‘I could hear dry-retching’ | Thousands queued at Geelong’s botanical gardens yesterday to catch a whiff of the so-called corpse plant, which can take a decade to flower – but blooms for barely 48 hours while giving off the smell of rotting flesh.

Ownership ‘flip’ | Three in five Australian renters expect to never own their own home, research from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute has found, a significant shift that requires rethinking of tax and housing systems. Meanwhile the principal of a branch of one of Australia’s largest real estate companies has admitted using Chat GPT to generate a listing for a rental described as being close to two “excellent” schools that didn’t exist.

Shark decoy | An Australian-led study using seal-shaped decoys has found that LED lighting on the underside of surfboards could deter attacks by great white sharks by disrupting their ability to see silhouettes against sunlight above.

Housing shift | Industry insiders and corporate watchdogs have warned “cowboys” making unrealistic promises about investments in disability housing may be breaching consumer law, while urging extreme caution from investors.

Rebel Wilson accused | A young Australian actor at the centre of a multimillion-dollar defamation case in the US alleges in documents filed to the Los Angeles superior court that Rebel Wilson made up lies about her and bullied and harassed her on the set of The Deb.

Senate challenge | Donald Trump is demanding that the Senate allow him to circumvent hearings on his cabinet picks, while Tom Homan has been confirmed as “border tsar” and Elise Stefanik (pictured) will be Trump’s UN ambassador, as he continues to build his team. The hardline rightwinger Stephen Miller could be Trump’s deputy chief of staff. Follow developments live. The Kremlin says reports that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, spoke to the US president-elect were “pure fiction”.

Church call | A Church of England bishop has added her voice to growing calls for the archbishop of Canterbury to resign over his failure to pursue a sadistic abuser of children when allegations were brought to his attention.

‘Trump pump’ | The price of bitcoin has risen above $82,000 for the first time as it benefited from traders’ hopes that Donald Trump will favour cryptocurrencies when he returns to the White House.

Booker bet | Charlotte Wood, the Australian author of Stone Yard Devotional, has been shortlisted for the Booker prize but is an outside bet against favourites Percival Everett and Samantha Harvey.

‘I was a fool’ | Art Garfunkel has described a recent tearful reunion with his former musical partner Paul Simon, in which the pair moved past old enmities and could even make music together again.

Tennis | Carlos Alcaraz made a stuttering start to the ATP Finals in Turin as he suffered a shock first career defeat to the world No 7 Casper Ruud (pictured).

Football | The Premier League referee David Coote has been suspended after video footage emerged apparently showing him calling Jürgen Klopp a “German cunt” and Liverpool “shit”.

Rugby union | The England wing Tommy Freeman has insisted that his team can bounce back from their defeat against Australia when they play South Africa on Saturday.

Canberra | Defence whistleblower David McBride appears before the ACT supreme court.

Sydney | Two-day hearing as former Manly coach Des Hasler sues over his exit from the Sea Eagles.

Brisbane | Murray Watt speaks at the Queensland Media Club lunch.

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