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Football and sleep deprivation walk hand-in-hand in Australia. We’ve tried every approach viewers in the UK and Europe are now contemplating for this year’s tournament Two years ago, as I was preparing for the birth of my firstchild, a friend offered me some sage advice. There were many sleepless nights ahead. That was a certainty. But there was a silver lining: European football. I’ve been a football fan for as long as I can remember. But never in my life have I gorged so much. I managed every minute of Liverpool’s title-winning Premier League campaign. That was just for starters. Continue reading...

The vital medicine, made by AstraZeneca, will not be available from November, possibly leaving thousands of women without treatment * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Thousands of women could be left without vital breast cancer and endometriosis medicine when AstraZeneca removes its treatment from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and the private market, experts warn. Zoladex will no longer be available in Australia from November, as the ABC first reported, but some existing patients will still be able to access it for an additional six months. Continue reading...

But Australian government will expand offences covered by rules to include promotion of communal violence and attacks on defence system * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Labor has quietly backed down on moves to make spy agency Asio’s powers for compulsory questioning permanent, but will expand offences covered by the rules to include promotion of communal violence and attacks on Australia’s defence system. The laws were introduced in the wake of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the US and give intelligence operatives powers to issue a questioning warrant requiring a person as young as 14 to give information or produce items that may assist in a serious investigation. Continue reading...

The popular satire’s humour resonates with an uncomfortable ring of truth Sometimes sharp cultural satire comes from people outside the culture being lampooned – or, in the case of How to Talk Australians: The Movie, framed in a way that implies so. Adapted from the popular YouTube short-form series of the same name, the film’s principal characters are students and teachers from the (fictitious) Delhi College of Linguistics, though neither the director (Tony Rogers, co-creator/director of the 2007–2010 Australian series Wilfred) nor the screenwriters (Rogers and Rob Hibbert) are of Indian heritage. This allows the creators to draw on deeply ingrained knowledge of Australian culture while satirically positioning the work through an external lens. The aforementioned folk from Delhi – including staff members Dean Devdan (Vikrant Narain), Professor Dillip (Robert Santiago), Chester (Rohan Ganju) and a dozen students – are devoted to learning the peculiar linguistic and cultural phenomenon known as (my words) sheer bloody Australianness. The central trick of the film – as in the famous Simpsons episode Bart vs Australia, and Stephan Elliott’s criminally under-appreciated Welcome to Woop Woop – is to present Australia as the rest of the world imagines us (Crocodile Dundee also did this, but without the satirical edge). Continue reading...

Australia, Turkey and Paraguay must be vigilant of a defender-heavy squad ready to bring Mauricio Pochettino’s vision to life on the home stage The opening salvo kicked off pitchside at Wembley – not between the Australian and USA World Cup teams, but between players turned pundits Mark Schwarzer and Mike Grella. The former Socceroos goalkeeper, with 109 caps on his CV, was on-hand for the EFL Championship promotion final and stationed alongside Grella, who had a fine career in MLS and the EFL but never cracked the USMNT. It’s unlikely Schwarzer arrived with an axe to grind but he took umbrage with Grella’s post-draw reaction that playing Australia was “a lay-up” for the co-hosts. “Host nations are always difficult to play against at any World Cup,” Schwarzer said. “We always knew the USA was going to be a tough, tough opponent. What we like to do is let our performances do the talking.” Continue reading...

When does the football start? Who’s in Group D with Australia? How can you watch? All the answers are in our handy guide to the tournament Whether you follow the Socceroos closely or tend to jump back on the bandwagon every four years, the World Cup is a time like no other in the football world. Every edition comes with its own quirks and changes, and this one in the United States, Mexico and Canada is no different. This handy guide contains everything you need to know about following the Socceroos from Australia. (All times are AEST.) Continue reading...

Six months after Australia introduced its world-first ban on social media for under-16s, we would like to hear from parents and carers about whether it is making a difference Six months after Australia introduced its under-16 social media ban, supporters say it is helping to protect young people online, while critics argue many teenagers are still using social media and that the restrictions are difficult to enforce. As countries including the UK consider similar measures, and the Australian government is promoting the ban as a model for others, we’d like to hear from parents and carers about how it has affected their families. Continue reading...

An average home would cost $595,500 now if prices were the same relative to income as before John Howard turned the market into an investor casino * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast In the first three months of this year, house prices continued their previously inexorable climb, far outpacing incomes and wages growth. Now, thanks to changes to capital gain tax and negative gearing flagged in the budget, there is finally hope that housing affordability may improve. But after 26 years of damage, there is a long way to go. The Bureau of Statistics’ total value of dwellings survey always brings feelings of despair. In the March quarter, average dwelling prices across the nation increased 2.1% – well ahead of the 0.8% increase in average household disposable income. And the annual increase of 10.3% is again well ahead of the growth on incomes. Continue reading...

More customers are seeking out meticulous e-file manicures, but there are concerns about the risk of infection with the cuticle-raising beauty treatment A drill with a speed of 35,000 revolutions per minute sits on Alina Huck’s orderly work station. The drill bit is the length of an almond, and as soon as it touches the client’s nail it whips up a fine dust of dead skin. “It’s definitely a satisfying experience,” says Huck, a Sydney-based nail technician who has spent nearly a decade specialising in e-file manicures, also known as Russian manicures. Continue reading...

The worst-case scenario for a high-emissions scenario has been revised downward – but the best-case option is now implausible * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast In a world where people accept global heating is bad, news that we had avoided a boiling-in-our-own-juices version of the planet’s future might have been welcomed. Instead, the news that a group of climate scientists had officially retired their very worst scenario for the future of the planet was proof – according to Donald Trump – that the scientists had been (in all caps) WRONG! WRONG! WRONG. Continue reading...