Morning Mail: Scotland referendum countdown, US could put troops in Iraq, At the Movies axed
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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. Scottish independence referendum Labour leader Ed Miliband was forced to abandon a chaotic walkabout in Edinburgh on Tuesday after being verbally abused and jostled by yes supporters. All three leaders of the UK’s main political parties have issued a joint pledge -’the vow’ - to give Scottish parliament extensive new powers if Scotland voters reject independence. We have a live blog following all of Tuesday’s events, including reaction to leaders’ Scotland ‘vow’, as each side makes last-minute pitches to win votes, and a catalogue of errors that has brought UK to this point. Maclean in northern New South Wales lays claim to being Australia’s ‘Scottish town’, but what do the tartan-loving locals make of Scotland’s bid for independence? Australian news and politics • Ken Wyatt, the Liberal MP who chairs committee on constitutional recognition of Indigenous people, has broken ranks with Tony Abbott by calling for an early referendum. • Australia should consider increasing its overall refugee intake as part of the debate over the humanitarian crisis in Iraq and Syria, Bill Shorten says. • Voters mark Tony Abbott highly for ‘relations with other countries’, but nothing else. • A proposal for a mosque in Currumbin has been voted down by Gold Coast councillors, to cheers of “go the rednecks”. • Joe Hockey says ‘appalling’ windfarms are a blight on the Australian landscapeas his government considers gutting the renewable energy sector. • Incarceration rates for Indigenous women have soaredas government funding cuts loom for Indigenous legal and family violence prevention services. Around the world • US ground troops may join Iraqis in combat against Isis as Pentagon officials refuse to rule out a greater role for US ‘advisers’. • Police have released CCTV footage as they hunt for the killers of two British tourists who were brutally bashed to death in Thailand. • The International Whaling Commission is set to extend the Japanese whaling ban as New Zealand proposes strict conditions to future scientific permits. • Nasa says August was the hottest on record worldwide since records began 130 years ago. • A proposed EU integration deal that led to revolution and the current crisis has now been ratified by Ukraine’s parliament, as it grants wide-ranging autonomy to eastern regions. More from around the web • Among the most read on the Guardian this morning, Chelsea Manning – whose leaked war logs documented the rise of Isis – on how to defeat Isis by making it fall on its own sword. • The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Australian coal exporters could lose billions as China changes coal import rules, limiting ‘dirty’ coal in a bid to improve air quality. • Almost two years after Jill Meagher was killed while walking home, the local council still hasn’t installed CCTV cameras as promised,the Herald Sun reports. • The AWU wants the aluminium sector to be exempt from the renewable energy target, which will put pressure on Labor to negotiate an RET deal with the Coalition, The Australian reports. One last thing Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton, Australia’s best-known film reviewing partnership, will call it a day after 28 years. The duo are ‘the head and heart of Australian film culture’. We reveal their most divisive films on At the Movies, including the only six films that ever achieved a rating of five stars from both Margaret and David. Have an excellent day – and if you spot anything I’ve missed, let me know on Twitter @earleyedition. Sign up Get the Morning Mail direct to your inbox before 8am every day by signing up here. |