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Your afternoon Briefing

Hello, readers. Here’s how Wednesday played out.

Trump salutes Democrat after Alabama win

Arguably the biggest story of the day was the upset victory of a Democratic Senate candidate in conservative Alabama.

Doug Jones will be the first Democrat Senator elected in Alabama in a generation after he defeated the controversial Republican evangelical Christian and accused child sex offender Roy Moore.

The narrow victory of Mr Jones will cut the Republican majority in the Senate to 51-49 and is a stunning blow to President Donald Trump, who tweeted his congratulations.

Pictured at Ryde Hospital ahead of the upcoming Bennelong bi-election is ALP candidate Kristina Keneally and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.Picture: Richard Dobson
Pictured at Ryde Hospital ahead of the upcoming Bennelong bi-election is ALP candidate Kristina Keneally and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.Picture: Richard Dobson

PM ‘fuelling suspicions of Asians’

Back home, Kristina Keneally has accused Malcolm Turnbull of implying that Asian-Australians are not “fully-fledged members of Team Australia”, as the battle to win the northwestern Sydney seat of Bennelong intensifies ahead of Saturday’s by-election.

“It’s not just Chinese-Australians, but Korean-Australians too, who know they’re getting tarred by Malcolm Turnbull’s assertion that Asian-Australians are not fully-fledged members of Team Australia.

“The last time I heard this rhetoric was from Pauline Hanson and One Nation 20 years ago, and people think that we were all well behind it. But Malcolm Turnbull’s reviving it.”

Earlier, Turnbull refuted claims he was ‘China-phobic’, citing his own family links through his Chinese daughter-in-law.

Crocodile Dundee   That's A Knife Scene
Crocodile Dundee That's A Knife Scene

That’s not a lawsuit, THAT’S a lawsuit

Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan has thrown another court case on the barbie, launching action against burger chain Grill’d over its use of his most famous movie catchphrase.

Hogan objects to the use of the line “That’s not a knife, that’s a knife” — spoken by his bushman character Mick Dundee in the 1986 hit Crocodile Dundee — on cutlery sleeves distributed to Grill’d customers looking to carve into a burger.

Australian boxer Jeff Horn (C) looks on during the pre-fight weigh-in at the Brisbane Convention Centre in Brisbane on December 12, 2017, the eve of the World Boxing Organisation welterweight title bout against Gary Corcoran. English challenger Gary Corcoran has claimed Australian World Boxing Organisation welterweight champion Jeff Horn is a "dirty" fighter ahead of their title bout in Brisbane on December 13. / AFP PHOTO / Patrick HAMILTON / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE --
Australian boxer Jeff Horn (C) looks on during the pre-fight weigh-in at the Brisbane Convention Centre in Brisbane on December 12, 2017, the eve of the World Boxing Organisation welterweight title bout against Gary Corcoran. English challenger Gary Corcoran has claimed Australian World Boxing Organisation welterweight champion Jeff Horn is a "dirty" fighter ahead of their title bout in Brisbane on December 13. / AFP PHOTO / Patrick HAMILTON / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE --

Don’t try this at home, kids

Could you lose 4kg in a day? It hurts just thinking about what Jeff Horn put his body through to make weight for his title defence.

Don’t miss tonight’s showdown as Horn defends his WBO welterweight title against Gary Corcoran in Brisbane. We’ll be live blogging here.

Brighette Ryan
Brighette RyanWeekend Digital Editor

Brighette Ryan is The Australian's digital night editor. She was previously Social Media Editor, leading the paper's social media strategy across platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Brighette has also worked as a producer for 2SM and as a social media producer for the Nine Network.

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/briefing/your-afternoon-briefing/news-story/25a6f3523eb3f9074b2f1c4352d84a5a