Your morning briefing
Welcome to your morning round up of what’s making news and the must-reads for this Thursday.
Good morning, here are the six stories you need to face the day, and it will only take you two minutes.
Top stories
President Donald Trump called for an end to the visa lottery program that brought to the US the driver of a rental truck who ploughed into pedestrians and cyclists in New York. Officials said the suspect, 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov, was admitted to the US through the diversity lottery program, which randomly awards 50,000 green cards to foreigners each year. Mr Trump has proposed ending the program before and reiterated his views in the wake of the attack, which killed eight people and injured 11 others. “I am going to ask Congress to immediately initiate work to get rid of this program,” Mr Trump said from the White House on Wednesday.
“It sounds nice. It’s not nice. It’s not good.”
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Tony Abbott has hailed the rise of a new conservative movement prepared to fight for Western culture and religious freedom as a result of the same-sex marriage campaign and warned Liberals the “activated” voters will wonder “who will represent them in the years ahead”. The former prime minister said the “nucleus of an organisation” had been created in just two months of campaigning for traditional marriage but there was no support from Malcolm Turnbull or conservative ministers. He said the new movement, which could represent 40 per cent of Australians, could become a counter to the pro-Labor, leftist GetUp! movement which has been around for a decade and heavily funded by unions.
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Hollywood’s widening sexual harassment crisis has ensnared a prominent film director after six women — including actor Olivia Munn — accused Brett Ratner of sexual assault or misconduct in a Los Angeles Times report on Wednesday. The reverberations also reached back 32 years as Oscar-winner Dustin Hoffman came forward to apologise for allegedly sexually harassing a 17-year-old intern in 1985.
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A judge in Colombia has sentenced “Cocaine Cassie” Sainsbury to six years in jail after she pleaded guilty to drug trafficking. Sainsbury was accompanied by her family this morning as the judge accepted the plea deal. Her lawyer Orlando Herran said Sainsbury may end up serving less time with good conduct. She must also pay a fine of nearly $US100,000.
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In business
Myer chief executive Richard Umbers is clinging to his “New Myer” strategy, despite the whirlwinds of the most volatile and challenging retail conditions in decades blowing him off course from hitting earnings targets. And he is asking investors to trust him as he junks the old targets and sets new hurdles to match the gloomy retail sector.
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In sport
Rugby league was on the verge of peace last night after NRL clubs rubber-stamped a pay deal that effectively ended almost 12 months of fractious negotiations between the governing body and the players union. The deal will result in the players receiving $980 million over the next five years through a revenue share agreement that guarantees them 29.5 per cent of NRL income.
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Key analysis
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Comment of the day
“If Plibersek says an audit is not needed then you can be sure of one thing — an audit is absolutely essential.”
Trevor on Labor senator Deborah O’Neill being drawn into the citizenship fiasco.
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Property on Thursday
Mandarin Oriental is on the prowl Down Under. Lisa Allen writes that fresh from announcing it will manage its first Australian hotel in Melbourne, the luxury Hong Kong-based Mandarin Oriental group continues to scour the nation for more management and development opportunities. Mandarin Oriental spokeswoman Sally De Souza said the group had hired new executives to source opportunities in Australia and around the world.
Inflation sting tamed as Grange keeps prices flat
The cost-of-living crisis is even hurting the nation’s well-heeled drinkers of luxury wines such as Penfolds Grange, with the winemaker keeping prices unchanged for its flagship wines.
Police seek help to crack missing mum mystery
In its first public response since the launch of a new investigative podcast, NSW Police says a strike force investigation into the suspected murder of Bronwyn Winfield is open and ongoing.