Good morning, Graham Russell here picking up the morning mail baton to bring you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 31 August. Top stories Senator Derryn Hinch faces questions over his eligibility after he admitted having a US social security number, and being entitled to a US pension. Hinch, who says he gained the number during time working in New York as a journalist, will seek advice from the solicitor general. He said he paid social security tax for a decade, and income tax, which gives him an entitlement to a pension. "That's not a privilege, it's a payment for tax I paid in the 1960s and 1970s," he said. If the crossbencher ends up in the high court, he will join the two Greens (Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters), three government ministers (Barnaby Joyce, Fiona Nash and Matt Canavan), the One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts, and Nick Xenophon, the leader of the NXT. The query over Hinch follows the constitutional law expert George Williams predicting on Wednesday that all the parliamentarians before the high court were in trouble. Williams, who is the dean of law at UNSW, told the National Press Club that "on the current law it is difficult to see ... that any of the seven parliamentarians who will face the high court are likely to survive that challenge". The governor of Texas has said the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey has affected a bigger area than Hurricane Katrina and that federal help should be "well in excess" of outlays for the historic 2005 disaster. Hundreds of people were feared cut off by floodwaters on Wednesday as Harvey spared Houston overnight but moved east, inundating the industrial Texas cities of Beaumont and Port Arthur before making landfall again in south-west Louisiana. Follow all the latest developments in our liveblog. A former Obama administration official says he believes the Trump administration has given Australia tacit approval to move ahead with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, despite the president disavowing and dumping the agreement as one of his first acts in office. Matthew Goodman, who served as White House coordinator for Asia-Pacific economic cooperation in the previous administration, said he believed the Trump administration had given Australia licence to "just keep the seat warm for the United States". Goodman said the US in the Trump era had to look for "workarounds" given it had enduring interests, both economic and strategic, in this region. States and territories are powering ahead with policies that will meet Australia's internationally agreed greenhouse gas emission targets. Despite being chastised by the federal government for unilateral action, South Australia is showing the way, with the ACT and Tasmania not far behind, according to a report by the Climate Council. Compared on measures including penetration of renewable energy, the percentage of households with solar, as well as emissions and renewable energy targets, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and New South Wales are at the back of the pack, with Victoria and Queensland in the middle. The federal government did not know the length of waiting lists for local drug treatment services when it chose three trial sites to drug test welfare recipients, an inquiry has been told. Ministers plan to drug test 5,000 welfare recipients in Logan, Queensland, Bankstown-Canterbury in Sydney, and Mandurah in Western Australia. Welfare recipients will be referred for treatment after two failed tests, and risk having their welfare cut off if they fail to engage with drug services. A Senate inquiry into the government's welfare reforms heard on Wednesday the government did not have specific data on waiting lists for drug treatment services in the three trial sites before they were chosen.
Sport It's day three of the US Open and a bad day for Nick Kyrgios, who has been knocked out in the first round by John Millman. "Happy for you, good luck," says Kyrgios to his fellow Aussie, ranked 152 in the world. That's sporting, but one of the most talked about players in men's tennis won't be talked about as a contender for the title any more. You can follow events live here. Meanwhile, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal faced contrasting challenges in the first round, writes Kevin Mitchell at Flushing Meadows. The Socceroos can book their ticket to Russia when they meet Japan in a crucial World Cup qualifier tonight. Three points at Saitama Stadium would see Ange Postecoglou's side qualify automatically; a point would leave them still well-placed to make it with just one game – against Thailand – to come. Join Richard Gadsby on our liveblog from 7.45pm AEST, for a 8.35pm AEST kick-off. Thinking time |
Social media has provided a learning curve for one photographer who shot a stock picture that, years later, has become the meme of the moment. "I didn't even know what a meme is until recently," said Antonio Guillem of the "distracted boyfriend" photograph, which features one smirking man and two women – one being ogled (in a red = alluring danger dress), the other visibly put out. It has now become such a widespread vehicle for pretty much any point you want to pick that the models' faces are now being used out of context. Perhaps in answer to its enduring appeal, model "Laura" says: "I think everyone once in their lives has been the girl in the red dress; maybe without being looked at with such brazenness." For both women and men in the workforce the progress of 30 years has hit a peak and full-time work is dissipating. But for women the implications are graver, writes Greg Jericho. Where women have increasingly taken on full-time work, now the desire to work full-time is increasingly outstripping the work available – which is why there is now a record level of women aged 15-35 who are underemployed. The problems that lie ahead for young men and women are somewhat different, though sadly neither is all that positive for the millennial generation.
Xan Brooks has assessed the opening of the Venice film festival and has been convinced: the best things come in small packages. He refers to Downsizing, featuring a 12-centimetre Matt Damon, a five-star masterpiece that he describes as a "gorgeous, giddy parable of a modern-day Lilliput". What's he done now? Donald Trump has applied his diplomatic blowtorch to the nuclear stand-off in North Korea, saying the US has been paying the regime "extortion money" for years and that "talking is not the answer". It is the latest piece of rhetoric to emerge after the US president said on Tuesday that "all options are on the table". Media roundup The Sydney Morning Herald says Christopher Pyne's seat could be imperilled by a redraw of boundaries based on population data. It says ABC election analyst Antony Green believes the Labor seat of Makin could be abolished and Labor voters might be absorbed into the minister's seat of Sturt. The redistribution might cost the Coalition three seats overall. The Daily Telegraph whipped its graphics team into chiselling out a statue of Anthony Albanese and holding him up as a "monument to reason" after the Labor frontbencher spoke out on the colonisation debate. Albanese said there were "far greater issues facing the First Australians than what's on a statue". The West Australian has part six, yes part six, of its free Diana magazine. Coming up NBN CEO Bill Morrow is to present the network's corporate plan for 2018-2021 at a briefing and the Bureau of Meteorology will release its outlook for spring and its analysis of winter. Refugee supporters are to protest in Sydney, focusing on the recent move by the government to cut support from 100 refugees brought from Manus Island and Nauru for medical assistance. Supporting the Guardian We'd like to acknowledge our generous supporters who enable us to keep reporting on the critical stories. If you value what we do and would like to help, please make a contribution or become a supporter today. Thank you. |
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Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian 
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