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Andrew Burke

January

Jannik Sinner and Alex de Minaur after the Italian’s quarter-final victory.

The numbers that show Alex de Minaur is running out of time

An analysis of the past 50 years of tennis majors shows that winning after turning 26 is a rarity, but one player should give de Minaur hope.

December 2024

Syrian journalist Bassel Shehadeh was one of more than 500,000 people estimated to have been killed in Syria since 2011.

Bassel was right about the Assads. It couldn’t save him

The 27-year-old had a Fulbright Scholarship and the future was bright. This is the story of one man’s pursuit of freedom for Syria.

November 2024

Bianca Jones (left) has died, and her friend Holly Bowles remains in a Thai hospital after consuming the methanol-laced alcohol.

‘Don’t drink spirits’: The sobering reality of methanol poisoning

In Asia, methanol poisoning is surprisingly common. This is why it is so dangerous, how to steer clear, and what to do if you get unlucky.

March 2024

Craig Wright, the Australian who claims he invented bitcoin.

Clayton Utz dropped bitcoin ‘creator’ over document integrity

Big six law firm Clayton Utz dropped a company associated with Craig Wright because it was concerned about “the integrity of documents” the claimed creator of bitcoin gave it and the Australian Taxation Office.

Craig Wright, London-based chief scientific officer at nChain, claims to be bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto.

ATO papers allege claimed Bitcoin ‘creator’ doctored documents

Self-claimed bitcoin inventor Craig Wright allegedly made than $3 million in false R&D tax claims for his technology companies before leaving Australia in 2015.

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February 2024

Craig Wright: Is he the brains behind bitcoin, or is it all just an elaborate hoax?

Being Satoshi: Inside Craig Wright’s decade-long fight to be the inventor of bitcoin

Australian computer scientist Craig Wright has long claimed to be the creator of bitcoin and owner of a $77 billion crypto cache. Now a court must decide whether it’s true or a hoax for the ages.

September 2023

Brett Whiteley’s Yellow, 1975, will be available for the first time in almost 50 years when Smith & Singer offer it by private auction in Sydney on October 10.

Whiteley’s Yellow a one-man show with $3.5m hopes

A Brett Whiteley painting bought in Sydney in 1975 and being offered for the first time since is the latest work to headline its own dedicated sale.

Then-North Melbourne coach Ron Barassi and former Hawthorn coach David Parkin hold the 1978 VFL premiership trophy before the game. Hawthorn would go on to defeat North Melbourne by 18 points (121-103) to win the premiership.

From one AFL legend to another: Barassi an ‘innovator’, ‘terrific fella’

Carlton coaching legend David Parkin says Ron Barassi, another of the club’s coaching legends, was a “real pioneer and innovator” in the way Australia rules football is now played – but most of all as simply a “terrific fella”.

February 2023

Robert Bates Founder + CEO at 7 Trinity Biotech and Emma Gibson Chief Executive Officer at Aquamamma in Byron Bay for the Young Rich List photo shoot.

Inside the downfall of ex-Young Rich Lister Robert Bates

He dreamed of a billion-dollar wellness empire but all that’s left are furious investors, unpaid employees and a lot of unanswered questions.

August 2022

Figure and Angel (1946) by Sidney Nolan, has an estimate of $80,000 to $120,000 at Bonhams on August 23.

Nolan’s product of love, lust and loss finally comes to market

Few of the works created during Australian art’s most famous menage a trois have ever been sold on the open market, but 75 years on 47 works are up for sale.

Billionaire British musical theatre impresario Cameron Mackintosh at Rockpool Bar & Grill. The restaurant is where Mackintosh’s office used to be.

This billionaire impresario pays himself every five years

Sir Cameron Mackintosh, the man behind ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ and ‘Mary Poppins’, may say he doesn’t care about money but he’s very good at making it.

July 2022

Cameron Smith became the first Australian to win The Open since Greg Norman, who is reported to now be trying to sign his compatriot to a Saudi-backed rebel golf tour.

Talk of Saudi tour clouds Smith’s historic Open win

Cameron Smith refused to rule out joining Greg Norman’s rebel LIV Golf tour after winning the Open Championship with one of the most extraordinary rounds in major history.

June 2022

Andy Warhol, 1968, screenprint from the series Campbell’s Soup, is asking $295,000 at the Antiques and Arts Fair in Melbourne this weekend.

Warhol, Koons among 20,000 items at Melbourne antique fair

An Andy Warhol screen print and a leaf from a first edition Gutenberg Bible will attract plenty of attention at an antiques an art fair in Melbourne this weekend. 

February 2022

  John Farnham and Glenn Wheatley in 2002.

Glenn Wheatley’s last big deal

In his final media interview, Glenn Wheatley was confident he had another hit on his hands.

October 2021

10 long reads for this weekend

The week the global inflation story started to get real; the 27-year-old who’s made $170 million out of Oodies; and everything you need to know before you fly overseas.

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 Broadway bound?

The John Farnham-based musical that could go all the way to Broadway

Flushed with the success of producing ‘Hamilton’ at home and backed by a Silicon Valley private equity giant, Michael Cassel is mounting an assault on the home of musical theatre.

Producer Michael Cassel has $80 million to spend on a theatre in Sydney’s CBD.

Sydney’s theatre conundrum: $80m to spend but nowhere to put it

Theatre producer Michael Cassel has $80 million to build a new theatre in Sydney’s CBD, but can’t find anywhere to spend it.

April 2021

The phenomenon is also known as the Aurora Australis.

The greatest light show above Earth

A 10-hour flight with two boarding passes for one person and a destination about 40 kilometres above the plane. Is this the strangest travel experience?

March 2021

Gladys Berejiklian on the red carpet at the Australian premiere of Hamilton at the Sydney Lyric Theatre.

On the red carpet at Hamilton’s Sydney premiere

The great and the good turn out to see the musical that has taken the world by storm but which has been shuttered by the pandemic for the past 13 months.

Jason Arrow and the Australian cast of Hamilton.

At Hamilton, the world’s most sought-after seats for $10

With stages shut around the world, the Sydney production has become the hottest seat in musical theatre. And every night 40 go for just $10 each.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/andrew-burke-j67sm