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The Great Australian Bake Off has a very particular mood and aesthetic. Like the iconic British series it’s based on, this cooking competition is all scones and jam, bright colours and big feelings. It’s wholesome family viewing, punctuated by giggles and gags. Which is why many local comedy fans might have been a bit perplexed by the casting of Tom Walker this season. Not because he isn’t talented. But because this “unhinged” comedian, trained mime and Twitch streamer is, to my knowledge, the first co-host whose stand-up includes graphic sex scenes with a coat. “After the audition I got a text that I read to my parents, and it made them laugh the hardest that they’ve ever laughed, which is kind of hurtful, as a comedian,” Walker says before the series’ launch. “The text said that everyone was ‘pleasantly surprised’.” He adds: “There comes a time when a production has to throw up its hands and say, ‘Let’s try a freak on here!’” Darren Purchese (left), Rachel Khoo, Tom Walker and Natalie Tran in The Great Australian Bake Off.Credit: Foxtel But, however unlikely off-screen, Walker isn’t at all out of place in the Bake Off shed. In this upcoming eighth season, he perfectly matches the goofy and warm energy of returning co-host Natalie Tran – who also made her name in online comedy – and has a fresh haircut and rotation of bright cardigans to blend in. “My mullet was the first casualty of getting to be in the Bake-Off shed – and I understand why they did it,” Walker says, laughing. “Something to keep in mind is I am approximately triple the size of everyone else. I would have been quite an intimidating presence if they had not sanded down some of the rough edges. “I’m a ‘loomer’: I naturally gravitate towards standing out of focus in the background of shot. If you’ve seen the movie It Follows [a horror film in which people are slowly stalked by others who are possessed by a supernatural entity], that’s where my presence most naturally gravitates.” Tran admits that, unfamiliar with his stand-up, she watched Walker’s 2020 special Very Very (yes, the one with the coat) the night before meeting him and had some questions. “It was fantastic! But I was like, ‘Wow, they’re going to let him [on the show]? OK, I love it.’” Of course, his usual material needed tweaking. Walker confirms there was a ban on him referencing poo or other bodily products, “which is kind of like telling Tyson he can’t uppercut”. But Tran says what stood out to her was how “polite” and “nurturing” he was after production started. “I know that’s probably not the first thing that you think of, but he brought such a caring energy to the shed,” she says. “He was exactly what we needed.” Walker is, after all, filling the spot held by Cal Wilson, who died after a short battle with a rare cancer in October 2023. The beloved comedian left the show abruptly in season seven, leaving Tran to host on her own, and died shortly after filming finished. This new season is the first time Tran and the rest of the crew were on set since Wilson’s death. “It was tough,” Tran says. “The thing that I had to focus on was that Cal really loved the show, and it’s a real privilege to be able to work on it. There were obviously sad moments, but it was a chance to feel closer to her, too. We now have a tree for Cal in the park [where we film].” Cal Wilson and Natalie Tran on set during the 2023 season of The Great Australian Bake Off. It also helped, Tran says, that Walker was longtime friends with Wilson and shared the loss. The pair had starred alongside each other in the short-lived Australian version of improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway? in 2016. Loading “She was the most warm and kind person that I’ve ever met in comedy,” he says, slowly and with emphasis. “Comedy is an industry populated by the meanest, funniest people that you could possibly meet, and no one had a bad word to say about Cal. Everybody loved her.” Was there any pressure in being asked to step into her shoes? “I just want to make her proud. She loved this show – she truly loved it. And I want to take this thing that she loved and shepherded, and keep it safe in some small way.” Despite the absurd and ironic nature of much of his work, Walker has a real reverence for the franchise, which is arguably the most earnest show on television. He talks about looking up to Mel Buttle and Claire Hooper, who hosted for four seasons from 2015 to 2022, as well as the “inspirational” original British hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, who helmed the show for seven years. Loading It’s worth noting, however, that the latter duo’s epic run has now been surpassed by the show’s present co-host, Noel Fielding. The Mighty Boosh co-creator was considered a similarly strange pick when announced in 2017 – this was the guy who created characters such as Old Gregg and the Crack Fox – but he’s since become the pillar of the British version of the show, his spiky surreal comedy softened into whimsy. Strangely enough, it matches the chaotic energy of the kitchen – and it’s hard not to see that as a road map to Walker’s casting. “[Each show] is allowed one weird guy,” Walker says. “It’s a goth over there. Here, it’s some weirdo online fella who’s also a mime and clown. We’re duelling freaks! I know Cal would get a huge kick out of me doing this job because it’s such a left-field pick. I know exactly the laugh she would be doing.” The Great Australian Bake-Off premieres on July 29 on Foxtel and Binge. Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to

Des Hasler is doing something that he never does; talk about Des Hasler. It’s a subject that has been off limits for the best part of the five decades that he has dedicated to rugby league, but an exception has been made. On Saturday, he will become a member of an exclusive group of coaches who have overseen 500 games, joining Wayne Bennett (956 matches coached), Tim Sheens (693), Brian Smith (601), Craig Bellamy (594) and Ricky Stuart (534). It is fitting that the milestone will be achieved in Auckland, away from the spotlight, allowing him to fly just the way he likes it, under the radar. His current employer, the Gold Coast Titans, marked the occasion on Tuesday, and Hasler indulged this masthead before jumping on a plane the next day for the assignment against the Warriors. “I don’t think about it being 500 games, 250 games or 700 games or whatever it is,” Hasler says. “It’s funny, when you stop and think about it, it’s the people you remember. “I don’t think about the 500, the football and all the trappings, the highlights and heartbreaks that go with it, they kind of fade into the background. Des Hasler is about to reach a significant milestone.Credit: Getty Images “It would be like in your game as a journo, all the clickbait fades away. Nobody remembers all the bullshit, but you know what they remember? They remember the person. For me, the most significant part of it all is the people. “I’m very fortunate with rugby league, I started in 1980, it’s been 47 years, it’s been wonderful. It’s about the people. “With the other coaches who have surpassed 500 games or even young coaches on their journey, you learn the value of connections you make with people, the genuine ability to relate. “Twenty years down the track, 500 games down the track, people from the time I started coaching in 1997 at a club level, when they come back and still are in your life, or your crossing over and come back and regale about past times, that’s when you realise wow, the impact you have on peoples’ lives.” In recent times, there have been more heartbreaks that highlights. Hasler has taken over a Titans franchise that remains a stranger to success, one operating with a roster of five fullbacks and two millionaire forwards in Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and David Fifita, who have mustered just 45 games between them since the coach’s arrival. There is a year to run on Hasler’s contract but, given the club currently sits in last spot, it’s unclear how many games he will be able to add to his 500th. Until the club makes a definitive call, it’s unclear if these words act as celebration or eulogy. Hasler won’t buy into the speculation about his future, saying only: “I’m still enjoying it, I enjoy coaching. “If you enjoy coaching, you keep doing it.” Des Hasler and those famous golden locks.Credit: Kate Geraghty He does, however, understand his role in the great soap opera that is the NRL. “When I started, a football journo reported on the game,” Hasler offers. “It’s more like Days of Our Lives and Home and Away these days. It’s all about the melodrama.” Hasler has provided his fair share. From the ruins of the Super League war and the Northern Eagles debacle, he rebuilt Manly into a powerhouse to be despised by rivals. Under his watch, the Sea Eagles won two premierships, a number that would be greater still if the salary cap rorts of the Melbourne Storm were uncovered prior to the 2007 decider. The 64-year-old also came close at Canterbury, falling at the final hurdle against South Sydney in 2014. All the while, Hasler did it his own inimitable way; the bouffant, the kooky sports science, the epic sprays like the one he produced after last weekend’s loss to the Tigers. ‘[The players] need to know that you’re vulnerable. That you have that real care factor.’ Des Hasler “You look at Wayne Bennett, who is different to Ricky Stuart, who is different to Craig Bellamy, who is different to Warren Ryan or Tim Sheens,” Hasler offers. “You look at all the coaches who have longevity, each one is entirely different. “If you sat down with all those men in the same room, they would look back and say ‘this is the direction I’m going to go, this is the path and how I got there.’ “There’s no clear map, if I can say that. There’s no outline, no handbook. Not when you’re dealing with people. Not when you are dealing with so much.” From post-game spray to hugs for Hasler Days after footage emerged of Des Hasler giving his team an epic spray following their loss to the Tigers, the Titans coach was on the verge of tears after his team presented him with a framed timeline of his coaching career ahead of his 500th game on Saturday. Hasler was caught on camera in the locker rooms at Leichhardt Oval giving his team a rinsing after they lost in the finals 17 seconds of their match, courtesy of an Adam Doueihi field goal after they led 20-16 in the 77th minute. In the post-match press conference, Hasler said his team played dumb football. “It’s really disappointing that in the second half we fumble, we bumble, we miss tackles, we throw balls over the sideline, we get carried over the sideline and we complete nine from 15 sets,” Hasler said. “I’m really disappointed in that performance. It was really dumb.” But the incident seemed to be in the past, with Hasler thanking and embracing his team following the presentation and ahead of their match against the Warriors on Saturday. “If I could just quickly respond,” Hasler said of the gift. “First off, you’ve ambushed me, I wasn’t expecting that, so thank you very much. The gesture that you being here, is a great moment for me.” – Billie Eder,

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By Rebecca Boone July 24, 2025 — 5.33am Boise, Idaho: Friends and relatives of four University of Idaho students murdered in their rental home by Bryan Kohberger delivered powerful statements of love, anguish and condemnation before he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. “This world was a better place with her in it,” Scott Laramie, the stepfather of Madison Mogen, told the court. “Karen and I are ordinary people, but we lived extraordinary lives because we had Maddie.” Bryan Kohberger in the Ada County Courthouse after his sentencing hearing for brutally stabbing four University of Idaho students to death in 2022.Credit: AP The father of Kaylee Goncalves taunted Kohberger for leaving his DNA behind and getting caught despite being a graduate student in criminology at nearby Washington State University at the time. “You were that careless, that foolish, that stupid,” Steve Goncalves said. “Master’s degree? You’re a joke.” Judge Steven Hippler ordered Kohberger to serve four life sentences without parole for four counts of first-degree murder in the brutal stabbing deaths of Mogen, Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin early on November 13, 2022. He was also given a 10-year sentence for burglary and assessed $US270,000 ($409,000) in fines and civil penalties. The defendant pleaded guilty this month, just weeks before his trial was to start, in a deal to avoid the death penalty. Kohberger broke into the home through a kitchen sliding door and brutally stabbed the four friends, who appeared to have no connection with him. No motive has been offered, and Kohberger chose not to speak at the hearing. Dylan Mortensen, a roommate who told police of seeing a strange man with bushy eyebrows and a ski mask in the home that night, sobbed as she described how Kohberger, seated across the room in an orange jumpsuit, “took the light they carried into each room”. “He is a hollow vessel, something less than human,” Mortensen said. “A body without empathy, without remorse.” Mortensen and another surviving roommate, Bethany Funke, described crippling panic attacks and anxiety after the attack. Dylan Mortensen gets a hug after speaking at the sentencing hearing of Bryan Kohberger.Credit: AP “I slept in my parents’ room for almost a year, and had them double lock every door, set an alarm, and still check everywhere in the room just in case someone was hiding,” Funke wrote in a statement read by a friend. “I have not slept through a single night since this happened. I constantly wake up in panic, terrified someone is breaking in or someone is here to hurt me, or I’m about to lose someone else that I love.” Alivea Goncalves’ voice didn’t waver as she asked Kohberger questions about the killings, including what her sister’s last words were. She drew applause after belittling Kohberger, who remained expressionless as she insulted him. “You didn’t win, you just exposed yourself as the coward you are,” Alivea Goncalves said. “You’re a delusional, pathetic, hypochondriac loser.” Madison Mogen (top), and her friends (lower left to right) Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were brutally killed in the early hours of November 13, 2022.Credit: Instagram Kohberger’s mother and sister also attended the hearing, sitting in the gallery near the defence table. His mother quietly wept at times as the other parents described their grief. She sobbed briefly when Maddie Mogen’s grandmother said that her heart goes out to the other families, including Kohberger’s. Xana Kernodle’s aunt, Kim Kernodle, said she forgave Kohberger and asked him to call her from prison, hoping he would answer her lingering questions about the killings. “Bryan, I’m here today to tell you I have forgiven you, because I no longer could live with that hate in my heart,” she said. “And for me to become a better person, I have forgiven you. And any time you want to talk and tell me what happened, get my number. I’m here. No judgment.” Loading Police initially had no suspects in the killings, which terrified the rural western Idaho city of Moscow. Some students at both universities left mid-semester, taking the rest of their classes online because they felt unsafe. A knife sheath left near Mogen’s body had a single source of male DNA on the button snap, investigators said, and surveillance videos showed a white Hyundai Elantra near the rental home around the time of the murders. Police used genetic genealogy to identify Kohberger as a possible suspect and accessed mobile phone data to pinpoint his movements on the night of the killings. Online shopping records showed Kohberger had bought a military-style knife months earlier, along with a sheath like the one at the home. Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania about six weeks after the killings. Both the investigation and the case drew widespread attention. Discussion groups proliferated online, members eagerly sharing their theories and questions about the case. Some armchair web-sleuths pointed fingers at innocent people simply because they knew the victims or lived in the same town. Misinformation spread, piling additional distress on the already-traumatised community. AP Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter. Most Viewed in World Loading Read More

Opinion For years, I’ve been a loud voice when it comes to protecting playmakers in the NRL. It’s been on two fronts, especially. Halves and playmakers getting smashed in the back after they’ve passed, and kick chasers diving at the legs of a player when they kick long. Now I think we’ve gone too far. In 2025, halfbacks can now play the game wearing a koala suit – they’ve officially become a protected species. Rugby league is built on the contest and competing as hard as you can. We can’t take that out of the game just because that is naturally going to lead to some accidents. Kicking games have never been more important, but under the current rules, all the advantage is with a playmaker and an attacking kicker, to the point that there is no longer a reward for a good defensive set. Think about a good defensive set from 10 or 20 years ago. If a defensive team were on top, you would see a kicker having to sit 10-15 metres behind the advantage line, or even having to run sideways to get their kick away. That was the reward. Under the current rules, kickers are happy to sit up closer to the defensive line and hammer a long kick because they know defenders can’t touch them. Mitchell Moses played out of his skin in Origin II last year, but we saw exactly this early in the game. A solid Queensland defensive set had them win each play-the-ball, and Moses was kicking from his own 40-metre line. But without kick pressure, his kick went 65 metres on the fly and the Maroons’ advantage was gone. The flow-on effect: NRL between two 20-metre zones When a strong defensive set is properly rewarded, and a kicker is placed under fair, but still safe, kick pressure, you see a team kicking from inside their own 40. The opposition fullback might bring the ball back to their own 40-metre line, and that’s when the game of chess starts – by the end of this set, the defensive side can go on the attack. As they should because they’ve worked hard in defence. But with playmakers protected far too much and no kick pressure on them, we get a game played between the two 20-metre lines. And it’s a conservative game – three dummy-half runs, a hit-up and then a long kick. You can copy and paste this for five or six minutes. In last year’s grand final between the very well-drilled Storm and Penrith sides, the arm wrestle went for nine minutes. It makes for boring, predictable rugby league. Bring kick chasers back into the game. But, of course, don’t let them hit late. And don’t let them hit anyone in the legs. But at least allow contact above the waist, to give a bit of leeway back to the defence. And maybe we’ll end up with more attacking footy, and less dummy-half running and wrestling. If you put playmakers under pressure, the best will rise When a playmaker goes to the defensive line now as well, there’s just no fear of getting whacked by a defender. Again, we’re taking the contest away. The best playmakers will always be willing to wear a shot and cop some bruises by putting their body on the line to free up their inside and outside runners. This is how the game should be played. An average halfback won’t dig into the line for fear of getting hit; they’ll run sideways. But you can’t blame defenders for being gun-shy given some of the penalties we see. Isaiya Katoa is one of my favourite young halves and digs into the line as much as anyone I’ve seen in years. But even he is helped by rules that hold defenders back. Three weeks ago, against South Sydney, Sean Keppie was in a position to tackle Katoa as he went to line. But you can actually see Keppie pull out of the tackle and shove him instead, because he’s worried about hitting him and drawing a penalty. Halves are now playing into their mid-to-late 30s because in the modern game, they’re a protected species. Harry Grant’s penalty for challenging Luke Brooks last Saturday night – and it was a penalty by the laws of the game – was so soft his contact didn’t draw a reaction from the referees, touch judges, Manly players or even Brooks. But the Bunker has a look, and ultimately, that call cost Melbourne the game. I’d hate to see an Origin or a grand final decided on that type of penalty. Why the Roosters’ grand final has arrived already The Roosters and Storm meet on Thursday night – two big, successful clubs, coming off disappointing losses. Cameron Munster’s withdrawal is huge for Melbourne because he provides the ad-lib, unstructured elements of an attack that you can’t prepare a defence for. On top of that, not having Ryan Papenhuyzen once again means the Storm are without half of their first-choice spine. Without a doubt, for mine, Melbourne will finish in the top four, while the Roosters are at the back of that four-team log jam fighting for seventh and eighth spot. I think the Sharks play finals this year, which leaves the Dolphins, Sea Eagles and Roosters fighting for the last finals place. The real fun starts now for the Roosters and Trent Robinson.Credit: Getty Images This week against Melbourne is the Tricolours’ grand final already, and it’s still July. Lose this game, and I don’t see them playing semi-finals this year. They’ve got tough games on paper, and their for-and-against is the worst of those four sides, so they’re effectively two wins shy of the top eight. Sandon Smith returns at five-eighth, and I was surprised he missed out to Chad Townsend last week. I’ve got big raps on Sandon – he shot the lights out on Anzac Day against the Dragons – and his running game will complement Sam Walker up

FOUR LETTERS OF LOVE ★★(M) 109 minutes At the outset of Four Letters of Love, a man is touched by God. Toiling away in a dingy Dublin office, middle-aged civil servant William Coughlan (Pierce Brosnan) spies a square of sunlight on his desk and spontaneously decides to chuck it all in and become a painter. Pierce Brosnan plays an artist in Four Letters of LoveCredit: Vertigo Releasing Before long, he’s doing artist stuff like growing his hair shoulder-length and abandoning his family. Meanwhile, in the west of Ireland, we’re introduced to Isabel Gore (Ann Skelly), a younger free spirit who says things like “I want to go wild today” as she frolics on the edge of a cliff. With all that, we’re still only a couple of minutes into this wildly over-the-top melodrama, directed by UK-based Polly Steele, whose previous credits include the unfortunately titled climbing documentary The Mountain Within Me, and scripted by the Irish writer Niall Williams, adapting his 1997 novel. Williams’ field isn’t out-and-out trash but a particular brand of frantic “literary” overwriting, much of which gets channelled here into Fionn O’Shea’s voiceover as William’s son Nicholas, looking back at his early-1970s youth from decades on (“To these days I am to return again and again throughout my life, for in them is the immanence of love”). Isabel and Nicholas are soulmates, she with her frizzy red hair, he with his look of gormless yearning. But the film takes its time bringing them together, tantalising us by having them cross paths a couple of times without meeting. Helena Bonham Carter and Gabriel Byrne play the “sensible adults” in Four Letters of Love.Credit: Vertigo Releasing By halfway through, one of William’s paintings has wound up in the possession of Isabel’s parents, Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter) and Muiris (Gabriel Byrne). But even when Nicholas seeks it out, this isn’t enough to put him in the same room as Isabel, who is meanwhile set on marrying Peader (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), her designated Mr Wrong. In spirit, this is a very slightly elevated Hallmark movie – but there are worse things to be, and under the circumstances it’s a point in Steele’s favour that she isn’t afraid of excess. Like Williams, she goes all out: wide-angle lenses, shafts of light illuminating otherwise drab interiors, sweeping shots of the craggy coastline with waves crashing onto rocks. The weakness is the love story at the heart of it all. Skelly and O’Shea are both pleasant-looking, which is most of what’s required of them – but even at the climax, Nicholas remains too reined-in and tentative to be an effective hero of a grand romance. Ultimately, this is less a casting issue than a problem with the whole premise. For obvious reasons, a character whose most forceful act is to write a series of letters is likely to work better in print than on the screen. It also appears the choice has been made to pitch the film at the generation that bought the novel in the 1990s, which is to say the veterans are the real stars. Brosnan is easily the most forceful male presence, despite or due to relying on pure ham and showing no sign of taking the material any more seriously than he did in Mamma Mia! Bonham Carter and Byrne are less fortunate, since their characters are meant to be the sensible adults despite the absurd material they’re supplied with. Bonham Carter has an especially doomed scene where she combs her adult daughter’s hair while imparting home truths about the hard work of keeping a marriage alive. Loading Byrne seems to be trying not to be noticed, but in a movie where everyone speaks in nuggets of pseudo-wisdom, his relatively subdued character probably comes closest to making sense. “None of us really know anything. You find a road and you walk along it as best you can.” Four Letters of Love is in cinemas from today. Must-see movies, interviews and all the latest from the world of film delivered to your inbox. Sign up for our Screening Room newsletter. Most Viewed in Culture Loading Read More

Updated 23 July 2025 at 17:36 IST The Kerala Lottery results for 23.07.2025, featuring the Monsoon Bumper Lottery Result BR-104 Result, are out. The first prize is a whopping ₹10 Crore! Check the official winners list to see if you’re one of the lucky recipients. Follow Republic World Live for the Latest Updates of Monsoon

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Updated 22 July 2025 at 23:02 IST The 4th India vs England Test will get underway from July 23 at Old Trafford, Manchester. Here’s a look at India’s predicted XI for the must-win match. Follow: What will India’s playing XI at Old Trafford look like? | Image: AP The fourth India vs England Test of

Updated 23 July 2025 at 12:09 IST Carriall, India’s pioneering smart luggage brand, is taking a giant step beyond travel innovation and stepping boldly into the world of fashion. Follow: Carriall: India’s Smart Luggage Pioneer Now Designs for Modern & Classy Women | Image: Republic Initiative Carriall, India’s pioneering smart luggage brand, is taking a