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.

In this Friday Dec. 29, 2017, photo, a 22-foot dog sculpture with features widely perceived in China to resemble U.S. President Donald Trump is erected outside a shopping mall to celebrate the upcoming "Year of the Dog" in the Chinese zodiac in Taiyuan in northern China's Shanxi province. (Chinatopix Via AP)

Trump’s China probe

Australia’s concerns about Chinese meddling in national affairs has prompted the Trump administration to open an interagency probe into Chinese covert influence in the US. A US National Security Council interagency group is examining “the grey area” of Chinese covert influence operations rather than traditional espionage, The Washington Post reports. Anthony Klan and Primrose Riordan, meanwhile, report that Chinese donations to South Pacific nations have often been marred by poorly built and long-delayed projects and Majella Hurney suggests scrutiny of China’s Asia Pacific designs is wise, but aid budget cuts strip our criticisms of all credibility.

“A catalyst for the Trump administration’s probe was an investigation in Australia, which revealed what that country’s security chief called ‘unprecedented’ foreign meddling that could damage Australia’s sovereignty.”

David Ignatius, The Washington Post

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Jessica Falkholt and Craig Whitall.

Serial offender

The man responsible for a horror Boxing Day car crash on the NSW south coast which killed himself and the family of actress Jessica Falkholt was a habitual traffic offender who was jailed four times for his dangerous driving. The Daily Telegraph has today revealed the man involved in last month’s tragedy on the Princes Highway near Sussex Inlet, Craig Whitall, had more than 60 traffic offences on his criminal record, 10 of which occurred while he was disqualified from driving. It comes as the family of the 28-year-old Home and Away actress prepared to switch off her life support on Thursday night, after her condition failed to improve. Ms Falkhot remained in critical condition in St George hospital this morning.

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Stills taken from Channel 7. POLICE are investigating after a wild brawl broke out between a group of tourists and a large group of men and woman of African appearance in a fast food restaurant in St Kilda this morning. Picture: Channel 7

Machete holdup

Two men of African appearance threatened a service station worker with a machete and a large rock in Melbourne’s southeast this morning, before escaping with the till. The incident occurred just after 4am at a petrol station on Heatherton Road in Narre Warren. A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the offenders were “perceived to be of African appearance”, and described the men as tall, with their faces partially covered by T-shirts. Meanwhile, our readers suggest ‘Daniel Andrews doesn’t dine where the problems are’ and Cut and Paste ponders victims’ messages for Victoria’s police chief.

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Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh with their sons Austin Waugh and Arjun Tendulkar.

Son of Sachin

Steve Waugh’s son Austin is turning heads in the junior ranks, but it was an old rival of his father’s who captured attention at a match in Bowral yesterday, writes Peter Lalor. Arjun Tendulkar, 18, son of the legendary Sachin, turned out for the Cricket Club of India side against Hong Kong as part of the Spirit of Cricket Global Challenge, a tournament run by SCG Cricket. Taller than his diminutive dad and quicker, Arjun is a smart bower and a free-flowing batsman whose cover drive had the Bowral cricket community in raptures yesterday.

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Teenagers using smart phones. Thinkstock

The long read: The kids are all tame

Teens are taking it easy on sex, drugs and drink, The Economist reports, with young people behaving and thinking differently from previous cohorts at the same age. These shifts can be seen in almost every rich country, from America to The Netherlands to South Korea.

“The average age at which young Australians first try alcohol has risen from 14.4 to 16.1 since 1998. And when they do start, they tend to sip rather than chug.”

The Economist

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Lars and Vivian Falkholt, Annabelle Falkholt and Jessica Falkholt. Picture: AAP

Comment of the day

“We are at the mercy of our judges and magistrates to protect us and our families. They are failing us on a daily basis.”

*Debra, in response to ‘Driver in Boxing Day smash that killed four was serial offender’.

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Clement’s view

Rod Clement Letters cartoon for 12-01-18Version: (650x366)COPYRIGHT: The Australian's artists each have different copyright agreements in place regarding re-use of their work in other publications.Please seek advice from the artists themselves or the Managing Editor of The Australian regarding re-use.