Thousands of NSW and Queensland homes lose power, Adelaide hit by small tornado and Melbourne braces for coldest day of the year

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereThe Tass news agency is reporting that grain is being shipped from Kherson, which the Russians now occupy, to Russia.They quote Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the military-civilian administration that has been imposed on Kherson, as saying “We have space to store (the new crop) although we have a lot of grain here. People are now partially taking it out, having agreed with those who buy it from the Russian side.”Brigade and battalion commanders likely deploy forwards into harm’s way because they are held to an uncompromising level of responsibility for their units’ performance.Similarly, junior officers have had to lead the lowest level tactical actions, as the army lacks the cadre of highly trained and empowered non-commissioned officers (NCOs) who fulfil that role in Western forces. Continue reading...

Co-leader Rawiri Waititi, whose party is expected to become kingmakers, accuses Act of ‘emboldening racism across the country’ through its rhetoricNew Zealand’s Māori party, Te Pati Māori, which could hold the balance of power at the next election, has ruled out forming a coalition with Act and National, if the rightwing Act party stays its current policy course.The comments came as a series of polls placed Te Pāti Māori as “kingmakers” in the upcoming New Zealand election. Asked by the Guardian whether the party would consider a National-Act coalition, based on current policies and rhetoric, co-leader Rawiri Waititi said: “It’s a no. Absolutely. It’s a hard no.” Continue reading...

Experts have queried a report urging women against ‘laughing gas’ as pain relief during labour due to its environmental impact

Apra warns coming years ‘will be far from plain sailing’ as it flags concern over banking sector’s response to climate change risk

Analysis: It is a worrying sign that, amid the talk of a ‘new cold war’, even the UN is unable to help bridge the divideUN rights chief Michelle Bachelet’s six-day trip to China began with some controversy, and ended with even more. On Saturday, western journalists left the virtual press conference without satisfying answers. Some complained Bachelet had dwelled too much on the US’s human rights problems but not China’s.Knowing a top envoy from the UN would be restrained in her tone and delivery, Beijing took the occasion to say Bachelet’s trip was an opportunity “to observe and experience first-hand the real Xinjiang”. State media claimed that Bachelet had expressed “admiration” for China’s progress on human rights, only to be met with the UN’s own statement denying she had ever said it. Continue reading...

Two-thirds of imports will be banned and Sberbank ejected from Swift but Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia to keep suppliesThe European Union has agreed to a partial embargo on Russian oil after late-night talks at a summit in Brussels.The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, hailed the deal as a “remarkable achievement”, after tweeting on Monday night that it “immediately covers more than two-thirds of oil imports from Russia, cutting a huge source of financing for its war machine”. Continue reading...

Information commissioner says indiscriminate gathering of details is undermining trust in justice systemPolice and prosecutors have been told to stop the mass collection of personal information from rape victims or face being fined by the UK’s data watchdog.The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said they must immediately stop getting complainants in rape and serious sexual offence cases to sign forms, known in England and Wales as Stafford statements, which give officers general consent to obtain often highly sensitive third-party materials, including medical, education and counselling records. Continue reading...

Ten-year decline has caused sharp rise in waiting times for A&E, ambulances and surgeryThe NHS has lost almost 25,000 beds across the UK in the last decade, according to a damning report that says the fall has led to a sharp rise in waiting times for A&E, ambulances and operations.The Royal College of Emergency Medicine said the huge loss of beds since 2010-11 was causing “real patient harm” and a “serious patient safety crisis”. At least 13,000 more beds are urgently needed, it added, in order to tackle “unsafe” bed occupancy levels and “grim” waiting times for emergency care and handover delays outside hospitals. Continue reading...

Agreement to provide contingency travel services terminated over layoffs of nearly 800 seafarersMinisters have cancelled a contract with P&O Ferries after it sacked nearly 800 seafarers without notice in March.The Home Office announced that the agreement with the Border Force agency would come to an end with “immediate effect”. Continue reading...

Journalist was in an evacuation vehicle in Sievierodonetsk, the largest city in Donbas still in Ukrainian hands

Shadow Treasury secretary asks Office for Budget Responsibility to examine Rishi Sunak’s emergency cost of living measuresLabour has called for an independent assessment of whether Rishi Sunak’s £21bn cost of living emergency package could cause inflation to rise even higher and a verdict on the fiscal impact of substantial borrowing.Pat McFadden, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, wrote to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to ask it to analyse the impact of the measures. Continue reading...

Even people who take sugar seem at lower risk, say experts, but results may be due to coffee drinkers being more affluentPeople who drink coffee – whether with or without sugar – appear to have a lower risk of an early death, although experts caution the finding may not be down to the brew itself.About 98m cups of coffee are drunk every day in the UK, according to the British Coffee Association, with the National Coffee Association revealing that in the US the figure is about 517m cups. Continue reading...

Several Tory MPs believe the 54-letter threshold has been reached and that a challenge to PM could be mounted as soon as next weekBoris Johnson’s lurch to the right after Partygate is fuelling even more anger among rebel Tory MPs, with momentum now building for a leadership challenge next week.Conservative whips spent the first day of recess anxiously phoning round the parliamentary party to shore up support for the prime minister, as four more MPs called on him to resign, including Jeremy Wright, the former attorney general. Continue reading...

Ex-Labour minister tells Hay festival that the involvement of former leaders in the ‘next phase of politics’ may not be sensibleEd Balls has said former prime ministers such as Tony Blair and David Cameron should not attempt to return as “figureheads for the next phase of politics”.The former cabinet minister’s comments addressed Blair’s upcoming Future of Britain conference, which is seen as an attempt to reinvigorate centrist politics in the UK by taking inspiration from the success of La République En Marche, the recently created centre-left party that brought Emmanuel Macron to power in France. Continue reading...

Earthquake on Monday was third quake with a magnitude of greater than two to hit UK within 24 hoursA 3.8-magnitude earthquake has been recorded in the centre of Shropshire, the third quake to hit the UK within 24 hours.The British Geological Survey (BGS) said the earthquake hit just to the east of the town of Wem at a depth of 7km (4.35 miles) at 2.36pm on Monday. Continue reading...

David and Edward King stabbed Neil Charles to death after he was allegedly seen trying to steal from the older man’s carA father and son have been found guilty of murdering a suspected thief in a vigilante killing.David King and his 19-year-old son Edward King murdered Neil Charles after seeing him trying car door and house handles in Bury St Edmunds in June last year. Continue reading...

French journalist is killed near Sievierodonetsk; EU leaders fail to agree on a Russian oil import ban

People told to look out for 'new spots, ulcers or blisters on any part of their body’ as UK cases reach 179A further 71 cases of monkeypox have been detected in England, the UK Health Security Agency has said.The latest cases, as of 29 May, bring the total number confirmed in England since 7 May to 172. There are currently four confirmed cases in Scotland, two in Northern Ireland and one in Wales, taking the UK total to 179. Continue reading...

Moscow has threatened retaliation if missiles are used against its territory but US plans to ship shorter range systems

Mark Rowley and Nick Ephgrave still in running for commissioner, after three other applicants eliminatedThe search for a new Metropolitan police commissioner has been whittled down to a final two: Mark Rowley, a former head of counter-terrorism, or Nick Ephgrave, currently part of the embattled force’s top leadership.The process of picking Cressida Dick’s replacement has hastened, with the three other applicants being eliminated before any interviews took place. Continue reading...

With some airlines struggling to cope with the half-term holidays, what should you do if your plans are disrupted?Holidaymakers have seized the opportunity of school half-term holidays and the Queen’s platinum jubilee bank holidays to take long-awaited trips abroad, but many have met with long queues at airports and cancelled flights. So what is going on, and what can those who’ve had their plans disrupted do? Continue reading...

In the wake of partygate, turning to issues popular with the Tory faithful is a likely placation strategyIt is a moment often seen in the downward trajectory of embattled prime ministers: a whirl of new policy ideas intended to appeal to voters, but which are in fact more often aimed at placating their own MPs. Boris Johnson is, some would argue, approaching this point.Recent days have seen Downing Street brief in favour of grammar schools and imperial measurements. Earlier weeks saw forays into other Conservative comfort zones, including bashing the EU and talking up fossil fuels. Continue reading...

North Yorkshire and Sunderland leaders among those calling for PM to step down amid Partygate falloutRishi Sunak’s local council leader is among a growing number of senior Conservatives calling for Boris Johnson to step down as party members lose patience with his leadership.Carl Les, the Conservative leader of North Yorkshire county council, said he thought it was time for a leadership election, blaming Boris Johnson squarely for heavy losses in the local election. Continue reading...

Nickie Aiken, whose Westminster council was lost to Labour in local elections, says Partygate has damaged party and government

Member for Stoke-on-Trent North also talked about having suicidal thoughts after being bullied at schoolThe Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis has spoken out about his experiences of mental ill health, saying that he has come close to killing himself and last self-harmed shortly before being elected.In an interview with GB News, Gullis, who was elected as the MP for Stoke-on-Trent North in 2019, said that he had been affected by suicidal thoughts from a young age, and that his poor mental health was triggered by being bullied at school.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or by email at jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. Continue reading...

Witnesses say tanks moving into Sievierodonetsk amid intense shelling and civilian casualties

Sinn Féin vice-president pledges to continue efforts to break deadlock after nominees fail to secure cross-community supportThe vice-president of Sinn Féin, Michelle O’Neill, has said that efforts to resurrect Northern Ireland’s assembly at Stormont will continue, after the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) blocked a second attempt to elect a new speaker.The DUP is maintaining its position that it wants to see action from the UK government over the Northern Ireland protocol before backing a new speaker, which would enable the assembly to start fully functioning again. It described the recall of the assembly on Monday as a “stunt”. Continue reading...

Foreign Office warns against all travel to the country where Islamic State is still a threatUp to 30 Kurdish asylum seekers are facing deportation to Iraq in the first Home Office flight of its kind for a decade.Iraq is deemed to be so dangerous that the Foreign Office warns against all travel there, warning of “a high threat of kidnapping throughout the country including from both Daesh [Islamic State] and other terrorist and militia groups”. Continue reading...

Confirmation of further case follows those of two teenage girls known as Child Q and OliviaThe police watchdog has confirmed it is investigating the strip-search of another child by the Metropolitan police, after two other controversial cases.Two teenage girls, known as Child Q and Olivia, were strip-searched by officers while they were menstruating. Continue reading...

Italy’s PM Mario Draghi suggests big consumers club together to limit how much is paid and raises idea of EU gas price capEnergy prices are skyrocketing as the world confronts the economic ramifications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, supply chain bottlenecks and the lingering effects of Covid-19 lockdowns. But Italy’s prime minister, Mario Draghi, has a plan.The celebrated former European Central Bank president recently broached the idea of creating a “cartel” of oil consumers at a meeting with Joe Biden. Just as the biggest oil-producing nations club together through Opec to agree annual oil production quotas, Draghi has suggested big energy consumers join forces to increase their bargaining power. Continue reading...

Bridget Brink’s arrival confirmed on US embassy website, as western diplomats slowly return to city

Price increases on global oil markets and at UK forecourts add to concerns about rising inflation and its impactThe global oil price has risen above $120 (£94.90) a barrel as record high petrol and diesel prices in the UK add to concerns about the inflationary pressure facing families and businesses.Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose on Monday to $120 a barrel for the first time since late March, lifted by the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in Shanghai and Beijing, a move that could lead to higher demand for energy from China. Continue reading...

Experts voice alarm as areas with highest rates of deprivation lag behind minimum response rate of 85%Public services in Scotland’s poorest areas could be harmed by widespread abstention from this year’s census in urban areas, experts fear.Public policy specialists and opposition parties are alarmed after it emerged that by Monday only 86% of households nationwide had filled it in, well short of the 94% target, despite a four-week extension to the deadline until 31 May. Continue reading...

Passengers at Gatwick express frustration as airport and airlines appear to blame each other for chaosTravellers hoping to enjoy a half-term getaway have continued to be hit by cancelled and overbooked flights .Passengers stranded at Gatwick have expressed their anger after easyJet cancelled more than 200 flights from the airport at short notice during one of the year’s busier travel periods. Tui also axed a number of flights, and the budget Spanish airline Vueling has been flooded with complaints from passengers bumped off overbooked flights. Continue reading...

Analysis claims catch-up plan for English secondary pupils will take more than five years to deliverTake-up of the government’s flagship tutoring programme is so slow that all current secondary pupils in England will have left school by the time the Conservatives finally deliver on their education catch-up promises, Labour has said.Last summer the prime minister announced 100m hours of one-to-one and small-group tutoring over a three-year period to help pupils in England who have fallen behind in their learning due to the disruption caused by the pandemic. Continue reading...

Wright says Partygate has done ‘real damage’ to government’s authority, in statement that briefly vanishedJeremy Wright, a former culture secretary and attorney general, has become the latest Tory MP to call for Boris Johnson to resign, arguing that while he could not be sure the prime minister had misled MPs, he was at best “negligent” in how he approached the issue.In a lengthy statement on his personal website, the Kenilworth and Southam MP said Johnson could have been more careful before he assured the Commons that no lockdown-breaking parties had taken place inside Downing Street, and corrected the record sooner. Continue reading...

CMA asks dough brand and French buyer Cérélia to also address its concerns about qualityThe takeover of the Jus-Rol brand by a French-owned rival pastry maker could harm competition, resulting in higher prices and lower-quality products for customers, a UK watchdog has warned.The Competition and Markets Authority said it was particularly concerned about potential price rises for Jus-Rol items – which include dough for puff and shortcrust pastry, pizza, and pain au chocolat – given how stretched household budgets were because of the cost of living crisis. Continue reading...

Labour says prime minister must ‘come clean with British people’ as spokesman insists matter is closedDowning Street has refused to deny that a social event took place in Boris Johnson’s flat during lockdown that was not considered by the Sue Gray inquiry. But officials have insisted there is no need to reopen any investigations and that the matter is closed.Labour has called for an investigation into leaked text messages, reported over the weekend, suggesting Johnson and his wife, Carrie, met two friends in their flat on the prime minister’s birthday, 19 June 2020, when indoor socialising was banned. Continue reading...

Crowd control tactics at Champions League final highlight rift between law officers and public in FranceTelevision images of Liverpool fans being casually teargassed and pepper-sprayed at the Stade de France before Saturday’s chaotic Champions League final have – not for the first time – trained a spotlight on France’s policing methods.Organisations from Amnesty International to the UN’s high commissioner for human rights have criticised France’s crowd control tactics, with Human Rights Watch detailing the extensive physical injuries caused by weapons from truncheons to teargas grenades, rubber bullets and larger “flash-ball” rubber pellets on peaceful citizens in recent years. Continue reading...

Man, 36, placed in psychiatric care after painting’s display case covered in cake in apparent climate protestA 36-year-old man has been arrested and placed in psychiatric care after he smeared a glass screen encasing the Mona Lisa with cake in a purported protest against artists not focusing enough on “the planet”.Officials at the Louvre Museum in Paris, where the enigmatic portrait holds pride of place, declined to comment on the bizarre incident on Sunday, which was captured on several phones and circulated widely on social media. Continue reading...

Shells fired at agrochemical warehouse created toxic plume that has left residents with health problemsAn Israeli airstrike on an agrochemical warehouse during last year’s war in Gaza amounted to the “indirect deploying of chemical weapons”, according to a report analysing the attack and its impact.Incendiary artillery shells fired by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) hit the large Khudair Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Tools warehouse in the north of the Gaza Strip on 15 May last year, setting fire to hundreds of tonnes of pesticides, fertilisers, plastics and nylons. The strike created a toxic plume, which engulfed an area of 5.7 sq km and has left local residents struggling with health issues, including two reports of miscarriages, and indications of environmental damage. Continue reading...

Booing and shouting prompt crackdown from riot police at site of disaster, where 31 people diedProtesters angry over a building collapse in south-west Iran that killed at least 31 people shouted down an emissary sent by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, prompting a crackdown in which riot police clubbed demonstrators and fired teargas, according to online videos.The protest directly challenged the Iranian government’s response to the disaster a week ago as pressure rises in the Islamic Republic over rising food prices and other economic woes amid the unravelling of its nuclear deal with world powers. Continue reading...

Analysis: Hurricane Agatha kicks off what is forecast to be another busy period of Atlantic stormsThe first hurricane of 2022 for the eastern Pacific has made landfall in southern Mexico. Agatha has been slowly moving north towards the Mexican Pacific coast, strengthening before making landfall late on Monday. The storm has produced damaging tropical-force winds and heavy rain.Winds are easing but heavy rain will continue through Tuesday as the storm moves inland. It is forecast to cause flash flooding and mudslides that could pose a threat to life. Continue reading...

At least 19 journalists caught up in mass detentions after government moves against Fano, its former ally in Tigray conflictEthiopia has launched a sweeping crackdown against an influential armed militia in its Amhara region that has led to the arrest of more than 4,000 people, including journalists, activists and a former general.The militia group, known as the Fano, played a key role alongside the federal military in beating back November’s southward advance through the Amhara region by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which is fighting an 18-month-long civil war against the government and its allies. Continue reading...

Laura Brody had to deliver son at home after miscarriage and was then told Lewisham A&E could not take remainsA London hospital has launched an investigation after a woman whose baby died in the womb had to deliver her son at home due to lack of beds and keep his remains in her fridge when A&E staff said they could not store them safely.Laura Brody and her partner, Lawrence, said they were “tipped into hell” after being sent home by University hospital Lewisham to await a bed when told their baby no longer had a heartbeat but no beds were immediately available to give birth, the BBC reported. Continue reading...

Newspaper says possible definitions of renamed HTSI include ‘how to save it’ as cost of living crisis bitesThe Financial Times magazine How To Spend It has long provided inspiration to bankers wanting to blow their bonuses on designer goods – but the publication has been rebranded because spending big is no longer seen as a positive quality.The luxury magazine, packaged with the FT’s Weekend edition, is stuffed with expensive adverts for high-end watches, safaris, and luxury yachts aimed at its jet-set wealthy readership – making it a money-spinner for the newspaper. Continue reading...

New additions include AJ Tracey, Jamie T and Kae Tempest, while there are prestigious slots given to Sam Fender, Megan Thee Stallion and Pet Shop BoysGlastonbury festival has announced full details of its lineup, allowing ticketholders to studiously plan their gig-going across the vast site, and those at home to plan their evenings watching and listening to BBC coverage.New additions to the lineup include AJ Tracey, Jamie T, Ziggy Marley, Kae Tempest, Yungblud, Little Dragon, Pa Salieu, Sea Girls and the Libertines. Continue reading...

ABC calls south Melbourne seat of Macnamara for Labor, guaranteeing a Labor majority of at least 76 in the House of Representatives