Your morning Briefing

Welcome to your morning roundup of what’s making news and the must-reads for today.

Hello readers. Here is your two-minute digest of what’s making news today and a long read for later.

Warlpiri/Celtic woman Jacinta price ,36, is speaking out about the repercussions of voicing a difference of opinion about Australia Day, Alice Springs.

Indigenous activist targeted by Australia Day trolls

Indigenous politician Jacinta Price has been subjected to a torrent of vile social media abuse from anti-Australia Day activists over her push to keep the national day on January 26. The Alice Springs councillor says she has been “disgusted to my core” by the online messages she had received, and blamed “middle-class” Australians with indigenous backgrounds for fuelling the cyber hate.

In other news, a Melbourne council which attacked Australia Day fears its citizenship ceremony will attract violent nationalist protests. Moreland City Council, which covers Melbourne’s inner-northern suburbs, has been permitted to continue its citizenship ceremonies despite expressing views about the contentious holiday

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Wendi Deng. (R) with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. Picture: Getty Images.

Kushner warned over Deng

US counterintelligence officials in early 2017 warned Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, that Wendi Deng Murdoch, a prominent Chinese-American businesswoman, could be using her close friendship with Mr Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, to further the interests of the Chinese government.

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Police have responded to an unexpected call for assistance this morning after a wallaby was spotted crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge.Officers from Harbourside and North Shore local area commands were called to the bridge just before 5am (Tuesday 16 January 2018) after the marsupial was spotted in lane eight on the northern side of the bridge.

Wallaby caught by cops on Harbour Bridge

It was a quintessentially Australian start to the morning in Sydney today after a wallaby was caught hopping along the Harbour Bridge. The marsupial was spotted at around 5am this morning and was apprehended by three police officers outside the Conservatorium of Music. The wallaby is currently recovering from his morning adventure in the Taronga Zoo Wildlife Intensive Care Unit.

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(FILES) This file photo taken on July 07, 2016 shows Irish singer Dolores O'Riordan of Irish band The Cranberries performing on stage during the 23th edition of the Cognac Blues Passion festival in Cognac on July 7, 2016. The Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan died on January 15, 2018 in London at the age of 46, a publicist statement said. / AFP PHOTO / GUILLAUME SOUVANT

Cranberries singer dead at 46

Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer of Irish rock band The Cranberries, has died suddenly, aged 46. Formed in Limerick, Ireland at the end of the 1980s, The Cranberries became international stars in the 90s with hits including Zombie and Linger that fused the alternative rock edge with Celtic-infused pop tunefulness. O’Riordan was The Cranberries’ chief lyricist and co-songwriter, and her powerful, sometimes wailing, voice was key to the band’s distinctive sound

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ESCAPE: Best Trends for 2018, Mal Chenu - Havana, Cuba - March 19, 2015: Tourists ride in a classic American car that serves as a taxi, a young couple pose for a photo inside the cabriolet. Picture: Istock

The long read: After the Castro time warp

As the sun sets over Havana, ­Victoria Garcia sits along the city’s crumbling waterfront and ponders what will happen in April when, for the first time in her life, Cuba will no longer be ruled by a dictator named Castro.

“Our generation is ready for change, we want more capitalism, we want more freedom. But is my country ready for this? Or will it just be the same socialism?”

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Supplied image of Amy Everett who modelled as "Dolly" for Akubra hats. Amy suicided after being bullied at school. Facebook

Comment of the day

“I hope that Dolly’s story comes out, all of it, including what the perpetrators of the bulling did to cause such sadness and desperation .”

*Geoff, in response to ‘Oh Dolly, what have we done?’

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Jon Kudelka’ latest cartoon

Jon Kudelka's wry take on the state of affairs.