Morning Mail: Ashby's Pyne claims, Ukraine ceasefire breached, Abbott's anniversary
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Version 0 of 1. Good morning folks, and welcome to the Morning Mail – sign up here to get it straight to your inbox before 8am every weekday. Ukraine Shelling and shots have been fired in Mariupol, with both Ukraine and rebel forces blaming each other for breaking the ceasefire. Explosions were also reported in Donetsk, after the official Twitter account of rebels there said its forces were “taking Mariupol”, but later accused Kiev of attacking first. Russia has warned of its reaction if the EU imposes further economic sanctions against it over the crisis; the sanctions are expected to come in later today. Tony Abbott denied last week that Australia is considering sending military trainers and advisers to Ukraine. One year on Tony Abbott has made an anniversary pledge to use the remainder of his term to “protect the vulnerable” and build a stronger economy. At the same time, he insisted no election promises have been broken. Our Canberra team takes a look at Abbott’s first year in office, and political editor Lenore Taylor writes on how the public’s trust was won and lost. Australian news and politics • James Ashby – the staffer who made a sexual harassment claim against former speaker Peter Slipper – has claimed he was promised a lawyer and a job by Christopher Pyne before he made his allegations public, adding that Pyne said he would call him “a pathological liar” if he mentioned the discussion. • The site of a horrific explosion in Rozelle on Thursday which killed three people has been declared a crime scene and closed to the public. • Australia and Malaysia want to revisit the MH17 crash site to recover any human remains and gather more evidence to build a criminal case. • A section of broken surfboard matching the description of one used by missing Australian Peter Maynard has been handed in to Indonesian police. • Australian election guru Lynton Crosby is under fire for lobbying a British minister against plain packaging for cigarettes days before he was hired as campaign director for the Conservatives. Around the world • US president Obama says he will reveal a strategy to take on Islamic State this week, but stresses it will not be a repeat of the previous Iraq war. • In Britain, the campaign against Scottish independence is making a last stand to keep the union, after the first poll showing the yes campaign in the lead. • An Ebola vaccine trial has protected monkeys for 10 months, raising hopes that human trials could produce a vaccine to protect health workers and contain future outbreaks; there are fears that a coming lockdown in Sierra Leone could worsen the spread of the disease rather than containing it. • Doubts have emerged over how a black man was shot dead by police in an Ohio Walmart last month.• Serena Williams faces off against Caroline Wozniacki in the US Open women’s final - we have live coverage. More from around the internet • Among the most viewed on the Guardian this morning: influential playwright Sam Shepard on the diminishing global role of the US, and the deaths of his friends Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Williams. • Hundreds of military personnel are suspected of committing sexual offences over the past few years, including dozens of cases of child grooming and child abuse images, the Australian reports. • Foreign minister Julie Bishop has warned that destroying Islamic State entirely will be “impossible”, and that it may become a long-term threat, Fairfax reports. • Vietnamese asylum seekers in detention on Christmas Island say they were mobbed in a targeted attack on Friday night, the ABC reports. • China’s visiting foreign minister has made a dig at the Abbott government, saying his country “may not be Australia’s closest friend at the moment”, the SMH reports. • The next generation of Australian submarines is all but certain to be built in Japan, a move that will strike a major blow to South Australia’s defence industry, the Advertiser reports. One last thing Artist Laura Dodsworth’s anonymous interviews and images of breasts without airbrushing: “I found that, while breasts are interesting in themselves, they are also catalysts for discussing relationships, body image and ageing. I realised that this had become an exploration of what it means to be a woman.” Have an excellent day – and if you spot anything I’ve missed, let me know in the comments here or on Twitter @newsmary. Sign up Get the Morning Mail direct to your inbox before 8am every day by signing up here. |