Afternoon Update: Jeff Bezos’s rocket explodes; James Valentine farewelled; and Marilyn’s friendships in Hollywood

Want to get this in your inbox every weekday? Sign up for the Afternoon Update here, and start your day with our Morning Mail newsletter. Nasa’s plans to return humans to the moon in the next two years were thrown into jeopardy after a rocket from Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin company exploded in Florida. No one was injured. A massive fireball engulfed and destroyed the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center after the start of the “hotfire” test at 11am AEST. An orange sky was visible in Fort Pierce, some 185km to the south. On Tuesday, Nasa announced that Blue Origin had won the contract to launch the first of three planned missions this year to begin construction of its $20bn moon base. Bezos said: “It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it. Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.” James Valentine memorial: famous friends, family and fans gather to farewell ABC radio host KPMG Australia’s CEO Andrew Yates quits over whistleblower scandal Two arrested at Brisbane’s Victoria Park amid protest over Olympic stadium Federal jury finds army veteran and two other ICE protesters