🌞 Afghan women's team returns

In case you missed it, the finalists for the Archibald Prize were announced this week. The Prize is awarded to the best portrait of a distinguished person in art, letters, science, or politics, painted from life - here are the finalists.

Which one is your favourite? Hit reply to this email and let me know!

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has prequalified the first-ever malaria treatment for newborns and infants weighing two to five kilograms.

Prequalification means a medicine meets international standards of quality, safety, efficacy and performance, before it is rolled out to countries that may not have the facilities to test medicines to those standards.

The treatment, artemether-lumefantrine, is the first anti-malaria drug designed specifically for young children. Until now, they were treated with medicines intended for older children, which increased the risk of dosing errors and toxicity.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “Ending malaria in our lifetime is no longer a dream – it is a real possibility, but only with sustained political and financial commitment. Now we can. Now we must.”

Polish influencer Piotr Hancke, known as Latwogang, raised around 276 million złoty ($AU95 million) for a children’s cancer charity with a nine-day livestream.

He was joined by special guests, including: Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Spanish footballer Lamine Yamal and Polish tennis star Iga Świątek.

Several people shaved their heads in support of cancer patients, including Latwogang himself. On his Instagram, Latwogang posted a statement saying: “We can change the world, and we will.”

A bee lands on a canola flower outside Frankfurt, Germany. 📸: Kirill Kudryavtsev via Getty.

Marathon season has officially kicked off, with the Boston and London marathons last month.

I’m a sucker for events that bring people together (you’ll definitely catch me watching those videos where someone falls and someone else helps them up, and they stagger to the finish line together), and this year’s London marathon was no different.

Firstly, Kenyan runner Sebastian Sawe became the first person to run a marathon under two hours in legal conditions, with a time of 1:59:30. 11 seconds later, Ethiopian athlete Yomif Kejelcha also broke the two-hour barrier… on his debut. His compatriot Tigst Assefa broke her own women-only marathon record with a time of 2:15:41 (meaning she ran without male pacemakers alongside her).

For context, the time for an average person to run a marathon is more than four hours.

London also reclaimed the title for the most race finishers in a marathon, with 59,830 runners making it past the finish line. Organisers also said more than 1,900 participants with disabilities competed, making it the most inclusive London marathon so far.

The London marathon is the world’s largest one-day annual fundraising event. So far, over £38 million pounds ($AU72 million) has been raised. There were 38 Guinness World Records set or broken during the marathon, including fastest marathon dressed as a book character, dressed as a mythical creature, wearing foam clogs and more.

Next up, Sydney!

Paire's biggest collection yet is here – and they want you to experience it in person

Join the team at their A/W26 styling suite for an evening of curated looks, personalised styling, and freshly whisked matcha. Feel the difference that bio-innovation makes – merino wool that moves, organic cotton that lasts, warmth without the weight. This is winter dressing, reimagined from the fibre up.

Drop in anytime between 6:00PM–8:30PM and discover your new winter uniform.

Let me introduce you to Hold My Hand, the first-ever dating show conducted entirely in British Sign Language (BSL)

Hold My Hand follows deaf adults or children of a deaf adult as they date through BSL. The show is presented by Hermon and Heroda Berhane, identical twin sisters, who are both deaf.

Oliver Scott, a contestant on the show, told the BBC the show felt "refreshing" after he always questioned “why couldn’t I be a contestant on [dating shows.]”

The best part? The entire series is available to watch on YouTube! (FYI: It’s M-rated.)

For the first time in history, the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize winners have all been women.

The Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded to grassroots environmental champions around the world. The award spotlights the incredible work being done by ordinary people that doesn’t always get the coverage it deserves.

This year’s winners are:

Everyone’s favourite hockey show has won a Peabody Award for “ultimately making what was arguably the biggest cultural impact in television this year.”

That’s not an understatement either - Heated Rivalry had the internet in a chokehold, provided much-needed representation in queer joy and even encouraged a former pro-hockey athlete to come out earlier this year.

Fellow winners include HBO series ‘The Pitt’, Netflix hit ‘Adolescence’, and Oscar-winning documentary ‘Mr. Nobody Against Putin’.

Winners were chosen by a unanimous vote of 28 jurors from more than 1,000 entries across media. The Peabodys honour achievements in storytelling across TV, journalism, movies, games, podcasts, and more. Past winners include the first season of the podcast Serial, Bo Burnham’s Netflix special ‘Inside’, and the TV show Severance.

The Afghan women’s refugee team is now eligible for international competitions, after a FIFA regulation amendment officially recognising them.

While the team, playing under the name Afghan Women United, won’t be able to qualify for the 2027 women’s World Cup, they do have a chance to qualify for the 2028 Olympics.

Afghan player Khalida Popal said she was “extremely proud of this decision… and glad that our collective advocacy has not only changed the future for Afghan women but also ensured that no other national team has to sacrifice what our players did.”

The decision comes five years after players fled the Taliban. Many have been resettled here in Australia.