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Exclusive
City life
Boarded up for years, St Kilda pub set to move out of David Hookes’ shadow
Its grey exterior has loomed silently for almost two decades after the death of David Hookes. But the Beaconsfield Hotel has taken its first steps to reopening.
Bureau of Meteorology feeling the heat as weather grows more extreme
The bureau faces difficult questions about its warnings – and its future. What explains its recent high-profile misses?
Aggressive measures during COVID ‘saved thousands of lives’
The Burnet Institute says global COVID deaths data underscores Australia’s success in saving lives in the first two years of the pandemic.
Updated
Crime
Doncaster stabbing victim may have been killed chasing armed thieves
A man who was the victim of an aggravated burglary in Melbourne’s north-east was found dead in the street, sparking a homicide investigation.
Taiwan’s government wins a third term, delivering a blow to Beijing’s ambitions
The election of Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party is likely to cement tensions with Beijing for the next four years.
Emotional traditional owners see 150-year-old artefact for the first time
A rarely seen smoked bark etching dating back to the 1800s has been briefly displayed as part of a bid to secure Commonwealth heritage protection for Victoria’s largest inland saltwater lake.
The Melbourne haunts that Djokovic visits for good luck
Novak Djokovic hopes to replicate the almost-peerless form from his 10th Australian Open title run last year, and has a few favourite spots he likes to visit.
Aussie’s wild ride from GoFundMe plea to $120k Open payday
Four years ago Dane Sweeny turned to crowdfunding to keep his tennis dream alive. Now he’s qualified for a grand slam main draw.
He denied Novak the grand slam. Now Alcaraz wants to beat him in ‘his house’
Carlos Alcaraz is prepared to indulge himself and imagine the moment when he defeats 10-time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic on the legend’s most cherished court.
Australia 2 India 0
Asian Cup
Socceroos squeeze past India to get Asian Cup off to winning start
Goals from Jackson Irvine and Jordan Bos got the result Graham Arnold’s side needed, but improvement is needed - and quickly - if they are to contend for another continental crown.
How Kewell plans to uphold Postecoglou’s legacy at Yokohama F. Marinos
The Socceroos legend has been confirmed as head coach of the Japanese club where Ange Postecoglou started an Aussie tradition.
Opinion
Australian cricket
Aussie fans used to idolise West Indies greats. Now we need to Google their players
The shortest path to public notice for the Windies’ young players will be to put up strong resistance against an Australia team very much at the height of its powers.
Geoff Lawson
Cricket columnist
The best Block sales of 2023, from beach pad to Californian bungalow
Several homes linked to the reality renovation show sold over the past year, beyond the season’s televised auctions.
Travel quiz: Which Californian city is home to Disneyland?
Are you an expert traveller? Test your knowledge with the weekly travel quiz.
Updated
Weddings
Jacinda Ardern marries partner Clarke Gayford in private ceremony
The former NZ PM wore a white halterneck dress, while the groom sported a black suit. Their daughter, Neve, wore a dress made with fabric from her grandmother Laurell Ardern’s wedding dress.
Opinion
Hip pocket
How you could get a $60 rebate for your New Year’s resolutions
Chances are you are still trying to be more healthy in 2024. Imagine if you could do that while keeping a bit more wealthy, too?
Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon
Money contributor
‘So quick and so lovely, and just minutes to make’: Rick Stein’s cheat’s tiramisu
The celebrity chef and restaurateur shares a simple chicken supper and a genius cheat’s tiramisu recipe from his latest cookbook.
Australian Open
Thanks, Lleyton: Why the number of Aussie men in the top 100 has soared
Most of the Aussie men now in the world’s top 100 players are not household names – but someone who is helped them rise up the ranks.
The tennis-superstar mum: It’s the birth of a new era – almost
A raft of former top-ranked players competing in this year’s Australian Open are now mums. But what seems like a new trend is, in fact, anything but.
Victoria
Exclusive
Climate policy
Infrastructure boss wants state government to choose when the sea takes suburbs
Victoria’s own in-house infrastructure agency is calling on the state government to decide when suburbs around Port Phillip Bay will be allowed to sink into the sea.
Four men drown in Victorian waterways in one day as summer toll rises
Two drowned at beaches along the Bass Coast, while a body was retrieved by water police in South Gippsland. Another man was found dead in a Melbourne creek.
Victorian man arrested after Melbourne teen found dead near Alice Springs
A motorist found 19-year-old Yiel Gatluak lying on a remote dirt road east of Alice Springs on New Year’s Day.
Tobacco war: Five arrested over festive season firebombings
A police detective said the arrests hurt an unnamed criminal syndicate driving recent firebombings and claim police were “seeming to turn the corner” in combating the violence.
The Last Word
Climate crisis
We’ll be stuck like shags on a rock when sea levels really surge
The sea rises, and having witnessed a preview years ago on my own beach, I am here to report that the future is ugly.
WEEKEND READS
Opinion
Test cricket split into two divisions is better than nothing at all
Here’s a wrong-’un of an idea. Test cricket could split into two divisions. The first would consist of Australia, England and India - who have been manoeuvring towards a closed shop anyway - and maybe New Zealand and South Africa, suitably subsidised.
Greg Baum
Sports columnist
Kylie Moore-Gilbert: From ‘childless divorcee with a criminal record’ to motherhood and a mission
Just 18 months ago, she described herself as a childless divorcee with no job. Now the scholar and former political prisoner is a new mother on a mission to pressure our government to do better.
Politics
Analysis
Byelection
How Albanese and Dutton will fight the byelection battle to shape 2024
If Labor’s stunning win in the Aston byelection came in the Albanese government’s honeymoon, a looming poll in Dunkley will occur amid mid-relationship blues.
Business
Updated
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Australians at headquarters where US, UK strikes on Yemen were ordered: Marles
As the US and UK strike Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the federal opposition calls for the group to be designated as a terror organisation in Australia in response to its attacks on Red Sea shipping.
World
Updated
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
US launches new airstrike on Houthi target in Yemen
It came as the US president warned Iran to stay out of the conflict and after Houthi militants vowed to respond to US and UK strikes carried out with the support of Australia in Yemen.
Opinion
American democracy is at DEFCON 1. A Trump win may seal its fate
Nick Bryant
Journalist and author
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Property
Rents in Emma’s suburb soared 23%. They fear being priced out
Asking rents rose in nearly every Melbourne suburb last year, most by double digits. Can it continue?
Series
Renting
If you think renting in Australia is a mess, you’re not the only one
The cost of rent is at an all-time high while vacancies are at an all-time low. Let us help you make sense of it all.
Good Food
Lifestyle
Swan song? No way, these ballerinas are proving a pointe at the barre
Royal Academy of Dance-certified Silver Swans classes are bringing older dancers back to ballet, as well as new ones to try it for the first time.
Culture
Jeremy Allen White, in undies, on a roof. But that’s not the ad that has people’s knickers in a knot
People have been swooning over White’s Calvin Klein ad campaign like there’s no tomorrow. Why, then, was a similar ad banned?
Traveller
Drivedrive
From Our Partners
Sport
Australia 2 India 0
Asian Cup
Socceroos squeeze past India to get Asian Cup off to winning start
Goals from Jackson Irvine and Jordan Bos got the result Graham Arnold’s side needed, but improvement is needed - and quickly - if they are to contend for another continental crown.
Like Bradman, Smith seeks a way out of bouncer barrage
A yearning for “normal cricket” has compelled Steve Smith to open the batting for Australia, as he seeks a way out of the cycle of short balls, negative tactics and slow scoring.
Aussie’s wild ride from GoFundMe plea to $120k Open payday
Four years ago Dane Sweeny turned to crowdfunding to keep his tennis dream alive. Now he’s qualified for a grand slam main draw.
The Melbourne haunts that Djokovic visits for good luck
Novak Djokovic hopes to replicate the almost-peerless form from his 10th Australian Open title run last year, and has a few favourite spots he likes to visit.
How Kewell plans to uphold Postecoglou’s legacy at Yokohama F. Marinos
The Socceroos legend has been confirmed as head coach of the Japanese club where Ange Postecoglou started an Aussie tradition.
He denied Novak the grand slam. Now Alcaraz wants to beat him in ‘his house’
Carlos Alcaraz is prepared to indulge himself and imagine the moment when he defeats 10-time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic on the legend’s most cherished court.
The speech that sparked a bitter feud over the future of Melbourne Park
A new music stadium, basketball courts, hotels and restaurants are being pitched for the coveted precinct – and the state’s sporting chiefs are jostling for control.
Have Your Say
Test cricket split into two divisions is better than nothing at all
Here’s a wrong-’un of an idea. Test cricket could split into two divisions. The first would consist of Australia, England and India - who have been manoeuvring towards a closed shop anyway - and maybe New Zealand and South Africa, suitably subsidised.
Greg Baum
Sports columnist
