| | 22/01/2025 Trump targets migrants on first full day, shock at antisemitic Sydney attack, Djokovic’s masterclass |
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| | | Morning everyone. Donald Trump maintained a hectic pace on his first full day in office. Federal agents are reportedly already hunting for illegal immigrants, Biden officials being purged and January 6 rioters released from prison. The fallout from the antisemitic arson attack in Sydney continues and a report reveals the astonishing amount of time some children spend gaming. At the tennis, Novak Djokovic reminded everyone of his greatness. |
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| Australia | | Antisemitism investigated | Sydney’s Jewish community is in shock after the latest antisemitic attack in the city targeted a childcare centre in Maroubra and left people fearful about their safety. Federal police are investigating whether “overseas actors” are paying local criminals to carry out the attacks. Our political correspondent writes today that Anthony Albanese still looks like “he’s playing catchup” to Peter Dutton on the issue. | PFAS ban call | A water quality expert has called on the Australian government to expand a planned ban of certain PFAS, or “forever chemicals”, as a Senate committee heard concerns from a New South Wales community affected by chemical contamination. | Roblox robots | Australian children who play Roblox are on the app for an average of 139 minutes a day and it is the gaming app most blocked by parents, a new industry report has found. | Gender ruling | A Victorian lesbian group cannot exclude transgender and bisexual women from its public events as doing so would constitute unlawful discrimination, a tribunal has ruled. | Bleaching back | More than 40% of individual corals monitored around a Great Barrier Reef island were killed last year in the most widespread coral bleaching outbreak to hit the reef system, a study has found. |
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| World | | Rioters released | Donald Trump supporters who attacked the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 have begun leaving prison after the newly installed president issued sweeping pardons. They include key plotters Enrique Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes (pictured). Trump’s border “tsar” says raids targeting undocumented immigrants will begin on the president’s first full day in office. Follow the developments live. Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy quit his role in the new cost-cutting department after reportedly falling out with Elon Musk. Marina Hyde’s brilliant column is your go-to read on Trump’s so-called new “golden age”. | Turkey tragedy | A fire at a hotel at a popular ski resort in north-west Turkey has killed at least 66 people, Turkey’s interior minister said, with another 51 injured. | Israeli raid | Israeli security forces have killed at least six people and injured another 35 in Jenin amid a wave of settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Hamas, however, said it was going ahead with the release of four more Israeli hostages this weekend as per the ceasefire deal, while Israel’s top general has resigned for the “terrible” security failures related to Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023. | Sun downed? | Prince Harry and the former deputy UK Labour leader Tom Watson are in negotiations over a potential settlement with Rupert Murdoch’s Sun newspaper as the start of their high-profile trial in London was pushed back. | Dementia hope | Antibiotics, antivirals and vaccines could be used to tackle dementia, according to experts. |
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 | Full Story | | The second coming of Donald Trump Our Washington bureau chief, David Smith, tells Reged Ahmad what it was like inside Trump’s inauguration ceremony and what the new president’s executive orders reveal about his populist priorities for his second term. | |
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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 | | “Come on in, the water’s not as dirty as I thought.” This might not be the most wholehearted sell ever, but for bathers at Sydney’s new sand-less beach at Putney it seems to be doing the job. Mostafa Rachwani dips a proverbial toe in the Parramatta River to find out what locals think. |
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| Not the news | | Bobheads, as Bob Dylan fans are often called, have never enjoyed, or perhaps endured, a proper biopic of their hero. Now there is A Complete Unknown, so we asked some distinguished experts what they thought. For biographer Richard Williams, Timothée Chalamet (pictured) “completely nails” the role, while superfan Grainne Simms loved it. For another superfan it was a matter of endurance: “underwhelmed” was the verdict. |
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| Media roundup | State authorities have been accused of keeping a “dirty little secret” about dangerous PFA chemicals in the scenic Jervis Bay area, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The Courier Mail claims there is a $3.5bn black hole in the funding for Brisbane’s Olympic village. The Hobart Mercury is celebrating after the Hurricanes beat the Sixers at a sold-out Ninja Stadium to reach the BBL final. |
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| What’s happening today | Queensland | Greens leaderAdam Bandt holds a media conference at a state school. | Canberra | Public hearing into antisemitism at Australian universities held at Parliament House. | Industrial relations | Fair Work Commission hearing in Brisbane into mining union attempt for “Same Job, Same Pay” at BHP under new federal laws. |
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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 customer.help@guardian.co.uk |
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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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| Lenore Taylor
Editor, Guardian Australia |
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