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The Financial Review Wine Club is the home for seasoned collectors and wine enthusiasts.

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After a brutal year, there’s everything to play for

Peter Dutton is flying high and Anthony Albanese needs his mojo back after the Voice defeat. But, for both, the path to the next election looks perilous.

The Australian dollar has surged higher as more data points to a 2024 rate pivot in the US.

ASX set to gain, Synlait flags profit downgrade

Shares to open higher; Wall Street rebounds; a2 Milk affirms 2024 guidance; iron ore tops $US137 a tonne; $A at 5-month highs. Follow updates here.

Police officers stand on the balcony of Philosophical Faculty of Charles University in downtown Prague.

Prague shooter killed father before gunning down 14

A gunman killed at least 14 people and wounded more at a Prague university; Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australia’s priority is the Indo-Pacific, not the Middle East. Follow updates live.

Allkem’s Peter Coleman says short-selling shouldn’t be banned

The resources executive’s comments come as Chalice Minerals boss Alex Dorsch calls for the government to follow South Korea’s lead and ban the practice.

Will chronic flight delays ever ease up – or is this the new normal?

It’s been more than a year since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, and there are still major delays on domestic services. But that’s not the case in other countries.

Five lessons from an unforgettable year of deals

Raids, leaks, blow-ups and a Christmas scramble: bankers may wish to forget a lot that happened in 2023, but there are some important lessons.

Albanese’s challenge is to reset the national conversation

Forget the Christmas switch-off. Even if people have been watching or listening, it’s hard to believe they have heard much of the government’s message, writes Laua Tingle.

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CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE

Tech gifts for those who love the great outdoors

Sometimes, you’ve just got to spend money to save money. Christmas pressies are no exception.

  • Christmas Gift Guide 2023
  • Style
Athan Didaskalou, co-founder 
of luggage company July, says a failsafe gift are Haigh’s chocolate frogs.

Goodbye gift anxiety! These tastemakers know exactly what to buy

It’s the time of year when your presence is not always present enough, so read on for tips ranging from the sublime to the ridiculously cheap.

An 18-carat yellow-gold twisted collier set with a 2.33-carat pear-shaped Colombian emerald and a 0.8-carat pear-shaped diamond, by Sydney’s Olivia Bond.

Jewellery for Christmas? Here are eight beautiful ideas

You cannot go wrong adding a little dazzle to a loved one’s present haul.

From fashion to fragrance: Christmas gifts for style lovers

Wondering what to get the beautiful people in your life this Christmas? We’ve done the hard yards for you.

Eight of the best wellness gifts for Christmas

There’s nothing like a new accessory to get someone motivated.

Features include the ability to save articles, dark mode and real time notifications.

Get the latest business news on the go with the AFR’s new iOS app.

Find out more

Companies

A Virgin Australia plane at Sydney Airport. The airline reported some of the worst on-time flight statistics in November.

Almost half of Virgin Australia flights delayed

Some 62 per cent of domestic Qantas flights arrived on time, with Transport Minister Catherine King warning the government could act if issues persisted.

Not all high-paying jobs require you to manage others or stay glued to your desk, says career coach Leah Lambart.

Painshare: 8 examples of the year’s most awful jargon

The Eye-roll Awards highlight the words or phrases we hope to never see again.

CBA’s Matt Comyn loses his right-hand man, the meticulous David Cohen

Over 15 years at the bank, David Cohen has seen it all. On his retirement, he provides a potted history of CBA’s numerous troubles and its transformation.

The Bugey nuclear power station, operated by Electricitie de France SA (EDF), beside the River Rhone in Bugey, France.

CSIRO’s nuclear cost blowout a ‘shallow’ analysis: O’Brien

Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien slammed CSIRO’s use of a single example to explain its sharply increased cost estimates for SMRs.

Japan, Korea underpin aspiring hydrogen projects

Power utilities from Japan and South Korea are among the major backers of six ammonia and clean fuels projects that will duel it out for $2 billion of federal funds.

Barossa case ‘confected’ by green activists, Santos argues

The assertions came after the Environmental Defenders Office argued Santos’ Barossa gas pipeline would cause “incalculable” cultural harm to generations of Tiwi Islanders.

Billionaire Richard White spends $11m on Rolling Stone’s local owner

The WiseTech founder, worth an estimated $10.5 billion, will bankroll ASX-listed Vinyl Group’s acquisition of The Brag Media.

Companies in the News

Search companies

View stories and data from an ASX listed company

Markets

David Allingham of Eley Griffiths says the prospects for small caps are good.

Fund managers ready for a big year in small caps

Signs of life are returning to the smaller end of the ASX as traders ramp up their bets on interest rate cuts. Here are eight stocks that are tipped to succeed in 2024.

Prices for apparel, household furnishings, furniture and electronics each have eased.

US inflation report to show Fed’s battle all but complete

A monthly report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis is poised to cement the case for lower interest rates in the coming quarters.

Wall Street.

Nasdaq paces Wall Street rebound, oil lower

Australian shares are set to open higher as dip buying returns to New York. Iron ore tops $US137 a tonne. $A rises. Angola to leave OPEC.

Wall Street’s economic doomsayers see US recession around corner

Forecasters at Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo Securities are among those reiterating pessimistic predictions.

ASX retreats, Liontown slumps, Pacific Smiles powers up

Shares drop; Pacific Smiles turns down “undervalued” bid; Liontown in royalty dispute; Bubs raises $17m to expand; Transurban secures $800m 10-year debt.

Opinion

Albanese’s challenge is to reset the national conversation

Forget the Christmas switch-off. Even if people have been watching or listening, it’s hard to believe they have heard much of the government’s message.

Laura Tingle

Columnist

Laura Tingle

Latest legal trial shows Trump still has to be defeated politically

Democrats need to realise that the pursuit of the former president through the courts only serves to fire up his never-say-never base.

The AFR View

Editorial

The AFR View

Democratic recession could deepen in 2024

At this moment of maximum global peril, democracies have lost the thing they need most: the power of their legitimacy.

Retailers hope for clearer skies after ‘perfect storm’ in 2023

The economy managed to avoid a recession this year, but the retail sector was not as fortunate, with real retail spending declining for three consecutive quarters.

Sue Mitchell

Columnist

Sue Mitchell

Beware economists who won’t admit they were wrong

From an economic point of view, 2023 will go down in the record books as one of the best years ever.

Paul Krugman

Contributor

Paul Krugman

Labor’s best policy might be admitting Red Sea defence gap

If strategy is Labor’s reason, it raises concerns. If there is no available ship, it raises another set of questions about Australia’s alarming lack of military capabilities.

The AFR View

Editorial

The AFR View

Reports

Motoring - Cars to watch

The special report looks at the most exciting cars of the year, sporty EVs, and car collecting as an investment.

Sponsored

  by BMW
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Politics

Australians hiking in Mowbray National Park, Queensland.

Australians spend a record $108b to holiday at home

Revenge travel is real – as are inflation and price rises driven by supply constraint. It seems taking a staycation never hurt so much as it did in 2023.

Shoplifting rates have increased across all five states in Australia.

Shoplifting jumps across the nation amid cost of living crisis

The chief statistician for Victoria’s Crime Statistics Agency says cost-of-living pressures may be contributing to increased crime rates.

After her power bill doubled, this grocer had to cut her range

Relief on electricity prices is in sight after deep falls in wholesale prices, but the pain is acute in South Australia and NSW where power bills are highest.

The teals play the long game with integrity

They know the best opportunity for reform may come after the next election – when the major parties could be forced to negotiate for power with crossbench.

Australia will adopt ‘Euro 6’ fuel standard by late 2025

Labor says the move will increase the price of petrol by a modest 1¢ per litre, but allow importers to sell more efficient vehicles already common in Europe and elsewhere.

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World

Police officers stand on the balcony of Philosophical Faculty of Charles University in downtown Prague.

Gunman kills at least 15 people in Prague university shooting

Czech police responded to the shooting at Charles University’s faculty of arts building in Jan Palach Square, later reporting the shooter had been “eliminated”.

The former mayor of New York and keen defender of Donald Trump has filed for bankruptcy.

Rudy Giuliani files for bankruptcy after courtroom loss

Court papers listed debts of as much as $US500 million ($738 million) and assets of up to $US10 million.

General Charles Brown, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs.

Top US, Chinese military officials speak in sign of warming ties

Future steps include plans to hold talks on defence policy in January and a round of maritime consultations several months later.

Half a million people in Gaza are ‘starving’: UN

As diplomatic efforts to secure aid deliveries and another cease-fire in the conflict, Israel carried out more strikes and other operations across Gaza.

Singapore loses its sheen as its first family fights over legacy

Lee Kuan Yew united Singapore, but his death sparked a spectacular unravelling of his family that has left Singaporeans divided and asking questions about the future.

Property

Tim Clarkson with Santa at Westfield Warringah Mall.

The man who made millions selling Christmas

Tim Clarkson has carried on a 130-year-old family business by being the biggest player in the $50 million-plus Christmas decorations market.

House sellers pocket $300,000 gross profits as prices rise

The sharp increase in prices in the September quarter delivered a windfall for many vendors, but profits are expected to weaken next year as prices are predicted to fall.

Louise Stewart, founder and CEO of ProjectPay.

Building industry payments firm shelves Aussie ambitions, heads to UK

ProjectPay founder Louise Stewart has won a British grant to get her start-up off the ground there, having felt stymied by the political culture in Australia.

Green Bank, global investors pile into $450m forestry and ag raising

The CEFC has put $75m into a new forestry and landscape fund that intends to generate a chunk of its return from carbon and renewable energy.

Saudis put Western Australia’s largest grain operation up for sale

Spread across a swath of the wheat belt, marketing of the $200 million property caps a busy 12 months for major agriculture transactions in the state.

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Wealth

How to claim your spouse’s super after they die

There’s a way to move their retirement savings to your super – this is how to get things going.

How to party without being an animal

These are the five things that will drive your neighbours nuts – this is what you can do to avoid them.

How much should I spend on my partner this Christmas?

We found the average spend by gender – and the gap is nearly $100.

Technology

Me&U chief executive Kim Teo had her first child and executed a major start-up merger in 2023. Her ace isn’t slowing.

In three weeks, Kim had a child and a merger. Here’s her 2024

If 2022 was the year the music stopped in technology, 2023 was spent trying to find a chair that wasn’t taken in the tech sector.

Genuine Ozempic, delivered in a patented pen-like device that lets users set their dosage, is in short supply.

The little-known problem in using Ozempic replica versions

In the US, poison information hotlines have reported almost 3000 calls from January to November this year about semaglutide overdoses.

No one can buy Canva now. Other start-ups beware

Any start-up boss hoping to get rich selling their company to a tech giant should learn from Adobe’s failed $US20 billion attempt to buy design app Figma.

Work & Careers

St Joseph’s College headmaster Michael Blake.

Why this prestigious boys’ school is not for turning coed

St Joseph’s College Hunters Hill counts rugby great Kurtley Beale, former High Court chief justice Murray Gleeson and the late artist John Olsen as old boys.

Good at tech, bad with people: Is Gen Z getting a bad rap?

They are the cohort profoundly touched by the pandemic and questioning the value of so-so jobs. But are they really that different from other generations?

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Life & Luxury

Jason Momoa in ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’.

Boxing Day films have something for everyone

From Marvel underwater to mallard ducks and a side trip to Greece, there’s plenty of variety at the cinema for a post-Christmas cinematic escape.

John Winning: “It’s probably a bit like horse riding,” he says of the Sydney to Hobart race.

This retail Rich Lister ‘wasn’t good enough to be a waiter’

The avid sailor and head of the Winning retail group rates his chances in the Sydney to Hobart race.

London-based designer Lara Bohinc makes gloopy sculpltures from sustainable cork.

Seven design trends you need to know for 2024

Redecorating or looking for new furnishings? Look no further if chic, on-trend living is your thing.

Hyper-local fiction, BookTok hits and ‘romantasy’ top Christmas books

Richard Flanagan’s “best thing yet”, a graphic novel for teenagers, Trent Dalton’s latest novel and ‘dragons and young love’ are flying off bookshop shelves.

Coffee is prepared the traditional way at Sidamo Coffee & Tea in Washington DC – just one of a host of Ethiopian eateries and cafes in the city.

Beyond power and politics in Washington DC, a surprising culinary find

The US capital is buzzing with the traditional restaurants and tantalising aromas of Ethiopia. Here are seven eateries to try.

From the gallery