| | 12/12/2024 Fresh warnings on nuclear costs, US health bosses ‘hit list’, Assad tomb torched |
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| | | Morning, everyone. As the country waits for the Coalition to tell us how much it reckons nuclear power will cost, experts say it could be twice as much as the CSIRO has estimated. Plus we look at government plans to force tech firms to continue paying for news from Australian media sites, how the US remains gripped by the shooting of the health insurance boss Brian Thompson, and the miraculous survival of a migrant girl off the coast of Italy. |
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| Australia | | Disease burden | Being overweight has overtaken smoking as the leading risk factor contributing to disease in 2024, the annual burden of disease study shows, with Australians losing 5.8m years of healthy life due to living with illness and injury, or dying prematurely. | Power blowout? | Energy experts have warned that the cost of building nuclear power plants in Australia could be more than double what the CSIRO has suggested, based on international experience. | Tech play | The Albanese government is expected to announce today a new scheme to force big tech companies including Meta to continue paying media publishers for news after a Morrison-era deal expired. | Cabinet sceptic | Queensland’s environment minister has told parliament he stands by his comments more than a decade ago that he was “a bit sceptical” about human involvement in climate change. | Rank behaviour | Victorians overcharged or refused a meter in taxis have little recourse, Australia’s biggest taxi firm says, as it joins a chorus of industry players calling for action to end the national crisis of cab drivers going rogue. |
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 | World | | Tomb anger | The tomb of Hafez al-Assad, father of the ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, has been torched in family’s home town of Qardaha as rebels continue to assert control. Follow the developments live. Iran’s supreme leader has claimed that the US and Israel engineered the downfall of Syria’s former president Bashar al-Assad and the ousting of Iran from the country. There’s fear and uncertainty in the Golan Heights as Israeli troops drive into Syria. Donald Trump talks about not getting involved in Syria but is the country too important to ignore? | ‘Deny, delay, defend’ | Police have warned US healthcare bossesof a heightened risk to their lives after identifying an online “hit list” posted in the wake of last week’s assassination of the UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson. The book criticising the health insurance industry whose title resembles words etched on to shell casings found at the scene of the shooting has soared towards the top of the Amazon bestseller list. | Ukraine aid boost | The war between Ukraine and Russia has escalated with Joe Biden rushing out US$20bn more in military aid before Trump’s inauguration. | Blockers blocked | Puberty blockers for under-18s with gender dysphoria will be banned indefinitely across the UK except for use in clinical trials, the government has announced. | Miracle rescue | An 11-year-old girl wearing a simple life vest and clinging to a pair of tyre tubes has been rescued off the coast of Italy after apparently surviving a shipwreck feared to have killed 40 people three days ago. |
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| Full Story | | Has South Korea’s martial law fiasco changed the country forever? Reged Ahmad speaks to a Seoul-based journalist, Raphael Rashid, about why South Korea exploded with anger at the president’s declaration of martial law and whether the country can come back from the brink. | |
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| | | | | | | | | The most important news from Australia and the globe, as it breaks |
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| | Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties |
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| In-depth | | A three-day coronial investigation in Albury has grappled with a series of baffling details about the death of the baby identified as “KP”, whose body was found in the freezer of a home in Corowa by police. The inquest has heard about the mother’s “psychotic or personality disorder” and a mysterious figure called “Only” whom she said had looked after KP. Adeshola Ore takes us through the evidence that has emerged. |
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| Not the news | | This week’s recipe suggestion from Alice Zaslavsky tackles two foodstuffs that pose problems but are worth perseverance: eggplant and tofu. Combined with udon noodles and teriyaki sauce it sounds absolutely delicious. |
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| Sport | | Football | Saudi Arabia has been confirmed as the host for the 2034 men’s World Cup after the solitary bidder was waved through by Fifa despite concerns about human rights and warnings that migrant workers would die building stadiums. There’s more Champions League action this morning including Arsenal v Monaco and Juventus hosting Manchester City, which you can follow on our live blogs. | Cricket | Annabel Sutherland’s second century at the Waca in Perth this year helped Australia wrap up an 83-run women’s ODI victory and a 3-0 series clean sweep against India. | Tennis | Wimbledon is going to court to try to head off a potential threat to its plans to build 39 new courts and an 8,000-seat stadium on a former golf course next to the All England Club. |
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| What’s happening today | Health | TheAustralian Burden of Diseases study is to be released at 9.30am. | Victoria | Judgment in the Moira Deeming v John Pesutto defamation case is expected at 10.15am. | Sport | Papua New Guinea’s prime minister, James Marape, is in Sydney to seal the deal on NRL expansion to the country. |
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| Brain teaser | And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. | |
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| Contact us | If you have a story tip or technical issue viewing this newsletter, please reply to this email. If you are a Guardian supporter and need assistance with regards to contributions and/or digital subscriptions, please email [email protected] |
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A message from Lenore Taylor editor of Guardian AustraliaI hope you appreciated this newsletter. Before you move on, I wonder if you would consider contributing to our end-of-year fundraiser as we prepare for a pivotal, uncertain year ahead.
The course of world history has taken a sharp and disturbing turn in 2024. Liberalism is under threat from populist authoritarianism. Americans have voted to install a president with no respect for democratic norms, nor the facts that once formed the guardrails of public debate.
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In this uncertain time, fair, fact-based journalism is more important than ever – to record and understand events, to scrutinise the powerful, to give context, and to counter rampant misinformation and falsehoods.
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If you can, please consider supporting us with just $1, or better yet, support us every month with a little more. Thank you. | | |
| Lenore Taylor
Editor, Guardian Australia |
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