Good afternoon. Israel has told the US it needs “months” to defeat Hamas, in a clear rebuff to the Biden administration which is pressing for an end to the war.
Open disagreement has emerged between the US and Israel, with the US also pushing Israel to reduce its airstrikes and significantly increase humanitarian aid into Gaza. In his first phone call with the US president, Joe Biden, since 7 October, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, suggested that the US withdraw its “unconditional support for Israel” to get to a “rapid ceasefire”.
In Germany, a prize granted to leading Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen for political thinking has been withdrawn after they wrote an essay that made a comparison between Gaza and a Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Europe. And read this Guardian editorial on Palestinian suffering in the West Bank.
Top news
Millions struggle to make ends meet this Christmas | More than 5.3 million Australians will not be able to afford a Christmas meal this year and 30% of parents are worried their children will go without presents, research by the Salvation Army showed. The survey of more than 2,000 people found that almost 60% felt more stressed this holiday season compared with 31.6% at the same time last year.
Lisa Wilkinson in witness box | The TV personality had her final day of questioning, and was asked by Bruce Lehrmann’s barristers about a text she sent to The Project’s producer that said senator Linda Reynolds was “lying through her teeth”. Wilkinson indicated that it was when Reynolds said that at the time of her initial meeting with Brittany Higgins she was “not aware of the details or the circumstances of the alleged incident in my office”. Wilkinson added that “[Higgins] always insisted that Senator Reynolds knew that there was a sexual element to what had occurred in the early hours of 23 March 2019”.
Queensland premier sworn in | The new Queensland premier, Steven Miles, sworn in today, has announced the creation of a new consultation body called the Queensland Leaders’ Forum – to be made up of business, union, community and First Nations representatives. In the far north of the state, power was restored to 25,000 of the 40,000 homes affected by Tropical Cyclone Jasper.
$10bn cost blow out in Victoria’s largest road project | The budget for Victoria’s North East Link is now estimated at $26.1bn. It comes as Victoria’s net debt prediction jumped by more than $6bn in six months, and was now expected to balloon to $177.8bn by 2027.
Four-month-old survives Tennessee tornado | Mother Sydney Moore says her son was in a bassinet that flew skyward after the twister ripped the roof off their home. “I was pretty sure he was dead and we weren’t going to find him,” Moore said. “But he’s here, and that’s by the grace of God.”
Curb Your Enthusiasm to end after 12 seasons | “I will now have the opportunity to finally shed this ‘Larry David’ persona and become the person God intended me to be,” the star said.
Threads launches in Europe | Before launching in the EU, Meta first needed to seek approval from the European Commission over the app’s privacy provisions. Threads, known as a “Twitter killer” app, launched in July 2023 and was immediately available in the US and more than 100 other countries, including Australia.
In pictures
Yeah, nah, maybe and goodbye: the year in Australian politics
It has been a busy year for Canberra. There was a referendum, resignations, protests and hunger strikes, farewells and even some daggy dad dancing from Anthony Albanese – and almost all of it was captured on camera. Click here to see some of the best and most striking snaps from Australian politics in 2023.
What they said …
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“We’re a lot better prepared as a country than we were heading into black summer.” – Murray Watt, minister for agriculture
After the hottest start to summer on record, the federal government is reassuring the public that it is prepared to respond to bushfires.
In numbers
Figures released by the Australian Automobile Association this week showed transport costs rose by 4% over the past three months, or more than triple the consumer price index.
Before bed read
Thinking of visiting a Pacific island for your holiday? Here are five expert tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: PLY. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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