Israel warns Gaza fighting could ‘last a year’; Nadal to miss Australian Open; injury blow for Sam Kerr

Good morning. Welcome to the first Morning Mail of 2024, happy new year and thanks for being with us. We lead today with Israel’s claim that fighting in Gaza could last another year as the top US diplomat returns to the Middle East as part of frantic efforts to prevent the spread of war, after an increase of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border.

The 22-time grand slam winner Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Australian Open due to injury. He’s headed to Spain for treatment after an MRI scan revealed he sustained a micro tear to a muscle at the Brisbane International.

And Sam Kerr is set for a long spell on the sidelines after the Matildas captain suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury during her club’s training camp. It’s a major blow for the Australian side who face Uzbekistan in Olympic qualifiers next month.

Making the perfect espresso is almost a high art, especially for those who practise at the elite level – and Australia has plenty of those. Ranked one of the biggest in the world, the Australian coffee market is worth more than $9bn and Australia coffee fiends sip and savour about 2kg of coffee beans on average each year. Understanding the hard science of coffee can help elevate even the cheapest bean and most basic equipment into something far greater than the sum of its parts.

As part of our series of ultimate summer reading lists, Guardian Australia’s staff and critics share with you 15 crime thrillers and mysteries that will keep you guessing. From Mick Herron’s Slow Horses and Ian Rankin’s Rebus to new books from Bret Easton Ellis and Emma Cline, these reads are guaranteed to get the heart racing with suspense – even as you try to relax.

The Queensland government says it will take years to get storm-ravaged homes repaired after back-to-back natural disasters across the state, reports ABC News. The NSW government has been warned that trying to stop religious schools from hiring or firing staff because of their adherence to “Christian ethos” – including sexuality – would be a breach of religious freedoms, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Investment in essential infrastructure is in the spotlight after Victoria’s water corporations were forced to take on more debt to prop up the state budget after hundreds of millions of dollars of funding was pulled, reports the Age.

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