Figuring out how to diagnose and fix a problem myself generated a sense of satisfaction powerful enough to get me up a medium-sized hill It wasn’t until Covid lockdowns that I became a regular bike rider, but it has become one of the joys of my life. Nothing melts away a stressful day like whizzing down a hill; not having to think about petrol prices, one-way streets or parking spots does wonders for my mood. When it came to maintenance, though, my attitude was decidedly timid. If something worked, that was good enough for me – how it did so was simply none of my business. Strange noises and glitches were things I figured would either go away on their own or deteriorate into something I’d hand off to an expert. I’m not proud to admit I’ve walked my bike half an hour to a bike shop to fix a puncture more than once; my chain was perpetually caked in gunk because I thought even looking at it the wrong way might break something. Continue reading...

Group photo taken after Beijing military parade raised eyebrows in Australia for featuring former Victorian premier alongside other leaders. Here’s who else is in the frame * Xi welcomes Putin and other world leaders to China – in pictures A number of world leaders gathered in Beijing at a second world war commemoration parade on Wednesday, in a display designed to show off China’s military strength and geopolitical might. The presence of leaders such as Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un at the event has led to some western political and economic analysts describing it as a meeting of the “axis of upheaval”. After the parade, Russian state agency Sputnik released a group photo, featuring some expected – and unexpected – faces. Here’s who’s who. 1: Prabowo Subianto, the president of Indonesia. Prabowo travelled to China amid fierce protests at home over perks for lawmakers. Critics say the former general is overseeing a quiet creep of the military into civilian affairs, echoing the country’s authoritarian past. 2: Vladimir Putin, the president of the Russian Federation. Putin has hailed Russia’s “unprecedentedly” high level of ties with China, with booming trade between the two countries an economic lifeline for Moscow since the start of the war in Ukraine. 3: Xi Jinping, the president of China. Before the parade, Xi hosted dozens of leaders at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin this week, in a push to elevate groups dominated by the global south over EU and US-led groups such as Nato. 4: Peng Liyuan, the first lady of China. 5: Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of North Korea. Kim’s attendance at the military parade is only his second reported trip abroad in six years, and the first time he has been seen with Xi and Putin at the same event. Continue reading...

Meanjin, a mainstay of Australia's cultural landscape and the nation's second-oldest literary publication, is shuttering after Melbourne University Publishing decided to cease financial support.

The navigation app might be built for function – but dig deeper and you’ll find a trove of inside jokes, neighbourhood quirks and charming errors There is a certain kind of guy who looks at Google Maps for fun. I am that guy. As a kid I went through a cartography phase, drawing elaborate maps of fictional islands and poring over the family street directory in an effort to reconcile the lines and dots on the overcrowded pages with the streets, shops and friends’ houses in my mind’s eye. You could say that phase never really ended. In much the same way as some people will pull up a movie’s IMDb entry the second they start watching, any time I come across an interesting town, country or geographical oddity (which is often in the news business), I’m firing up Maps to see what topographical morsels I can uncover. I’m no GeoGuessr savant, but I’ve spent many pleasant hours puzzling over interesting enclaves and panhandles, or pootling around far-flung locales in Street View. After finishing a recent episode of Severance I opened a tab and took an armchair tour through the remote Newfoundland island where it was shot. Continue reading...