So far we’ve had a dugong, a crocodile, a turtle, betting agencies and multiple polls try to predict the result of the 2022 election. Now it’s your turn to tell us who will win

Robbie McEwen, the former cyclist and now commentator, says he’s ‘genuinely sorry’ for using a homophobic slur during a broadcast, which he says was ‘unintentional’Robbie McEwen, the former cyclist and now commentator, has apologised for using a homophobic slur during a broadcast of stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia.The three-time Tour de France points classification winner, who retired from professional cycling in 2012, said he “unintentionally” used the phrase during commentary on Eurosport and GCN+ earlier this week. Continue reading...

Actor’s case finished on Thursday and defence witnesses were due to begin testifying on allegations of indecent assault and harassment

Experts say it defies logic but Johnson attended gatherings deemed to have breached the rules without himself being finedWith the dust settling on the Metropolitan police’s long investigation into Covid breaches inside Downing Street, one big question remains: how did Boris Johnson escape with just one fine?Legal experts say it defies logic – and to many voters, it defies common sense too. Continue reading...

Blinken calls on Moscow to end blockade of Ukraine ports as Medvedev says Russia is ready to allow the flow of food when sanctions lift

Health authorities say the men, in their 30s and 40s, recently returned from Europe and are now isolating either at home or in hospital

High winds have hampered operations as crews fight blazes in Texas, Colorado and New MexicoMore than 5,000 firefighters have battled multiple wildland blazes in dry, windy weather across the south-west, including a fire that has destroyed dozens of structures in west Texas and another picking up steam again in New Mexico.Evacuation orders remained in place on Thursday for residents near the wildfires in Texas, Colorado and New Mexico. High winds prevented officials from sending aircraft to drop retardant or water in many places. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Transportation secretary says there is global support for reconstruction effort to help recovery from Russian invasion

Aidan Harte was thrilled to be asked to make a statue of a púca, a mythological mischievous spirit, but then his troubles beganIn Irish mythology, a púca is a mischievous, shapeshifting spirit that can take the form of a horse and entice unwary travellers on to its back for a wild ride.Aidan Harte knows how that feels. Eighteen months ago the sculptor was commissioned to create a 2-metre tall bronze statue of a púca for the town square in Ennistymon, County Clare. Continue reading...

Experts believe North Korean authorities are underreporting deaths to prove that their response has been effective

‘Extraordinary’ revelation about national security decision shows the government is ‘falling apart’, Labor says

The magic number for majority government is 76 lower house seats. Here are the possible scenarios in the Australian election

Hour-long TV ads on commercial networks aired before media blackout as part of fringe party’s projected $70m 2022 federal election campaign spend

7.30 political correspondent labels grilling of Anthony Albanese over costings ‘embarrassing’ for journalists. Plus: Kennedy awards take a bizarre turnFor the veteran political correspondent Laura Tingle, elections are “stupid and depressing”, and this one has been no different. What with Anthony Albanese “basically just going around and kissing babies” and Scott Morrison avoiding all the places where “voters hate him so much”, it’s been a “strange campaign”, the ABC stalwart told Malcolm Farr on the Judith Neilson Institute’s election podcast.She said press conferences may seem “shouty and aggressive” but the travelling circus was doing its best under difficult circumstances. Continue reading...

Opposition Labor party’s lead has narrowed in final week of an attritional campaignAustralians head to the polls on Saturday with the opposition Labor party, led by Anthony Albanese, hoping to end nine years of conservative rule.The Liberal-National coalition government, headed by Scott Morrison, goes into the election with 75 MPs in the 151-seat House of Representatives, one short of the majority needed to govern without crossbench support. Continue reading...

International nurses working for NHS trusts are being trapped in their jobs by clauses in their contracts that require them to pay thousands of pounds if they try to leave. Shanti Das reports

Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse will open at the NGV in December and will feature more than 100 garments alongside artistic influences

Animal activists who sent unlabelled gloves to forensic lab say buyers trying to make ethical choices are being misled

The acute lower respiratory infection has surged after Covid restrictions eased, experts sayRespiratory syncytial virus is killing 100,000 children under the age of five every year worldwide, new figures reveal as experts say the global easing of coronavirus restrictions is causing a surge in cases.RSV is the most common cause of acute lower respiratory infection in young children. It spreads easily via coughing and sneezing. There is no vaccine or specific treatment. Continue reading...

Move brings Ottawa into line with intelligence allies that have excluded Chinese tech firms from cutting-edge phone networksCanada says it will ban Huawei and ZTE from the country’s 5G network, a move that puts it in line with intelligence-sharing allies, but risks further chilling relations with China.The federal government made the announcement on Thursday afternoon after signalling for months it intended to block China’s flagship telecommunications companies from accessing 5G networks in Canada. Continue reading...

Investigation also suggests president’s youngest daughter is in a relationship with ballet dancer Igor ZelenskySince the start of his military campaign against Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has railed aggressively against pro-western Russians, whose appetite for European cuisine and climates he said meant “their mentality is there, not here, with our people”.Yet his own daughter’s enthusiasm for sojourns to western Europe at least matches that of the oligarch “scum and traitors” he has decried, a joint investigation by independent Russian media outlet iStories and German magazine Der Spiegel suggests. Continue reading...

Conservative Jason Kenney, Alberta premier, leaves province’s top job after barely surviving a leadership reviewThe abrupt resignation of Alberta’s premier has shocked the western province and raised questions about the ideological direction of Canada’s conservative movement amid a surge in far-right and populist influences.Jason Kenney announced late on Wednesday that he was leaving the province’s top job after barely surviving a leadership review. A slim majority of party members – 51.4% – had voted in favour of keeping him in power but Kenney said that support wasn’t enough to justify remaining head of the governing United Conservatives. Continue reading...

PM received only one of 126 fixed-penalty notices relating to law-breaking parties, prompting claims Met police bungled inquiryCivil servants and special advisers have reacted with fury and disbelief after Scotland Yard confirmed Boris Johnson got only one of 126 fines levied for law-breaking parties at the heart of Downing Street and Whitehall.The Metropolitan police came under intense pressure to explain how it reached its conclusions after Downing Street said officers confirmed no further action would be taken against the prime minister despite him attending gatherings for which others were fined. Continue reading...

Court hears of ‘obsession’ of Leicester East MP, who was given suspended 10-week jail term in NovemberThe MP Claudia Webbe, who was found to have harassed a woman because she was jealous of her relationship with her partner, has begun her attempt to overturn her conviction.Webbe, 57, the independent MP for Leicester East, was handed a 10-week jail term, suspended for two years, at Westminster magistrates court in November after she was found guilty of harassing Michelle Merritt. Continue reading...

Condé Nast had threatened the Star Inn at Vogue with legal action if the pub was not renamedA country pub has received a framed apology from a fashion publishing giant after being threatened with legal action unless the landlords changed its name.The Star Inn at Vogue was sent a cease-and-desist letter by Vogue’s publisher, Condé Nast, which claimed a link between the two businesses was “likely to be inferred”. Continue reading...

Footballer’s wife seeking substantial damages from Colleen Rooney at end of two weeks of high court hearingsRebekah Vardy has demanded “substantial” damages from Coleen Rooney after enduring “public abuse and ridicule on a massive scale”, as the “Wagatha Christie” libel trial drew to a close at the high court after two weeks of headline-grabbing and occasionally excruciating hearings.Vardy said her life had been made hell as a result of the allegation in 2019 that she was leaking stories from Rooney’s private Instagram account to journalists at the Sun. Continue reading...

PC Craig Walker says no knife visible when colleague used spray without warning against man who died in custody in KirkcaldyAn officer involved in Sheku Bayoh’s arrest has admitted that police fired CS spray and pepper spray at him without warning even though he made no direct threat and did not show any weapons.Bayoh, a father of two, died in hospital in handcuffs in May 2015 in Kirkcaldy, Fife. He had multiple injuries after being hit with police batons, and being shackled and held on the ground by numerous officers. Continue reading...

Analysis: even if MPs conclude a single fine airbrushes PM’s role in scandal, the public may decide otherwiseThe prime minister had been telling colleagues for weeks that he believed he would receive no further fines for breaching Covid rules, but many saw it as little more than typical Johnsonian bluster.When it emerged on Thursday that he was correct – despite attending several of the dozen booze-fuelled gatherings held on his watch – one exasperated backbencher said simply: “No words.” Continue reading...

Government data shows 1,140 participants are stuck in hospital waiting for housing funding or other support before they can be released

Community leaders – including Liberal party members – say tough language from Peter Dutton and others could hurt the government, particularly in Bennelong

The Guardian understands a Labor government would ensure decisions better take into account the time a person has been in Australia

Analysis: the state that has a history of favouring incumbents is facing a rightwing battle for the Senate and a potential Green wave in the city

PM told he won’t be fined again; Sue Gray report to be published ‘as soon as possible’; Emily Thornberry says PM lied to Commons; victim group reacts

Rapper wins fourth Ivor in five years after album We’re All Alone in This Together topped UK chartsDave has been crowned songwriter of the year and Sam Fender has picked up his first prize at this year’s Ivor Novello awards, which celebrate Britain’s best songwriters and composers.Winning his fourth Ivor in five years, Dave was commended for his second album We’re All Alone in This Together, which topped UK charts and spawned three simultaneous top 10 singles – Clash (featuring Stormzy), Verdansk and In the Fire. Continue reading...

Some investors and advisory groups had voiced concerns while many people struggle to make ends meetShareholders in Next have backed the company’s decision to pay its chief executive Simon Wolfson £4.4m this year, despite opposition from some investors concerned about the disparity between executive pay and wages of the wider workforce.Wolfson was awarded a 50% pay rise by the fashion retailer, taking his remuneration to the highest level since 2015. Continue reading...

Former German chancellor, who holds positions at Rosneft and Nord Stream, will lose staff and officeThe former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder will lose some of his post-office privileges after failing to cut his links with Russian energy companies over the Ukraine war, the Bundestag’s budgetary committee has decided.Schröder, who was German head of government from 1998 until 2005, will be stripped of his office and staff, which cost about 419,000 euros (£354,500) in taxpayers’ money in 2021. Continue reading...

Culture secretary says service needs to revise business model, before being told of password-sharing banThe culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, shares her Netflix account with four other households, including her mother’s, she has told MPs, calling the streaming service an “incredibly generous system”.Dorries argued that the recent share price collapse at Netflix, which is now worth less than a third of its market value at the start of the year, was evidence only of its success. Continue reading...

Sainsbury’s and others call for tax on internet sales, while Marks & Spencer says that would ‘punish’ go-ahead outletsA battle is shaping up between major retailers over whether the UK should introduce an online sales tax, with Sainsbury’s demanding it to help revive struggling high streets while M&S argues it would have the opposite effect.A day before the government’s three-month consultation on changes to business taxes closes, the finance director of Sainsbury’s reiterated calls for an increase in taxes on digital retailers to fund a reduction on the business rates levied on physical stores. Continue reading...

Operator scraps about 30% of scheduled weekday services as drivers refuse to work overtimeRail passengers and businesses in Scotland are furious after more than 700 train services were axed by the national operator ScotRail in an escalating dispute over pay.Scores of drivers have refused ScotRail requests to work overtime shifts, forcing the newly nationalised company to scrap about 30% of its scheduled weekday rail services. That has left commuters unable to get home or to work early or late in the day. Continue reading...

Military police say they are satisfied with assurances of Israeli troops over death of US-Palestinian despite international demandsIsrael will not launch a criminal investigation into the killing of the US-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh, which Palestinian officials and witnesses have blamed on Israeli soldiers.According to a report in the Haaretz newspaper the Israel Defense Forces military police branch has accepted the assurances of Israeli troops that they were not aware she was in a village adjacent to the Jenin refugee camp when she was killed on 11 May. Continue reading...

Healthcare staff and campaigners call for action in face of growing anti-abortion activity across ScotlandA Scottish Greens MSP has launched a member’s bill at Holyrood to designate protest-free buffer zones outside abortion clinics as healthcare professionals and campaigners call for immediate action in the face of growing anti-abortion activity.Launching the public consultation that begins the bill process, Gillian Mackay MSP said on Thursday that, while urgency was at the heart of the bill, it was also critical that any proposal be robust, after a similar bill for Northern Ireland was referred to the UK supreme court earlier this month. Continue reading...

The accommodation, meant for mothers seeking asylum and run by Mears Group for the Home Office, was described as ‘prison-like’A housing unit for mothers and babies has been forced to close after a damning report found that the “cramped and unsafe” accommodation breached their human rights.In its report, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland said the unit, which housed asylum-seeking mothers and their children, had radiators and gas cookers dangerously close to babies’ cots, a lack of natural light and little ventilation, and no space for babies to crawl, play or walk. Continue reading...

Met concludes Partygate investigation and says 126 fixed-penalty notices were issued covering 12 eventsBoris Johnson will not receive any more fines for lockdown-breaching parties, it has been confirmed, after the Metropolitan police said they had completed their investigation into gatherings in Downing Street and Whitehall.The police force said they had issued a total of 126 fixed-penalty notices, covering all 12 events investigated.20 May 2020, when “bring your own booze” drinks were held in the Downing Street garden.18 June 2020, when a party was held to mark the departure of a No 10 private secretary.19 June 2020, the date of Johnson’s birthday party, for which he was fined.13 November 2020, when a leaving do was held for adviser Lee Cain as well as a party in the No 10 flat.17 December 2020 when several parties were held, including one to mark the departure of Covid taskforce boss Kate Josephs.18 December 2020, the date of the festive gathering which led to the resignation of Allegra Stratton.14 January 2021, when gatherings were held to mark the departure of two private secretaries, as revealed by Sue Gray.16 April 2021, the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral, when two parties were held, one of which culminated in Wilfred Johnson’s swing being broken. Continue reading...

Escalating tensions erupt into regime-backed violence against the minority group in the autonomous region of Gorno-BadakhshanAt least 25 people were killed on Wednesday by security forces in Tajikistan during a protest in the autonomous region of Gorno-Badakhshan (GBAO), where the Tajik regime has targeted the Pamiri ethnic minority.The deaths mark an escalation of violence in the region. Conflict between the central government and the Pamiri has continued for decades, with the cultural and linguistic minority ethnic group suffering human rights abuses, as well as discrimination over jobs and housing. Continue reading...

Cody Ackland, 24, had never been in trouble with police, but had a ‘morbid’ interest in serial killersIn the early evening of Saturday 20 November last year, 18-year-old Bobbi-Anne McLeod told her father, Adrian, she loved him and left the family home in Plymouth to catch a bus, planning to meet her boyfriend.McLeod was 1.57 metres (5ft 2in) tall, slightly built and could easily have been mistaken for someone several years her junior. Even if she had spotted Cody Ackland sneak up behind her as she waited at the bus stop, she probably would not have stood much of a chance against his savage attack. Continue reading...

‘Pent-up demand’ and end of Covid travel restrictions help carrier narrow lossesEasyJet said it was heading for summer with “strong momentum and optimism”, flying at near pre-pandemic capacity in peak season as the lifting of Covid restrictions helped the airline narrow its half-year losses and look to a return to profit.Chief executive Johan Lundgren said easyJet was benefiting from “pent-up demand and removal of travel restrictions” as well as a strategic decision to run more of its flights on popular routes. Continue reading...

AEC concedes some Covid-positive Australians ‘may not be able to vote’: prime minister responds after Labor announces policy costings; Covid and illness lead to drop in working hours; nation records at least 52 Covid deaths. Follow all the day’s developments live

Communications engineer Joe Thwaite and his wife, Jess, a hairdressing salon manager, win bigA communications engineer and manager of a hairdressing salon from Gloucester have been revealed as the winners of a record-breaking £184m lottery haul.Joe and Jess Thwaite revealed their identity at a press conference with Dermot O’Leary near Cheltenham on Thursday after scooping £184,262,899 last week on the Euromillions, the biggest lottery win in the UK. Continue reading...