Good afternoon. The hunt to identify the origin of Covid took a twist today, with the US president, Joe Biden, ordering the release of intelligence on potential links between the virus and a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
“We need to get to the bottom of Covid-19’s origins … including potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Biden said in a statement. “In implementing this legislation, my administration will declassify and share as much of that information as possible.”
China strenuously rejects the idea that a lab leak unleashed the global pandemic that killed 6.7 million people and Biden’s move is likely to further complicate already fraught ties with Beijing.
On the weekend, scientists released new genetic data that found Covid-positive samples were rich in raccoon dog DNA, increasing the likelihood that the virus spread from a wildlife market in Wuhan. But that still doesn’t disprove the lab leak theory, experts say.
“That would require the demonstration that such animals were infected prior to their arrival and display at the Huanan seafood market, something that may never be possible,” a UK virologist said.
Top news
Labor MP breaks ranks on Aukus | Josh Wilson (pictured), the member for Fremantle, says he is not convinced Australia should pursue nuclear-powered submarines and that the cost and timeframes were likely to blow out. Adding to the doubt, the former Labor foreign minister Gareth Evans has written in the Guardian that the public deserves to know more than what the government has revealed so far. Dissenting voices within Labor’s ranks comes amid falling public support for Aukus.
RBA considering rate hike pause | The Reserve Bank minutes for the 7 March meeting were released this morning, with the board saying they had “agreed to reconsider the case for a pause at the following meeting”. A lot has happened since 7 March to bolster the case for a pause, such as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the US and the forced absorption of Credit Suisse into UBS.
NSW’s dull election race | Dominic Perrottet (pictured left) holds a slim lead over the New South Wales opposition leader, Chris Minns (pictured right), as preferred premier (36% to 33%), but neither party are exciting voters, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.
NDIS provider put revenue before clients | Afford, a non-profit national disability insurance provider, pursued a “single-minded” financial growth strategy at the expense of the safety of its clients, dished out “inappropriate” bonuses to staff and spent “large sums” on alcohol, the disability royal commission has found.
The Nationals’ ‘shocker’ vaping idea | The National party’s proposal to address rising youth vaping rates is to relax laws so retailers can sell the products to adults. The Australian Medical Association called the idea “a shocker”, saying that children are already buying from retailers despite age restrictions. The Nationals received a $22,000 donation from tobacco giant Phillip Morris in 2022.
Russian cruise missiles destroyed | An explosion in the Crimean city of Dzhankoi (pictured) destroyed Russian cruise missiles “as they were being transported by rail”, according to the Ukrainian defence ministry. Ihor Ivin, the Russia-installed head of the Dzhankoi administration, was quoted as saying the city was attacked by drones and that a 33-year-old man suffered shrapnel injury.
IMF bails out Sri Lanka | The International Monetary Fund has approved Sri Lanka’s request for a $2.9bn bailout, raising hopes for an easing of its economic crisis. Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt in April 2022 as it plunged into its worst economic downturn since independence, triggering mass protests that brought down the previous president.
London’s ‘racist’ police | The UK’s Metropolitan police is broken and rotten, is suffering collapsing public trust and is guilty of institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia, an official report has said.
JP Morgan and Deutsche ties to Jeffrey Epstein | The two major banks will face lawsuits in the US accusing them of knowingly benefiting from ties to the sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
In video
Why is Labor holding on to the stage-three tax cuts?
Guardian Australia political reporter Amy Remeikis examines why even after the government announced it was going to spend almost $400bn on submarines over the next 30 years, it is still willing to take $250bn out of the budget over the next 10 years to help wealthy Australians. Watch this eight-minute video.
What they said …
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“People like me do not need a tax cut, I can assure you. So please don’t give me one, because I don’t want one and anybody else that’s in the situation that I am shouldn’t be so greedy.” – Jacqui Lambie
The Tasmanian senator is making the case against the stage-three tax cuts.
In numbers
Finland, Denmark and Iceland round out the top three, while at the bottom of the happiness scale sit Sierra Leone, Lebanon and Afghanistan.
Before bed read
The IPCC’s “final warning” report on climate change, which says that no new fossil fuel projects could be opened if the world is serious about addressing the crisis, puts the Albanese government at odds with science. The government is refusing to ban new fossil fuels, despite calls from the Greens, the crossbench and now UN scientists to do exactly that.
“This is not a fringe position. It is a mainstream, globally agreed fact that is supported by nearly 200 countries,” writes Adam Morton, our climate and environment editor.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: OIL. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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