That’s a wrap – thank you for reading the Need to Know blog today. We will be back soon with more live coverage of news, so please join us then. These were some of the main stories:

• Wong says situation in Gaza ‘beyond the world’s worst fears’: Foreign Minister Penny Wong has called the current situation in Gaza “beyond the world’s worst fears”. Speaking alongside the UK’s Minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, David Lammy, Wong used some of her strongest language on the situation yet.
• Trump claims ‘we’re going to sell so much beef to Australia’: US President Donald Trump says the US is going to sell “so much beef” to Australia, after the government lifted its ban on beef products from the US.

• New Brit pact to underpin submarines deal: Australia and the United Kingdom will sign a new 50-year treaty underpinning cooperation on the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine program, in a show of defiance against growing doubts over the ambitious $368 billion plan.

• Sally McManus calls out Danielle Wood’s productivity fix: ACTU Secretary Sally McManus has argued that increases in productivity won’t automatically raise standards of living for workers, calling out the Productivity Commission’s report from Thursday night.

• Israel-Hamas ceasefire negotiations collapse: Talks to end the war in Gaza have collapsed, bringing to an end the longest round of negotiations since the war started in October 2023. On Thursday afternoon (Friday AEST), Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it had decided to withdraw its team from Qatar after studying Hamas’s latest response to its proposals.