Good morning, this is Mike Ticher, standing in for Eleanor Ainge Roy, bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 5 December. Top stories Two of the ABC's flagship radio current affairs programs will be halved in length as part of a radical reshaping of afternoon and evening radio, the broadcaster's staff were told at a meeting on Monday. PM and The World Today will become 30-minute programs from 22 January under the new plans, and the Business PM slot will be axed, employees were told by Tanya Nolan, the managing editor of audio current affairs. The reductions will make space for a new "entertaining" national program on ABC Local Radio hosted by the former Triple J presenter Myf Warhurst, which is designed to attract 30- to 40-year-olds with a "lighter" offering. Nolan, who also oversees RN Breakfast, AM, Background Briefing and RN Drive, told staff the shortened programs "would leave the audience wanting more". The rationale behind the changes is understood to be research showing significant increases in audiences consuming on-demand audio and digital content and a drop in the numbers listening to linear broadcasts on the ABC. The under-55 audience was not coming to the ABC as it once did, and something had to be done to reverse the trend, staff were told. The citizenship saga focuses on House of Representatives members today, after yesterday's declarations by senators revealed Labor's Katy Gallagher as the latest MP likely to face a high court referral. But proving citizenship credentials has been uniquely troubling for one overlooked group of parliamentarians. Indigenous MPs have told Guardian Australia the process resurfaced a "legacy of hurt and pain" by reminding them that previous governments never registered their relatives' births or recognised them as citizens. Linda Burney, a Wiradjuri woman, said being forced to justify her place in Australia again was "gut-wrenching". Burney did not become a citizen until she was 10, and had to search through old Aboriginal Protection Board records to find a document written by her grandfather requesting permission to build a home. "I have been made to feel quite angry about what I had to go through," Burney said. Expectations of a Brexit deal between the UK and European Union have been dashed after a frantic day of negotiations in Brussels. The parties had appeared confident of an agreement, but the increasingly thorny issue of the Irish border proved the stumbling block. It appeared that the Democratic Unionist party, whose votes are keeping Theresa May's government in power, refused to accept compromise language that they perceived meant Northern Ireland would be given a different status from the rest of the UK in order to avoid a hard border with the Republic of Ireland. European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker insisted his talks with Theresa May had not failed, but the UK prime minister told reporters "some differences do remain". Most voters would not change their intentions at the next election if there was a change of leadership of the Liberal party, the latest Guardian Essential poll has found. Among those sampled, 18% said a change would make them more likely to vote for the government at the next election, 13% said less likely, and 54% said it would make no difference. The poll suggests Malcolm Turnbull remains the top choice as Liberal leader, although his support has dropped 4% since August, and the foreign minister, Julie Bishop, is only just behind the prime minister on a ranking of six named contenders. Turnbull attracted 21% support and Bishop 19%, but 15% nominated "someone else" and 27% replied "don't know". The civil war in Yemen has taken a dramatic new turn after Houthi rebels backed by Iran killed the former president, punishing him for switching sides and seeking peace with Saudi Arabia. Pictures of the corpse of Ali Abdullah Saleh appeared on Houthi-run television after the militia claimed it had killed him as he fled the capital, Sana'a, on Monday. He had ruled Yemen for more than 30 years but was forced to resign in 2011 during the Arab spring. Houthi military officials said Saleh was killed as he and other top party leaders were travelling from Sana'a to his hometown of Sanhan. Gruesome video of his blood-spattered body was distributed on social media. Sport England still have a faint pulse in the second Test in Adelaide, after a mesmerising spell of bowling from James Anderson under the lights helped reduce the hosts to 53-4 in their second innings. But Australia still lead by a mammoth 268, having bludgeoned England's batsmen to a feeble total of 227, with only Craig Overton offering sustained resistance. On Friday, Tyler Wright became the first woman since Stephanie Gilmore to win back-to-back world surfing titles. She told the Guardian none of it would have been possible without the influence of her tight-knit family, including brother Owen and coach Glenn "Micro" Hall, who convinced her to give professional surfing a chance. In surfing, the once-indecisive Wright has found her happy place. Thinking time |
Is it acceptable to have a dead pet stuffed, or used as a rug? Or indeed a drone? With no established way to mourn the loss of a loved animal, pet owners have turned to any number of curious methods, writes Anne Perkins. We make desirable items out of leather, admire stuffed animals in natural history museums and pass the mounted head of a stag without a second glance – so why does turning a pet into an animal skin seem so ... wrong? Recently, two Queensland paramedics fulfilled the wish of a terminally ill patient to see the beach one last time. The photo that captured the moment received attention worldwide. Ranjana Srivastava says so many people were touched by it because it reminded us of the things in medicine that we hold dear but routinely struggle to deliver, such as love, compassion and humanity. "What do most people ask for at the end of life? Peace. Dignity. Kindness. This is what the two paramedics gave their patient. This is why the world is applauding them – for filling in the gaps that medicine strives to fill."
Australian consumers often bemoan the lack of competition in banking, supermarket and petrol retail sectors. But a report from the Grattan Institute suggests the effects on the economy are less damaging than many people think, even though consumers still deserve greater protection, writes Greg Jericho. The report argues that large firms are not unusually dominant in Australia given the size of its economy, and even in the supermarket sector – one of the most concentrated among high-income countries – new entrants to the market are making a difference. What's he done now? Donald Trump – or at least whoever is writing his tweets today – has again implored voters to get behind the accused child molester Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate race, citing the "Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts" among other reasons. Trump directed a touching personal message on the taxes to each of his 44 million Twitter followers. "With the great vote on Cutting Taxes, this could be a big day for the Stock Market - and YOU!", he wrote. Media roundup Many papers focus on the events inside and outside the Milo Yiannopoulos event in Melbourne last night. The Herald Sun gives full exposure to the scenes in the street, where factions oddly described as "left-wing protesters and residents" clashed, while the Age says Yiannopoulos "took aim at his usual suspects" in an expletive-laden performance. In Sydney, the SMH takes a look at the rather wonderful sculpture of old wooden escalators that has been installed at Wynyard station. And the Courier-Mail breathlessly promises a result in the Queensland election – by the end of the week. Coming up Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm will host the controversial US commentator Milo Yiannopoulos in Parliament House's Mural Hall today, despite an attempt by the Greens to have the event cancelled. Attention will once again focus on citizenship in Canberra after the 9am deadline for MPs to lodge paperwork showing they have renounced any potential dual citizenship. 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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Myf Warhurst has been brought in to help ABC radio appeal to a younger audience. Photograph: ABC 
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