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Fiona Buffini

January

I get sick in a Sydney cab. Why am I going on a cruise?

A journey around Papua New Guinea’s remote south-east combines luxury cruising with some of the world’s finest snorkelling and diving.

November 2024

Johann Hari’s new book recounts the weight he lost by using Ozempic.

‘Sounds like a comedy sketch, lunch with a person on Ozempic’

After a lifetime of being overweight, best-selling author Johann Hari lost 20 kilograms on Ozempic, but he says it’s much more than a weight-loss drug.

October 2024

ACSI CEO Louise Davidson, Aware Super CEO Deanne Stewart and HESTA CEO Debby Blakey are demanding more answers from companies around cultural issues.

Big super pushes boards on culture after WiseTech, MinRes dramas

Industry superannuation funds are ramping up their focus on the culture of the companies they invest in as scandals wipe billions off corporate valuations.

How to drink yourself sober with one little $1 pill

A little-known pill and a counter-intuitive way of taking it upends the conventional wisdom about drinking and how to treat it. It’s like Ozempic for alcohol, but far cheaper.

A year later, for many Australian Jews it’s still October 7

A year after the Hamas massacre in Israel, many Australian Jews feel they are still there, as they navigate a world that often seems upside-down.

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June 2024

Footage of Haifa port in Israel that Hezbollah claimed was taken by one of its drones.

In Israel’s north, waiting for Hezbollah to attack

In the villages near the border with Lebanon, locals see a real war with the Iran-backed group as a matter of when, not if, even though an escalation would lead to enormous destruction on both sides.

May 2022

Scott Morrison addresses Horizon church on Sunday morning after his election loss.

Liberals will take a generation to recover from loss

Former Labor strategist Kos Samaras warned people currently with power in the Liberal party are the “byproduct of a system that’s been rejected by people in Victoria”; Labor is on track to win majority government with 77 seats. How today unfolded.

‘No one left behind, no one held back’

Prime Minister-elect Anthony Albanese said he wants to bring Australians together. “I want to seek our common purpose and promote unity and not fear and division.” How election day unfolded.

Julia Roberts plays Martha Mitchell in Gaslit, the TV series based on the podcast.

The Watergate podcast that ‘Gaslit’ is based on

In Slow Burn, Leon Neyfakh tells the story of the 20th century’s biggest political scandal from the perspective of the fascinating bit players – and it’s a wilder and stranger story than you can imagine.

February 2022

 People wait for buses at a bus station as they attempt to evacuate Kyiv.

Europe braces for 1m refugees; markets plunge

European markets plunged into correction territory; oil surged to $US105; gold is at the highest in more than a year, and world leaders condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a “catastrophe” for Europe. Follow updates here.

January 2022

The Chippendales on Bondi Beach in 1990.

The dark secrets of male stripper troupe The Chippendales

The wild true-crime story behind the cultural phenomenon.

October 2021

Senior Victorian nurses Michelle Spence and Jacqui Harper.

Patients ‘beg for vaccination’ when it is too late: ICU nurses

Senior Victorian nurses have implored the vaccine hesitant to get the jab as they described “very young” patients with COVID-19 begging to be vaccinated as they are about to be put on life-support.

August 2021

Sydney ‘not seeing a huge spread’ outside the south-west

The NSW Premier said the virus was not spreading outside the eight areas of south-west Sydney after 239 new cases were reported with only 80 in isolation; Qld’s delta cluster is now in five Brisbane schools. Follow updates here.

July 2021

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, flanked by NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet and Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Business support of up to $10,000 to keep workers in jobs

Gladys Berejiklian will make a lockdown announcement tomorrow, financial assistance gives Sydney ‘a breather’, she says. Eligible workers can get up to $600 per week; businesses can access payments of up to $10,000 if they ‘keep staff on’. How Tuesday unfolded.

Sydney headed for extended lockdown

Sydney’s lockdown is likely to be extended after 77 cases and the first fatality from the outbreak as the top federal doctor urged residents to bring forward their second AstraZeneca jab for protection from the delta strain. How today unfolded.

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Professor Raina MacIntyre.

Sydney must hit five and under to lift lockdown

Biosecurity expert says Sydney should only relax restrictions when there are zero to five cases; Hundreds of guests at a Sydney luxury hotel told to isolate; WA wants ship with sick crew member to leave Australia. How today unfolded.

Weather warning for Sydney’s ‘green shoots’

Officials fear Sydney’s weekend sunshine will trigger crowds and ruin “green shoots” showing the lockdown is working; NSW had 35 new cases but 26 were isolating; Brisbane’s lockdown will end at 6pm; zero cases in WA, Victoria. How today unfolded.

June 2021

Bondi Beach in lockdown mode.

Bondi cluster hits 112, Darwin locked down as virus spreads

NSW reported 30 new cases and Darwin entered a 48-hour lockdown, while Western Australia and South Australia have tightened border restrictions with other states amid concerns about an outbreak linked to a mining site. How Sunday unfolded.

January 2021

Steve Bannon and three others had been charged by federal prosecutors in Manhattan with making fraudulent representations as they solicited donations for a fundraising campaign called "We Build the Wall".

Trump prepares to depart White House for last time

Donald Trump granted clemency to 143 allies and friends in his last hours as president, including former strategist Steve Bannon; He also revoked his own order banning staff from becoming lobbyists. Follow updates here.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Friday put greater Brisbane under lockdown until 6pm on Monday, after a cleaner working at one of the city's quarantine hotels tested positive for a new UK variant of COVID-19.

Promising signs from Brisbane lockdown as overseas cases mount

While Australia has just 315 active cases of the coronavirus and locked-down Brisbane reported no new cases, mass testing is under way to quash a new outbreak near Beijing as Britain's NHS nears breaking point. Here's how Sunday unfolded.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/fiona-buffini-j67sk