Puzzled with David Astle
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Trial by Water podcast
A new investigative podcast about one of Australia’s most controversial cases.
Superquiz
See how many of today's questions you can get right.
Exclusive
Building Bad
‘We can cause you grief’: Gatto’s warning to developer over payment stoush
New audio of the infamous figure is part of a months-long investigation revealing how bikies, criminals and underworld figures have infiltrated the building industry.
Exclusive
Sydney councils
Claims of disappearing documents engulf Sydney’s Game of Thrones council
From a secure room within Liverpool council’s new library, investigators have been conducting interviews, requesting records and carrying out electronic audits.
Secrets and spin: How greyhound racing’s golden year went to the dogs
It was supposed to be a glory year for the greyhound racing industry. But, according to insiders, the positive spin glossed over many secrets – and many dead dogs.
Opinion
World politics
This is a protracted act of self-sabotage. Trump doesn’t need to say a thing
For 16 days, the Democrats have had a collective panic attack in full public view. Panic rarely produces sound outcomes and this one is no different.
Peter Hartcher
Political and international editor
‘Shocked’: The moment Joe Biden lost George Clooney and Hollywood
At a June fundraiser in Los Angeles, some of the president’s biggest backers had their eyes opened.
Man sentenced to life over plot to kidnap TV star
Gavin Plumb’s elaborate kidnap and murder plan, as fleshed out in vivid detail in an online chat group, involved attempting to “ambush” British TV presenter Holly Willoughby at her home.
Derelict by design: The ‘ghost homes’ in our big cities no one is talking about
Tens of thousands of homes sit empty across our major cities, while luxury units replace old apartment blocks - all while debate rages about our home shortage.
Soldier, labourer, gold diggers: Just who are the married couple accused of spying for Russia?
It was gold Kira Korolev was obsessed with, filling her YouTube channel with footage of her never-ending search for a few glimmering flecks.
‘I’d wake up and already be having a panic attack’: The forgotten victims of domestic violence
Studies show girls who grow up in violent homes are more likely to become victims of domestic violence themselves. That was true of Kate.
Mamamia’s Mia Freedman plans $3.9m home reno with winter storage closet
The publisher and her husband hope to demolish their $12.75m Point Piper house and rebuild it, and they’re not the only home owners with pricey reno plans.
The ‘big three’ telcos have lifted their prices - so which phone plan is right for you?
There’s never been a better time to ditch your provider and shop around for a new phone plan.
Are you being served? Aldi follows Coles, Woolworths into self-service checkouts
Years after the big two introduced self-serve checkouts, Aldi is rolling out the “win-win” technology in hundreds of stores.
Opinion
The Fitz Files
Dogs’ days are over, and it’s only eight years too late
The news this week was as sickening as it was predictable. Cats may have nine lives, but surely the greyhound racing ‘industry’ has run out of second chances.
Peter FitzSimons
Columnist and author
‘I was scared’: The intensity of the Blues under Maguire
Michael Maguire’s reputation for intensity had intimidated some Blues players, but in the Origin arena, it’s exactly what NSW need to succeed.
Budget airline-style fees in business class? No thanks
“Qatar Airways has a so-called ‘business class lite’ fare which doesn’t allow lounge access or seat selection without significant additional charge.”
Opinion
Gender equality
Don’t jeer at cheerleaders until you’ve watched this show
A Netflix documentary series forces many of us – including me – to rethink long-held stereotyping of cheerleaders as simply pin-ups of the patriarchy.
Julia Baird
Journalist, broadcaster, historian and author
★★
Review
Emma Stone returns for another wacky film, but sadly this is no Poor Things
If the filmmaker’s much-praised, award-winning Poor Things was the main meal, Kinds of Kindness is the offcuts.
Paris 2024
Homegrown hopes for Paris: The French stars carrying the weight of a nation
France is hoping to make home advantage count, and is predicted to win 28 gold medals, 19 silver and eight bronze.
‘Absolutely surreal’: Hall and de Rozario to fly Australian flag at Paralympics
Paralympic veterans Brenden Hall and Madison de Rozario have been named as the Australian team’s flag-bearers for Paris.
WEEKEND READS
Australians are becoming Camino converts in record numbers. Why?
More and more Australians are walking the Camino de Santiago, often as a pivotal reset in their lives – and returning transformed.
A pig, an alien and a staircase: The meaning of Aaron Chen’s tattoos
The comedian and actor on how he chooses work (and his tatts), being intimidated in a Korean spa – and eating 40 cheeseburgers with a mate.
Sydney
Analysis
Greyhound racing
Urine samples, soft-serves and an empty grandstand: A night at the greyhounds
A horror week of headlines for the greyhound racing industry didn’t deter regular punters from watching the dogs on Thursday. We thought we’d go along.
Firefighter ban casts shadow over Sydney metro line opening date
The powerful firefighters’ union has banned members from taking part in evacuation drills and other critical exercises, just three weeks before the planned opening to passengers.
Exclusive
Construction
The Sydney apartment building found to have serious defects
The builder being prosecuted by the EPA over 10 tonnes of asbestos-riddled construction waste on his wife’s Southern Highlands property has been dealt a new blow.
Sydney councils that drag heels on housing DA claim there are good reasons
Councils pinged as the slowest in Sydney at assessing development applications say there are several reasons why they rank poorly on a new league table.
Exclusive
Drug reform
Bob Carr held a drug summit 25 years ago. NSW Labor is repeating history
NSW Labor Premier Chris Minns would have faced a backlash from party members if he had not locked in a date for this election promise.
NRL 2024
Sharks 58 Tigers 6
Sharks surge back to form with Tigers demolition
Benji Marshall issued a public apology to Wests Tigers fans and admitted his team didn’t have a single decent player after they crashed to their biggest loss of the year against the Sharks.
Analysis
The Blues game plan produced Origin carnage. Here’s how Queensland combat it
NSW nailed 40 perfect minutes of Origin football in Melbourne. Can they reproduce it for an entire 80 minutes in Brisbane?
Politics
Russian-born Australian soldier and her husband charged with espionage
Kira Korolev, 40, and her 62-year-old husband, Igor Korolev, are accused of using her defence force account to spy for Russia since December 2022.
Business
Fortescue accused of keeping meeting secret in intellectual property case
Billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue has been accused of failing to disclose “material” information when it secured a warrant to raid the homes and offices of ex-Fortescue staff.
World
Alec Baldwin trial on hold as judge considers defence request to dismiss case
The jury was sent home on Friday while the judge considers a defence motion to dismiss the case over disputed ammunition evidence.
Opinion
Why the cookie-cutter can’t solve Sydney’s housing crisis
Tone Wheeler
Australian Architecture Association president
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Property
Raymond pays $150 a week to live in Paddington. Developers want him to leave
Sky-high property prices are enticing developers to replace cheap housing with luxury homes. But they probably didn’t anticipate the backlash.
The graph that shows how households got priced out of the market
Australian home buyers are taking on less debt when compared to their income, despite rising property prices across the country.
Good Food
Recipe collection
Baking
Five zingy lemon cakes to bake this weekend
Recipe collection
Beef
Winter warmers: 10 ways to cook ‘impossible to ruin’ beef cheeks
Lifestyle
Does alcohol prevent muscle loss? Don’t raise a drink to that
A large new meta-analysis looking at the association between loss of muscle mass and alcohol had surprising results.
Culture
Music in the ’80s belonged to Kim Gordon. At 71, she still plays hard
Long after Sonic Youth’s bitter split, artist, writer and musician Kim Gordon is inspiring a new generation of women.
Traveller
Drivedrive
From Our Partners
Sport
‘I was scared of him’: The intensity of the Blues under Maguire
Michael Maguire’s reputation for intensity had intimidated some Blues players, but in the Origin arena, it’s exactly what NSW need to succeed.
Chip off the old Beef: Another Botham aims to torment Australia in Melbourne
James Botham’s grandfather was an Ashes menace at the MCG. And as a Welsh rugby star, he’s aiming to keep up the family tradition a few hundred metres away.
Opinion
The Fitz Files
Dogs’ days are over, and it’s only eight years too late
The news this week was as sickening as it was predictable. Cats may have nine lives, but surely the greyhound racing ‘industry’ has run out of second chances.
Peter FitzSimons
Columnist and author
‘Close to retiring’: How Barnett battled back from spinal surgery for a Blues debut
Playing State of Origin was the last thing on the mind of Mitchell Barnett after two serious neck operations.
Sharks 58 Tigers 6
NRL 2024
‘I apologise to our fans’: Marshall rips Tigers players after record mauling
Life without injured playmaking star Nicho Hynes doesn’t appear so bleak after all for Cronulla as Benji Marshall took the big stick to his under-performing players.
Mills primed to repay Swans with a captain’s knock at the SCG
Isaac Heeney is unavailable to face North Melbourne on Saturday and the man replacing him, captain Callum Mills, will be motivated to repay Sydney’s faith in him.
Analysis
State of Origin
The Blues game plan produced Origin carnage. Here’s how Queensland combat it
NSW nailed 40 perfect minutes of Origin football in Melbourne. Can they reproduce it for an entire 80 minutes in Brisbane?
Have Your Say
Why success for Wallabies this year is finishing top of ‘second division’
Painfully modest as it sounds, a realistic aim for Australia would be to finish sixth in the world rankings, ahead of Scotland, Argentina and the increasingly solid Fiji.
