Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 17 August. Top stories Two former US presidents have become the latest Republicans to denounce racial bigotry and speak out against the violence of the far right. George HW Bush and George W Bush issued an unusual joint statement that condemned "racial bigotry, antisemitism and hatred" as Donald Trump faced a growing backlash over his defence of those who took part in the far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The father and son did not mention Trump by name but their rare combined intervention was a clear display of concern about the president's reluctance to rebuke the extremists. On Wednesday Trump was also forced to disband two White House business councils after several resignations by chief executives threatened to cascade into an embarrassing avalanche. Trump announced his decision on Twitter: "Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council and Strategy and Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!" The ABC chairman has underlined the importance of the broadcaster's independence and declared that ABC-bashing will not solve the problems faced by commercial media outlets, as the Turnbull government's media package hangs in the balance. Justin Milne was in Canberra on Wednesday night as part of the national broadcaster's annual showcase in Parliament House and took the opportunity to send politicians a clear message as the horse trading intensified behind the scenes. Milne said Australia had benefited from a dual-media system for 85 years, with public broadcasting existing alongside commercial media. "This media environment has ensured vibrancy and diversity for the good of all Australians," he said. The City of Yarra council in Melbourne has been stripped of the power to hold citizenship ceremonies by the federal government after councillors voted unanimously to stop referring to 26 January as Australia Day and to stop holding a citizenship ceremony on that day. Alex Hawke, the assistant immigration minister, announced the decision after Malcolm Turnbull declared in parliament that the council's vote was "utterly out of step with Australian values". "They are seeking to take a day which unites Australia and turn it into one which divides it," the prime minister said. "To change the date of Australia Day would be to turn our back on Australian values." The Victorian Liberal moderate Russell Broadbent has called for "genuine refugees" in offshore detention to be settled permanently on the Australian mainland once the US resettlement deal has run its course. Broadbent signalled his intention to break ranks with government policy in a short speech to parliament just before question time, saying it was "time for this parliament to act to resolve the situation on Manus and Nauru". The veteran Liberal, who has campaigned within the Liberal party and across party lines on behalf of asylum seekers, referenced a column from Guardian Australia's David Marr as the prompt for him to call for a permanent resolution. "If only Christians fought like this for refugees," Marr wrote last week. "Imagine if the Coalition's big men of faith threatened to tear down their own government unless it brings home the wretches we've imprisoned in the Pacific. Surely there couldn't be a greater service for Christ?" The "most bizarre dinosaur ever found" may have solved a piece of the complex puzzle of dinosaur evolution. An unusual vegetarian dinosaur with the silhouette of a flesh-ripping velociraptor, whose fossilised remains were unearthed in southern Chile 13 years ago, could upend a longstanding classification of all dinsosaurs. Initially classified in the theropod category, the kangaroo-sized Chilesaurus diegosuarezi was always an awkward fit. "We realised that it was not a strange, early plant-eating theropod, but rather a strange plant-eating animal that was an offshoot of this other group, ornithischia," one of the co-researchers said. The new affiliation has major implications and is shaking up the dinosaur world. Read here to find out why. Sport Simon Orchard, the Australian Olympic hockey player, has opened up on his struggles about "transitioning" from elite sport to the "real world". Nothing can replace the joy sport brings, he writes, and establishing a new identity in a world without what had previously defined you has taken its toll on his mental health. Cristiano Ronaldo has called his five-match ban for pushing a referee "exaggerated and ridiculous" and says he is being persecuted after failing to have the sanction overturned on appeal. A Spanish football federation committee dismissed an appeal, meaning Ronaldo missed Wednesday night's Supercopa return leg against Barça and will miss upcoming La Liga games against Deportivo La Coruña, Valencia, Levante and Real Sociedad. He has not taken the news well, venting his frustration on social media. Thinking time | 
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Donald Trump has come under fire from Republicans unhappy at his comments about Charlottesville. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images 
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