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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The Guardian Today Australia
Headlines
‘Pondi’ to reopen in western Sydney; group charged over biggest cocaine seizure in Australian history
News live  
‘Pondi’ to reopen in western Sydney; group charged over biggest cocaine seizure in Australian history
Follow live
ADF  
Defence personnel convicted of sex offences to face mandatory discharge as part of royal commission response
US  
Joe Biden issues ‘full and unconditional’ pardon to son Hunter
Aurimas Mockus  
‘Like a zombie’: the Lithuanian rower and his gruelling quest to row from San Diego to Brisbane – mostly naked
Gambling  
Victorian clubs give more money to themselves in guise of ‘community benefits’ for tax breaks
Media  
Michael Rowland to leave ABC News Breakfast after ‘15 years of 3am starts’
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The rural network
How regional schools are breaking the language barrier and helping students thrive
Education  
How regional schools are breaking the language barrier and helping students thrive
Specially trained teachers have made a huge impact in regional Victoria, where the number of students from non-English-speaking backgrounds is growing
 
Help us hold power to account in 2025
 
Full Story podcast
Full Story  
What’s going on with fluoride? – Full Story podcast
What’s going on with fluoride? – Full Story podcast
Sport
Guardiola left grasping at air as once impregnable dynasty falls apart
Guardiola left grasping at air as once impregnable dynasty falls apart
Rugby league  
Daley returns for second stint as NSW State of Origin coach
Cricket  
Renegades WBBL title win inspired by stroke survivor Dooley
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Culture
Australian film  
How to Make Gravy review – a well-intentioned, mawkish misfire
How to Make Gravy review – a well-intentioned, mawkish misfire
Film  
Film advent calendar: 24 festive movies chosen by leading film figures
Television & radio  
‘We’ll ruin Christmas’: Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw on their gun-packed festive spy thriller
Opinion
Could the decline of fossil fuels be Australia’s chance to become a clean exports giant?
Could the decline of fossil fuels be Australia’s chance to become a clean exports giant?
Rumi’s profound poetry shows us the the divine power of art to sublimate grief into love
Australia and much of the world is on the cusp of profound change. What happens next is up to us
Lifestyle
Three things with  
Wendy Whiteley: ‘My daughter died, so it’s a real emotional connection to her being very much alive’
Wendy Whiteley: ‘My daughter died, so it’s a real emotional connection to her being very much alive’
The moment I knew  
The night before we moved in together, we saw a shooting star – and I knew we’d made the right decision
Technology
AI  
AI expert Marietje Schaake: ‘The way we think about technology is shaped by the tech companies themselves’
AI expert Marietje Schaake: ‘The way we think about technology is shaped by the tech companies themselves’
Science
Neuroscience  
‘With brain preservation, nobody has to die’: meet the neuroscientist who believes life could be eternal
‘With brain preservation, nobody has to die’: meet the neuroscientist who believes life could be eternal
Environment
Great Barrier Reef  
Cruise ships urged to ‘clean up their act’ amid concerns toxic effluent being dumped on Great Barrier Reef
Cruise ships urged to ‘clean up their act’ amid concerns toxic effluent being dumped on Great Barrier Reef
Internet  
Australia is connected to the world by cables no thicker than a garden hose – and at risk from sharks, accidents and sabotage
Video
Deadly tiger snake caught after slithering up a driver's leg on a Melbourne freeway – video
Deadly tiger snake caught after slithering up a driver's leg on a Melbourne freeway – 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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Editor, Guardian Australia

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