Your morning Briefing
Welcome to your morning roundup of what’s making news and the must-reads for today.
Good morning readers. Here is your two-minute digest of what’s making news today.
Dancing in the streets as Mugabe quits
Robert Mugabe has resigned as Zimbabwe’s president, swept from power as his 37-year reign of autocratic control and brutality crumbled within days of a military takeover. The move looks set to bring an end to Zimbabwe’s worst political crisis since the country won independence from Britain in 1980. The bombshell announcement was made by the Speaker at a special joint session of parliament which had convened to impeach the 93-year-old who has dominated every aspect of Zimbabwean public life for decades. On the streets, the news sparked an explosion of wild celebration. Car horns honked and people erupted into ecstatic cheers and frenzied dancing.
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May you live in interesting times
Australia has entered an uncertain chapter of its economic history, marked by meagre wage growth, intense global competition among retailers, high household debt and elevated house prices, the Reserve Bank governor has declared. In a speech in Sydney last night, Philip Lowe said automation and growing competition from foreign workers were sapping workers’ wages — now growing at their slowest pace in 50 years — and dragging down prices in ways that had confounded the Reserve Bank’s economists.
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Heads may roll in Bollywood
A price has been placed on the head of one of India’s biggest female film stars as Hindu nationalists become increasingly angry at the release of a Bollywood blockbuster that they claim distorts history. Suraj Pal Amu, a senior official with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, has offered a reward for the murder of Deepika Padukone, the star of Padmavati, a historical epic about a 14th-century queen of legendary beauty. After weeks of threats and pressure, the film’s producers yesterday confirmed they would postpone the release indefinitely.
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Banks fiddle as inquiry looms
As the banking sector appears headed towards a seemingly inevitable yet totally unnecessary royal commission it is worth noting that the notion of banks being unpopular is not exactly new news. writes John Durie. In a recent report, CLSA’s Brian Johnson noted the looming inquiry would probably “crimp the unfettered pricing power of the Australian banks”. This power, he noted elsewhere in the report, was already under threat because of rising US interest rates, lower net interest margins and the myriad inquiries, including the upcoming Productivity Commission report on bank competition.
“Rightly or wrongly people have always thought their bank was ripping them off.”
John Durie
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Hasler hounds Bulldogs for $2.4m
Des Hasler’s lawyer insists the two-time premiership winning coach has been forced to pursue Canterbury through the legal system because the Bulldogs have shown no interest in settling their dispute in the weeks since his sacking. Dan McGirr this week launched a damages claim on behalf of Hasler in the NSW Supreme Court, seeking the $2.4 million they believe he is owed as part of an agreement to extend his contract by a further two seasons.
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Turnbull’s twilight
If there was a sliver of respectability left with the Prime Minister and his government, it was well and truly smashed and trashed on Monday, writes Richo. The announcement that the first week of parliamentary sitting would be cancelled demonstrated why there is a pall of crisis clouding the government and why Malcolm Turnbull has been on the wrong end of 23 Newspolls in a row, and leaves our leader ‘fearful, distrusted and detested’.
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Kudelka’s view
China’s great wall of silence
China deliberately concealed information about the coronavirus, and now it is fighting an inquiry. So what is Beijing hiding?
Your noon Briefing
Your 2-minute digest of the day’s top stories.