Labor and the Coalition both downplayed the prospect of Australian troops joining a “coalition of the willing” Ukraine peacekeeping mission proposed by the British prime minister, Keir Starmer.
Peter Dutton praised Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “modern-day hero” and said he would lobby Donald Trump to change his view on Ukraine if the Coalition won the coming federal election. Labor said it would continue sending other aid to Ukraine, with Anthony Albanese saying “we regard this as an issue of doing what is right but also what is in Australia’s national interests”.
Here’s what we know as the Ukraine war enters day 1,104.
Top news
Anora dominates the Oscars with Mikey Madison triumphing as best actress
Ocean rower Aurimas Mockus stranded by cyclone off Australia’s east coast safely rescued
Start to new AFL season faces delay due to impact of Tropical Cyclone Alfred
‘America is going down’: China can capitalise on damage caused by Trump, former PLA colonel says
In pictures
All the best looks – from brooches, old Hollywood glamour to a bubble dress – on the red carpet at the 97th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Plus: Halle Berry “pays back” Adrien Brody for his 2003 Oscars kiss – with a cheeky red-carpet peck.
What they said …
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“As long as he remains behind bars, journalists and their sources will get the message, and vital journalism will remain smothered.”
The executive director of Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom, Peter Greste, has called David McBride’s case a threat to journalism. The Australian whistleblower’s appeal began today in the ACT supreme court, where he received a standing ovation.
In numbers
A spacecraft owned by US company Firefly Aerospace has made a successful moon landing. It’s only the second private mission to achieve such a milestone and the first to do so upright.
Before bed read
Social media campaigns are well under way for the 2025 federal election, despite it not being called yet. In the first of a series highlighting online strategy and social media wars from Guardian Australia, AI-generated TikToks and trending memes from the Liberals are unpacked, and Labor’s optimistic merch gets a mention.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: SIMP. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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