Afternoon Update: footballer dies after on-field collision; Australia to manufacture missiles; and lessons from a threesome

The Royal Australian Navy’s HMAS Canberra sails in formation with allied ships during Exercise Rim of the Pacific in 2022. Photograph: Petty Officer 2nd Class Wesley Richardson/AP

Good afternoon. The Australian Defence Force is “not fully fit for purpose” to meet modern-day challenges, according to a major strategic review that will see added defence spending of $19bn over four years and a new domestic missile manufacturing industry.

Increasing competition in the Asia-Pacific between the US and China is the major factor behind Australia’s decision to reshape its military to allow it to project power far beyond our shores.

In other news, a 20-year-old South Australian footballer has tragically lost his life after an on-field collision during a game at the weekend.

Top news

Australian Defence Force members march on Anzac Day in Brisbane in 2022. Australia will lift its defence spending by $19bn over four years. Photograph: Dan Peled/Getty Images

• Australia’s defence review | Cuts are to be made to the army to help pay for the $19bn spend, such as a reduction in new land combat vehicles from 450 to 129. How’s China going to respond? Experts say Canberra can expect a hostile response.

• Government pledges $50m for long Covid | The federal funding will boost research into long Covid, which the World Health Organization defines as the continuation or development of new symptoms three months after the initial infection.

A 20-year-old footballer was flown to the Royal Adelaide hospital after an on-field collision, but later died of his injuries. Photograph: Roy Vandervegt/AAP

• Footballer dies | Tributes are flowing after the “heartbreaking” death of 20-year-old Australian rules footballer Antonio Loiacono. The young player suffered critical injuries during a Saturday match in the Adelaide Hills. He was flown to Royal Adelaide hospital on Saturday night, but died on Sunday.

• Sydney man charged for ‘gangland-style’ murder | A 26-year-old man was arrested at Sydney international airport as police claim he was “attempting to flee the country”. The man has been charged over his alleged role in the March murder of Taha Sabbagh outside a gym in south-west Sydney.

• Renters paying above advertised prices | Renters entering into new tenancy agreements are on average having to offer rents above the listing price to secure a home, according to ABS data. Actual rents paid by new tenants increased by 14% in the 12 months to February, which is 9% higher than the rise in the inflation index.

A file shot of soldiers standing next to military vehicles as people gather in Yangon, Myanmar, in February 2021 to protest against the military coup. Photograph: Reuters

• Myanmar official shot dead | Sai Kyaw Thu, a top election official in Myanmar has been fatally shot in his car in Yangon, in the latest attack attributed to militants opposed to military rule.

• China ramps up coal power | Local governments in China approved more new coal power in the first three months of 2023 than in the whole of 2021, despite the country’s pledge to become carbon neutral by 2060.

Police exhume remains of suspected Christian cult members in Kilifi, Kenya. Photograph: EPA

• Kenya starvation cult | At least 47 bodies – a number of them wrapped in white plastic sheeting – have been found in the east of the country, after a church leader reportedly told followers to starve to “meet Jesus”.

• Europe defence spending | Central and western European states spent US$345bn on defence in 2022, a sum that in real terms surpasses that of 1989, the last year of the cold war. Their defence expenditure is 30% higher than a decade ago.

What they said …

Assistant treasurer says the Australian Taxation Office can do more to recover unpaid superannuation Photograph: Tom Compagnoni/AAP

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“We think that the tax office can lift its game in recovering unpaid super.” – Stephen Jones, assistant treasurer

The government will use the budget to announce new targets for the tax office to chase down unpaid super from employers.

In pictures

Barry Humphries in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie. Photograph: David Appleby/AP

Barry Humphries – most known for the character Dame Edna Everage – passed away over the weekend aged 89. Our picture desk assembled a photo gallery documenting a career that spanned more than six decades.

In numbers

Defence spending totals, by region, in US dollars. Illustration: Guardian Design

The US still tops the defence spending table, by a long margin, at US$877bn, accounting for 39% of the global total. China, whose military expenditure has increased for 28 consecutive years, is the world’s second-largest defence spender, allocating an estimated US$292bn in 2022 – 4.2% more than in 2021 and 63% more than in 2013. Chart figures above are in US dollars.

Before bed read

‘I’ve never regretted doing it’ …Pamela Druckerman. Photograph: Dmitry Kostyukov

Pamela Druckerman offered her husband a vintage watch for his 40th birthday. He said he’d prefer something else – a threesome. “We’d never done anything like that, but I spontaneously said ‘yes’.”

“Both physically and emotionally, it was an entirely new experience for me. I got to observe how another woman acts in bed. (I was struck that she kept her large hoop earrings on; I hadn’t realised you could do that.)”

Daily word game

Wordiply Photograph: The Guardian

Today’s starter word is: GANG. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.

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