The new guard
Madonna King Those years battling the Liberal Party's right-wingers to become a senator finally paid off for Marise Payne.
Features
Super saviours
Friends, it's that time of the year again, when we find ourselves startled by how 2015 is almost over (wasn't it April last week?) and the fact Christmas is around the corner.
The joy of nits
Caitlin Moran Cancel all appointments: when her daughters have "People Fleas", there's no other place Caitlin Moran would rather be than with them.
Natural selection
Nick Bryant After enduring freezing conditions on location for his latest film, Leonardo DiCaprio is diving head-first into the hot topic of the moment: global warming.
'They're bombing the hospital'
At Afghanistan's Kunduz Trauma Centre, Australian doctor Kathleen Thomas treated patients in safety. Until, she tells Jane Cadzow, a US military "human error" changed everything.
Paper towns
Amanda Hooton Frenchman Olivier Grossetete is to construct seven huge edifices in Sydney's Barangaroo - without any builders or bricks. Instead, he'll use passers-by, cardboard and lots and lots of sticky tape.
Amanda Hooton
Amid the madness and materialism, our columnist enjoys a brief moment of Christmas shopping joy.
Standing tall
Eight-year-old Koko Makura will soon be able to walk with ease, thanks to an Australian children's charity and the doctors and specialists who have donated time to his care.
Life's a riot
Benjamin Law I'm not Muslim or Arab, but the Cronulla riots touched a nerve, given my people were one of Australia's first vilified racial groups. (Asians! Remember us?)
A pawn in the game
Nick Bryant A Vladimir Putin squares off against Turkey over a downed jet and tries to prop up Syria's Assad regime, Russian chess legend Garry Kasparov is waging his own war against his homeland's "kamikaze" president.
Bay days
Frank Robson Despite a faint whiff of gentrification, Queensland's Redcliffe Peninsula still revels in its local colour.
Please hang up
Ian Cuthbertson American scientist Devra Davis has an impressive record in public health, helping to expose the dangers of tobacco, asbestos and passive smoking. Next on her list? The always-on, every-present mobile phone.
Amanda Hooton
Drinks! Cheesy tunes! Canapés! Safari suits! Romance! More drinks! Six very good reasons to go to the work Christmas party.
His kind of town
Neil McMahon The centenary of Frank Sinatra's birth on December 12 is a time of recollection of his Australian connection: seven tours across 36 years, and enough broads, brawling and brilliance to guarantee posterity.
The big melt
Jon Gertner New evidence suggests that, far from overstating the effects of global warming on the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, scientists may have seriously underestimated it.
Benjamin Law
Benjamin Law Like most arts graduates, I assumed I'd be in a psychiatric facility and/or dead before I paid off my HECS debt.
Dark possession
Melissa Fyfe Stalking. Attempted strangling. Breaching an intervention order. Kelly Thompson repeatedly reported her ex-partner's violence to police, so she thought she was safe.
Pets on e-parade
Mark White Skateboarding cats, beach-going ferrets, bewildered cattle dogs ... a few filmed seconds of cute animal behaviour may be enough to launch a YouTube empire.
Game of drones
Nick Bryant P.W. Singer's predictions about 21st-century warfare were dismissed as fanciful 20 years ago. Today, the US military (as well as Hollywood) is listening hard to the 40-year-old maverick.
Old and abused
Stephanie-Wood- No life, especially one spent on Struggle Street, should have such a cruel end. Stephanie Wood tells the story of two pensioners who fell prey to their children's abuse.
Bravehearts
John Zubrzycki Against a backdrop of violent Islamic extremism, political instability and government indifference, Pakistan's performing arts scene refuses to be intimidated.
Amanda Hooton
Her dessert skills may have deserted her, but there's no dirt on our columnist when it comes to towels.
Two Of Us
The Purple Wiggle
and the Yellow Wiggle
Lachy Gillespie and Emma Watkins quietly fell in love soon after becoming members of the Wiggles children's music group.
Fred Loew and
Cheryl Koenig
Fred Loew escaped the persecution of Jews in Romania. His daughter, author Cheryl Koenig, has been inspired by his courage.
Richard and
Arron Wood
Retired teacher Richard Wood and his son, star environmentalist Arron, work together on the Kids Teaching Kids education program and are great mates.
Modern Guru
Bully boats of suburbia
Boats on trailers suck out all the joy and love in a neighbourhood.
Laptop of the pops
You shouldn't leave pricey stuff lying around anywhere, in the same way you wouldn't leave a phone or a wallet or a baby.
Truth and dare
Danny Katz solves your ethics and etiquette dilemmas.
