Welcome, readers, to the Afternoon Update.
What was meant to be a celebration of the record-breaking Super Bowl LVIII has turned to tragedy, after a shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs parade left one dead and at least 21 injured, including 11 children.
Few details have come to light as investigations continue. However, authorities have confirmed that 15 victims had suffered life-threatening injuries and three people had been detained in connection with the shooting. Harrowing eyewitness accounts detailed the chaos, with reports of Kansas City Chiefs players rising to the occasion to tend to panicked children.
Top news
‘Nowhere else for civilians to go’ | Australia, Canada and New Zealand have warned Israel against carrying out a “devastating” and “catastrophic” ground offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza, saying “there is simply nowhere else for civilians to go”. The joint statement comes after the foreign minister, Penny Wong (pictured), expressed her belief that the international community has not seen a credible and executable plan to protect more than one million civilians in Rafah.
Victorians without power; homes lost to bushfire | Victoria continues to be battered by extreme weather events: 77,000 homes were without power Thursday morning after severe storms, while an assessment on the bushfire damages on Grampians communities revealed 25 homes have been destroyed.
Health products using feminist wellbeing messages | Corporations are co-opting feminist messages around women’s wellbeing to promote useless health tests and treatments, an analysis by Australian researchers has found. Published in the British Medical Journal on Thursday, the paper described how these marketing messages echo those historically used to promote harmful products like tobacco and alcohol to women.
Nearly one in five Americans believe Taylor Swift-Biden conspiracy, poll finds | Just under a fifth of Americans believe Taylor Swift is part of a conspiracy to help Joe Biden win re-election in November, a new poll found. According to a New Jersey college, 18% of respondents said they believed in the conspiracy while 46% said they had heard about it.
Putin surprised by lack of ‘sharp questions’ in Tucker Carlson interview | Russian president Vladimir Putin said he was grateful to rightwing US television host Tucker Carlson for his interview last week, but was surprised by a lack of “sharp questions”. Putin told Russian TV presenter Pavel Zarubin on Wednesday that he had wanted Carlson to behave more aggressively, which would have given him the right to reply just as pointedly.
Trump’s Valentine letter to Melania | In a Valentine’s Day fundraising message, Donald Trump sought to demonstrate the depth of his love for Melania Trump, his third wife, by referring to his lengthy list of criminal charges. “Even after every single indictment, arrest and witch hunt, you never left my side,” the message said.
California landslide leaves luxury homes precariously perched on cliff | Landslides in southern California have raised concerns about three multimillion-dollar luxury homes on the edge of the cliffside.
Albanese government accused of rushing through $200m women’s sport pledge | The Play Our Way grant scheme – which will open to applications next month – was described by the government as “one of Australia’s biggest comprehensive investments in women’s sports”. However, the shadow sport minister, Anne Ruston, said the documents show the government had been forced to rush their response to the issue.
In pictures
Offshore processing’s dirty secret: it’s all about the company you keep
It’s not one-sided, writes cartoonist Fiona Katauskas.
What they said …
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“Yes” – Jodie Haydon (pictured right) said, when asked if she would marry Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese. It is believed that (depending on the timing of the event) this will be the first time for an Australian prime minister to get married while in office.
In numbers
The economy added 11,100 full-time jobs and shed 10,600 part-time roles, leaving a net gain for the month of just 500 jobs.
Before bed read
“Love is the best thing we have”: how we fell head over heels for TV romcoms.
From One Day to Starstruck, there’s a new wave of romantic television shows sweeping our screens – and viewers are going wild for them.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: TRES. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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