Good afternoon. The outgoing US president, Joe Biden, has issued “a full and unconditional” pardon to his son Hunter Biden, who was to be sentenced in the coming weeks after being convicted of federal gun and tax fraud charges.
The decision marked a reversal for the president, who had repeatedly said he would not use his executive authority to pardon his son or commute his sentence. In a statement announcing the decision, Joe Biden said Republican opponents had inflated the charges “to attack me and oppose my election”.
“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision,” Biden added. As the Guardian’s Washington DC bureau chief writes, “any father might have done the same – but this exercise of power also looks like a validation of Donald Trump”.
Top news
Government responds to veteran suicide royal commission | Serving personnel convicted of sex offences in either criminal or military courts will face mandatory discharge, and an independent statutory body will be established to reform Australia’s military and bureaucracy to better prevent suicide within the defence and veterans’ community.
Two dead in ‘targeted’ Mornington Peninsula shooting | Victoria police are searching for a man who is believed to have fled the scene after a woman and a man were shot dead at an address in Rye shortly after 4am on Monday.
Two injured in Sydney runaway Tesla incident | Police have launched an investigation after the vehicle collided with three cars before driving off a ledge at a Sydney shopping centre, amid questions about the electric vehicle manufacturer’s Autopilot features.
Michael Rowland to leave ABC News Breakfast | The morning news program’s longest serving male co-host has told viewers his final show will be on 13 December, followed by a long break, saying: “I love the job … but after 15 years of 3am starts my body is screaming ‘enough!’.”
Gambling venues claim ‘community benefit’ tax breaks | Poker machine venues in Victoria have significantly increased the amount of gambling revenue they are spending on themselves, with the latest disclosures including millions spent on their own golf and race courses which is claimed as donations to the broader community.
Laurie Daley returns as NSW Origin coach | The NSW Rugby League has brought back the former champion five-eighth almost a decade after his initial stint as Blues coach, while Craig Bellamy has been drafted in to work with Daley in a new advisory role.
Top UN court to begin landmark climate case hearings | The international court of justice will hear submissions from more than 100 groups examining what countries worldwide are legally required to do to combat climate breakdown and help vulnerable nations fight its devastating impact.
Elton John unable to watch his own musical due to vision loss | The 77-year-old, who is blind in one eye and has low vision in the other, revealed at a gala performance of his new musical The Devil Wears Prada, for which he wrote the lyrics, that he was physically unable to see the performance but “enjoyed it”.
‘Brain rot’ named Oxford word of the year | Picked by more than 37,000 people in a public poll, the dictionary publisher said the term “gained new prominence in 2024 as a term used to capture concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media”.
In pictures
Australia’s best photos of the month – November 2024
From the Rising Tide protest flotilla in Newcastle to sunburnt schoolies and a corpse flower in bloom, Guardian Australia looks back at striking images from around the country.
What they said …
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“I had a hell of a week … [I] felt like a zombie.” – Aurimus Mockus
Just a few months ago, the 44-year-old Lithuanian had never rowed. Now he has been at sea for more than a month, about a quarter of the way into a 12,000km trip from San Diego to Brisbane in a single-seater ocean rowing boat. Undertaking the quest in solidarity with Ukraine, Mockus rows naked most of the time – “so I don’t have any problems with my buttocks, and the good news is that I’ll be back with a nice tan”.
In numbers
More than a dozen people have been charged over the largest alleged cocaine importation in Australia’s history. Authorities claim they busted the attempt by a transnational organised crime syndicate to import the illegal drug, with a street value of about $760m, after a recreational fishing boat police were tracking became stranded about 18km off the north-eastern tip of K’gari.
Before bed read
Three things with Wendy Whiteley: ‘My daughter died, so it’s a real emotional connection to her being very much alive’
In Guardian Australia’s weekly interview about objects, the Sydneysider talks about things that bring her happy memories – and the photos she really hates.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: IDE. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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