Morning mail: Labor wants inquiry on cladding Monday: An urgent hearing is needed into building cladding in Australia, says Labor senator Chris Ketter. Plus: bushfires in Portugal have killed more than 60 people Grenfell Tower. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Eleanor Ainge Roy @EleanorAingeRoy Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Monday 19 June. This is the first of a new-look morning mail for Guardian Australia and we hope you like it. Top stories Labor will call for an urgent public hearing examining building cladding material in Australia in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy in London last week. . Theresa May government's announced an emergency payment of £5,500 each for the families affected by the Grenfell fire, but the aid money has done little to quell public anger over the government's handling of the tragedy, and the years of state and council neglect which contributed to the blaze. With Brexit talks scheduled to begin today, political correspondent Andrew Sparrow says May's credibility is damaged beyond repair after criticism of supposedly unsympathetic response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Though threats of an imminent to her leadership from within her own party are over-stated, Sparrow says last week goes down as the worst of her career. A forest fire in Portugal has killed at least 60 people with some burning alive in their cars as they were unable to escape the flames. Hundreds of firefighters were called up to battle the ferocious fire on the Iberian peninsula, which has been sweltering under a severe heat wave. Dry thunderstorms are one possible cause of the fires, and three days of mourning has been declared in Portugal. Malcolm Turnbull is being pressured to explain why he endorsed criticism of the Victorian judiciary by three of his ministers last week – interventions which have now exposed them to contempt charges. In a radio interview last Thursday, Turnbull said the courts of justice "are not immune from public criticism". French president Emmanuel Macron's new centrist movement has won a large majority in the French parliament. Macron's fledgling "neither right nor left" political movement, La République en Marche (LREM), and its smaller centrist ally Democratic Movement (MoDem) will have a relatively free rein to implement his plans to change French labour law, and overhaul unemployment benefits and pensions. Turnout was low, however, at an estimated 43%, tempering Macron's triumph. The shortlist for the $60,000 Miles Franklin literary award has been announced and includes five first time nominees: Emily Maguire, Mark O'Flynn, Ryan O'Neill, Philip Salom and Josephine Wilson. Judge Richard Neville said: "None of these novels draw on familiar tropes of Australian literature – yet each brings a distinctive pitch of truth and insight into the Australian experience." Sport A fired-up Pakistan have beaten India by 180 runs, claiming the Champions Trophy with mesmerising ease. India subsided against a team ranked No8 in the world, who they had crushed just over a fortnight ago. Following their stunning defeat to Scotland over the weekend, it appears the Wallabies are clueless when there is a deviation from pre-conceived scenarios – and that does not reflect well on the coach, Michael Cheika, writes Rajiv Maharaj. Thinking time Behind the scenes at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. May/June 2017. Photo by Jonny Weeks for The Guardian. Photograph: Jonny Weeks for the Guardian Our picture editor Jonny Weeks spends quality time with the animals and keepers at Taronga zoo. In a special photo essay Weeks roams behind-the-scenes, photographing pgymy hippos and red pandas as they settle into their new home among Taronga's resident 4000 animals and 110 zookeepers. Luke Buckmaster meets Ronny Chieng, star of ABC's Ronny Chieng: International Student, and senior correspondent on the Daily Show. "The Daily Show forced me out of my comfort zone," Chieng says. "Granted, I have the easiest job in the world, playing myself. But there's some stuff in this show I couldn't have pulled off if you had asked me to do it even a few years ago, acting and writing wise." Vietnamese refugee Tuan Nguyen went from washing dishes at St Vincent's Hospital to researching osteoporosis and bone fractures there as a professor. "I just needed one chance, that chance to get a job and to work," says Nguyen, in an interview with Ben Doherty at the start of refugee week. "That sort of contact helped me to learn the way of life in Australia." What's he done now? A member of Donald Trump's legal team has denied he is under investigation for obstrution of justice, even though the president himself tweeted that he is. Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, appeared across the major political talk shows on Sunday, contradicting the president's tweet on the matter: "I'm being investigated for firing the FBI director by the man who told me to fire the FBI director. Witch hunt." Media roundup The Sydney Morning Herald says billionaire Huang Xiangmo's political influence has extended directly into the NSW parliament. The Daily Telegraph asks why Clive Palmer has splashed out on a luxury Mediterranean cruise at the same time he's fighting multiple court cases in Australia. The Australian reveals the education minister is on the verge of locking in enough Senate crossbench votes with the support of One ­Nation to drive his $18.6 billion Gonski 2.0 reforms through parliament this week, while The Washington Post has a long dispatch from the rural town of Belleville, home to James T. Hodgkinson, who travelled to Washington last week to shoot republicans at a baseball practice, before being shot dead by police. Coming up Hearings resume in the Northern Territory royal commission into juvenile detention in Darwin. Australia's footballers take on Germany in their first match at the Confederations Cup in Sochi, Russia. Follow our live blog from midnight AEST. Support the Guardian It might take a minute to catch up on the news, but good journalism takes time and money. If you already support Guardian Australia, your generosity is invaluable. If not, and you value what we do, please become a Supporter today. Thanks. Guardian News & Media Limited - a member of Guardian Media Group PLC. Registered Office: Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU. Registered in England No. 908396