Share Ethiopia's Gobena, Kenya's Olympic champion Jepchirchir win Sydney Marathon on social media Ethiopia's Addisu Gobena and Kenyan world champion Peres Jepchirchir surged to commanding Sydney Marathon wins in the men's and women's races . It was the first victory in a World Marathon Major for 21-year-old Gobena, who came second last year, while Jepchirchir, in Australia on Sunday, added to her previous triumphs in Boston, New York and London. The dominant run shattered the course record by almost one and a half minutes, with last year's winner Hailemaryam Kiros dropping from the pace in the dying stages. "I am very happy," said Gobena, who was a javelin thrower before transitioning to long-distance running, gaining international attention by winning the 2024 Dubai Marathon. "Last year I came second, I learnt from my mistake and I went back home and I worked on my mistake to perform and break the record today." The unstoppable Jepchirchir was in a league of her own, crossing the finish line in front of the Sydney Opera House in 2:18:31, nearly four minutes ahead of fellow Kenyan Irine Cheptai and Ethiopia's Shure Demise Ware.

A product built to shuffle characters and events and generate narrative possibilities in real time, dancers using it brought a new version of the classic tragedy to life. The one-off production, R J RMX, was filmed for the Opera House's streaming platform. The "remix" was interactive: audience members were sent to a website where they could restructure the play with the touch of a button, while on stage narrators and dancers ran through numerous renditions of the story. The works of Shakespeare, surely more than those of any other writer, have been subject to interminable reworkings, as if we are at once infinitely fascinated and infinitely dissatisfied with the source material. So how does technology alter this process?

If ever there was an event specifically designed to send the regular Sydney Opera House clientele into a near-fatal frenzy of monocle popping, it was this one: a video game festival hosted at Australia's most famous cultural icon. But whatever misgivings one may have about Minecraft at the Opera House, when I arrive the mood is buoyant. More still stand in line to meet the "celebrities of Minecraft" – a concept that would be impossible to even begin to explain to someone 10 years ago. Others are marshalled into groups, waiting side stage in the concert hall to take part in Australia's first Minecraft tournament. The parents take in the scene with an air of contented bafflement. Their confusion is understandable: on the surface, Minecraft as a popular game, let alone an international phenomenon, is hard to explain.