Guardian Australia: latest news, comment, reviews and sport

US-Cuba ties Obama and Castro thank pope for breakthrough in relations

Surprise thaw came after 45-minute phone call between two leaders finalised the release of the US prisoner Alan Gross
Vatican Renewed links the biggest success in diplomacy for decades

Miami's Cuban Americans 'At the end of the day, Cuba is still not free'

Timeline Half a century of hostility and hope
- Vatican Renewed links the biggest success in diplomacy for decades
- Miami's Cuban Americans 'At the end of the day, Cuba is still not free'
- Timeline Half a century of hostility and hope
Obama and Castro thank pope for breakthrough in relations
Sydney siege Gun control has turned Australia into a nation of defenceless victims, says senator

Liberal Democratic senator David Leyonhjelm says Sydney siege would have been less likely if public had weapons to fight back
Investigation Inquiry after Tony Abbott wrongly claims gunman had a gun licence
- Investigation Inquiry after Tony Abbott wrongly claims gunman had a gun licence
Gun control has turned Australia into a nation of defenceless victims, says senator

Barry Spurr Academic resigns after publication of racist and sexist emails

University of Sydney releases statement confirming professor’s resignation

Academic resigns after publication of racist and sexist emails
Terrorism threat Sony Pictures cancels Christmas release of The Interview

Studio says ‘we have decided not to move forward with the planned release’ after five major cinema chains dropped the film over terror threats

Sony Pictures cancels Christmas release of The Interview
- South Carolina Black 14-year-old exonerated 70 years after he was put to death
  
  Innocent teen George Stinney was tried, convicted and executed in 83 days in Jim Crow south of 1944: ‘a truly unfortunate episode in our history’
  
  Black 14-year-old exonerated 70 years after he was put to death
- London Police stop plane at Heathrow ‘to prevent 15-year-old girl flying to Syria’
  
  Scotland Yard says teenager has been returned to her family after going missing from home in east London
  
  Police stop plane at Heathrow ‘to prevent 15-year-old girl flying to Syria’
- Data retention Cost of setting up metadata storage scheme still unclear
  
  Legislation to force phone companies and ISPs to store data mired in working out how costs are split between industry and taxpayers, committee hears
  
  Cost of setting up metadata storage scheme still unclear
- Pakistan Pakistan’s prime minister promises day of reckoning with militants
  
  As massacre victims are buried, Nawaz Sharif says there will be no more differentiation between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban
  
  Pakistan’s prime minister promises day of reckoning with militants
- Athletics Usain Bolt says any plan to cut 200m from Olympics would be ‘ridiculous’
  
  Usain Bolt, the six-times Olympic champion, said reports suggesting 200m is among five athletics events at risk of being cut from Olympic programme are ‘ridiculous’
  
  Usain Bolt says any plan to cut 200m from Olympics would be ‘ridiculous’
- Israel EU parliament backs Palestinian state ‘in principle’
  
  MEPs back compromise motion on Palestine by 498 votes to 88 in latest in a series of diplomatic rebuffs to Israel
  
  EU parliament backs Palestinian state ‘in principle’

Sydney siege Family of victim Tori Johnson visits sea of flowers in Martin Place

The Lindt cafe manager’s partner and relatives join the thousands of Sydneysiders gathered to pay tribute at a makeshift memorial
Brigid Delaney Shrine grows as Sydneysiders quietly pay their respects
- Brigid Delaney Shrine grows as Sydneysiders quietly pay their respects
Family of victim Tori Johnson visits sea of flowers in Martin Place

- Exhibitions In the Flesh – startling realism in a journey from intimacy to acceptance
  
  This thematic survey of what makes us human, including works by Ron Mueck, Sam Jinks and Patricia Piccinini, is a breath of fresh – if sometimes cool – air
  
  In the Flesh – startling realism in a journey from intimacy to acceptance
- Cartoon #IllRideWithYou. Even you
  
  First Dog on the Moon
  
  Such huge and terrible cruelty cuts through right to the middle of everything. It makes people want to do something
  
  #IllRideWithYou. Even you
- A black man in a tuxedo? Must be a waiter. Obamas recall everyday racism they faced
  
  Barack Obama tells People magazine how he was mistaken for a parking valet at a restaurant while Michelle describes being taken for a shop assistant in Target
  
  Must be a waiter. Obamas recall everyday racism they faced
- 30,000 people bought crap on Black Friday – literally
  
  The makers of a humorous card game sold $180,000-worth of actual poo in protest at Black Friday, donating all proceeds to charity
  
  30,000 people bought crap on Black Friday – literally
- Guardian Australia’s morning news briefing from around the web
  
  Guardian Australia’s morning news briefing from around the web
  
  Guardian Australia’s morning news briefing from around the web
- Clouds Amateur enthusiast dreams up name for newly identified formation
  
  Gavin Pretor-Pinney’s ‘undulatus asperatus’ could become first official new classification in 63 years
  
  Amateur enthusiast dreams up name for newly identified formation

Australia sport Australia's sporting year 2014: the best and worst in clips and quips

Russell Jackson

From Ashes triumph to the Socceroos’ plucky failure, and from wardrobe malfunctions to musical disasters, 2014 was a year to cherish

Australia's sporting year 2014: the best and worst in clips and quips
Cricket India take control in second Test as Australia's bowlers wilt in the heat

Murali Vijay put Australia to the sword at the Gabba with a brilliant 144 to help drive the tourists to 4-311 on the opening day of the second Test
Cricket Australia v India: second Test, day one – as it happened
- Cricket Australia v India: second Test, day one – as it happened
India take control in second Test as Australia's bowlers wilt in the heat

- Football Western Sydney Wanderers lose again at Club World Cup
  
  Campaign ends with defeat in shoot-out against African champions after fifth-place playoff deadlocked 2-2 in normal time
  
  Western Sydney Wanderers lose again at Club World Cup
- NRL 2015 draw builds on traditions and respects the blockbuster matches
  
  Nick Tedeschi
  
  More thought still needed on Origin problem as some clubs fare noticeably worse in schedule
  
  2015 draw builds on traditions and respects the blockbuster matches
- Football in 2014 10 memorable moments
  
  Paul Wilson on the best, worst and most controversial moments in football this year
  
  10 memorable moments
- FFA Cup Super Cup-style match planned as season opener after Cup success
  
  Adelaide United could be pitted against premiers in curtain-raiser as FFA chiefs plan to expand competition
  
  Super Cup-style match planned as season opener after Cup success
- Olympic Games 2016 Swimmers will propel Australia up the medal table at Rio Olympics, says study
  
  Australia Olympic Committee predicts better performance and predicts
  sixth place in medal table
  
  Swimmers will propel Australia up the medal table at Rio Olympics, says study
- Fifa ethics committee Michael Garcia resigns over handling of report
  
  The lawyer who led the investigation into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process has resigned from the Fifa ethics committee in protest over the handling of his findings
  
  Michael Garcia resigns over handling of report

First lesson for new inquiry into ice: we've lost the war on drugs

Alex Wodak

The appointment of prohibitionist Kay Hull to lead an inquiry into ice use in Australia is another example of the Abbott government’s ham fisted approach to policy

First lesson for new inquiry into ice: we've lost the war on drugs
David Marr The siege should not be used to justify draconian new anti-terrorism laws

Australia was not changed by the attack in Martin Place. But it may be changed if these terrible events are used to defend new surveillance laws and curbs on press freedom

The siege should not be used to justify draconian new anti-terrorism laws
- My family has always been mixed race. But it has never been post-racial
  
  Ramou Sarr
  
  Ramou Sarr: I was always terrified that my white nephew would grow up to be a racist. The events in Ferguson tested our relationship to its breaking point
  
  My family has always been mixed race. But it has never been post-racial
- JK Rowling: Isn’t it time we left orphanages to fairytales?
  
  JK Rowling
  
  JK Rowling: Millions of children are locked away in institutions. Forget pretty murals, just close these places down
  
  JK Rowling: Isn’t it time we left orphanages to fairytales?
- The US may have no queen, but it has more royal families than it knows what to do with
  
  Hadley Freeman
  
  Hadley Freeman: Be it Jeb Bush or the Clintons or the Kennedys, here are people who consider power their God-given right
  
  The US may have no queen, but it has more royal families than it knows what to do with

Western Australia Perth freight link will be state's first toll road

Truck drivers will pay for $1.5bn route that premier Colin Barnett says will remove up to 500 trucks a day from Leach highway

Perth freight link will be state's first toll road
A hostage's account John O'Brien describes relief at seeing police

John O’Brien says his thoughts and prayers are with his fellow hostages and thanks Australians for their kindness and support
Inside the cafe 'We're not getting out of here'
- Inside the cafe 'We're not getting out of here'
John O'Brien describes relief at seeing police
- Ningaloo Australia's other great barrier reef worth saving
  
  James Woodford
  
  A series of marine parks around Australia are under threat. The public’s ignorance of their existence is just as dangerous to their survival as mining
  
  Australia's other great barrier reef worth saving
- Organic farming Regulator pushes for GM-tainted crops to retain certification
  
  Move would protect farmers from losing their organic certification because of accidental contamination
  
  Regulator pushes for GM-tainted crops to retain certification
- 'It's like spiritual genocide' CSG miner faces fresh fight to drill Indigenous heritage site
  
  Leader of Djungan clan in north Queensland says environmental impact on land around Ngarrabullgan was not explained to traditional owners. Now they have won the backing of both the Greens and Katter’s Australian party
  
  CSG miner faces fresh fight to drill Indigenous heritage site
- Afghanistan Resurgent Taliban target asylum seekers as Australia sends them back
  
  In Afghanistan, more and more Hazara are preparing to flee the Taliban, just as Australia has started returning Hazara asylum seekers for the first time since 2001. Yet another will be deported on Wednesday afternoon
  
  Resurgent Taliban target asylum seekers as Australia sends them back
- Live review Damon Albarn at Sydney Opera House: a collective emotional release
  5 / 5 stars
  
  Sydney Opera House
  Albarn’s London melancholy, bombastic hip-hop and odes to yearning love worked perfectly on a wounded Sydney, writes Oliver Milman
  
  Damon Albarn at Sydney Opera House: a collective emotional release
- Mount Isa Bunnings loses lawsuit over chicken manure spill that led to brain infection
  
  Hardware giant unsuccessfully argued employee’s exposure to pollution in Mount Isa and smoking was to blame for triggering bout of meningitis and encephalitis that left her with ongoing cognitive difficulties
  
  Bunnings loses lawsuit over chicken manure spill that led to brain infection

Phoenix police shoot dead teen US soldier who shot 12-year-old girl in leg

Police say 18-year-old William R Osterlind was trying to see 14-year-old sister of girl he shot, who barred door, called 911 and said she feared for her safety

Phoenix police shoot dead teen US soldier who shot 12-year-old girl in leg
Colombia Farc declares ceasefire but warns of retribution if attacked

Farc and government seek to end conflict stretching back more than 50 years

Farc declares ceasefire but warns of retribution if attacked
- Ukraine Ceasefire leaves frontline counting cost of war in uneasy calm
  
  Lull in fighting prompts some locals to fear Moscow is retooling its strategy, while others suspect it has abandoned them
  
  Ceasefire leaves frontline counting cost of war in uneasy calm
- Russia Rouble halts fall but remains volatile before Putin speech
  
  Russian president to give annual press conference on Thursday, with currency crisis and economic fallout likely to dominate
  
  Rouble halts fall but remains volatile before Putin speech
- Science World’s first ‘three-parent’ babies could be born in the UK
  
  MPs will be asked to vote on whether to allow mitochondrial transfer technique to prevent inherited genetic diseases
  
  World’s first ‘three-parent’ babies could be born in the UK

MH370 Families nine months on: ‘I still have hope, maybe 1%’

Tania Branigan: The disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines plane and its 239 passengers in March has never been explained. And until it is, the relatives cannot put their grief to rest

Families nine months on: ‘I still have hope, maybe 1%’
Lab meat Technology is ready for synthetic foods. Are you?

The technology that can be applied to create artificial foods and food ingredients has rapidly outstripped consumer interest

Technology is ready for synthetic foods. Are you?

Special report Welcome to Manus, the island changed forever by Australian asylum policy

The arrival of refugees from around the world – and the industry that feeds off them – has brought both economic boom and devastating consequences

Welcome to Manus, the island changed forever by Australian asylum policy
Part one The real story of the Scottish referendum

The long read: With days to go before the vote, the yes campaign seemed on the brink of breaking up Britain. In the second part of their series, based on extensive interviews, Severin Carrell, Nicholas Watt and Patrick Wintour reveal how a late intervention by Gordon Brown saved the union

The real story of the Scottish referendum
Gaza ‘My son asked me when is the next war'

Atef Abu Seif: All eyes were on Gaza in the summer, as Israel subjected the Palestinian people to 51 days of siege and bombardment. What is life like there now that the war is over and the world is no longer watching?

‘My son asked me when is the next war'
Fashion Instagram's five new filters: can you spot the difference?

Morwenna Ferrier: For the first time in two years, Instagram has launched five new filters, their subtlest yet. But can you tell which picture has #nofilter?

Instagram's five new filters: can you spot the difference?

Pope Francis 78th birthday celebrated with tango dancers

Pope Francis is serenaded in St Peter's Square on Wednesday as pilgrims gather to celebrate his 78th birthday

78th birthday celebrated with tango dancers
Pakistan Soldiers inside Peshawar school where Taliban massacred children

A Pakistani military spokesman shows journalists the bloodied interior of the school where the Taliban killed 148 students and teachers

Soldiers inside Peshawar school where Taliban massacred children
The best neighbourhood murals around the world – readers' pictures

From celebrating culture in Krakow to condemning government cuts in Lisbon, you shared your photos and stories of important neighbourhood murals in cities

The best neighbourhood murals around the world – readers' pictures

2014 The year women won?

While Kim Kardashian was trying to break the internet with her backside, Australian feminists were ensuring that American 'pick-up artist' Julien Blanc was booted out of Australia. Phoebe Greenwood asks whether 2014 was a good year for women

The year women won?
Civil rights Freedom Journey 1965: Selma to Montgomery March

A selection of photographs of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery Civil Rights March, honoring the 50th anniversary of the protest that changed the course of civil rights in America

Freedom Journey 1965: Selma to Montgomery March
Megacities MoMA shows sci-fi designs for a better future

A new exhibition in New York tackles the culture of increasingly inequitable urban development and explores future possibilities for six rapidly growing metropolises: Hong Kong, Istanbul, Lagos, Mumbai, New York and Rio de Janeiro.

MoMA shows sci-fi designs for a better future
Mexico No laughing matter: Mexican clowns make holy pilgrimage

The streets of Mexico City burst with sound and colour as hundreds of clowns make their annual pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady Guadalupe in Mexico City

No laughing matter: Mexican clowns make holy pilgrimage

Libby Lane Church of England’s first female bishop named

Lambeth Palace announces appointment just four weeks after General Synod voted to allow women to become bishops

Church of England’s first female bishop named
Lana Del Rey How our 'death wish' interview unleashed a storm of hate

Tim Jonze: When the singer told the Guardian, ‘I wish I was dead already’, it sparked accusations of dark journalistic practices, enraged her teenage fans and even prompted Kurt Cobain’s daughter to intervene

How our 'death wish' interview unleashed a storm of hate
JK Rowling My favourite Harry Potter quote

JK responds to a fan on Twitter with her favourite quote from the Harry Potter books, now share yours by emailings childrens.books@theguardian.com or on @GdnChildrensBks

My favourite Harry Potter quote
Dov Charney The fall of American Apparel's merchant of sleaze

Charney thought his unsavory act was inseparable from his company’s edgy brand, and so did many others – until now. Few will mourn his departure

The fall of American Apparel's merchant of sleaze

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New Delhi Schoolchildren observe a two-minute silence for the victims of the Peshawar school attack

The Guardian’s picture editors bring you a selection of the best photographs from around the world

Schoolchildren observe a two-minute silence for the victims of the Peshawar school attack

US-Cuba ties Obama and Castro thank pope for breakthrough in relations

Barry Spurr Academic resigns after publication of racist and sexist emails

Terrorism threat Sony Pictures cancels Christmas release of The Interview

Data retention Cost of setting up metadata storage scheme still unclear

Athletics Usain Bolt says any plan to cut 200m from Olympics would be ‘ridiculous’

Sydney siege Family of victim Tori Johnson visits sea of flowers in Martin Place

Cartoon #IllRideWithYou. Even you

A black man in a tuxedo? Must be a waiter. Obamas recall everyday racism they faced

Clouds Amateur enthusiast dreams up name for newly identified formation

Cricket India take control in second Test as Australia's bowlers wilt in the heat

Football in 2014 10 memorable moments

Fifa ethics committee Michael Garcia resigns over handling of report

David Marr The siege should not be used to justify draconian new anti-terrorism laws

A hostage's account John O'Brien describes relief at seeing police

Ningaloo Australia's other great barrier reef worth saving

Organic farming Regulator pushes for GM-tainted crops to retain certification

'It's like spiritual genocide' CSG miner faces fresh fight to drill Indigenous heritage site

Afghanistan Resurgent Taliban target asylum seekers as Australia sends them back

Live review Damon Albarn at Sydney Opera House: a collective emotional release

Mount Isa Bunnings loses lawsuit over chicken manure spill that led to brain infection

Colombia Farc declares ceasefire but warns of retribution if attacked

Russia Rouble halts fall but remains volatile before Putin speech

MH370 Families nine months on: ‘I still have hope, maybe 1%’

Lab meat Technology is ready for synthetic foods. Are you?

Special report Welcome to Manus, the island changed forever by Australian asylum policy

Part one The real story of the Scottish referendum

Pope Francis 78th birthday celebrated with tango dancers

Pakistan Soldiers inside Peshawar school where Taliban massacred children

2014 The year women won?

Civil rights Freedom Journey 1965: Selma to Montgomery March

Megacities MoMA shows sci-fi designs for a better future

Libby Lane Church of England’s first female bishop named

JK Rowling My favourite Harry Potter quote

Dov Charney The fall of American Apparel's merchant of sleaze

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New Delhi Schoolchildren observe a two-minute silence for the victims of the Peshawar school attack

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