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Nicholas Jordan goes on the hunt for good Easter eggs. After nibbling through 29 products, he is glad the ovum ordeal is over * Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email * If you value our independent journalism, we hope you’ll consider supporting us today When I was a kid, chocolate usually came with some kind of regulatory statement: “you can have some if you finish your dinner”, or “don’t eat it all at once”. But at Easter, that went out the window. The amount of chocolate I ate then is barely believable. Now that adult me is making the decisions, I can eat chocolate whenever I want, with the fervour of an unaccompanied labrador in a pet food shop. But it’s rarely at Easter. Sadly, now I think of Easter as culinary enshittification. I imagine waxy chocolates making my fingers oily, compound chocolate (like regular chocolate but with more oil in it) that tastes like a patty of melted marshmallows, and unidentifiable cream fillings that ooze like sunscreen. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading...

Gregg Araki’s comedy-of-errors film stars Anna Faris trying to complete everyday tasks in an astronomical state of high. It’s downright terrifying It’s hard not to feel a strange sense of kinship with each of the hapless heroines played by Anna Faris. Though she’s generally underrated, her signature blend of anything-for-a-laugh slapstick and absurdism makes her an adorkable standout in every project. While she has been praised for some of her work (The House Bunny, Scary Movie), her portrayal of an empty-headed LA stoner in Gregg Araki’s 2007 comedy Smiley Face remains an unsung triumph. Landing three years after Araki’s dark, critically acclaimed drama Mysterious Skin, Smiley Face was a left turn: a stoner comedy following the mishaps of perpetually buzzed, often unemployed economics student-turned-actor, Jane. Continue reading...

Claims of benefits have been amplified by the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr. How does the evidence actually stack up? * Read more in the Antiviral series Influencers are telling their audiences that injectable peptides are the “glow up potion” they need for everything from clearing up hormonal acne, thickening hair, relieving back pain and even treating chronic UTIs. These peptides, intended for research purposes (as some influencers do point out) and not approved for human use, are being increasingly sold through unregulated online channels. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Capital gains tax discount and negative gearing rules created ‘extra artificial incentive’ for property speculation, the e61 Institute has found * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The combination of the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing rules has turbocharged debt-fuelled property speculation over recent decades, according to a new analysis of hundreds of thousands of property investments. The federal budget in three weeks’ time is widely expected to include changes to tax breaks for investors, in an effort to rebalance the tax system away from the wealthiest Australians and to take pressure off home prices. Continue reading...

Exclusive: the 2026 document is designed to provide ‘scaffolding’ for a long-term Labor government * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Labor’s longstanding opposition to mandatory jail terms has been omitted from the first draft of its new national party platform, after the Albanese government backed minimum sentences on several occasions. An early working draft of the ALP’s updated platform also includes more assertive language on China and seeks to position Australia as an “active middle power” in an increasingly fraught and contested world. Continue reading...

Data shows slowdown in price growth across the country after consecutive RBA cash rate hikes * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast House prices in Sydney and Melbourne are falling as interest rate rises and economic uncertainty caused by conflict in the Middle East saw buyers leave the market during the last quarter. New Cotality data shows growth has slowed across the country in the last three months. The slowdown that began in December has continued, due largely to the Reserve Bank interest rate hikes in February and March putting median homes out of reach. Continue reading...

Excise cuts, coal-to-liquid fuel and greater use of ethanol have been floated as options to combat price and supply pressures – but experts say cutting fossil fuel dependence is key * Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here Australia should wean itself off fossil fuels in response to the current fuel crisis, experts say, but politicians have other ideas. Andrew Hastie, the opposition spokesperson for sovereign capability, wants Australia to produce liquid fuels from coal, a move that would entrench reliance on fossil fuels and ratchet up emissions in the process. Continue reading...

* Australia defeat Curaçao 5-1 in final home match before World Cup * Trio of substitutes combine for three goals to dominate second half Tony Popovic turned to Nestory Irankunda and his fellow frontline Socceroos stars to ensure the team’s World Cup send-off was sufficiently fitting, and in the second half against Curaçao in Melbourne on Tuesday they elevated an otherwise drab friendly into a grand farewell that finished 5-1. Together with promising performances from opening goalscorer Awer Mabil and Kai Trewin, who was trialled at right wingback, the performance gave Popovic much to ponder for six weeks before the team’s final pre-tournament camp in the US. Continue reading...

Brittlestars, sea anemones and a catshark among new-to-science species collected during expedition off the Queensland coast * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Marine scientists have discovered more than 110 new fish and invertebrate species in the Coral Sea – a figure they believe could exceed 200 as more are identified. The species were found in waters between 200 metres and 3km deep in the Coral Sea marine park, Australia’s largest marine protected area, which spans nearly 1m sq km to the east of the Great Barrier Reef. Continue reading...