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.

Federal Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten, (left) and Labor Senator Sam Dastyari arrive at the NSW Young Labor conference, in Sydney, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. Mr Shorten spoke of the need to reduce the voting age to 16, to empower and re-engage younger Australians. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts) NO ARCHIVING

Last days of Dasher

Bill Shorten is pushing to end the damaging controversy surrounding embattled NSW senator Sam Dastyari within days, with sources close to the Labor leader ­saying the situation is “unsustainable’’. A senior Labor source said last night that Mr Shorten was “no fool”. “He knows the situation can’t continue,” the source said. Mr Shorten’s intervention comes as Labor heavyweight Kim Beazley called on Senator Dastyari to consider what was best for the Labor Party. Andrew Clennell’s analysis is that while Shorten owes his leadership to Dastyari, the time has come to cut the embattled senator adrift.

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Politicians hit the campaign trail in the federal seat of Bennelong ahead of the by-election vote this Saturday. Liberal member John Alexander and Labor member Kristina Keneally hand out flyers outside the pre polling office in Epping. Picture: Toby Zerna

A week is a Bennelong time in politics

The Liberal Party’s primary vote in Bennelong has collapsed, leaving the Coalition and Labor in a ­tight race for the previously safe Liberal seat and the Turnbull government’s slim command of parliament in the hands of Cory Bernardi’s Australian Conservatives. A Newspoll, conducted exclusively for The Australian a week out from a by-election that if lost could force the Coalition into minority government, has revealed an ­11-point slide in the ­Liberal primary vote since last year’s election.

“Don’t let Kristina ­Keneally do to Bennelong what she did to NSW as premier.”

Malcolm Turnbull

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NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 11: Members of the New York City Police Department stand guard inside the New York Port Authority Bus Terminal after it reopened following an explosion, December 11, 2017 in New York City. The Police Department said that one person, Akayed Ullah, is in custody for an attempted terror attack after an explosion in a passageway linking the Port Authority Bus Terminal with the subway. Drew Angerer/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

Bomb bungler from Bangladesh

A 27-year-old immigrant from Bangladesh has been identified as the terrorist who botched a planned bomb attack in New York today, injuring three people. Akayed Ullah, who lived in Brooklyn, was carrying an rudimentary pipe-bomb strapped to his body when it exploded as he walked in a crowded underground pedestrian tunnel at 42nd St and 8th Avenue in western Manhattan.

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11/12/2017: Taxify, EuropeÕs fastest-growing ride-sharing platform, launches today in Sydney with more than 4,000 drivers already registered with the platform. Samuel Raciti, Australia Country Manager for Taxify, in Sydney on Monday. Hollie Adams/The Australian

Taxify takes aim at Uber

Fast-growing European ride-sharing company Taxify is launching what it says is Australia’s first real Uber rival, kicking off with heavily discounted rides today in a bid to dethrone the controversial US giant. Taxify, founded in Estonia in 2013 by then 19-year-old high school student Markus Villig, takes only 15 per cent commission from its drivers, in a market where competitors take between 25 and 30 per cent.

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Bulldogs CEO Raelene Castle at the Pre Grand Final lunch at Darling Harbour.

Rugby hands keys to Castle

Rugby Australia is understood to have broken new ground by offering its chief executive position to Raelene Castle, who is set to ­become the first female to run a major football code in this country. And in other rugby news, Rugby Australia deputy chairman Brett Robinson is heading into negotiations today with Andrew Forrest’s Indo Pacific Rugby Championship confident the two parties can reach a settlement that will allow the IPRC to coexist with Super Rugby from 2019.

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Clement’s view

Rod Clement Letters Page Cartoon for 12-12-2017Version: (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.