Good morning, Thomas Morgan here with your Friday AM NewsMail.

We start this morning with politics, and the Albanese government's plans for national gun reform appearing to split state and territory leaders. Plus, a by-the-numbers look at the social media ban on under 16s.

Also making headlines, Iranian Australians begin receiving the worst possible news as protests continue against the regime, and we map using satellite images how Victoria's bushfires spread. And to round out the week, our Friday quiz of the top stories over the past seven days.

Fight brewing: Hopes of unity between federal, state and territory leaders over a national gun buyback scheme appear to be descending into a partisan brawl. Liberal-led governments in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Tasmania are rejecting the Albanese government's proposed 50-50 funding model, which could comprise the biggest arms buyback since Port Arthur.

Laying the groundwork: It's not just Liberal-led states backing out. Sussan Ley's federal opposition is yet to come on board with Labor's proposed reforms to hate speech and gun laws, which the Albanese government hopes to pass next week. Ley says the government's bill "looks pretty unsalvageable as it stands".

So why the debate? The new measures, unveiled this week in response to the Bondi attack last month, are already being subject to pushback both inside parliament and beyond. Our federal politics team breaks down what changes the government is proposing and why they're proving contentious.

Elsewhere in politics: In the month since Australia's world-first ban on under-16s using social media, more than 4.7 million accounts have been deactivated across various platforms. The ban has caught the eye of governments worldwide, with the UK government now indicating it is open to the idea.

• 'She hoped to come to Australia one day': For days, Iranian Australians they waited in the dark for news about their loved ones. Earlier this week, Brisbane resident Morteza Khandani got the call he had been dreading — Negin, his 28-year-old niece, had been killed in protests. For him and many others, all they hope for now is the demise of Iran's regime.
• Who could lead Iran next? Weeks of anti-government protests, and the threat of US military action, has put the country's regime on the brink. But if the Islamic Republic does fall, there are others who could step into the fold.
• Anxious wait: On the other side of the world, loved ones of those captured by another regime are also stuck in limbo. Our reporters in Venezuela have talked to the anxious families crowding outside detention centres, waiting for the country's interim government promises to make good on its promise to free a "significant number" of political prisoners.

• Mapping the fires: As temperatures rose and winds gusted, destructive blazes began spreading across Victoria. In the end, more than 400,000 hectares and hundreds of structures were destroyed. Here's how last week's bushfires spread.
• Fires then floods: The state has gone from one extreme to the other, with rainfall totals toppled along the Great Ocean Road yesterday . Communities are now in clean-up mode after cars were swept away by rapidly rising floodwaters.
• Writers' Week furore: British indie band Pulp will perform at the Adelaide Festival next month, having earlier threatened to boycott the event after Randa Abdel-Fattah's slot at Writers' Week was cancelled. Organisers apologised to the author after backlash.
• Bill sweetener: One of Australia's energy giants is offering customers discounts if they conserve energy during surges in demand. And far from just a nice bonus for cash-strapped households, this new phenomenon could signal a big shift in how our energy market operates.

— It may surprise some that a Canadian series centring on a queer romance between two hockey players is taking Australia, and the world, by storm. But for Australian author Darcy Green , it's little wonder. His own book After the Siren (based instead in the AFL) shows that Heated Rivalry is no flash in the pan.

So why is sports romance, and particularly queer sports romance, having a surge in popularity? Green is among those sharing his insights in this piece from ABC Sport.

Finally for today, the week has come and almost gone. And it has been a big one in terms of news. 

Scattered amid some of the bigger headlines were some moments that maybe flew under the radar, including one Aussie amateur tennis player who is now considerably richer after beating a few pros at Melbourne Park. Test your knowledge of the week's biggest stories on our Friday quiz.

And that's it for today. Thanks for reading! We'll be back on Monday with more.

Thomas and the ABC News Digital team.

The Lorne caravan park will be closed for several weeks after record-breaking rains turned into "terrifying" floodwaters in towns along Victoria's Great Ocean Road, sweeping cars into the ocean and inundating two holiday parks.