Your morning Briefing

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

Good morning readers. Here is your two-minute digest of what’s making news today.

Specialist NSW Police officers will be armed with Colt M4 semi-automatic rifles from today as part of an increased capability to protect the community. 47 officers from the Public Order and Riot Squad have completed training and have been issued with the first Colt M4 rifles as part of the initial roll-out. NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said from today, Public Order and Riot Squad (PORS) officers will have access to the high-powered rifles.

Colt Lang Syne

Sydney’s New Year’s Eve will be under the watchful eye of a massive police and security presence with more than one million revellers expected in the CBD. Dozens of officers armed with Colt M4 semi-automatic rifles will be on guard to protect crowds during the massive celebrations.

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The picture tweeted by Anthony Pratt with his wife Claudine and Donald Trump yesterday.

When Trump met Pratt

Australia’s richest man, Pratt ­Industries executive chairman Anthony Pratt, is strengthening his ties with Donald Trump, with the pair enjoying an intimate meeting yesterday at the US President’s exclusive Florida club, Mar-a-Lago. Mr Pratt, who lived in the US for 15 years before returning home to Melbourne in 2009 after the death of his father, tweeted a photo with his wife Claudine ­Revere, their children and Mr Trump at the resort. After the meeting, Mr Pratt told The Australian he had praised the President for getting his tax cuts through and “reported progress” on his promise made in May to invest $US2 billion in the US over the next 10 years, creating more than 5000 manufacturing jobs.

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Run chase begins

Jimmy Anderson is out first ball of the day after a Pat Cummins corker. Cook finishes his innings at 244 not out. And the Australians have it all to do to rein in England’s lead. Follow the action in the fourth Ashes Test at the MCG in our live blog.

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The Minister for Police, Lisa Neville, and Acting Chief Commissioner, Shane Patton, will demonstrate the public address system. The CBD public address system is a new option that is available to us to alert the public about important safety information. Under current protocols, the speaker system may be considered for use during class 3 emergencies. This includes a range of scenarios that pose immediate risk to the community such as acts of terrorism, hijackings, sieges or riots. This new tool is a quick way for us to alert the community of any imminent risks and ensure their safety. However, it is important to remember that this is just one of the options available to us. Pictured outside the State Library at the corner of Lt Lonsdale St and Swanston St, Melbourne. Police Minister Lisa Neville, Acting Chief Commissioner Shane Patton, Craig Lapsley Emergency Management Commissioner. Picture: Lawrence Pinder

Apex predators

Victoria Police and the Andrews government have declared they are not afraid to call out high crime rates among African youth after a spate of violent incidents highlighted the ongoing problem and prompted renewed commitments to working with the community. Acting chief commissioner Shane Patton yesterday distanced himself from a local superintendent who downplayed the issue after a violent attack on a sergeant who was trying to arrest an African boy accused of shop­lifting. “The leaders in the African community readily and openly say they do have issues with a small cohort of African youth who are committing high-end crimes,” he said.

“We will target anyone who’s involved in any criminal activity and if that’s African youths, so be it.”

Shane Patton, acting chief commissioner, Victoria Police

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FILE - In this March 9, 2015 file photo, Apple CEO Tim Cook talks about the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus during an Apple event in San Francisco. IPhone owners from several states sued Apple Inc. for not disclosing sooner that it issued software updates deliberately slowing older-model phones so aging batteries lasted longer, saying Apple's silence led them to wrongly conclude that their only option was to buy newer, pricier iPhones. The allegations were in a lawsuit filed Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017, in Chicago federal court on behalf of five iPhone owners. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

Guilty as charged?

Apple has offered an apology to users in an open letter after facing criticism for slowing down iPhones that had older batteries, and slashed the price it charges for replacing batteries in older iPhones. “We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down,” said the unsigned letter. “We apologise.” The letter seeks to clarify “a lot of misunderstanding about this issue” and says Apple has “never — and would never — do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades”.

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A sign marks the check-in for Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian Airlines and Finnair on March 21, 2017 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Passengers traveling to the United States from 10 airports in eight Muslim-majority countries will be prohibited from bringing laptops, tablets and other portable electronic devices on board with them when they fly. The nine airlines affected by the US ban are Royal Jordanian, EgyptAir, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways. / AFP PHOTO / DON EMMERT

Captain’s outrageous

What happens when an airline captain becomes a potential terrorist? This is a question that deserves to be asked of Royal Jordanian after one of its senior pilots professed a willingness to die in the service of a higher calling. Captain Yousef Al-Hamlan Dajah declared he was “willing to be martyred for the sake of Palestine”. He said he was compelled to speak out after being outraged by President Donald Trump’s announcement that the US would recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“We are about to fly over Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine.”

Captain Yousef Al-Hamlan Dajah, Royal Jordanian

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Daisy Cousens posted this photo of Donald Trump's famous red hat and a book by Milo Yiannopoulos.

‘More intellectual rigour than you use here’

The former editors of Milo Yiannopoulos’ autobiography Dangerous described the contents of his book as “egotistical boasting,” “ self-aggrandisement” and “self-serving,” and criticised his arguments as “scattershot thinking,” and “phenomenally petty,” court documents have revealed. Mr Yiannopoulos is suing Simon & Schuster for breach of contract after the publisher, which had paid him a $34,500 advance for the rights to the book, cancelled the deal after a recording emerged which appeared to show the alt-right commentator endorsing sex with “younger boys”.

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Tablet promo

The long read (Best of 2017): Bearup vs Gorilla

What’s it really like to be eaten for breakfast by radio’s ‘500-pound gorilla’? It didn’t take Greg Bearup long to find out when he sat down with talk radio king Alan Jones.

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Comment of the day

“Never mind doing ‘more to help them integrate’. Do more to help them emigrate.”

Tom S, in response to ‘Victoria Police chief forced to admit African youth gangs a problem’.