As we have seen after Adelaide writers’ week, defending the right of people to speak, even when we deeply disagree with them, is very, very difficult
Is there a way forward for Australia’s cultural life after the cancellation of the 2026 Adelaide writers’ week and all the other controversies played out over the past year, in which the custodians of our culture seem to have crumbled under pressure, only to kinda, sorta and belatedly rally?
I hope so, but it will take a more than rhetorical reflection on what we mean by freedom of speech, and what it requires of us.
Australian No 30 seed defeated 6-4, 6-4 in 92 minutes
Joint was first seeded Australian woman since Ash Barty in 2022
Maya Joint, the top-ranked local in the Australian Open women’s singles draw, crashed out in the first round on Tuesday after losing in straight sets to Czech teenager Tereza Valentová.
Valentová made the most of an inconsistent display from the 30th seed, winning 6-4, 6-4 in 92 minutes.
A surfer has been taken to hospital after being bitten by a shark off the coast of a New South Wales national park campground, the state’s fourth incident in 48 hours.
The local health district said the man, 39, was in hospital in a stable condition with minor injuries. The attack took place near the Point Plomer campground, less than 20km up the coast from Port Macquarie, on Tuesday morning.
President says air force’s new system involves ‘mobile fire groups’ and interceptor drones as he warns of fresh Russian attacks ahead. What we know on day 1,427
Ukraine’s armed forces are introducing a new facet of air defence, made up of small groups deploying interceptor drones, as the country braces for new mass Russian attacks, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday. Ukraine is still reeling from a wave of Russian strikes earlier this month that knocked out power and heating to thousands of apartment blocks in freezing temperatures, particularly in the capital, and Zelenskyy has repeatedly called for air defences to be strengthened. “There will be a new approach to the use of air defences by the air force, concerning mobile fire groups, interceptor drones and other ‘short-range’ air defence assets,” the Ukrainian president said in his nightly video address. “The system will be transformed.” Zelenskyy announced the appointment of a new deputy air force commander, Pavlo Yelizarov, to oversee and develop the innovation.
Zelenskyy also warned Ukrainians to be “extremely vigilant” ahead of anticipated new Russian attacks. “Russia has prepared for a strike, a massive strike, and is waiting for the moment to carry it out,” he said, urging every region in the country to “be prepared to respond as quickly as possible and help people”. Zelenskyy and foreign minister Andrii Sybiha both warned at the weekend that Ukrainian intelligence had noted Russia was conducting reconnaissance of specific targets, particularly substations that supply nuclear power plants. Ukrainian energy minister Denys Shmyhal said on Monday that he had informed the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about Russian preparations for more strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities, including those that ensure the operations of nuclear plants.
The IAEA said on Monday that a back-up power line had been reconnected to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after repair work carried out under an IAEA-brokered ceasefire. The Ferosplavna-1 line is one of two high-voltage lines supplying electricity to the Russian-controlled plant in Ukraine and was disconnected earlier this month.
Russia launched a barrage of drone strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight to Monday, cutting off power in five regions across the country amid sub-zero temperatures and high demand, Ukrainian officials said. Russian forces had launched 145 drones and air defences shot down 126 of them, the Ukrainian air force said. “As of this morning, consumers in Sumy, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions are without power,” the energy ministry said. “Emergency repair work is under way if the security situation allows.”
Ukraine will face enormous challenges to organise its first elections since Russia’s 2022 invasion, with its infrastructure shattered and millions of people displaced by war, the country’s election chief said. Bringing Ukraine’s voter registry up to date and making the proper preparations for a vote would take significant time, Oleh Didenko, the head of Ukraine’s Central Election Commission, told Reuters. Amid diplomatic efforts to end the war, US president Donald Trump has demanded Ukraine hold elections, even though they are banned under martial law – in force since the invasion – and a majority of Ukrainians oppose a wartime ballot.
Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev will travel to Davos in Switzerland this week and hold meetings with members of the US delegation on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Reuters has reported, citing two sources. Ukraine’s top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said on Sunday that talks with US officials on ending the war would continue at the WEF this week.
Major disturbance in the Earth’s magnetic field may make northern lights visible far more south than usual
The aurora could be visible across Canada and much of the northern tier of US states on Monday night, and possibly even further south, following a major disturbance in the Earth’s magnetic field, a forecast shows.
The forecast, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s space weather prediction center, comes amid intense geomagnetic and solar radiation storms, said Shawn Dahl, service coordinator at the center.
*Valentova 1-1 Joint (30) Joint takes the first point in response, but then overhits to give Valentova the second. A 180kmh ace from the Czech puts her up 30-15. Unforced error and a double fault give Joint the break point, which she seals with a snappy backhand. It’s one game all.
Valentova 1-0 Joint (30)* Joint goes bang and starts off with an ace, but then loses the second to a double fault. Lovely clean hitting in this first game. Valentova loses her first break point. At deuce, Joint double faults again. Valentova can’t convert the second break point either, with Joint amping up the aggression at the net. A nice lob secures Valentova her third break point and she wraps up the first game with a forehand winner.
Holiday marked with parades and services but tempered by anxieties over racial and social equality under Trump
Martin Luther King Jr Day was marked with parades and services across the US on Monday. But the celebration for the achievements of the slain 60s civil rights leader was tempered by contemporary anxieties over racial and social equality and Trump administration’s crackdown in Minneapolis.
At a rally in Harlem, the Rev Al Sharpton referred to Renee Good, the 37-year-old mother of three who was killed by an immigration officer in Minneapolis earlier this month.
Millennial pink hair. Thigh-high boots styled with T-shirt dresses. Dare we even mention the Harambe of it all?
Lately, you’d easily believe we’ve travelled back into a sepia-toned, bygone era. Social media has been inundated with grainy images of purple sunsets, selfies adorned with flower crowns and outfits that largely consist of ripped jeans, plastic chokers and olive-green utility jackets.
Australia’s largest coal-fired power plant, Eraring, will stay open for an extra two years until 2029, amid concerns about the national energy grid’s ability to support demand ahead of the station’s planned retirement.
The operator of the plant in Lake Macquarie, Origin Energy, had previously agreed a deal with the New South Wales government to extend Eraring’s closure from 2025 to August 2027. While the state environment minister said the new extension would contribute to NSW’s emissions reductions, climate advocates described it as a “disaster” for emissions targets.
Exclusive: Campaigners claim changes will let companies ‘off the hook’, as government prepares to unveil new white paper for water industry
Water companies could be let off fines for polluting the environment under changes announced in the government’s new white paper.
The environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, hailed the changes as “once-in-a-generation reforms” featuring “tough oversight, real accountability and no more excuses”.
Move comes as peers prepare to vote on an amendment to a bill that would enact a ban within a year of the bill passing
Ministers have launched a consultation into whether to ban under-16s from using social media as part of a package of measures designed to curb mobile phone use among young people.
Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, announced the consultation on Monday as the government responds to mounting pressure for stricter curbs on social media use for younger teenagers. On Monday afternoon, Esther Ghey, the mother of the murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, became the latest high profile figure to add her name to those in support of a ban.
Manager has ‘been feeling the trust’ from club hierarchy
Spurs hampered by injury crisis before visit of Dortmund
Thomas Frank has insisted the Tottenham hierarchy are standing with him in the face of the storm gripping the club.
The manager’s job is in the balance, his situation precarious after the home defeat against West Ham on Saturday. The Spurs support were so incensed by the result and the continuation of the team’s terrible Premier League form – they have won twice in their past 13 league matches – that they demanded Frank be “sacked in the morning”.
Carnival drums provided the backdrop to surprise victory over league leaders that was not just down to luck
“There was a little magic in the atmosphere,” Pellegrino Matarazzo said. Real Sociedad’s new coach could feel it; he could hear it too, the sound of drums beating on every street of the city he has embraced and into the stadium that has embraced him back already. When he and his players arrived at Anoeta on Sunday evening, they entered through a guard of honour, a band of soldiers and chefs lined up in the rain, hammering out the club anthem and hoping. By the time they departed around midnight, following 35,346 supporters out into San Sebastián, it had actually happened. La Real had beaten Barcelona 2-1. Celebrations, his captain Mikel Oyarzabal said, had come a day early.
This week is tamborrada, the San Sebastián festival where, at midnight on 20 January, the city flag is raised and marching bands parade through its streets in Napoleonic uniforms and cooks’ costumes grasping sticks, batons and giant cutlery, routes mapped out in loving detail and special supplements. Initially it was a popular pastiche of a military procession, a prelude to carnival, practice runs echoing round in the days before, kids go first, adults next. An expression of civic pride, they sing of “spreading joy,” being “always happy,” and God knows they were happy now. What better way to begin it all than this? What better way to become one of them?
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