Your noon Briefing
Hello readers. Here’s the latest on how the day is playing out plus a long read for lunchtime.
Hello readers. In your noon digest, Beijing rattles sabres over Trump’s deal with Taiwan, youths terrorize St Kilda Beach and a long read on whether the fix is in for the Ashes.
‘If US arrives, we attack’
Beijing has said that its new aircraft carrier will “thwart” attempts by foreign forces to seize disputed territories in the South China Sea. It issued the warning as it objected to the United States signing a deal that will allow American ships to be deployed to Taiwan. US President Donald Trump this week signed a national defence authorisation act, which allows the US and Taiwan to deploy ships in each other’s waters.
“The day that a US navy vessel arrives in Kaohsiung is the day that our People’s Liberation Army unifies Taiwan with military force.”
Li Kexin, Chinese embassy in Washington spokesman
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KK’s brilliant career
Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne says that if voters in Bennelong like the Labor candidate Kristina Keneally, they don’t have to vote for her tomorrow, because she will fill Sam Dastyari’s vacancy in the Senate. Ms Keneally repeatedly refused to rule out taking Senator Dastyari’s seat yesterday, should she lose tomorrow. Mr Pyne said the poll would be “very tight”, backing the Liberal candidate John Alexander.
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Gang of youths runs amok
A large gang of youths has allegedly bashed and robbed tourists in a wild brawl at Melbourne’s St Kilda Beach. Police said they struggled to contain the violent situation on the St Kilda foreshore as young people of African appearance, allegedly robbed and assaulted beachgoers on Wednesday night. Witnesses say there were hundreds of youths and police struggled to contain the violence.
“The police officers handled it the best they could but they were really outnumbered and struggled to get a hold on it.”
Greg Robinson, witness
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Gargasoulas pleads not guilty
The man accused of murdering six people in January’s Bourke Street tragedy has pleaded not guilty to all charges this morning. James Gargasoulas appeared before the Melbourne Magistrates Court for a committal mention today but the case proceeded by way of hand-up brief, avoiding the need for a committal hearing and fast tracking the case to the Supreme Court on Monday. Gargasoulas, 27, is charged with six counts of murder, 28 counts of attempted murder and charges of making threats to kill, endangering life, reckless conduct, robbery and intentionally causing serious injury.
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The long read: Fixed or fiction?
Cricket Australia boss James Sutherland warmed up for the third Ashes Test by joining, with bated breath, a conference call with the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption officer in an attempt to discover whether the historic series against England had become more about the earn than the urn, writes Will Swanton. Sutherland and his counterpart from the England and Wales Cricket Board, Tom Harrison, and the chief executive of the International Cricket Council, David Richardson, a former South Africa teammate of the disgraced Hansie Cronje, were briefed by the head of anti-corruption unit, Alex Marshall, about an undercover operation by British tabloid The Sun that claimed aspects of yesterday’s Test in Perth were to be rigged.
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Comment of the day
“This by-election shows everything that is bad in Australian politics today.”
Glenn, in response to ‘Bennelong by-election: Keneally defends her pitch as Alexander declares in good time’
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.