Just in
Latest
Ellen DeGeneres to end her TV talk show next year
The talk show host, who has seen a ratings hit after allegations of running a toxic workplace, has decided that her upcoming season will be the last.
- by Mark Kennedy
Australia buys 25 million Moderna vaccine doses, negotiates onshore manufacturing
Moderna has struck an agreement with the Morrison government to supply 10 million doses this year and 15 million booster shots in 2022.
- by Bevan Shields
Letters
Letters
Cash splash a drop in the ocean amid titanic issues
The truth is that this budget, despite its impressive-sounding millions, fails to properly address even one area of need.
In the Herald: May 13, 1975
‘Bit of a squeeze’, great Scott, a rip-off and chemists’ plan to curb smoking.
- by Lyn Maccallum
Inquiry into PM’s office about Higgins’ rape claim resumes
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed on Wednesday night that an inquiry into who in his office knew what about Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations has resumed.
- by Latika Bourke
Albanese’s pitch to build the businesses and jobs of tomorrow
Anthony Albanese will position himself as a leader for the future by promising a Labor government would tap into the energy and ideas of young Australians to accelerate the creation of new businesses and jobs.
- by Rob Harris
Updated
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Escalating violence bears hallmarks of Gaza war
The death toll in Gaza rose to 43 Palestinians, including 13 children and three women, according to the Health Ministry. Nearly 300 people have been wounded.
- by Fares Akram and Joseph Krauss
Opinion
Column 8
Hitting a ton? ScoMo and Big Mac have your cards marked
And there’s big love from Olav too.
‘Standout’ tall set to raise his hand in draft boost for North
A highly rated forward-ruckman is set to be picked up by North Melbourne with first pick in the mid-season draft.
- by Jake Niall
Opinion
Coronavirus pandemic
Scott Morrison vindicated for wanting health inspectors to have more power
An independent global expert panel says that if the world wants to prevent another pandemic, it needs international health inspectors with powers like those of international weapons inspectors. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Scott Morrison made the same recommendation over a year ago.
- by Peter Hartcher
‘There is no time to waste’: WHO needs new powers to control future outbreaks, report says
The report also urges world governments to allow WHO infection experts immediate access to inspect outbreaks anywhere in the world in an effort to prevent future cover-ups and delays.
- by Peter Hartcher
Rich countries must donate a billion vaccines by September or risk new COVID-19 variants
High-income countries must donate a billion coronavirus vaccines to 92 low and middle-income nations before new virus variants develop, potentially rendering them less effective, the World Health Organisation has warned.
- by Mary Ward
‘Won’t last five rounds’: Swift Justis predicted in Gallen showdown
Paul Gallen’s fight with Justis Huni is scheduled for 10 rounds, but the budding Olympian’s camp doubts it will even reach the halfway point.
- by Adrian Proszenko
Alan Jones keeps barking questions at Rugby Australia. I’ve got the answers.
Alan Jones’ favourite used to be “the dogs bark, the caravan moves on”. Now he’s the one barking.
- by Peter FitzSimons
Exclusive
Wallabies
Gold standard: First look at the new permanent Wallabies jersey
The Herald has obtained a photo of this year’s Wallabies jersey, which is the same colour as Australia’s famous 1991 strip.
- by Tom Decent
‘There is no pathway’: Call for boys to play netball in schools
Representatives from Men’s Netball NSW have been going out to local schools and sporting carnivals in an effort to get teachers on board with the men’s game.
- by Sarah Keoghan
Primary schools dump ‘predictable’ picture books as reading tools
Schools are dumping literacy texts that let children learn new words with the help of pictures for ‘decodable readers’ that focus on sounds and letter patterns.
- by Adam Carey
Research could take ‘decades to recover’ after budget overlooks universities
Universities warn with international students shut out from the country for another year, research programs are at risk and will be very hard to rebuild.
- by Lisa Visentin
‘Some of the worst-paid people in the economy’: Workers miss out in aged care reform
Aged care workers say low wages will prevent more people from joining the sector, which desperately needs more staff.
- by Rachel Clun
‘Overwhelming sense of grief’: Families face years of separation as border closure drags on
Since Annie Withrow gave birth to her first child last year, she has been anxiously waiting to introduce him to her parents, but hopes this might happen in 2021 are becoming more and more remote.
- by Simone Fox Koob
As it happened: Nation reacts to federal budget as NSW and Victoria record no local COVID-19 cases
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg unveiled a big-spending budget on Tuesday aimed at rebuilding the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, as Victoria recorded its first locally-acquired case in 73 days.
- by Michaela Whitbourn, Broede Carmody and Nick Bonyhady
Migraine relief on the way for sufferers with new drug added to PBS
Emgality, a drug which could previously cost up to $6800 a year, will instead cost $41.30 a script.
- by Mary Ward
Afghanistan Test to be Ashes warm-up for stars with Perth to host series finale
The match against Test minnows Afghanistan will provide much-needed red-ball practice for Test stars Pat Cummins, Steve Smith and David Warner leading into Australia’s defence of the urn.
- by Andrew Wu and Daniel Cherny
‘Outstanding questions’: Council recommends referring itself to ICAC, police over land deal
The potential dual probe into the transaction between Murray River Council and Murray River Energy has been slated just weeks after the state’s council watchdog confirmed it would launch a full-blown investigation.
- by Angus Thompson
Court bid to oust Porter barrister from acting in defamation fight
A friend of the woman who accused Christian Porter of rape has made a court bid to stop one of his barristers from acting for him in his defamation case against the ABC.
- by Jacqueline Maley and Michaela Whitbourn
‘We’re committed to Kyle Flanagan’s welfare’: Bulldogs boss
Canterbury chief executive Aaron Warburton has defended the club’s decision to put Kyle Flanagan before the media despite the half being dropped for Magic Round.
- by Adrian Proszenko
No budget money for new gas plant casts doubt over whether it will be built
The energy market was left in confusion over whether the government will follow through on a taxpayer-funded gas generator after Tuesday’s federal budget.
- by Mike Foley and Nick Toscano
Security committee to probe Australia’s stance on Hezbollah
A parliamentary inquiry has been launched into why Australia lists only one offshoot of Lebanese militant group and political party Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.
- by Anthony Galloway
‘I was terrible’: Tough talk from Hasler, father turned Saab around
Jason Saab is the first to admit that his first few games with Manly were less than impressive. But some difficult conversations have helped him turn it all around.
- by Sarah Keoghan
Man dies after alleged assault at Rushcutters Bay apartment block
Police arrived at Kings Cross Road just before 2pm where the man, believed to be in his 30s, was found unresponsive in a basement.
- by Daniella White
Massive marine parks declared in Australia’s Indian Ocean Territories
Massive marine parks have been declared in Australia’s Indian Ocean but experts warn the devil will be in the detail of what environmental protections they offer.
- by Mike Foley
Analysis
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
‘Is this the big one?’: The next intifada could be fuelled over TikTok
The Israeli government, the surrounding Arab nations and the Palestinian Authority all desperately want to shut down the crisis but the call to arms has moved to social media.
- by Thomas L. Friedman
Internal emails reveal WHO knew of sex abuse claims in Congo
Young women working on the Ebola outbreak in 2019 claim they were offered or appointed to jobs in return for sex.
- by Maria Cheng and Al-Hadji Kudra Maliro
Millions of hectares of forest have grown back since 2000
But that’s no excuse to sit around waiting for it to happen, say the researchers who quantified the regeneration.
- by Umberto Bacchi
Housing boom ‘not expected to be sustained’ budget papers say
The Sydney and Melbourne property boom is facing a slowdown on federal government forecasts as closed international borders and the end of grants hit the housing market brakes.
- by Jennifer Duke
Updated
Earnings season
CBA keeping close eye on housing investor loans as profits surge to $2.4b
Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn says he would be wary about any resurgence in speculative borrowing by property investors.
- by Clancy Yeates
The moral of this Disney story: You can’t have your cake and eat it too
The Disney exhibition at ACMI is full of beautiful and historic pieces of art. But the standout may just be a confection made entirely from confectionery.
- by Karl Quinn
Public servant tells ICAC: I got caught up in a network of corrupt work
A former Roads and Maritime Services employee accused of rigging $41 million worth of NSW government contracts in return for lavish kickbacks said he got swept up in a network of corruption.
- by Tom Rabe
Councils left begging for funding to protect their coasts
Just over half of a $73 million funding program to curb coastal erosion and restore estuaries has been dished out over the past five years.
- by Matt O'Sullivan
Analysis
Please Explain podcast
Please Explain podcast: Will the government’s big investments pay off?
Today on Please Explain, Tory Maguire is joined by chief political correspondent David Crowe and senior economics correspondent Shane Wright for their insights into the 2021 federal budget.
- by Tory Maguire
Opinion
Federal budget
Back to the future budget delivers jobs, but no pay rises
This budget fails to deliver either Keynesian stimulus big enough to kick the economy into a new gear or the supply-side reforms that would unleash a private sector-led recovery.
- by Jessica Irvine
Opinion
Federal budget
Delayed reopening will not serve national goals, only political ones
If Australia wants to avoid being left behind post-pandemic, the pathway to opening up will require some risk but it seems the government wants a political dividend first.
- by Greg Dore
Prince Harry and Meghan team up with Procter & Gamble
P&G’s brands include Gillette, Pantene, Olay, Tampax, Vicks and Old Spice, but it’s the company’s non-profit work that lines up with the royal couple.
Opinion
Federal budget
Thanks Josh! Why the banks love the budget
When the chiefs of Australia’s four banks went to bed after listening to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg deliver a massive spending budget, they surely counted dollars rather than sheep.
- by Elizabeth Knight
Updated
AFL 2021
Willie Rioli pleads guilty to cannabis possession but escapes conviction
Police caught the premiership-winning West Coast Eagle with the drugs at Darwin Airport on April 23 where he was set to fly to the Tiwi Islands.
- by Anthony Colangelo
Exclusive
Start up technology
‘We did very very poorly’: Airwallex vows to improve culture amid staff survey backlash
Airwallex scored a negative result in a survey that measures job satisfaction across its compliance and legal operations.
- by Charlotte Grieve
Turnbull says ‘right wing craziness’ drives the government on climate
Malcolm Turnbull joins a chorus of clean energy supporters disappointed in the federal government, saying only the “implausible” threat of Labor will shift it.
- by Nick O'Malley
Updated
Coronavirus pandemic
Tests confirm Victorian caught coronavirus in SA hotel quarantine
The Victorian Department of Health confirmed the genomic sequencing results on Wednesday, as the AFL stepped in to help trace football fans who may have shared a train with the infected man.
- by Roy Ward and Rachael Dexter
Tell me it’s real: is Bennifer back?
Online gossip and a timely “private getaway” has teased the unlikely return of a ’00s-era power couple.
- by Robert Moran
‘Bats must consist solely of wood’: MCC rejects bamboo to replace willow
A day after research suggested bamboo bats could replace willow, the club that maintains cricket’s official laws has rejected the idea because bamboo is grass and not wood.
- by Gareth Davies
Founders of fashion brand The Daily Edited cut ties, settle legal case
Alyce Tran, one of the co-founders of accessories brand The Daily Edited, has sold her stake to her former business partner following a two-year legal battle over claims of misused funds.
- by Melissa Singer
Updated
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Netanyahu says Palestinian militants to pay ‘very heavy’ price for rocket attacks
Gazans reported their homes shaking and the sky lighting up with Israeli attacks, outgoing rockets fired by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and Israeli air defence missiles intercepting them.
- by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Jeffrey Heller
Last wild macaw in Rio is lonely and looking for love
Almost every morning Juliet appears. She swoops onto the zoo’s macaw enclosure and, through the fence, engages in behaviour that looks like conjugal canoodling.
- by David Biller
Suez Canal to be expanded after Ever Given fiasco
The Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned ship ran aground in the single-lane stretch of the canal on March 23, blocking international trade for six days.
‘Paper bag test’: ASX tech star Appen criticised for skin colour test
Tech darling Appen has been hit by claims of racism in its recruitment processes after it asked job candidates to take a “paper bag test” about their skin colour.
- by Cara Waters
Earthquake strikes Mindoro, Philippines
The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre reported the earthquake’s depth at 112 km.
- by Kanishka Singh
Opinion
Inflation
Commodity boom adds to confusion about the outlook for inflation
Does the new boom in commodity prices point to a longer and stronger post-pandemic surge in global growth and inflation than markets and central banks have assumed?
- by Stephen Bartholomeusz
Jack Kokaua died from heart condition after being Tasered and held down by police, Coroner finds
The 30-year-old had absconded from hospital in February 2018 and was restrained at Camperdown by multiple police who were attempting to take him back.
- by Georgina Mitchell
Two dead whales dislodge from hull of HMAS Sydney in California
The Royal Australian Navy has confirmed the two carcasses shifted from underneath the vessel as it berthed.
- by Sarah McPhee
Updated
US politics
Defiant Liz Cheney blasts Trump election lies ahead of leadership vote
Cheney said those who dispute the election results were at war with the Constitution and were sowing the seeds of future political violence.
- by Matthew Knott
Qantas delays resumption of international flying after budget blow
Qantas has pushed back the restart date for most of its international network after the federal budget revealed Australia’s border will likely remain shut until the middle of next year.
- by Patrick Hatch
Atlanta spa shootings were hate crimes, prosecutor says
She indicated she would seek the death penalty for the suspect who was also charged with one count of domestic terrorism.
- by Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs
Metro West station to be built on land owned by The Star casino
The NSW government has confirmed a station for its flagship Metro West rail line will be built on a Pyrmont site to be acquired from gambling giant The Star.
- by Tom Rabe and Megan Gorrey
Djokovic’s tantrum in Rome rain, Nadal’s Tokyo doubts
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic shouted at the umpire before regaining his cool at the Italian Open.
‘Good science into products’: Cochlear, CSL celebrate patents win in budget
Biotech heavyweights say a plan to lower the tax rate for income made off local patents will keep medical innovation onshore.
- by Emma Koehn
Analysis
Sharemarket
It’s complicated: Central banks are making passive investing trickier
Over the last 10 years, investors have been rewarded for keeping it simple, tracking sharemarket indices rather than analysing the prospects of individual companies. Not any more.
- by Anneka Treon
People are flying to nowhere just to shop duty free during COVID
Last month, Hyun Jung-a boarded a flight from South Korea’s Incheon Airport. Around two hours later, she was back in the same airport and loading up on duty-free shopping, despite never landing in another country.
- by Kyunghee Park, Bruce Einhorn and Angelina Rascouet
Life-sized Star Wars X-wing fighter lands in US museum
“The museum has long had an interest in the themes of inspiration and imagination,” Margaret Weitekamp, a Smithsonian curator, said.
- by Gabrielle Russon and Orlando Sentinel
Manchester City clinch third Premier League title in four seasons
Manchester United losing 2-1 to Leicester left City with an unassailable 10-point lead with three games remaining.
WA Health denies whistleblower hotel quarantine guard’s claims as Premier defends ‘not perfect’ system
The Health Department has refuted claims by a former hotel quarantine security guard and denied that a quarantine guest could have been left forgotten for three months at Perth’s InterContinental Hotel late last year.
- by Aja Styles
Updated
World markets
ASX set for more losses on back of global market sell-off
Wall Street continues its slide as inflation concerns continue to weigh on investors.
- by Stephen Culp
With the US election over, Fox News is pitching its softer side
Fox News executives presented advertisers with what they said would be lighter fare after a tumultuous year of pandemic and presidential politics.
- by Christopher Palmeri
Lex Greensill ‘truly sorry’ for company’s collapse but blames insurers in first public appearance
Australian businessman Lex Greensill has issued a grovelling apology after being hauled before the British parliament but blamed the collapse of his business on insurers.
- by Latika Bourke
Ransomware-hit Colonial Pipeline causes US petrol supply crunch, panic buying
“We are asking people not to hoard,” US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters at the White House. “Things will be back to normal soon.”
- by Laura Sanicola and Devika Krishna Kumar
Link between partner violence and mass shootings found
One 2020 study found that nearly half of mass shooters between 1966 and 2020 have a history of violence against women.
- by Anne Branigin
‘Don’t stop buying now’: Investors bet billions on copper’s bull run continuing
A year into the red-hot bull run in industrial metals that’s lifted copper to record highs, investors are still piling in, staking billions of dollars that it won’t run out of steam any time soon.
- by Mark Burton
Rugby Australia not ready to let go of Super Rugby AU just yet
Rugby Australia Hamish McLennan says serious consideration should be given to continuing an Australian-only competition next year.
- by Tom Decent
Opinion
NRL 2021
No winners in de Belin situation – but even so, stand-down rule must stay
The Dragons forward faces a third trial for the alleged rape of a 19-year-old woman. Regardless, the NRL’s controversial no-fault stand-down rule must stay.
- by Andrew Webster
Opinion
China relations
Have we seen the last head of Australian foreign affairs who speaks Mandarin?
Australia’s national interests are better served by having more Chinese-speakers yet exchange programs and courses are hanging in the balance.
- by Ciara Morris
Australian beekeepers stuck in stoush with New Zealand government
Australian honey producers are concerned about an attempt by NZ beekeepers to prevent them from marketing their products as “manuka”.
- by Harriet Alexander
‘Painting them green does not change that reality’: NSW Minister’s electric car warning
Planning Minister Rob Stokes has warned Sydney risks being enslaved to cars as he becomes the third senior minister to offer a view on how best to spur the take-up of electric vehicles.
- by Tom Rabe
Exclusive
Homelessness
Only 10 per cent of hotel homeless in permanent homes amid property shortage
Housing Minister Richard Wynne says finding the right properties is an ongoing challenge, particularly in regional areas.
- by Jewel Topsfield
Lap pool and a gym in the basement: The plan to turn Vaucluse church into a home
Plans to turn the heritage-listed church into a private residence are being resisted by architecture enthusiasts.
- by Megan Gorrey
‘It doesn’t cut it’: Tourism sector hits out at Australia’s ‘border roulette’
The tourism sector has warned that operators will go under before the government ever reopens the border to international visitors.
- by Latika Bourke