Good afternoon readers, and welcome to the Afternoon Update.
Jane Hume joked she would “have to speak a lot slower” if she joined the Nationals after David Littleproud said he was open to more conservatives joining the regional party.
The Liberal senator’s office clarified she was teasing her colleagues in the Nationals and not regional Australia more generally. But the Labor regional MP Kristy McBain retorted that rural constituents “don’t need smarmy lectures from arrogant Liberals”.
It comes amid a long-running and damaging period of soul-searching for the opposition, with tensions continuing to simmer between the two Coalition parties.
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Lando Norris to face ‘repercussions’ for collision with Oscar Piastri in Singapore F1
The Australian backflips after signing on to Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon reporting rules | Weekly Beast
In pictures
This year’s Victoria’s Secret show in New York is among the highlights of Guardian picture editors’ daily selection of the best photographs from around the world.
What they said …
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“I would not have picked up a guitar without Ace and Kiss’s influence.”
Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready was among those paying tribute after Ace Frehley died aged 74. The Kiss guitarist and cofounder died after suffering injuries during a fall in his recording studio last month.
Podcast
AI and the productivity challenge with Andrew Leigh
The assistant minister for productivity, competition, charities and treasury, Andrew Leigh, talks to political editor Tom McIlroy about the challenge of AI for lawmakers, why competition policy is key to productivity growth and his early morning training for an upcoming ultramarathon.
Before bed read
Some of us are night owls, others are early birds. But who is superior according to science? Arwa Mahdawi attempts to settle the debate for once and for all.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: ANTA. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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