Abnormal heat is expected, especially in Tasmania, but a ‘tug of war’ between climate drivers means the rainfall and fire forecast is uncertain * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Curious about what the weather has in store for summer? October kicks off Australia’s peak time for severe weather – with increased risk of everything from heatwaves and bushfires, to thunderstorms, floods and cyclones – continuing for months. Continue reading...

The Stella prize-winning author turns to historical fiction in a novel inspired by a discovery in her own family mythology * Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email One of the most interesting things about author Heather Rose is how different each of her novels are, in genre, scope and interests. Her best-known novel, 2016’s The Museum of Modern Love, is a defiantly literary work, centres on Marina Abramovic’s performance art and the people who watch it; her follow-up, 2019’s Bruny, is part spy thriller and part speculative fiction. She has also written crime fiction, a coming-of-age novel and a modern fable. A Great Act of Love represents another genre shift, blending historical fiction with high adventure and romance. The novel follows Caroline Colbert, who has reinvented herself as the wealthy widow Mrs Douglas as she arrives in Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land in the late 1830s and establishes herself in a cottage with a disused vineyard, determined to bring it back into production. Her father, Jacques-Louis, who spent his childhood working in the champagne vineyards of Louis XIV, is serving time as a convict on Norfolk Island – and Caroline believes her endeavour may just offer up a chance to save him. Continue reading...

Trump tariffs are not meant to apply to returned goods if they were manufactured in the US * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia Post incorrectly collected tariffs from customers returning items to the US after retail parcel services to the country resumed last week, the government-owned postal service has admitted. Australia Post said it had identified an error with a third-party provider where “a number of customers” were incorrectly charged a tariff for postal returns of US-manufactured items, which should not be subject to import duties. Continue reading...

* McLaren driver accepts responsibility for clash with Australian teammate * Formula One title battle intensifies ahead of United States Grand Prix Lando Norris will face “consequences” after McLaren held him responsible for the first-lap collision with Oscar Piastri in Singapore. The title protagonists banged wheels at turn two as Norris barged ahead of Piastri into third, with the Australian complaining bitterly on the team radio. Continue reading...

News Corp’s broadsheet was one of very few publications to agree to restrict reporting to authorised material before it changed its mind. Plus: a super blooper * Want to get this in your inbox every Friday? Sign up for the Weekly Beast media newsletter here It was too restrictive for Murdoch’s Trump-friendly Fox News but The Australian newspaper broke ranks this week and signed on to the Pentagon’s prohibitive new press policy. But after we asked The Australian’s editor-in-chief, Michelle Gunn, why her masthead’s correspondent agreed to the rules imposed by the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, when they had been roundly rejected by Fox News, the publication backflipped. Sign up to get Guardian Australia’s weekly media diary as a free newsletter Continue reading...

The guitarist was the most proficient musician in the original lineup and his bludgeoning ‘monster plod’ was central to their sound * Ace Frehley, Kiss lead guitarist and band’s cofounder, dies aged 74 Ace Frehley was the last of the quartet to join Kiss, and when he left, the band were beginning their slow descent through the 80s. By the time Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley wrestled the brand back to the big stages, Frehley – who has died aged 74 – was little more than a face-painted pattern to the generations of new fans who came to gawp at the fireworks. But one shouldn’t underestimate his contribution to Kiss: almost all of Kiss’s setlist to the end was made up of songs he had played on. And though he was not a prolific writer, one of his compositions – Cold Gin – remained in their setlist until Stanley and Simmons quit in 2023, more than 40 years after Frehley left the band (the less said about the 1998 reunion album, Psycho Circus, the better). Continue reading...

In the British YouTubers’ latest video, the pair confirm their romantic relationship – after suffering frenzied speculation for the last 16 years This week, longtime British YouTubers Dan Howell and Phil Lester uploaded a new video confirming they have been in a secret romantic relationship for the past 16 years. If you weren’t a deeply online child during the 2010s, you probably have no idea who Dan and Phil are, or why this matters. But to those who formed a robust parasocial bond with the duo – who have more than 13 million collective subscribers on YouTube – this was a revelatory moment. It was also a sobering reminder of the emotional damage that toxic fandoms can wreak on their subjects. Continue reading...

Jane Hume also says she’d need to ‘speak a lot slower’ to join the regional party, attracting a sharp rebuke that the Liberals were ‘out of touch’ * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Liberal senator Jane Hume joked she would “have to speak a lot slower” if she joined the Nationals, saying she was “too fond of good coffee and free markets” to join the regional party, after David Littleproud said he was open to more conservatives joining his ranks. It comes amidst a long-running and damaging period of soul-searching for the opposition, with members of the Liberals and Nationals reportedly considering switching parties, starting a new conservative movement, or assessing leadership options. Continue reading...

The main benefit of AI is that I have another thing to complain about * Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are published * Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading...

The museum has declined to answer key questions about the decision to return the artwork, prompting the New York-based researcher who uncovered the story to challenge the NGV’s handling of the case * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The National Gallery of Victoria has quietly returned a 17th-century painting to the descendants of a Jewish family who lost it during the Nazi era, without public announcement or explanation. The painting, Lady with a Fan by Gerard ter Borch, was removed from the NGV’s website in early September. The only public trace of its return appeared weeks later, in an update to the Lost Art Database in Germany. Continue reading...

Chief global affairs officer of company behind ChatGPT tells Sydney audience ‘we are going to be in Australia, one way or the other’ * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Open AI has broken ranks with the Tech Council of Australia over copyright restrictions, declaring it is “going to be in Australia, one way or the other”. Chris Lehane, the chief global affairs officer of the artificial intelligence company responsible for ChatGPT, gave a keynote address at SXSW Sydney on Friday, where he covered the geopolitics of AI, Australia’s tech future – and the global debate around using copyrighted material to train large language models. Continue reading...

Former Nationals leader has not commented on reports but any defection would be a blow for his party and the Coalition under Sussan Ley * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Former Nationals leader, Barnaby Joyce, is actively considering defecting to One Nation, according to Coalition figures, days after founder Pauline Hanson said Liberal and National party members believed they had no future. A One Nation spokesperson declined to comment on media reports on Friday, or whether Hanson had spoken to Joyce about his party allegiance. The spokesman did not deny advance discussions had taken place. Continue reading...

* ‘Flickitau’ is first centre to win Australia’s top prize * Tabua Tuinakauvadra crowned top Wallaroos player Wallabies star Len Ikitau has won the John Eales Medal, becoming the first centre to claim Australian rugby’s highest individual honour. Ikitau enjoyed a phenomenal year in the gold jersey, opening the voting period in spectacular style by delivering the magical match-winning flick pass to Max Jorgensen in Australia’s epic win over England at Twickenham last November. Continue reading...

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