Morning Mail: Liberals united, #mugabefall, WA fires, Taiwan pilot 'hero'

Guardian Australia's Morning Mail                                                      Friday 6 February 2014 g
Liberal leadership
Speaking at a politics in the pub event last night,Malcolm Turnbull refused to say if he would put up his hand for PM in the event of a spill, but stressed there was no disunity: “Tony Abbott has had utter loyalty and consistency from his front bench. [...] He is not being undermined by anyone, any of his senior colleagues whatsoever. It’s a very very united team.”  Yesterday Julie Bishop said she's living the dream – and that's why she's not campaigning for the Liberal leadership. Trade minister Andrew Robb said he was confident Abbott can ride out this leadership crisis and backbencher have 'legitimate' concerns, but warned dissenters against an "amateur hour" spill that would make the whole party look like "a bunch of amateurs". A Tasmanian MP has criticised fellow backbencher Andrew Laming's proposal to remove knights and dames from the honours system, saying the "wrong-headed" bill must go. See how events unfolded in yesterday's politics live blog.
Australian news and politics
Tony Abbott has promised federal assistance for WA communities battling the 80,000-hectare fire in the state's south-west, which has quadrupled in sizesince Tuesday.  Independent MP Peter Wellington will support Labor to form a minority government in Queensland, but Katter's Australian Party says it won't make a decision on who to back until next week.  Australian stocks have surged to a new seven-year high as investors continued to be buoyed by Tuesday’s reduction in the Reserve bank cash rate.  Tony Abbott is putting pressure on Labor to pass mandatory data retention laws swiftly, but conceded the cost and technical details were still not finalised. Head to the Guardian Australia homepage atgu.com/au for all the Australian headlines and latest breaking news.
Around the world
There have been anti-austerity protests in Athens as Greece calls for bridging loans, while the Greek and German finance ministers clashed at debt relief talks.   The pilot in the Taiwan air crash has been hailed a hero for steering the doomed flight away from skyscrapers shortly after issuing a "mayday" call.   Nato has declared it will establish a 5000-strong rapid reaction force to counter perceived threat of Russian aggression in Ukraine, and hackers have targeted a newspaper website accused of being anti-Putin.  One of Hollywood’s most powerful executives, Amy Pascal, is stepping down from Sony Pictures in the wake of the damaging email hacking scandal.
One last thing
Robert Mugabe demanded the internet delete this image of him falling down a flight of steps. The internet responded with the ‪#‎mugabefalls meme‬, answering amongst other things, "What's been missing from Beyonce’s Single Ladies video this whole time?" Have an excellent day – and if you spot something I've missed, let me know on Twitter @earleyedition.