Australian politics live: Qld announces reopening plan; Victoria records 1,903 Covid cases, NSW 265; Berejiklian Icac hearings begin

Queensland announces reopening plan; Liberals hear climate plan; Victoria and NSW release Covid numbers; Tasmania snap lockdown to end tonight; Icac hearings begin into Gladys Berejiklian; Barnaby Joyce ‘hopes’ climate won’t split the Coalition. Question time begins in Canberra. Follow the latest updates live

• Nationals fail to reach agreement on 2050 emissions reductions
• Australia could see Covid surge from new variants when border reopens
• NSW is opening up further today – what extra freedoms do people have?
• NSW and Victoria schools are reopening amid Covid outbreaks – what can be learned from overseas?
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The federal treasurer and Victorian Liberal MP Josh Frydenberg has once again ramped up his attacks on the Victorian Labor government over lockdowns (you may remember some of his speeches on the Victorian lockdown last year) a theme he continued yesterday, even as the state government announced an earlier than expected loosening of restrictions.

Daniel Andrews responded to that on ABC News Breakfast this morning:

Well, look, I would just say to Josh, this is not about you and your breathless political rants don’t work against this virus. This day and this week, and the weeks to come, are all about Victorians who have done an amazing thing.

They’ve got vaccinated in record numbers and in record time. And this is their moment. It’s not for Josh. And his endless criticism and negativity, I just don’t think it goes down very well in Victoria because it doesn’t work against this virus. So, I will say no more about him.

Fauci urges police officers to get vaccinated.

My Thoughts on Life After Death

India floods: at least 25 dead after heavy rains spark landslides in Kerala

Rescuers search for survivors after days of rain bring devastation to south-eastern state

At least 25 people have died in landslides and floods triggered by heavy rains in south-western India, officials said on Sunday, as rescuers scoured muddy debris for survivors and the military flew in emergency supplies.

Residents were cut off in parts of the coastal state of Kerala as the rains, which started to intensify from late on Friday, swelled rivers and flooded roads.

Concerns About Diversity as Black Staff Members Leave Congress

As a Woman Was Raped, SEPTA Riders Failed to Intervene, Police Say

Biden’s Plans Raise Questions About What U.S. Can Afford Not to Do

Michael Caine on Brexit, Boris Johnson and big breaks: ‘I’ve done 150 movies. I think that’s enough’

He blew the doors off in the 60s as part of an upstart generation of actors. As he releases a new film and tries his hand at novel-writing, is he about to make a clean getaway from the movie business?

Michael Caine is 88 and walks with a stick. He has a gammy leg and a dodgy spine and reckons the only time he leaves the house these days is when his wife has the time to take him out for a drive. The other week he was sent a screenplay that had his character running away from a bunch of crooks, and this made him laugh – the very idea he could play it. “I can’t walk, let alone run,” he says. “And I’m more or less done with movies now.”

He was winding down anyway, hadn’t shot a film in a year, and then sneaked in one last movie, Best Sellers, just before the pandemic struck. He doubts he will ever make another, which is fine by him, no great loss. He’s got his knighthood and his Oscars; what does he have left to prove? He says: “I’ve done 150 movies. I think I’ve done enough.”

Chicago Sky Beat Phoenix Mercury for First W.N.B.A. Championship

Melbourne stabbing: two men in hospital after Brunswick shopping centre attack

A man has been arrested at Barkly Square shopping centre and police say they are not looking for anyone else

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Two men have been taken to hospital after being stabbed inside a Melbourne shopping centre.

Both suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the attack at Barkly Square in Brunswick just after 8am on Monday, and were taken to hospital in stable condition.

At Axel Springer, Politico’s New Owner, Allegations of Sex, Lies and a Secret Payment

Wales launches drive to keep young people in their homeland

Economy minister tells of ‘significant challenge’ of retaining and attracting talent to support country’s economy

The Welsh government is launching a drive to persuade more young people to remain in their homeland amid growing concerns that the percentage of working-age citizens is dropping to worryingly low levels.

Ministers fear that unless the “brain drain” is stopped – and more talented people can be tempted in – within a few decades the country may struggle to pay the bills to look after its ageing population.

New Zealand Covid update: Auckland to remain in lockdown even as fully vaccinated hit 70%

Jacinda Ardern says restrictions are needed to prevent a spike in cases, as experts warn any relaxation now would be ‘very dangerous’

Auckland, the city at the centre of New Zealand’s Covid outbreak, will remain in level 3 lockdown for another two weeks, despite rising vaccination levels. The decision from prime minister Jacinda Ardern comes as experts remain concerned that an early move out of lockdown could be disastrous, and risk overwhelming the health system.

Auckland is closing in on 90% of its population having had one shot; 89% of the region’s population has now had at least one dose, and 70% are fully vaccinated.

For Christian Aid Ministries, Charity in Haiti Turns to Chaos

Mass Abduction of U.S. Missionaries Startles Even Kidnap-Weary Haiti

Trial of three white men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery set to begin

Judge estimates jury selection could take at least two weeks after duty notices were mailed to 1,000 people in Glynn county Georgia

The trial of three white men accused of pursuing and murdering Ahmaud Arbery in one of Georgia’s most notorious racial killings is scheduled to begin on Monday with jury selection, a process the judge estimates could take at least two weeks.

Jury duty notices were mailed to 1,000 people in Glynn county, about one in every 85 adult residents, in an attempt to secure an unbiased panel of 12 plus four alternates for the trial of Travis McMichael, his father Greg and their friend William “Roddie” Bryan.

Clubs face bouncer shortage as UK staffing squeeze hits nightlife

Trade body says one in five businesses had to close or cut hours last month for lack of security staff

Nightclubs are suffering from a growing shortage of bouncers, in the latest staffing squeeze to hit the UK’s economic recovery, with some estimates suggesting venues are having to pay security staff as much as 25% more.

The lack of security personnel comes at a time when hospitality businesses are being hit by a cocktail of rising costs and are trying to rebound from months of closures during the pandemic.

Nearly $7 Million Awarded in First Earthshot Prizes

A nurse’s journey from treating Covid in Brazil to death in the US desert

Lenilda dos Santos left her home in rural Amazonia, part of a South American exodus driven by a coronavirus-era depression

As coronavirus tore through the Valley of Paradise, a farm-flanked backwater in the Brazilian Amazon, Lenilda dos Santos, a nurse technician, stood on the frontline clutching hands most feared to touch.

“She was a warrior during the pandemic,” said Lucineide Oliveira, a friend and colleague at the town’s small, understaffed hospital. “She’d say: ‘If we have to die, we’ll die. But we must fight.’”

Factory farms of disease: how industrial chicken production is breeding the next pandemic

At least eight types of bird flu, all of which can kill humans, are circulating around the world’s factory farms – and they could be worse than Covid-19

One day last December, 101,000 chickens at a gigantic farm near the city of Astrakhan in southern Russia started to collapse and die. Tests by the state research centre showed that a relatively new strain of lethal avian flu known as H5N8 was circulating, and within days 900,000 birds at the Vladimirskaya plant were hurriedly slaughtered to prevent an epidemic.

Avian flu is the world’s other ongoing pandemic and H5N8 is just one strain that has torn through thousands of chicken, duck and turkey flocks across nearly 50 countries including Britain in recent years and shows no sign of stopping.

Town Rattled by Bow-and-Arrow Killings Ponders Terrorism and Mental Illness

‘It feels really natural’: hundreds pose nude for Spencer Tunick shoot near Dead Sea

US artist returns to site for third time to highlight plight of Dead Sea, which is receding by about a metre a year

Hundreds of people wearing only white body paint have walked across a stark desert expanse near the Dead Sea, part of the latest photography project of American artist Spencer Tunick.

The 54-year-old photographer visited the spot in southern Israel as a guest of the tourism ministry to portray for the third time the shrinking Dead Sea via nude subjects.

Fukushima: Japan’s new PM won’t delay release of contaminated water into ocean

Fumio Kishida said every effort would be made to reassure local people that disposing of the water in the Pacific was safe

Japan’s new prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has said that there can be no delay to plans to release contaminated water from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, despite opposition from fishers and neighbouring countries.

Kishida, who made his first trip to the plant at the weekend since becoming prime minister last month, said every effort would be made to reassure local people that disposing of the water in the Pacific Ocean was safe.

Paula Badosa Outlasts Victoria Azarenka to Win Indian Wells

Russian movie crew return to Earth after filming 12 days on the International Space Station – video

A Russian actor and a film director have returned to Earth after spending 12 days on the International Space Station, shooting scenes for The Challenge, the first movie filmed in orbit. Actor Yulia Peresild and director Klim Shipenko joined cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky in a Soyuz capsule that landed as scheduled on Kazakhstan’s steppe. The film, if completed on time, will beat a Hollywood production announced by Tom Cruise, Nasa and SpaceX

• Russian film crew return to Earth after shooting the first movie in space

Prince William reveals Earthshot Prize winners in global bid to tackle climate crisis

Five global thinkers were each awarded a grant worth £1m to develop their ideas and technologies

Celebrities have joined Prince William in London for the inaugural awards ceremony of his Earthshot Prize, an ambitious environmental program aimed at finding new ideas and technologies around the world to tackle the climate crisis and Earth’s most pressing challenges.

Actors and activists strode down a green carpet at Alexandra Palace in north London. Emma Watson, Emma Thompson and David Oyelowo joined Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, in handing out the awards, with a £1m going to each winner.

Hundreds strip off near Dead Sea for latest nude Spencer Tunick shoot – video

Some 300 people wearing only white body paint have taken part in a nude photographic installation aimed at raising awareness about the importance of preserving and restoring the Dead Sea.  It was part of the latest photography project of American artist Spencer Tunick. The American photographer is best known for organising large-scale nude shoots.

• ‘It feels really natural’: hundreds pose nude for Spencer Tunick shoot near Dead Sea

China economy slows as power cuts, property woes and Covid take toll

GDP grew 4.9% in the quarter to September, the lowest for a year, as the post-pandemic recovery loses steam and Evergrande problems persist

China’s economy grew slower than expected in the third quarter, official data showed on Monday, thanks to power outages, supply bottlenecks, Covid outbreaks, and concerns about the struggling property sector.

Although China’s central bank governor said the country is “doing well”, independent economists predicted that the mounting array of headwinds suggest a “deeper downturn” resulting in the country’s weakest growth for more than a decade next year.

Coronavirus live: Auckland lockdown extended, psychosis cases soar in England

New Zealand’s biggest city will remain in lockdown for another two weeks, cases of psychosis have soared in England amid the stresses of the Covid-19 pandemic

• Australia could see Covid surge from new variants when border reopens
• Former UK prime minister urges Covid vaccine airlift to Africa
• England to open walk-in Covid clinics for children aged 12-15 in weeks
• See all our coronavirus coverage

Summary

Good morning or afternoon from wherever you may be in the world and welcome to our rolling coronavirus coverage.

Washington Hears Echoes of the ’50s and Worries: Is This a Cold War With China?

The gap between reckless Brexit promises and reality will soon be too big to ignore | John Harris

Voters invested hope in the idea of leaving the EU. But a few years of queues and chaos could further erode public trust

What must it be like to be in the inner circles of this government, watching the economy bounce from crisis to crisis? Shortages mount, while livestock that suddenly cannot be put into the food chain is slaughtered and sent to rendering plants. Ships are diverted from UK ports because no drivers can be found to transport their cargo once it is offloaded. In response to ministers’ threats to suspend the trading arrangements for Northern Ireland – that we are now told the government never believed in to start with – there is reportedly pressure within the EU to begin preparations for a trade war.

The prime minister goes off to Marbella, where he pretends to paint pictures; the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, is said to be pinning his hopes for an easing of the current energy crisis on a “wet, windy and mild” winter. Yet the Conservative party is still ahead in the polls, apparently shored up by the weakness of the Labour party and the clear, optimistic narrative that Boris Johnson has so far managed to project on to events. And I wonder: in cabinet meetings and ministerial get-togethers, do they laugh at the apparent absurdity of it all, or anxiously exchange estimates of when the roof might finally start to fall in?

John Harris is a Guardian columnist

China's GDP Growth Slows as Property and Energy Take a Toll

Krautrock legends Faust: ‘We were naked and stoned a lot – and we ate dog food’

They blagged a fortune off their label after promising to be ‘the German Beatles’ – then went wild in the countryside making experimental krautrock. But was there more to Faust than pneumatic drills and nude donkey rides?

Jean-Hervé Peron, former bassist and vocalist with Faust, would like to get something straight about his old band – specifically, the period in the early 1970s when they were living in a commune in Wümme, a rural area outside Hamburg. Faust’s time in Wümme is one of the great sagas in the history of experimental rock, which begins with their wily late manager, Uwe Nettelbeck, somehow convincing Polydor that they were signing not a recently formed collection of Hamburg musicians who would prove to be the most uncompromising band in an uncompromising era for German rock – even by the standards of fellow travellers Can, Kraftwerk and Amon Düül II, Faust’s eponymous 1971 debut album was a provocative, revolutionary, flat-out weird listen – but “the German Beatles”.

Faust’s keyboard player, Hans-Joachim Irmler, thinks their manager played on the fact that Polydor had lost both the actual Beatles, who had been signed to the label for a year while still performing in Hamburg, and Jimi Hendrix “because they didn’t care enough”, concentrating their attention on the lightweight, upbeat brand of Mitteleuropean bubblegum pop known as schlager. Having extracted a reputed DM 30,000 (roughly £160,000 today) out of the company, Faust decamped to an old school in Wümme, at which point the story gets more legendary still. Vast quantities of drugs were taken and the wearing of clothes was optional. Meals were frequently taken in the nude and the band’s original drummer, Arnulf Meifert, rode a donkey naked through a nearby village.

Psychosis cases soar in England as pandemic hits mental health

75% rise in referrals for first suspected episode of psychosis between April 2019 and April 2021

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Cases of psychosis have soared over the past two years in England as an increasing number of people experience hallucinations and delusional thinking amid the stresses of the Covid-19 pandemic.

There was a 75% increase in the number of people referred to mental health services for their first suspected episode of psychosis between April 2019 and April 2021, NHS data shows.