Your daily digest of the top headlines and must-reads from Australia and around the world, along with sport, culture, lifestyle, opinion and more
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Headlines
John Pesutto ousted as Victorian Liberal leader after successful challenge by Brad Battin
State politics  
John Pesutto ousted as Victorian Liberal leader after successful challenge by Brad Battin
Moira Deeming also returns to Liberal party room after Friday meeting
Sailing  
Third Sydney to Hobart death averted on night of ‘big seas’ and wild weather
Cricket live  
Smith cruises to century as runs flow for Australia on second morning of Boxing Day Test
US politics  
Trump tells 37 people on death row with commuted sentences to ‘go to hell’
Middle East crisis  
UN voices alarm after WHO chief caught up in deadly Israeli strike on Yemen airport
Bushfires  
Cool change slows 360km-perimeter Grampians blaze as NSW braces for extreme fire danger
Advertisement
The rural network
Farming has always been gambling with dirt – but the odds are getting longer
Farming has always been gambling with dirt – but the odds are getting longer
Rainfall patterns are changing, crops are ripening earlier and the normal rhythms of farming have fallen off – exactly as climate scientists warned
 
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Full Story podcast
Full Story  
Best of 2024: when are shock jocks too shocking? - Full Story podcast
Best of 2024: when are shock jocks too shocking? - Full Story podcast
Sport
Football  
Salah rounds off Liverpool recovery to sink Leicester and stretch lead
Salah rounds off Liverpool recovery to sink Leicester and stretch lead
Football  
Manchester United ‘just have to survive’ says Amorim after Wolves loss
Championship roundup:  
Lampard humbles Rooney as Leeds go top
Culture
Australia on stage  
The best theatre, musicals, dance and opera of 2024
The best theatre, musicals, dance and opera of 2024
Opinion  
Deciding to read a book a week was the best new year resolution I ever made
Culture  
Ayesha Madon: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet)
Opinion
In a life of ups and downs, we have come to cherish our dog’s uncomplicated love
In a life of ups and downs, we have come to cherish our dog’s uncomplicated love
Do you know the real meaning of Boxing Day?
Before the algorithm, we watched ‘surprise TV’, and it can still offer unexpected delights
Lifestyle
Taste test  
What I’ve learned from taste testing 290 Australian supermarket products: ‘Aldi has the best and worst of everything’
What I’ve learned from taste testing 290 Australian supermarket products: ‘Aldi has the best and worst of everything’
My petty gripe: our slovenly attitude to soap dispensers just won’t wash
Technology
Music  
Older music has been getting a second life on TikTok, data shows
Older music has been getting a second life on TikTok, data shows
Science
Psilocybin  
Experts warn of mental health risks after rise in magic mushroom use
Experts warn of mental health risks after rise in magic mushroom use
Environment
Australia weather  
Birdsville notches up another temperature record as Australia faces more heat before New Year’s Eve
Birdsville notches up another temperature record as Australia faces more heat before New Year’s Eve
Soil contamination  
More than 100 charges brought over Sydney asbestos mulch crisis after major NSW EPA investigation
Video
Victoria fires: 'difficult’ weather for firefighters as 55,000 hectares burn in Grampians - video
Victoria fires: 'difficult’ weather for firefighters as 55,000 hectares burn in Grampians - video
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A message from Lenore Taylor editor of Guardian Australia

I 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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Lenore Taylor
Editor, Guardian Australia

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