Mike Seccombe With his inauguration this week, America’s 46th president has vowed to heal the US. But Joe Biden inherits a country more paranoid and polarised than ever.

Anna Krien China’s escalating trade war with Australia has left dozens of coal carriers stranded at sea for months, their international crew trapped in distressing conditions. So who is responsible for the seafarers’ welfare?

Ben Rothenberg The Australian Open is shaping up to be a very different tournament in 2021, with dozens of competitors forced into strict hotel quarantine. While some players have taken to social media to vent their frustration, others say the move has only widened a gulf that has always existed between tennis’s stars and the rank and file.

Travis Akbar Director Stephen Maxwell Johnson and musician Witiyana Marika drew on three decades of friendship to create the Northern Territory action thriller High Ground.

Claire G. Coleman Most Australian politicians, particularly those in the two major parties, lack the political will to do what the majority support. Instead, they pander to conservative ideologies, driven by the morbid fear of criticism from a small but vocal minority. Australian politics is, for the most part, power without passion. And nowhere is this more stark than in Aboriginal affairs.

Richard Cooke As Joe Biden prepared to take office as the 46th president of the United States, promising to ‘restore the soul of America’, his mission statement found an echo in Australia. The language was less portentous, and the crowd more mundane. But in a speech to the Perth USAsia Centre at the University of Western Australia, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese found a local variation on the theme. According to Albanese, Trumpism had tarnished not only the former US administration, but the current Commonwealth government as well.

Sami Shah As America grappled with the coup at the Capitol, Australia began the year with a coo of its own as the whole nation found itself obsessed with the survival of a pigeon. To recap this classic tale of Nanny State v Freedom of Flight, a man named Kevin Celli-Bird – because there is no subtlety in this poorly written reality – found a pigeon in his backyard.

The iconic image is of Kenneth Hayne in an office with Josh Frydenberg. The former High Court justice is presenting the treasurer with the final report of his royal commission into banking. A photographer asks if the two men might shake hands. Hayne does not break eye contact with the table. He says, simply: “Nope.” Two years on, this grim photo opportunity is perhaps the most lasting outcome of the banking royal commission.

Max Opray As debate rages internationally over the question of whether the social media giants can self-regulate, Australia’s attempt to force big tech to share revenue with media companies is meeting intense pushback from Google, Facebook and the US government.

Royce Kurmelovs The fossil fuel industry’s outsized influence on Australian politics is confirmed by a new report, which tracks the millions of dollars spent by the sector in political donations over the past two decades.

Jonathan Pearlman Alexei Navalny urges Russians to protest this weekend. New US president ready to work with allies on China. Indonesia opts for youth appeal on Covid-19 vaccinations.

Cassie Tongue Although Covid-19 restrictions enforce a lack of spontaneity, this year’s Sydney Festival feels like spiritual healing.

Ellie Marney The hit adaptation of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton Regency romances gets everything right, almost.

Jini Maxwell After a year of being nice in Animal Crossing, the casual, uncurated indifference of Among Us comes as a relief.

David Moyle

Kate Hennessy An engineering marvel and a site of astonishing antiquity, the Aboriginal fish traps at Brewarrina bear witness to the survival of an ancient culture.

Linda Pearce In the world of sporting KPIs, those of Stacey Marinkovich, the new coach of the Australian Diamonds netball team, couldn’t be more clear – wrest back the game’s most coveted trophies from England and New Zealand.

Cindy MacDonald Test your general knowledge with our weekly quiz.