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Omicron BA.4/BA.5 likely to become dominant coronavirus strains in Victoria as nation records at least 23 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

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New data reveals distances to GPs in some metropolitan areas can be more than 9km – and poor planning is to blame, researchers say

Public support has soared for the plain-speaking RMT leader who is leading the fight to protect his members’ living standardsAt 7 o’clock on Saturday morning, union boss Mick Lynch was once again on the picket line at Euston station in London, galvanising colleagues, talking tactics on the pay negotiations and conducting broadcast interviews.Until the biggest industrial action on the rail network for more than 30 years, few people would have even heard of Lynch, general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT). This weekend, he is a national figure. Continue reading...

A short but pivotal period of time that saw the Vixens edge the Giants 55-54 to reach the grand final epitomised the 2022 seasonSeventy-five seconds is not a lot of time. It’s not enough time for the world’s fastest runners to finish an 800-metre race. It’s barely enough time for an NRL team to score a try. Maybe if someone was really committed to saving water they could squeeze in a shower in that time.However, the last 75 seconds of Saturday night’s Suncorp Super Netball preliminary final was long enough for hearts to break, find hope and then explode with joy. Long enough for fans to scream in excitement, then in anguish, despair, belief and finally in agony. Long enough for both teams to believe multiple times that the place in the grand final was theirs and to also believe multiple times that all hope was lost. Continue reading...

Treasurer says it is ‘uncontroversial’ for unions to note that wage rises are below inflation, and suggests there may be a place for workers’ representative on RBA board

Vladimir Putin again raises nuclear threat during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, as Olaf Scholz hosts G7 leaders to discuss energy and food crisisRussia will deliver missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads to Belarus in the coming months, President Vladimir Putin has said as he received Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.“In the coming months, we will transfer to Belarus Iskander-M tactical missile systems, which can use ballistic or cruise missiles, in their conventional and nuclear versions,” Putin said in a broadcast on Russian television at the start of his meeting with Lukashenko in St Petersburg on Saturday. Continue reading...

Lambie, Zali Steggall, One Nation and David Pocock have attacked the Albanese government’s decision, saying they may not support legislation if they don’t have the resources to understand it

Avon and Somerset police say victim died at scene in Charfield after being found badly injuredA man has died after an assault in a village in south Gloucestershire on Friday night, police said.Officers from Avon and Somerset police attended an address on Thames Close, Charfield, just before 11pm and found the victim, who had been badly injured. Continue reading...

Authorities concerned about riders speeding, mounting pavements and abandoning vehiclesAuthorities in Rome are to impose new electric scooter rules, such as restricting use to adults with ID, after a number of crashes and near-misses in the city.The e-scooter rental market has boomed in recent years, with 14,500 scooters currently available in the Italian capital, provided by seven licensed companies. Continue reading...

A survey has found the capital’s eateries to be the loudest in Europe and the second noisiest in the worldCutlery clanging on plates, chairs scraping across a hardwood floor, the boisterous anecdote of a half-cut raconteur: when it comes to restaurants, one person’s idea of a “good atmosphere” has another reaching for their earplugs.But for those who like their food served up along with the decibel levels of a motorbike or lawnmower, London is the place to be. Continue reading...

Zelenskiy welcomes approval of Ukraine’s application to join EU as ‘historic moment’ while battle for two key cities in eastern Ukraine edges towards ‘fearsome climax’

Simon Lightwood elected as MP in symbolic victory in ‘red wall’ seat won by Conservatives in 2019

Al Jazeera journalist not hit by indiscriminate firing from Palestinians, as initially claimed by Israel, it foundThe UN said on Friday that its findings showed that the shot that killed the Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh on 11 May was fired by Israeli forces.The Palestinian-American journalist, who was wearing a vest and helmet marked “press”, was killed while covering an Israeli army operation in Jenin in the northern West Bank. Continue reading...

Watson, 41, evaded detection for over 20 years, changing his account as evidence against him piled upA 41-year-old man has been sentenced to life with a minimum term of 15 years for the murder of the schoolboy Rikki Neave, who was found strangled in woods near Peterborough almost 28 years ago.James Watson, of no fixed abode, was convicted in April at the Old Bailey in London of the 1994 murder after a DNA breakthrough in 2016 revealed that, as a 13-year-old, he had been in physical contact with the six-year-old boy on the day of his disappearance. Continue reading...

Labour takes Wakefield and Lib Dems snatch Tiverton and Honiton, piling pressure on Boris Johnson

Billionaire’s plans to change direction of the media-focused organisation she funded sparked board unrest

Before war fatigue sets in further, a rethink needed to avoid a years-long conflictSpeaking at a private dinner in London recently, a senior serving British military officer argued the west had no choice but to see Ukraine as just one phase in a decade-long battle with Russia. “If Ukraine wins, Russia will never accept that. If Russia wins, it will go further,” he warned.Yet in Whitehall they fear the “F word” – fatigue – and worry that the west with its TikTok-attention span and bias towards instant gratification does not have the resolve for the years-long sacrifice required to defeat Russia, or even stem the military tide in the villages of eastern Ukraine. Continue reading...

Looking to exploit the cost of living crisis, fraudsters are posing as debt collectors acting on behalf of victimsScammers are attempting to exploit the cost of living crisis by targeting consumers whose energy supplier has collapsed, analysis by Which? has found.Former customers of bust suppliers including Solarplicity, Future Energy and Northumbria Energy have been singled out by fraudsters attempting to exploit the confusion caused by the companies’ failures, the consumer group said. Continue reading...

Former attorney general says ‘I am not sure we would have had a transition at all’ if investigation had not immediately taken placeDonald Trump’s attorney general, William Barr, thought Trump might have refused to leave office at all had the Department of Justice not immediately investigated and disproved his lies about electoral fraud in his defeat by Joe Biden.“I am not sure we would’ve had a transition at all,” Barr said, in startling video testimony played by the January 6 committee on Thursday. Continue reading...

Ike Ekweremadu and wife Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu appear in court in London after Heathrow arrestA Nigerian politician and his wife have been charged with plotting to traffic a homeless 15-year-old boy to Britain to harvest his organs.Ike Ekweremadu, 60, an opposition senator and former deputy senate president, and his wife, Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55, appeared at Uxbridge magistrates court in west London on Thursday. Continue reading...

Vatican archive of 2,700 cases of requests for help by Jewish people renews debate on Pope Pius XII legacyPope Francis has ordered the online publication of 170 volumes of files relating to Jewish people from the recently opened Pope Pius XII archives, amid renewed debate about the legacy of the second world war-era pope.The archive of 2,700 cases “gathers the requests for help sent to Pope Pius XII by Jewish people … after the beginning of Nazi and fascist persecution”, said the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states, Paul Richard Gallagher, in a statement. Continue reading...

Amanda and Paul Riesel were about to give up on their dream after nightmare three-day trip to SkyeIt was a perfectly imperfect wedding that has won the Scottish island of Skye an international reputation for kindness.Amanda and Paul Riesel flew more than 4,000 miles from Orlando, Florida, to get married on Skye, in the Highlands. Continue reading...

Liz Truss and Turkish foreign minister meet to discuss safe passage for convoy under UN plan

Artist Sandy Brown hopes people will grow to love sculpture described as ‘something out of Teletubbies’Towering above a square in the Cornish town of St Austell, it is the tallest ceramic sculpture in the UK and possibly the world, a south-west of England answer to the Angel of the North.But the installation this week of Earth Goddess, which is as high as two double decker buses on top of each other, has provoked a reaction commensurate with its scale. Continue reading...

Campaigners say government must invest in public transport to avoid worst impacts of global heatingClimate justice groups have joined RMT picket lines across the UK to support the rail strike and argue the government must invest in public transport to avoid the worst impacts of global heating.Hundreds of activists from several groups including Just Stop Oil, War on Want, Extinction Rebellion [XR] and Friends of the Earth Scotland have joined striking workers on more than 40 picket lines in towns and cities across the country, with more expected to turn out in the coming days. Continue reading...

UK’s former chief negotiator launches staunch defence of Brexit on sixth anniversary of EU referendumBrexit is working and anyone who says it has hit the economy and trade has an axe to grind, the former Brexit negotiator David Frost has said on the sixth anniversary of the UK voting to leave the EU.Lord Frost stopped short of painting a picture of “sunny uplands” but said official figures used to predict a 4% decline in output caused by Brexit were “zombie” numbers, based on academic studies of former communist countries, and not fact. Continue reading...

Education secretary denounces exam board’s decision to replace two poets in English literature courseShelley said “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world”, but politicians may be more powerful after the education secretary attacked the removal of poems by Philip Larkin and Wilfred Owen from a GCSE course as “cultural vandalism” and called for their reinstatement.Nadhim Zahawi denounced a decision by the OCR examination board to replace two works by Larkin and Owen from next year with a more diverse range of authors to be studied as part of its GCSE English literature course. Continue reading...

PM dismisses suggestion he should step down if his party loses Wakefield and Tiverton & Honiton byelections

Exclusive: Leaked emails reveal complex with marble floors, a private brewery and a $10,000 bidet

Child’s case argued that practice of naming surrogate mother’s husband breached her human rightsA six-year-old British girl who was born to a surrogate mother using an anonymous donated egg and sperm from her biological father has lost her case in the European court of human rights to have her father named on her birth certificate.In a complex case where five people were involved in her birth – a same-sex male couple, one of whom is her biological father, a surrogate mother and her husband and the anonymous egg donor – the European court of human rights ruled the case was “manifestly unfounded”. Continue reading...

Merlino and ministers Martin Foley, Lisa Neville and Martin Pakula could announce their retirements Friday

Ousted leader, held in secret location for past year, facing charges that have been decried as politically motivatedAung San Suu Kyi has been moved to solitary confinement inside a prison compound in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, according to a junta spokesperson.Myanmar’s ousted leader, who is 77, has been held by the military since 1 February last year, when it ousted her democratically elected government, plunging the country into chaos. Continue reading...

Young woman tells court her years in the office were ‘awful’ and says she only felt safe after moving interstate

Farmers federation says supply levels should return to normal in September, though distribution issues could persist

Government moves to dramatically lift fines following months of industrial disputes with a range of public sector workers

Hough Pharma says it ‘continually provided efficacy, safety and variant data’ to TGA and prides itself on customer service

March in London on 1 July 1972 was first with the name ‘Gay Pride’, inspired by events in USOn 1 July 1972 a crowd of people gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square and marched to Hyde Park chanting “Gay is fun! Gay is proud! Gay is beautiful!”.It was not the first march for LGBTQ+ rights in the UK, as similar protests had taken place in Highbury Fields, Islington, in 1970 and Trafalgar Square in 1971. But it was the first rally in the UK with the name “Gay Pride”, inspired by Pride events in the US. Continue reading...

Survey of EU nationals shows ‘profound and lasting’ impact of Brexit on sense of identityA study of EU citizens living in the UK has revealed the “open wound” left by Brexit, with respondents saying the decision to leave the bloc had left them feeling betrayed, insecure and distrustful towards the country that most nonetheless still call home.The survey of EU nationals from 22 countries, who had mostly been in Britain for more than five years and stayed since Brexit, showed “a profound and lasting impact on the lives and sense of identity and belonging of EU citizens in the UK”, the authors said. Continue reading...

Annual rankings return Austria’s capital to first place, as former title-holder Auckland tumbles to 34th and Ukraine war sees eastern cities slumpThe Austrian capital, Vienna, has made a comeback as the world’s most livable city, according to an annual report from the Economist.Vienna snatched the top spot from New Zealand city Auckland, which tumbled down to 34th place due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions, according to the report by the Economist intelligence unit published on Thursday. Continue reading...

Emmanuel Taché de la Pagerie, a member of Marine Le Pen’s far-right party, faces legal action by descendants of the Tascher de la Pagerie familyA newly elected MP for Marine Le Pen’s resurgent far-right National Rally party has been sued by the descendants of one of France’s oldest aristocratic families who accuse him of adding their name to his own.Emmanuel Taché de la Pagerie, 47, was one of dozens of National Rally MPs voted into the National Assembly on Sunday, with his official ID verified and approved by the local authorities in the southern city of Marseille. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereOne of the leaders of the authorities imposed in occupied Ukraine has described the border between Russia and Ukraine as “worse than the Berlin Wall for the Germans”, according to a report from RIA Novosti.It quotes Vladimir Rogov saying:For us, the border with Russia is worse than the Berlin Wall for the Germans. According to various estimates, 60-68 per cent of the inhabitants of East Berlin and the German Democratic Republic [East Germany] had relatives in West Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany [West Germany]. In Ukraine, depending on the region, 73-85 percent residents have relatives in Russia. Accordingly, this border should not exist. Continue reading...

Survey reveals many students value safety, compassion and avoidance of discrimination above free speechMinisters have warned that students are showing “shocking growth in support for censorship” after a survey revealed that many favoured safety and avoidance of discrimination over unrestrained free speech.The survey by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) found that current students are more likely to support measures that restrain freedom of speech or expression on campus, and approve of removing offensive materials and memorials, compared with their predecessors six years ago, when it last conducted the survey. Continue reading...

Figures show impact of pay on recruitment as unions tell education secretary to compensate for inflation or face strikesSchools in England say they face an acute crisis over retention and recruitment without a significant pay increase, as the country’s biggest teaching union warned of strike action this autumn without an “inflation plus” deal.The threat came as new research shows that every 1% increase in pay gives a 2% boost to graduate recruitment in high-demand disciplines such as science, maths and technology. Continue reading...

Jo O’Meara recalls her issues with fruit machines and says addiction ‘can happen to anybody at any time’Jo O’Meara, a former member of the 90s pop group S Club 7, has shared how she became addicted to gambling on fruit machines as a “form of escape” from the pressures of touring, before realising she had to quit because it made her antisocial.O’Meara said she first went to bingo halls with family at about 18, where she began playing on fruit machines. Although she did not consider it an addiction at the time, she found herself playing regularly over five years before deciding, she said, that “the gambler never wins” and she was “wasting valuable time which would be better spent with friends and family”. Continue reading...

Nightclub group says new venue at west London shopping centre will host ‘fitness raves’Ministry of Sound is to “remix” a former House of Fraser store in west London as flexible offices, a gym and rooftop bar-restaurant.The owner of the nightclub, which first launched a members’ club with flexible workspace and a gym in 2018 near its original south London venue, is expected to open its second site at Westfield shopping centre in Shepherd’s Bush in 2024. Continue reading...

Pair are visiting for Commonwealth meeting, after Charles criticised government’s asylum policyBoris Johnson will have a potentially awkward meeting with the Prince of Wales in Rwanda after the heir to the throne criticised the government’s policy of sending asylum seekers to the east African state.The talks will take place at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) in Kigali this week. Prince Charles reportedly described the government’s plan to fly people 4,000 miles on a one-way ticket as “appalling”. Continue reading...

MPs look at whether watchdogs could investigate the claims after Boris Johnson refused to comment during PMQsMPs are looking at whether the foreign affairs watchdog or ethics officials in the Cabinet Office could investigate Boris Johnson’s proposal to give a senior job to his then girlfriend in 2018, after the prime minister refused to deny having done so.Johnson fuelled speculation that he attempted to install Carrie Johnson, now his wife, as his chief of staff when foreign secretary after he declined to comment on the allegations at prime minister’s questions. Continue reading...