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Our guide to the most important stories, analysis and insights.
Please Explain podcast
Expert daily insight into the stories that drive the nation.
Moderna jab will underpin booster and variant strategy: Hunt
Health Minister Greg Hunt has outlined why Australia has agreed to buy 25 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine when the country already has tens of millions of doses from other providers.
‘Greatest vulnerability’: Call for mandatory COVID-19 vaccine jab for returned travellers
Experts say every returned traveller who lands in Australia should be vaccinated against coronavirus as a condition of entry into the country’s troubled hotel quarantine system.
Exclusive
Josh Frydenberg
Step out of the COVID bunker: Long border closure is questioned by experts
Leading scientists say Australians should embrace a different approach to risk from the coronavirus as millions of people sign up for vaccines.
Updated
Casinos
Cash ban at Crown Sydney and The Star to counter money laundering fears
Crown Resorts and The Star have agreed to ban cash from their Sydney casinos in an effort to stop criminals from laundering drug money and other ill-gotten gains on its gaming tables.
NSW government announces $50 million package to tackle mouse plague
NSW Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall says an emergency application has been lodged for “the strongest mouse poison in the world”.
‘Water thieves’ face multimillion-dollar fine for allegedly taking 1200 megalitres
The case includes 43 charges, which each attract maximum penalties of $1-2 million, making it the biggest prosecution issued by the national resources watchdog.
Going viral: How a book on Amazon inspired the latest COVID conspiracy
The discredited theory that coronavirus is a bio-weapon created in a Wuhan lab is gaining new momentum. This is the conspiracy’s origin story.
Breaking
Australian rugby
‘They are perfect’: Cadbury revealed as Wallabies’ new major sponsor
Just a few months after the game’s 30-year partnership with Qantas ceased, Rugby Australia have revealed the Wallabies’ new major sponsor.
Waratahs re-sign Wallabies World Cup hopefuls Gordon and Bell
Waratahs skipper Jake Gordon will remain in sky blue until the end of 2023, while another World Cup hopeful in Angus Bell has committed to Australian rugby.
Exclusive
Cancer
‘Desperately disappointing’ setback for ovarian cancer screening hopes
Long-awaited results of a major ovarian cancer study found screening women detected the disease before they developed symptoms but didn’t save lives.
Analysis
US politics
Republican Party ‘cancels’ Liz Cheney in sacrifice for Trump’s approval
Loyalty to Donald Trump himself - rather than a commitment to any particular policy position - is now the defining feature of the modern Republican Party.
Matthew Knott
CBD
City life
Alan Joyce a no-show at budget for good reason
Josh Frydenberg would have been hoping audiences hadn’t reached budget saturation levels by Wednesday when he addressed a packed out National Press Club.
Ellen DeGeneres to quit TV talk show next year
DeGeneres, who has seen a ratings hit after allegations of running a toxic workplace, has decided her upcoming season will be the last.
The ‘female Steve Jobs’: Theranos founder faces her moment of reckoning
Elizabeth Holmes founded a $US9 billion startup that promised to revolutionise the lab test industry, but the 37-year-old’s story has become a cautionary tale among entrepreneurs.
QUICK Q
Media & marketing
Don’t be ashamed of your ‘guilty pleasure’ TV binges
Netflix’s head of original programming in Australia is ‘happy with being at Ted Lasso levels of uplift’.
FEDERAL BUDGET 2021
Analysis
Will the government’s big investments pay off?
Today on Please Explain, Tory Maguire is joined by chief political correspondent David Crowe and senior economics correspondent Shane Wright for their insights into the 2021 federal budget.
Tax breaks for home-grown patents to spur innovation
Income earned from Australian-developed and registered patents will be taxed at a concessional tax rate of 17 per cent from July next year.
Sydney
Migraine relief on the way for sufferers with new drug added to PBS
Emgality, a drug that could previously cost up to $6800 a year, will instead cost $41.30 a script.
Man dies after alleged assault by man known to him in Rushcutters Bay
Police arrived at the apartment block just before 2pm on Wednesday and found the man, believed to be aged 39, unresponsive in a basement.
Metro West station to be built on land owned by The Star casino
The NSW government has confirmed a station for its flagship Metro West rail line will be built on a Pyrmont site to be acquired from gambling giant The Star.
Public servant tells ICAC: I got caught up in a network of corrupt work
A former Roads and Maritime Services employee accused of rigging $41 million worth of NSW government contracts in return for lavish kickbacks said he got swept up in a network of corruption.
Service NSW employee spoke in made up language to disguise corrupt conduct: ICAC
Diana Benyamin used her job within the agency to engage in serious corrupt conduct over several incidents in 2019, including when she agreed to alter a friend car’s registration in exchange for $500, a commission heard.
Politics
‘Greatest vulnerability’: Call for mandatory COVID-19 vaccine jab for returned travellers
Experts say every returned traveller who lands in Australia should be vaccinated against coronavirus as a condition of entry into the country’s troubled hotel quarantine system.
Business
Inside Pictet, the secretive Swiss bank for the world’s richest people
Over more than two centuries, the Swiss institution has discretely tended to the assets of the very rich, led by a small crop of partners who form the most exclusive men-only club anywhere outside the Vatican.
World
Rich countries must donate a billion vaccines this year or risk new variants
High-income countries must donate vaccines to 92 low and middle-income nations before new virus variants develop, the WHO warns.
Opinion
Coalition’s EV power plays amp up ahead of crucial vote
Alexandra Smith
State Political Editor
Pedalling delusion in the cycle of life
Frank O'Shea
Social housing, homeless left out in the cold
Michael Fotheringham
Explore
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Property bydomain
Burnt by the hot market: Aussie home-buyer sentiment dips
Rapidly rising prices and limited choice have begun to dampen buyer's spirits as their positivity about the market declines.
How first-home buyers can get a $10,000 tax break to buy property
Although it works better if you're on an average income and if you're not planning to buy just yet, it's free money from the taxpayer – here's how to claim it.
Life & Culture
Common skincare habits wreaking havoc on your skin
From underestimating the power of sleep to the pesky pimple you want to squeeze; three experts share the skincare habits jeopardising a good complexion.
Opinion
Streaming
Detective series Mare of Easttown is a hallelujah moment for TV
Craig Mathieson
Film, music and TV critic
Sport
Alan Jones keeps barking questions at Rugby Australia. I’ve got the answers.
Alan Jones’ favourite used to be “the dogs bark, the caravan moves on”. Now he’s the one barking.
Breaking
Australian rugby
‘They are perfect’: Cadbury revealed as Wallabies’ new major sponsor
Just a few months after the game’s 30-year partnership with Qantas ceased, Rugby Australia have revealed the Wallabies’ new major sponsor.
Is this two-metre-tall Scot the Socceroos’ next Premier League star?
Top-flight clubs are circling Stoke City’s Harry Souttar, the Aberdeen-born defender with an Aussie mum and a huge fan in Socceroos coach Graham Arnold.
Reynolds set to sign three-year deal with Broncos
The South Sydney captain has told those close to him that he will be taking up a three-year deal at Brisbane next season.
‘Won’t last five rounds’: Swift Justis predicted in Gallen showdown
Paul Gallen’s fight with Justis Huni is scheduled for 10 rounds, but the budding Olympian’s camp doubts it will even reach the halfway point.
Waratahs re-sign Wallabies World Cup hopefuls Gordon and Bell
Waratahs skipper Jake Gordon will remain in sky blue until the end of 2023, while another World Cup hopeful in Angus Bell has committed to Australian rugby.
Australian Ewan wins Giro stage five, Landa crashes out
Lotto Soudal rider Ewan surged to beat Italian Giacomo Nizzolo on the line on a day overshadowed by late crashes involving Mikel Landa and Pavel Sivakov.
Have Your Say
Gold standard: First look at the new permanent Wallabies jersey
The Herald has obtained a photo of this year’s Wallabies jersey, which is the same colour as Australia’s famous 1991 strip.
