Bertin Huynh

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Bertin Huynh

For almost my entire life I hated how I looked. I was by no means unhealthy but a youth spent playing video games and eating heaping mounds of white rice meant I was far from the models, superheroes and movie stars I looked up to. One day my doctor said that while I was still within acceptable levels of body fat, I could stand to lose some centimetres around the waist and drop a few kilos. To say the motivation there was solely health-related would be a lie.

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Michael Kalenderian |Bertin Huynh |Ben Doherty

When it comes to last week’s live-fire drills conducted by Chinese navy ships, there is fierce disagreement – and intense politicking – on who knew what and when. Australian authorities say they never received notice, and that they first heard of the potentially dangerous activity in the Tasman Sea from the pilot of a commercial flight over the area. China says they issued repeated safety notices in advance.

2 months ago | theguardian.com | Bridie Jabour |Mike Ticher |Lenore Taylor |Miles Herbert |Camilla Hannan |Bertin Huynh

Acts of hate, antisemitism, as well as Islamophobia, are on the rise. For months, the Coalition has accused the Albanese government of making the country less safe for Jewish people. The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils has written to Anthony Albanese, calling for urgent action to tackle Islamophobia. Pre-existing dividing lines are being inflamed by our politicians, and by the media, leaving the country further polarised.

2 months ago | theguardian.com | Bridie Jabour |Lenore Taylor |Patrick Keneally |Miles Herbert |Camilla Hannan |Bertin Huynh

This week, Anthony Albanese faced his first Trump test. The prime minister tried to carve out an exception for Australia from Trump’s promised 25% tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum. And while Trump is giving the request ‘great consideration’, it won’t be the last time the Albanese government will be subjected to the whims of what has already been a chaotic and volatile presidency.

2 months ago | theguardian.com | Bertin Huynh

Like my parents before me, I arrived in another country with only as much as I could carry. It was colder than I was used to, and a thick coat was one of the first items I bought. I knew no one, everyone I loved was thousands of kilometres away, somewhere sunnier and warmer. Without the promise of work, home or livelihood, I had packed up my life in coastal Sydney and moved to Birmingham – dubbed the “Venice of the north” for the canals snaking through the city and its suburbs.