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Smoking & vaping
Vape ban chaos: No one wants to raid shops for fear of organised crime
Four days into a nationwide ban on the sale of vapes, federal and state authorities are playing the blame game about who should be enforcing the rules.
Banned on one, blocked on all: Dating app abusers face platform-wide exile
Under a new industry code of conduct, users booted from an online dating service owned by a company with multiple apps will be barred across the other platforms.
East coast gas crisis to hit sooner than expected: ACCC
The competition watchdog says major new supplies needed by 2027 to stop homes and businesses running short.
Analysis
Political leadership
Fatima Payman has hurt Labor badly. And she isn’t done yet
Senator Fatima Payman’s defection to the crossbench has caused major damage to the government. And she isn’t done yet, either.
‘Scorched earth’: What the state’s health funding squeeze means for rural health
Health outcomes for people in regional areas are already poorer than the city. Here’s why they may get much worse.
Sneakers link teen to fatal Burwood crash, court hears, as victim’s family flies in
A teen faced court over the crash as the state government gave its strongest hint yet that it may ditch plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.
De Minaur books third round spot in straight sets
Australia’s top hope Alex de Minaur has booked his third round spot after defeating Spain’s Jaume Munar in straight sets on day four of Wimbledon.
This will be Britain’s new prime minister when you wake up in the morning. But who is he?
Barring an almighty upset, Keir Starmer will become British prime minister on Friday, his Labour Party ousting the ruling Conservatives after 14 years. It is no mean feat.
Analysis
Analysis
So long UK Conservatives, and thanks for all the memes
The tumultuous Thatcher years were memorialised in song and literature, but this current generation of Tories are probably best forgotten.
Updated
UK politics
‘A new chapter’: Labour forecast for record-breaking win as polls open in UK election
Rupert Murdoch’s The Sun newspaper has endorsed the opposition Labour Party rather than Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives.
‘Incredible’ first-time footage reveals intimate life of blue whales
A decade-long Australian citizen science project has unveiled the extraordinary videos.
Opinion
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Think the Middle East doesn’t affect us? Payman’s exit tells a different story
Senator Fatima Payman’s resignation from the Labor Party is a symptom of the Middle East’s capacity to impose itself on Australian politics, no matter how distant it is.
Rodger Shanahan
Middle East and security analyst
Not best friends, not acquaintances: ‘Medium friends’ are complicated
It can be difficult to define a friendship, but this term puts words to these familiar relationships.
Opinion
Workplace culture
We need to get out of ‘meeting hell’. Here’s how
There are several ways to break our addiction to meetings, ranging from large measures to small tweaks.
Tim Duggan
Careers contributor
They were the hottest stars of the ’80s. Now the ‘Brats’ look back in anger
A revealing new documentary looks at how the “Brat Pack” tag shaped the careers of Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez and its other members.
See & Do
It might be a tale as old as time, but this musical is pure delight
Musical theatre lovers with fond memories of seeing Beauty and the Beast as children will find them refreshed in this production (and kids will love it too).
A darkly funny debut novel and the inner life of teenage girls
Our reviewers cast their eyes over recent fiction and non-fiction releases.
Victoria
How Victorian power companies could be forced to pay you for blackouts
A review into storms that cut power to 530,000 homes has called for energy distributors – not governments – to compensate customers who lose power.
Man dies after swallowing cyanide during arrest in Macedon Ranges
Five police officers were taken to hospital after the arrest as a precaution.
Exclusive
Domestic violence
Thousands charged in family violence blitz as 86% of victims report a common experience
A police blitz in the south-east suburbs has caught 2700 family-violence offenders in five months.
Updated
Tragedy
Synthetic opioid detected in four found dead in Broadmeadows
The director of drug harm reduction charity warned the deaths were “a major wake-up call” as medical professionals fear an opioid crisis could engulf Australia like it has overseas.
Exclusive
Healthcare
Victoria’s budget cuts hit primary care clinics, Royal Children’s Hospital
Priority primary care clinics, promised in 2022 as Daniel Andrews’ solution to the health crisis, are facing cutbacks of up to 25 per cent.
AFL 2024
‘Remiss of us not to address it’: McGrath says Bombers wary of another late-season nosedive
Former No.1 draft pick turned Essendon vice captain Andrew McGrath will run out for his 150th game on Friday night against Collingwood at the MCG.
Opinion
Is Darcy Moore really playing ‘awful’ footy? Cornes and McClure go head-to-head on the Pies skipper
Two footy media heavyweights who don’t shirk the big issues are refusing to back down on Collingwood captain Darcy Moore. Here, they both make their case.
Politics
Pro-Palestine protesters arrested after unfurling banners on Parliament House
Four protesters unfurled pro-Palestine banners from the roof as a group of climate activists glued themselves to the floor in the building’s Marble Foyer.
Opinion
Political leadership
Labor believes Fatima Payman’s rebellion was plotted for a month
Niki Savva
Award-winning political commentator and author
Business
Streaming trumps free-to-air TV in new live sports broadcast bill
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the government is out of touch on the cost of living and young Australians after passing a bill on access to live sport.
World
Inside the top-level discussions where Biden admits he has ‘only days’ to salvage candidacy
Joe Biden has emphasised that he is still deeply committed to the fight for reelection but understands that his viability as a candidate is on the line.
Opinion
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Property
Melbourne rents have skyrocketed since COVID. That’s just about to change
The typical house costs $60 per week more to rent than it did a year ago, leaving some tenants fearful of lifelong housing insecurity. But rental prices may have finally turned a corner.
Eight of our favourite luxury homes for sale right now
From a character-filled 1920s arts and crafts residence to a twin-pavilion home with sea views, we’ve rounded up our top picks.
Good Food
Lifestyle
Could delaying menopause help women live longer?
Scientists who study longevity and women’s health have come to realise that the female reproductive system is far more than just a baby-maker.
Culture
‘An expensive and clunky footnote’: House of the Dragon improves, but is it actually good?
The second season of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones prequel has wisely focused more on the dragons, but the story-telling still feels back to front.
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Sport
‘Very happy’: De Minaur books third round spot in straight sets
Australia’s top hope Alex de Minaur has booked his third round spot after defeating Spain’s Jaume Munar in straight sets on day four of Wimbledon.
AFL’s ‘opening round’ set to return in 2025 – but clubs want change
Clubs are preparing to make it clear to the AFL that significant issues that arose due to opening round need to be addressed.
Opinion
England
The Bazball reality: England entertain, but their opponents win
England’s lofty Bazball rhetoric is divorced from the reality that Ben Stokes’ team faces. They entertain; their opponents win.
Daniel Brettig
The Age chief cricket writer
Big Hawks changes, Blues make surprise change: AFL round 17 teams and expert tips
See the selected teams as they’re announced for round 17 and what the expert tipsters think.
Opinion
AFL 2024
Too many whingers: Why the footy sook-fest has to stop
The constant complaining in the AFL has gone too far and threatens to tarnish the code’s reputation as Australia’s premier sport.
Kane Cornes
AFL columnist
‘Once I’d finished up, I felt relief’: Buddy embraces life after the Swans
On a rare return to Sydney, Lance Franklin opens up on life after the AFL and the prospects for his former team.
Why Australia’s fastest woman won’t compete in the Olympics’ fastest race
Sprint sensation Torrie Lewis is Australia’s fastest woman over 100 metres, but she won’t compete in the blue-ribbon event at Paris.
Have Your Say
Sorry, but rugby players posing in lingerie in 2024 is not ‘regressive’
Just as female athletes are transcending stereotypes, their agency is being stripped by former female athletes applying the very paternalistic lens they themselves sought to escape.
Emma Kemp
Sports reporter
