The second leader’s debate was much more lively affair last night. The prime minister and opposition leader crashed over a range of issues, including the economy and paid parental leave. At one stage, Tony Abbott asked whether Kevin Rudd would ever shut up.

 

Essendon coach James Hird is suing the AFL. His lawyers say they are going to lodge a claim at the Victorian Supreme Court today. Hird is claiming he’s been denied natural justice in the doping investigation. He’s demanding the case be heard by an independent tribunal, instead of the league’s commission.

 

The US soldier convicted of leaking thousands of secret documents to Wikileaks has been sentenced to 35 years in jail. Last month, Bradley Manning was convicted of 20 charges, including espionage, but was aquitted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy. Prosecutors had asked for a 60-year sentence. 

 

And police have shot dead a man after a brutal double murder on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. They were called to a house at Coolum around 10 o’clock last night. The man confronted them and refused to surrender. Police shot him and he died later in hospital. The bodies of a man and a woman were found inside the house. The area has been cordoned off and investigations there are continuing.