The Booklist
A weekly newsletter for book lovers from books editor Jason Steger.
Daily Crosswords
Challenge yourself with today's quick and cryptic puzzles.
Examine newsletter
Science explained and analysed with a rigorous focus on the evidence.
COVID-19 CRISIS
Hundreds of AFL fans urged to get tested after train listed as exposure site
Contact tracers are working with the AFL to track down hundreds of fans who attended the clash between Richmond and Geelong last Friday and then travelled on the same train as a Wollert man who tested positive for COVID-19.
South Australia restricts Victorian travellers who have visited ‘high risk’ sites
South Australia has banned people from ‘high risk’ Melbourne sites visited by the Wollert man who tested positive for COVID-19.
Exclusive
Indigenous justice
After less than a week in police custody, Sony was left a quadriplegic
Six days after being taken into police custody, Aboriginal man Sony Ray Austin’s spinal cord was severed and he was rendered a quadriplegic.
Willie Rioli pleads guilty to cannabis possession
Police caught Rioli with the drugs at Darwin Airport on April 23 while he was set to fly to the Tiwi Islands.
Theme parks backlash: Disney’s ‘woke’ moves raise ire of conservatives
Disney is examining its history with a more critical eye – and looking to the future with a bigger emphasis on inclusion.
★★★★½
Review
Mesmerising film gives us a vengeful goddess for the #MeToo generation
I still don’t understand why Ema is so good, but it feels new. It’s rare, kaleidoscopic and will speak to children of the 21st century everywhere.
Exclusive
Startups
‘Paper bag test’: Artificial intelligence firm criticised for skin colour test
Tech darling Appen has been hit by claims of racism in its recruitment processes after it asked job candidates to take a “paper bag test” about their skin colour.
Analysis
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The latest cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians will be hard to stop
Diplomatic pressure is unlikely to have much effect as the death toll rises and action brings more retaliation.
Roland Oliphant
Updated
Earnings season
CBA’s quarterly profits surge to $2.4b
CBA’s March quarter profits bounced back as the banking giant cut its provisions for bad debts in response to the improving economy.
FEDERAL BUDGET 2021
‘Good science into products’: Cochlear, CSL celebrate patents win in budget
Biotech heavyweights say a plan to lower the tax rate for income made off local patents will keep medical innovation onshore.
Opinion
Employment
Costello said Australia would never be a guest-worker state. Frydenberg is smoothing the way
Stephen Clibborn and Chris F. Wright
Opinion
Sketch
Josh Frydenberg is rolling in the red, and mighty proud of it
Tony Wright
Associate editor and special writer
Two dead whales dislodge from hull of HMAS Sydney in California
The Royal Australian Navy has confirmed the two carcasses shifted from underneath the vessel as it berthed.
The best looks from the 2021 BRIT Awards
Harry Styles, Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa brought fun - and a killer 70s suit - to the biggest night in British music.
Updated
US politics
Defiant Liz Cheney blasts Trump election lies ahead of leadership vote
Cheney said those who dispute the election results were at war with the Constitution and were sowing the seeds of future political violence.
FEDERAL BUDGET 2021
Splurge to create 250k jobs, cash for aged care and mental health
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is spending $74.6 billion in two years to create more than 250,000 jobs using income tax cuts, business tax breaks and a mammoth outlay on social services.
Victoria to benefit from multibillion-dollar GST windfall
The state has missed out in the federal budget on funding for two key passenger rail projects but will gain on the GST front.
Local
Labor Party members get $200,000 defamation payout for Facebook posts
Prominent Melbourne brothers Aloke and Aakash Kumar sued for defamation over Facebook posts that accused them of raising fake member fees.
‘Without childcare I couldn’t work’: Mothers say time for help is now
Donna O’Neill has seen many of her female colleagues’ careers held back because the high cost of childcare. She wants that to change.
Ellie Price spoke of being ‘choked’ by boyfriend before her death, court told
A woman killed in her home, allegedly by her boyfriend, told her mother she was choked by her partner and feared she would die during an earlier Valentine’s Day holiday, a court has heard.
Education Department pleads guilty to breaches after seven-year-old’s death
Victoria’s Education Department faces being fined up to $3 million after pleading guilty to breaching safety laws over the death of a boy whose wheelchair fell from a school ramp.
Coroner investigates baby Isabella’s unexplained death
A mother has demanded answers after it was revealed her child repeatedly vomited and appeared unwell over a 22-hour period before medical help was sought.
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
‘It doesn’t cut it’: Tourism sector hits out at ‘border roulette’
The tourism sector has warned that operators will go under before the government ever reopens the border to international visitors.
Anyone entering NSW from Melbourne must complete declaration forms
NSW Health has introduced new rules for anyone entering the state that has been in Melbourne.
Politics
Business gets $20b in tax incentives to boost investment
The budget will extend tax breaks aimed at bringing forward business investment such as spending on utes, tractors, and manufacturing equipment.
Business
Analysis
Sharemarket
It’s complicated: Central banks are making passive investing trickier
Over the last 10 years, investors have been rewarded for keeping it simple, tracking sharemarket indices rather than analysing the prospects of individual companies. Not any more.
Anneka Treon
World
Life-sized Star Wars X-wing fighter lands in US museum
“The museum has long had an interest in the themes of inspiration and imagination,” a spokesperson said.
Opinion
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Property bydomain
Where it’s easiest (and hardest) to take advantage of budget housing grants
First-home buyers can get help to buy an entry-level home, but only up to a certain price cap - and it’s easier to use in some neighbourhoods than others.
This Kew house with a derelict kitchen and bathroom has sold for $7.24m
It has ripped-up linoleum floors, missing bathroom tiles and water stains on the ceiling but still sold at auction for more than $1.7 million above its reserve.
Life & Culture
The best looks from the 2021 BRIT Awards
Harry Styles, Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa brought fun - and a killer 70s suit - to the biggest night in British music.
Sport
Analysis
AFL 2021
Why Richmond aren’t punishing Bolton and Rioli
Once upon a time at Tigerland, the fact of Shai Bolton being a gun player coming off contract would probably have been grounds for cynicism about a non-penalty. Richmond aren’t that kind of club any longer.
Willie Rioli pleads guilty to cannabis possession
Police caught Rioli with the drugs at Darwin Airport on April 23 while he was set to fly to the Tiwi Islands.
Djokovic’s tantrum in Rome rain, Nadal’s Tokyo doubts
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic shouted at the umpire before regaining his cool at the Italian Open.
Saints mull Frawley debut, facing a big problem
St Kilda coach Brett Ratten says James Frawley is squarely in the mix to make his Saints debut in a bid to help curb Geelong’s frightening tall forward combination.
Hamstrung Stringer faces contract wait
Injured Essendon star Jake Stringer is without a contract for next season and rival clubs have been put on notice of his potential availability.
‘Bats must consist solely of wood’: MCC rejects bamboo
A day after research suggested bamboo bats could replace willow, club that maintains cricket’s official laws has rejected the idea because bamboo is grass and not wood.
City clinch third Premier League title in four seasons
Manchester United losing 2-1 to Leicester left City with an unassailable 10-point lead with three games remaining.
Have Your Say
‘Treated as fools’: Test for Hawks, Roos as Tassie fans vote with their feet
As the battle for a standalone Tasmanian AFL side continues, Saturday’s clash between Hawthorn and North Melbourne in Launceston is seen as a ‘big test’ in the support of the home-away-from-home concept.
