Morning, everyone. First it was delayed by the Coalition’s climate wars, then the actual war in Ukraine. But a UN-backed mission has finally declared that the Great Barrier Reef should be placed on a list of sites in danger – more than a year after the Morrison government succeeded in persuading the world heritage committee not to do so.
As the final parliamentary week of the year builds to a possible censure of a former prime minister, Anthony Albanese is riding high, according to our latest poll. And media organisations have come together to urge the US not to prosecute the WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange.
Australia
Exclusive | Australians are opting for cheaper overnight trains and coaches to travel interstate, with patronage between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane more than doubling as rising air fares make flying less attractive.
Reef report | The long-awaited UN report on the Great Barrier Reef published overnight made 10 recommendations that could “drastically improve” its outlook, including “clear government commitments to reduce greenhouse emissions”.
Poll position | The latest Guardian Essential poll suggests Labor is ahead of the Coalition on the two-party-preferred “plus” measure 51.4% to 43.1%, while voter disapproval of Peter Dutton remains 10 points higher than for the prime minister.
Rental stress | More than 40% of low-income households are now in rental stress and struggling to find money to pay for food, heating and healthcare, according to the latest annual index of rental affordability.
‘Creeped out’ | An environmental activist says surveillance of his family by a private investigator hired by the mining company Adani continues to cause “anxiety” and has asked for photographs – some of his nine-year-old daughter – to be destroyed.
World
China crisis | Police have barricaded a street in Shanghai where protesters have gathered for the last two nights in anticipation of further rallies against the government’s rigid zero-Covid policies, and a BBC reporter has allegedly been beaten by police. It also emerged that Chinese TV has been censoring coverage of the World Cup that shows fans in the stadiums without masks.
Assange plea | The US government must drop its prosecution of the WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange because it is undermining press freedom, according to the media organisations that helped him publish leaked diplomatic cables, including the Guardian.
Ukraine morass | Fighting around the key eastern town of Bakhmut has descended into a bloody impasse, with hundreds of dead and injured reported daily, and neither Russian nor Ukrainian forces able to make a significant breakthrough.
Drug bust | Police have dismantled a “super cartel” that controlled a third of Europe’s cocaine trade, arresting 49 people in various countries, including one “extremely big fish”.
‘It’s horrendous’ | Helena Bonham Carter has defended her longtime co-star Johnny Depp after his victory in a defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard. She also used an interview to defend the Harry Potter creator, JK Rowling, for her stance on gender politics.
Full Story
A blow for independence in Scotland
The supreme court has ruled that the Scottish parliament cannot hold a second referendum without Westminster’s approval. Where does that leave the independence movement?
In-depth
When gambling addicts steal hundreds of thousands of dollars for losing bets, the victims of theft have little recourse, despite companies such as Sportsbet being allowed to keep the ill-gotten wagers gambled through their products. In the latest instalment of our investigation into Australia’s gambling crisis, Stephanie Convery says the system that is meant to regulate the industry is failing.
Not the news
Despite inventive choreography and a terrific turn from Alison Whyte as narrator, Monsters, an ambitious dance-theatre hybrid about a woman searching for her missing sister, doesn’t quite work. Our reviewer Tim Byrne argues that the Stephanie Lake production falls apart when the allegorical becomes literal.
The world of sport
World Cup | The overnight games in Qatar produced two classics with Serbia drawing 3-3 with Cameroon, and Ghana beating South Korea 3-2.
Heading ban | Professional footballers in Scotland will be banned from heading the ball the day before and the day after matches, after studies showing how it can affect the brain.
Olympic chance | Tickets for the 2024 Paris Olympics will go on sale from Thursday to anyone in the world in a new approach to ticketing for the showpiece event.
Media roundup
The Sydney Morning Herald has an exclusive story that a close ally of Scott Morrison – the Liberal MP Alex Hawke – said the former prime minister became “addicted” to power and should have quit politics immediately after the last election. The Age carries analysis of the Victorian election, which highlights how the backlash against Labor in western suburbs was cancelled out in the east. The NT Times reports from the inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker that Indigenous Territorians face racism every day. The Courier-Mail reveals Queensland’s 10 weirdest laws. And the Adelaide Advertiser says there has been a surge in extramarital affairs and maps the state’s cheating “hot spots”.
What’s happening today
Oil protest | Traditional owners from south-west Queensland and the Lock the Gate Alliance will lead a protest calling on the state government to ban new oil and gas projects on the channel country floodplains of the Lake Eyre Basin.
Defence lecture | The former Labor leader Kim Beazley will give a special Ramsay lecture in Sydney about defence and “Australian self-reliance”.
Gallery viewing | The Art Gallery of NSW is showing off its new building ahead of its opening to the public next week.
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
