that is family violence.”

Yassmin Abdel-Magied once had a degree in engineering, a job on an oil rig, a burgeoning career in broadcasting and dreamed of working in Formula One. Then it all went up in flames. In a moving speech at Melbourne Writers Festival on Sunday, she explained how on a recent trip home to Brisbane she found herself overcome by an unexpected feeling. Why did her childhood home suddenly feel like a foreign country? Where did this unexpected sense of loss come from? Was it just her shattered career – or was she grieving something else?



Sobriety has a stern, preachy reputation – but is it possible to flick the bottle without jettisoning all your friends? Catherine Gray, the author of The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, thinks so, even if giving up was like pawning a bejewelled party dress. “Drinking is not socially essential. I am living proof,” says Gray, “as are millions of others, that you can be 100% teetotal and have an infinitely more interesting social life. My going-out money no longer gets snaffled by endless bottles of house white at the pub, so I can explore other pursuits.”

What’s he done now?

Donald Trump has signalled his intent to tear up Nafta and negotiate new trade deals with both Mexico and Canada, despite presumed opposition from incoming Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The president also praised Tiger Woods for his defiance of what he calls the “fake news” media.

Media roundup

The West Australian reports that the state is on the cusp of “a $9bn-a-year jobs bonanza” with a Norwegian company exploring the possibility of a major LNG works that could create up to 45,000 jobs in the state.

A new blood test could make diagnosing cancer as easy as undergoing a pregnancy test, the Herald Sun reports, with scientists hoping the test could become cost-effective within a decade.

And the Sydney Morning Herald reports that a blueprint for Sydney Airport proposes that international flights use the domestic terminal and an surrounding roads should be overhauled as the city faces a surge in overseas visitors over the next decades.

Coming up

New ministers will be sworn in as Scott Morrison continues his attempt to rebuild Liberal party unity.

Hearings continue at the Murray-Darling royal commission in Adelaide.

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