Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 9 January. Top stories Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is facing renewed scrutiny over his company's business deals with China and Israel. The US's top financial watchdog is looking into an investment-for-visa program run by the Kushner family's real estate company in China, and questions have also been raised about his business dealings in Israel. The Kushner real estate company has reportedly entered into business relationships with Israeli financial institutions since Jared Kushner sought to establish himself as the Trump administration's Middle East peace broker. According to the New York Times Kushner's company received an investment nearing $30m from Menora Mivtachim, one of Israel's largest insurers, in the spring of 2017, shortly before the president and his son-in-law visited the country. Kushner has also taken out at least four loans from Bank Hapoalim, Israel's largest bank and currently under a US Department of Justice criminal investigation. A White House spokesperson denied that government ethics laws had been broken in the Menora Mivtachim deal. "We have tremendous confidence in the job Jared is doing leading our peace efforts and he takes the ethics rules very seriously and would never compromise himself or the administration." Both developments contribute to concern that Kushner's White House role is compromised by the family's foreign business dealings. Rising temperatures are turning almost all green sea turtles in a Great Barrier Reef population female, new research has found. The scientific paper, published in Current Biology, warned the skewed ratio could threaten the population's future. It examined two genetically distinct populations of turtles on the reef, and found the northern group of about 200,000 animals was overwhelmingly female – 99.1% of juveniles, 99.8% of subadults and 86.8% of adults. Sea turtles are among species with temperature-dependent sex determination and the proportion of female hatchlings increases when nests are in warmer sands. India may be on track for a major victory for gay rights after the supreme court agreed to re-examine a colonial-era law outlawing sex between men. Section 377, modelled on a 16th-century British law, bans "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal", and is punishable by life imprisonment. The supreme court observed in 2013 that fewer than 200 people had been convicted of homosexual acts under the legislation, but activists claim it is regularly used to blackmail and intimidate LBGTI Indians, and stymie HIV/Aids prevention efforts. Harish Iyer, an activist, said he was "cautiously optimistic" that the court would scrap the 150-year-old law. New South Wales Labor narrowly led the Berejiklian government 51% to 49% in Guardian Essential polls covering the last three months of 2017. The results for October to December also show incumbent Labor governments hold narrow leads in Victoria and South Australia, while those in Western Australia and Queensland have big leads after the 2017 state elections. The poll found Labor had a primary vote of 39% in NSW (up 4.9% since the 2015 election), the Coalition had 40% support (down 5.6%) and the Greens 9% (down 1.3%). It is the first time Labor has led on the two-party preferred measure since the 2015 state election, reversing a 51% to 49% deficit in the previous three-month average. If practice makes perfect, the wedding of Ron van Houwelingen and Antony McManus should go off without a hitch. The couple have committed to each other at 16 unofficial wedding ceremonies, but this will be their first legal marriage, and one of the first in Australia since marriage equality was legalised in December. Although a few gay weddings have occurred with special dispensation, the 30-day waiting period to marry after lodging official notice means most same-sex couples have had to wait until today to tie the knot. Sport After mixed performances in the Brisbane International (Ashleigh Barty losing in the first round and Nick Kyrgios taking the men's title), the pair remain Australia's best hope for major grand slam damage on home soil. With Daria Gavrilova hot on Barty's heels and Thanasi Kokkinakis and Alex de Minaur emerging, Australia boasts the strongest grand slam contingent for some time, and will benefit from an increasingly open draw, writes Val Febbo. Guardian sports writers Ali Martin and Adam Collins rank the the Ashes players of 2017-18, with Dawid Malan and Jimmy Anderson the only tourists to impress, while Steve Smith completed a Bradman-esque series and Australia's pace attack shone. Thinking time |
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