Differences between Daniel Andrews and Dominic Perrottet are part of their successful relationship

Appeal likely after Priti Patel gives green light to extradition of WikiLeaks co-founderPriti Patel has approved the extradition of the WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange to the US, a decision the organisation immediately said it would appeal against in the high court.The case passed to the British home secretary last month after the UK supreme court ruled that there were no legal questions over assurances given by US authorities on Assange’s likely treatment. Continue reading...

More than 100 MPs write to Boris Johnson saying guidance will lead survivors to avoid seeking therapyMore than 100 female Labour MPs have written to Boris Johnson calling on him to scrap new guidance on pre-trial therapy for rape victims, which they say will make it less likely they will get the vital therapy they need.Led by the shadow attorney general, Emily Thornberry, MPs including Yvette Cooper, Angela Rayner and Jess Phillips argue that the new rules “will cause many survivors to avoid seeking therapy, and make it more likely that cases will collapse when the prolonged stress of waiting for trials becomes too much”. Continue reading...

Analysis: after cash injections during Covid, local councils now face a world of precarity and painIt was only a year ago that the national spending watchdog was praising the government for injecting billions into council budgets in England to help them cope with Covid-19. Ministers are never happy to splash the cash, but without it, the National Audit Office said, local government would have collapsed.We are now in, if not quite system-failure territory, then at least a world of mass municipal precarity and pain. Rampaging inflation, fuelled by soaring energy and fuel costs, have left councils with their own cost of living crisis, and a budget hole of almost £2bn. Once again, they are asking ministers for financial help. Continue reading...

Spider monkey dressed up as gang mascot killed in shootout, and man dies in Michoacán after trying to pet captive tigerMexican narcos’ fascination with exotic animals has been on display this week after a spider monkey dressed up as a drug gang mascot was killed in a shootout, a 200kg tiger wandered the streets in the Pacific coast state of Nayarit, and a man died after trying to pet a captive tiger in a cartel-dominated area of western Michoacán state.Eleven suspected gang members died in the shootout on Tuesday in the state of Mexico, which surrounds the capital. Photos from the scene showed a small monkey dressed in a tiny camouflage jacket and a tiny “bulletproof” vest sprawled across the body of a dead gunman. Continue reading...

PM’s former ethics adviser says reason given by Downing Street for his resignation was a ‘distraction’Boris Johnson’s former ethics adviser has said the reason given by Downing Street for his resignation was a “distraction” and doubled down on claims that the government wanted to break international law.After he dramatically quit this week, Christopher Geidt said his explanation had used too much “cautious language” leading to “some confusion about the precise cause of my decision”. Continue reading...

UN working group rules that Ryan Cornelius has been held arbitrarily and subjected to rights violationsUN officials have called on the United Arab Emirates to immediately release a British businessman who has been detained in the country since 2008.The UN’s working group on arbitrary detention has ruled that Ryan Cornelius has been held arbitrarily in the UAE since 2008 when he was arrested at Dubai airport. He has contracted tuberculosis while in detention. Continue reading...

Hazel Pearson’s condition not signposted by her bed as coroner deems Wrexham Maelor’s plan of response ‘amateurish’An 80-year-old woman with coeliac disease died within days of being fed Weetabix in hospital, an inquest has heard.Hazel Pearson, from Connah’s Quay in Flintshire, was being treated at Wrexham Maelor hospital and died four days later on 30 November from aspiration pneumonia. Although her condition was recorded on her admission documents, there was no sign beside her bed to alert healthcare assistants to her dietary requirements, BBC News reported. Continue reading...

Tory MPs in north of England warn the PM he cannot take seats won from Labour’s ‘red wall’ for grantedBoris Johnson has been accused of showing “total contempt” for the north of England as a senior Tory MP warned him it was an “illusion” to think the party would comfortably hold seats that it won for the first time in 2019 at the next general election.Anger erupted after the prime minister pulled out of a conference in Doncaster at the last minute, with those in “red wall” seats turning on the prime minister. Continue reading...

President claims Russia can ‘cope with any challenge’ in address delayed by cyber-attack, but largely avoids discussing Ukraine

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Macron favours land routes to Romania from Odesa whereas Ankara wants to use shipping lanes through Black Sea

Rachel Keke, who coordinated successful strike for better pay and conditions, could be first cleaner to sit in parliamentA hotel housekeeper who led a strike for better pay and conditions at one of the biggest hotels in Paris could become the first cleaner to be elected to the French parliament on Sunday, as a left alliance challenges Emmanuel Macron’s centrists.Rachel Keke, 48, said years of gruelling work cleaning up to 40 rooms a day at the Ibis hotel in Batignolles would enable her to speak up for workers in parliament. Her aim was to “make visible those who are invisible”, she told one rally. Continue reading...

President is accused of trying to cover up theft of millions of US dollars hidden at his game farmThe South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is facing the most serious personal challenge of his four years in power after claims he tried to cover up the theft of millions of US dollars hidden at his game farm.The scandal – labelled Farmgate by South African media – could potentially derail Ramaphosa’s efforts to win a second term in power and destabilise Africa’s most developed economy. Continue reading...

London mayor says appointee must understand extent of ‘cultural and organisational problems’ in MetThe London mayor, Sadiq Khan, has warned the candidates wanting to lead the Metropolitan police they must publicly admit the force’s systemic failings, with formal interviews due to begin next week.Two senior police figures have reached the final stages of the process to be the commissioner of Britain’s biggest and most controversial force. Continue reading...

Andy Inglis ran BP’s exploration and production division before leaving after Deepwater Horizon disasterThe executive who oversaw BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster has landed a $6.2m (£5m) payout at his new employer despite the death of a worker on an offshore rig in the Gulf of Mexico.Andy Inglis ran BP’s exploration and production division before leaving in the wake of the spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, which killed 11 workers in one of the worst ever environmental disasters. Continue reading...

As airport reduces summer capacity to ward off potential chaos, easyJet flights will be most heavily affectedGatwick airport has announced it will reduce its summer capacity, after dozens of last-minute cancellations wrecked holidaymakers’ half-term travel plans. The announcement means airlines have to review their schedules, and could mean some passengers have their flights cancelled. EasyJet, which operates half of the slots, says it is reviewing the details.When will easyJet decide on cancellations? Continue reading...

Colchester barracks incident came after other cases and could be seen to denigrate women, says head of armyHundreds of paratroopers have reportedly been banned from an annual Nato deployment to the Balkans after videos emerged of an orgy at a military barracks.In a letter to generals and commanding officers, the new head of the army, Gen Sir Patrick Sanders, said he was not willing to “risk the mission or the reputation of the British army” by sending them overseas. Continue reading...

Airport accused of panicking airline customers after limiting flights to 825 a day in July and 850 in AugustEasyJet has insisted it will get the vast majority of its passengers away this summer on the day they booked, after Gatwick was accused of panicking airline customers by announcing capacity cuts.Flights currently on sale and scheduled will exceed the new limits on almost one in two days across July and August at London’s second airport, suggesting about 500 cancellations in total. Continue reading...

Met Office issues level three warning in London, south-east and east England and Royal Ascot takes unprecedented step of relaxing dress code

Armed forces says Russian ship twice entered Danish waters on Friday, during democracy festivalA Russian warship has twice violated Danish territorial waters north of the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm where a democracy festival attended by senior lawmakers and business people was taking place.Denmark called the action on Friday an unacceptable provocation. Continue reading...

Organisers decide with ‘deep regret’ Ukraine is not capable of staging song contest, so Britain could step inEurovision could be coming to the UK in 2023 after the song contest’s organisers concluded Ukraine is not capable of hosting it, a decision that has angered the Ukrainian government.Ukraine won this year with Kalush Orchestra’s Stefania, as viewers across the continent came together to vote for the song and show solidarity with the nation after Russian’s invasion. Continue reading...

Half-term travel chaos and cost of living crisis fuel 30% surge in last-minute inquiries for summer breaks in Britain

ONS figures show pandemic is not over, say experts, with Omicron variants probably to blameCoronavirus infections are rising in the UK, new figures have revealed, with experts noting the increase is probably down to thethe rise of BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants.The figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), based on swabs collected from randomly selected households, reveal that in the week ending 11 June an estimated one in 50 people in the community in England are thought to have had Covid – around 1.13 million people. Continue reading...

Former soldier Collin Reeves, who cruelly killed his neighbours, told a psychiatrist life ‘felt dark all the time’On the night of 21 November last year, Collin Reeves sat down on the stairs of his home in the Somerset village of Norton Fitzwarren and broke down in tears.He was in a terrible place. Since leaving the army four years before, Reeves had flitted between unsatisfying jobs, missing the structure and sense of purpose he had found in the military and dwelling on the horrors he had seen in Afghanistan. Continue reading...

Collin Reeves killed Jennifer and Stephen Chapple with ceremonial dagger as their children slept upstairsA former soldier has been found guilty of murdering his nextdoor neighbours with a ceremonial commando dagger after a dispute over parking, moments after his wife told him she wanted a trial separation.Collin Reeves carried out a “brutal and savage” attack on Jennifer and Stephen Chapple at their home in the Somerset village of Norton Fitzwarren while their two children slept upstairs. Continue reading...

Commission also recommends candidate status for Moldova but gives more guarded response to Georgia

Concerns mount that all three men may have been captured by Russian or pro-Russian forces

UK’s largest supermarket gains market share but reports ‘changing customer behaviour’Tesco said customers are putting fewer items in their baskets and are switching to cheaper own-brand alternatives as they face “unprecedented increases in the cost of living”.The UK’s largest supermarket said it had gained market share from the other “big four” chains – Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s – but sales in the three months to 28 May fell 1.5% on the same period last year when the UK was in lockdown. Continue reading...

Kigali government seeks to shift narrative with carefully managed tours of processing facilities and accommodation for deporteesRwanda has been caught in the eye of a British political storm this week, and its officials are not happy with how the country has been portrayed.It was preparing to welcome asylum seekers on Tuesday until a dramatic 11th-hour ruling by the European court of human rights. Continue reading...

ABC chair says in media lecture she was ‘hissed at’ and accepted only after achieving success

Campaigners will ask online fashion retailer if it will pay back an estimated £125m in underpaid wagesBoohoo will be challenged by campaigners over paying “very low” prices to suppliers and a lack of compensation for underpaid workers at UK factories making its clothing.Workers in factories in Leicester that supply Boohoo could be owed as much as £125m in underpaid wages as some of the retailer’s suppliers previously paid workers below the minimum wage, activists from Labour Behind the Label and ShareAction have estimated. Continue reading...

Analysis: Asos and other retailers report rise in ‘wardrobing’ as buyers order many items but keep only a few

Concetta Fierravanti-Wells says warnings about China’s influence were ignored and blasts NSW Liberals over preselections

Upswell publisher Terri-ann White says she is distressed by controversy around former Miles Franklin prize longlist novel The Dogs

Chair of influential group seeking investment in north of England says ‘we have to keep public finances in order’The chair of an influential group of MPs has echoed comments made by the cabinet minister Michael Gove, who has warned the UK must maintain control of public finances in the face of “tough times ahead” for the country and the global economy.Jake Berry, the chair of the Northern Research Group, a pressure group of Tory MPs calling for increased investment in the north of England, said it was right that “we have to keep public finances in order”. Continue reading...

Australian Medical Association president says three months extra Covid support ‘will not fix a decade of hospital underfunding’

A dozen locations raided as ATO says 70,000 instances detected of GST fraud method popularised via social media

Man reportedly fell down escalator after getting off flight without helper, but airport says staff shortages ‘not a factor’An investigation has been launched into the death of a disabled plane passenger who reportedly fell after getting off without a helper at Gatwick airport.The Sun cited a source who said the man and his wife required special assistance to disembark and the passenger fell down an escalator after making his own way into the terminal. Continue reading...

Zumbo, who has pleaded not guilty to 20 charges including sexual touching, insisted on driving woman to work so Liberal ‘spies’ wouldn’t see her catch bus

Abemaciclib can improve chances of certain type of cancer not returning after surgery by more than 30%Thousands of women in England with breast cancer are to benefit from a new pill on the NHS which reduces the risk of the disease coming back.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has given the green light to abemaciclib, which cuts the chance of breast cancer returning after a patient has had surgery to remove a tumour. Continue reading...

Russia expected to use security council veto to block resolution to keep open Bab al-Hawa border crossing into Idlib from TurkeyThe last remaining UN humanitarian aid route into Syria looks set to be shut down in a vote at the body’s security council next month, another casualty of the collapse in relations between the west and Russia.On 10 July the council is due to vote on whether to keep open the Bab al-Hawa crossing from Turkey, which helps service rebel-held Idlib. Continue reading...

Labor says decision called into question the legal basis for former government’s ‘absurd attempt to regulate funded class actions out of existence’The federal court has removed a barrier to class actions imposed by the former Coalition government, a decision the new attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has welcomed as a “victory for ordinary Australians” seeking to pursue justice against big corporations or governments.In 2020, the former government imposed a costly regulatory burden on litigation funders – entities that bankroll notoriously expensive class actions – to define them as managed investment schemes.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...

PM opts to continue to prevent release of documents related to meetings with state leaders despite his previous criticism of the practice

Economists say while property prices could come down by up to 20%, affordability has ‘never been worse’

The leaders of France, Germany and Italy have vowed to support Kyiv’s bid to join the EU as Lavrov accuses the west of ‘dragging Ukraine into Nato’

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereChildren born in Ukraine’s Kherson region since 24 February will automatically receive Russian citizenship, according to a statement by an official.Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-imposed military-civilian administration in the occupied Kherson region has told Russian news agency RIA Novosti:Children born after 24 February in the Kherson region will automatically receive citizenship of the Russian Federation. Plus, orphans will also be registered as citizens of the Russian Federation.All of the main bridges over the Siverskyy Donets River, which link the contested town of Sieverodonetsk and Ukrainian-held territory, have now highly likely been destroyed.Ukraine has probably managed to withdraw a large proportion of its combat troops, who were originally holding the town. The situation continues to be extremely difficult for the Ukrainian forces and civilians remaining east of the river. Continue reading...

Zumbo is accused of by five women of 20 charges including sexual touching and indecent assault and pleads not guilty to all chargesA young woman has told a court the office manager of former MP Craig Kelly spent years kissing and sexually touching her – but she was still shocked by one incident that brought her to tears.The woman had been out to a dinner with Francesco “Frank” Zumbo to secure a reference from her boss she had worked with for three years, she told Sydney’s local court on Thursday. Continue reading...