A US election, a global tech outage and living the Italian dream: Your most read ABC News stories in 2024

A US election, an unprecedented tech outage, and living the Italian dream.

This year, multiple tragedies also gripped the nation. 

We’ve compiled a list of the 20 most read stories of 2024. Here’s what got your attention.

Donald Trump won the US presidential election on November 6 after a dominant performance that saw him flip multiple swing states and win the popular vote.

“America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate,” Trump said on election night. 

He became only the second US president to win non-consecutive terms. 

Experts raised the alarm about a proliferation of “single-issue” cannabis clinics opening in Australia, some of them willing to prescribe via telehealth consultations with few checks.

The ABC spoke to health professionals who say they are seeing more presentations of psychosis due to medicinal cannabis.

On a Friday in July, computer screens around the world stopped working and turned blue. 

It was the first sign that an unprecedented IT outage was affecting major institutions in Australia and abroad.

The global outage, caused by a software update from US-based cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, was one of the biggest ever experienced.

The nation was horrified by a stabbing attack in April at one of Sydney’s busiest shopping centres.

The offender, who killed five women and one man, was shot dead inside the shopping complex by a police officer who was later hailed a hero. 

A wrong turn led to a life and death situation for Daniel Hart when he was part way through a six-month walk from Victoria’s southern-most tip to Cape York in Queensland. 

Since being swept out to sea in June, Daniel has continued his walk to promote a universal basic income and is expected to reach the top of Cape York soon.

In July, Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt while speaking at a campaign rally in Pensylvania.

Two people were killed, including the shooter,  who fired several shots from a rooftop on a property next to the rally.

A photograph of a defiant, bloodied Trump raising his fist became one of the most iconic images of 2024.

Mexican authorities filed criminal charges in May after bodies were found in the area where Australians Jake and Callum Robinson went missing.

The two brothers, originally from Perth, were on a surfing and camping trip when they disappeared in April. 

David Crisafulli became Queensland’s 41st premier in October after the Liberal National Party wrested power from Labor for the first time in almost 10 years.

Crisafulli said in an election night speech that Queenslanders had “chosen hope over fear”. 

After Brad Balzan died a violent death in his own backyard, a Background Briefing investigation put the spotlight on a NSW policy known as “proactive policing”.

British physician and broadcaster Michael Mosley died unexpectedly in June, aged 67, while holidaying in Greece.

“It’s devastating to have lost Michael, my wonderful, funny, kind and brilliant husband,” Clare Bailey Mosley said at the time.

More than a month after Samantha Murphy vanished while out jogging in Ballarat, a 22-year-old man was charged with murder.

Ms Murphy’s disappearance in February led to an outpouring of grief in the regional Victorian city. Her body has not been found.

The Federal Court found, on the balance of probabilities, that Bruce Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in 2019.

Justice Lee’s judgement, delivered in April, meant Mr Lehrmann’s defamation claim against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson failed, and the evidence had proven Network Ten’s substantial truth defence.

Mr Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence and is appealing the decision. 

Ana Fanchulidze thought she’d found her doppelganger when she stumbled across Elene Deisadze’s social media profile — but everything changed when the pair met in person and they started looking in to their past.

ABC’s Europe correspondent Kathryn Diss delved into a dark chapter of Soviet history when illegal baby sales were rife. 

In August, a helicopter taken on an “unauthorised flight” crashed into a Cairns hotel, setting its roof alight and forcing 400 people to evacuate the building.

The pilot, who was alone in the helicopter, died at the scene. 

An investigation later found the pilot, who was a ground crew employee of an aviation company, was affected by alcohol.

NSW police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon appeared before a Sydney Court in February after he was charged with the murder of Luke Davies and Jesse Baird.

The deaths of the much-loved young couple sparked a national outcry and they were remembered at a beachside vigil and at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.  

Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down the government’s third budget in May and ABC readers were eager to find out what it meant for them.

The ABC asked experts to examine the records of several chronic pain patients to determine if any misbilling had occurred.

The investigation revealed these patients were apparently being billed for fictitious services, inflated costs, and treatments for conditions they didn’t have.

La dolce vita or a renovation nightmare? 

Foreign Correspondant took readers beyond the glossy photos to find out what buying a 1-euro house in a Sicilian village is really like.

Days after a Singapore Airlines flight hit unexpected turbulence over Myanmar in May, a Qatar flight was involved in another incident.

After these events, the ABC looked into how passengers could minimise their risk of injury when turbulence hits. 

Natalie Frahm was remembered as a “beautiful person” and “absolute treasure” after she was shot and killed in North Queensland in June.

A 31-year-old man, who police allege lived on the same street but was not known to Ms Frahm, was charged with her murder.