Becomes

Lai wins $60,000 literary award for her study of a young woman’s repression and rage as she struggles to juggle the needs of those around herSign up for a weekly email featuring our best readsAs the 2026 winner of the Stella prize, Lee Lai has established two new firsts: the first ever non-binary winner with her book Cannon, which is the first graphic novel to win the $60,000 Australian literary award for women and non-binary writers.Cannon follows the titular, queer Chinese woman living in Montreal on the “uncool side of [her] twenties”. Cannon’s real name is Lucy, which became Luce then (loose) Cannon – and much like her unwanted nickname, she shoulders responsibility without complaint. During the day she cares for her gung-gung (maternal grandfather), a former tyrant enfeebled by age, without any help from her emotionally avoidant mother; and by night she works in the kitchen of a fine-dining restaurant, corralling chaos into order. Cannon’s longtime best friend Trish uses her as a soundboard for all of her problems, and is secretly mining Cannon’s life as a troubling source of inspiration for her writing career. Continue reading...

Tuesday’s question time seemed more suited to prime time; full of sordid allegations, only the cast seems far less likableFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastQuestion time in the Queensland parliament is not a ratings juggernaut.Nielsen doesn’t publish ratings data about the live stream from Brisbane’s George Street, but one imagines the numbers of voters tuning in to watch our state politicians flagellate on a weekday morning are relatively low: a handful of politics nerds and the odd journo who prefers to work from home. Continue reading...

The MV Hondius, the cruise ship hit by an outbreak of a virus that has left three dead, reached the Canary Islands on SundayOn a dusty hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in the south of Tenerife, groups of tourists and locals are gathered to witness one of the island’s best new attractions.Some are gazing through binoculars while others are taking photos on their phones of a vessel only a few hundreds metres away, anchored near the Granadillo commercial port. Continue reading...

Parents will soon receive hundreds of free diapers before leaving the hospital under a new program aimed at alleviating expensesCalifornia families welcoming newborns will soon receive hundreds of free diapers before leaving the hospital under a first-in-the-country program announced Friday by the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom.During the program’s first year, it will be offered at about 65 to 75 hospitals that handle about a quarter of births in the state and largely serve low-income patients, Newsom’s office said. The initiative will expand to more hospitals statewide, though the governor’s office did not say how many. The state has partnered with nonprofit Baby2Baby to manufacture the diapers under the label “Golden State Start”. Continue reading...

Former David Cameron adviser says a vote for him will make California ‘Califordable’ – not everyone is convinced He “knows how to wind people up like Trump”, according to friends, and made his name in the UK with zany policy ideas including making the country sunnier using state-owned cloud busters.Now the controversial strategist Steve Hilton, named the “pint-sized Rasputin” of Conservative politics, has become an unlikely frontrunner in the primary race for California governor. Continue reading...

34-year-old heads elite field of men and womenAmerican takes small naps during 56-hour runRachel Entrekin has made history by beating a field of elite men and women to win the Cocodona 250 ultramarathon.Entrekin had won the women’s race on two occasions but on Wednesday she headed the entire field, winning in a record time of 56 hours 9 minutes and 48 seconds. Continue reading...

• Meryl Streep, 76, disclosed in a Vanity Fair interview that she had a 'beef' with Goldie Hawn while filming the 1992 horror-comedy 'Death Becomes Her' due to Hawn's chronic lateness to set. • Streep, always punctual, expressed annoyance as Hawn drove herself and arrived late with excuses like hair issues, charming the crew despite delays. • Despite the tension, Streep clarified they were actually 'buddies' and have remained close friends since the production.