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87-year-old NSW conservative joins the Seniors United party after his Christian Democratic party was deregistered

Labour shortages, exacerbated by Covid, still likely to affect some booths, despite calls to ADF and emergency service personnel

Jim Chalmers says investments in childcare and cleaner energy are necessary and further budget savings could be identified

State media have told patients to use painkillers as well as unverified home remedies such as willow leaf teaNorth Korea is ramping up production of drugs and medical supplies including sterilisers and thermometers as well as encouraging the use of traditional Korean medicines said to reduce fever and pain as it battles an unprecedented coronavirus outbreak.Traditional medicines were “effective in prevention and cure of the malicious disease,” state-run news agency KCNA said, although no medical evidence exists for those claims. Continue reading...

Opposition’s diversity policy notes many communities face barriers in accessing support

Greg Hunt rejects Mark Butler’s claims that ‘misleading’ newspaper ad suggests the department endorses the Coalition

Poorest predicted to be hit hardest by obesity crisis as government accused of ‘kicking the can down the road’More than 42 million adults in the UK will be overweight or obese by 2040 and at higher risk of 13 types of cancer, an “alarming” report reveals, as health leaders accused ministers of “kicking the can down the road” when it comes to tackling the obesity crisis.Data collected by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) shows that 71% of people will be overweight by 2040, a rise from 64% today. Of these, almost 36% of adults – 21 million people – will be obese. The charity described the figures as “staggering”. Continue reading...

Experts describe increase to 24,268 in England as alarming, with particularly stark rise among malesHospital admissions for people with eating disorders in England have risen 84% in the last five years, official NHS figures reveal.There were 11,049 more admissions for illnesses such as bulimia and anorexia in 2020-21 than in 2015-16, with 24,268 admissions in total. Experts described the increase as “alarming”. Continue reading...

Thursday: At least 60 nursing home residents with coronavirus are dying each week as workers prepare to strike. Plus: the ‘innately comforting’ tactility of collecting moviesGood morning. Aged care Covid deaths soar in Australia, Muslim Australians abandon Labor in key marginals and the US pledges Nato cooperation with Finland and Sweden.Covid deaths inside aged care facilities are occurring at rates unseen during the first two years of the pandemic, as government data reveals at least 60 people are dying a week, with more than 350 deaths since the start of the election campaign. Aged care works are preparing to strike tomorrow, citing frustration about low pay, heightened workforce pressures and workload. Scott Morrison has described every death as a “terrible loss” but explained that the high number of deaths is due to people dying “with Covid” but not necessarily “because of Covid”. Anthony Albanese flagged a new national strategy to reduce the deaths if Labor wins the election. Virologists, meanwhile, have accused both Labor and the Liberals of failing to address slowing booster uptake rates amid a creeping “complacency” in pandemic planning. Continue reading...

Amendments made during marathon 12-hour sitting mean bill must return to lower house before becoming law

Phénéas Munyarugarama is second person wanted for their involvement in 1994 mass killings to dieOne of the last five fugitives wanted for his role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Phénéas Munyarugarama, died in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002, UN prosecutors have announced.Munyarugarama, a local army commander, “died of natural causes” and was buried in Kankwala, in the eastern DRC, the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) announced in The Hague. Continue reading...

By demanding Finland and Sweden extradite members of the Kurdish Workers’ party, the president could have one eye on the Turkish electionsAfter initial hesitation about the seriousness of Turkey’s objections, its president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has doubled down on his threat to veto Finland’s and Sweden’s membership of Nato, saying there was no point either country sending delegations to Ankara to persuade him otherwise.On Wednesday, he also extended his demands from the two he outlined on Monday to 10, leading to claims that he us using blackmail. Continue reading...

Fate of soldiers leaving Azovstal steel site unclear and numbers not confirmed by Ukraine

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Mohammed is among first asylum seekers to face removal under Home Office’s controversial schemeIt took Mohammed more than three years and a journey of more than 5,000 miles to reach the UK after fleeing a massacre in his village in Sudan.Now, just over a week after arriving by kayak across the Channel, he is among the first tranche of asylum seekers facing forced removal to Rwanda, on the continent where his journey began. Continue reading...

Prime minister accidentally crashes into under-8s player Luca Fauvette during a campaign visit to the Devonport City Soccer Club in Tasmania

Lichfield MP denies making light of sexual assault and later tweeted some people are ‘professional offence takers’Conservative whips have remonstrated with the Tory MP Michael Fabricant over a tweet in which he appeared to make light of the arrest of a colleague over allegations of rape and sexual assault.It emerged on Tuesday that an unnamed Conservative MP had been arrested on suspicion of indecent assault, sexual assault, rape, abuse of a position of trust and misconduct in public office. Continue reading...

JC, who went on to be the family’s babysitter, has given evidence in a Sydney court where Dawson has pleaded not guilty to killing his wife Lynette in 1982A former student taught by Chris Dawson has told a Sydney court he would call her “petal” and leave secret love letters signed “God” in her schoolbag when she was 16.The woman, known as JC, gave evidence in Dawson’s Sydney murder trial on Wednesday. She said in 1980 he had wanted to teach her after spotting her in the playground. Continue reading...

Phenomenon last seen in March could turn sky orange with thunderstorms, high winds and downpoursA cloud of Saharan dust could create a “blood rain” effect across the UK later this week, as it turns the rain from thunderstorms a shade of red, forecasters have predicted.“Blood rain” occurs when high concentrations of red-coloured dust or particles combine with rain, giving it a red appearance as it falls, according to the Met Office. The red or orange rain is expected in some parts of the UK after moving across Europe, alongside heavy downpours, lightning, strong winds, and hail. Continue reading...

Femme nue Couchée among works by Monet, Cézanne, Gauguin and others to go under hammer for total $166mPaintings by three titans of modern art have sold for a total of almost $166m (£134m) at auction, confirming the buoyancy of the global market.In a sale of modern art at Sotheby’s in New York on Tuesday evening, a total of more than $408m was paid for works by artists including Picasso, Monet, Cézanne, Gauguin, Magritte, Dalí and Renoir. Continue reading...

Troops who were present at Whiskey 108 compound split over whether two men shot dead were murdered or were insurgents killed lawfully

Home Office initially had 100 people on list of Jamaican nationals to be removed, say reportsA Home Office deportation flight to Jamaica took off in the early hours of Wednesday morning with seven people onboard.Some media reports said the Home Office initially had 100 people on the list of Jamaican nationals that officials hoped to remove. Continue reading...

Acting chief executive of Australia’s largest homebuilder says company will continue business as usual after founder’s death

Anger and disbelief within EU at UK’s position given goodwill Boris Johnson has built up over Ukraine

Anthony Albanese says pandemic still ‘major issue’, but Scott Morrison says Australians want to ‘put that in the rear-vision mirror’

Foreign secretary Liz Truss expresses concern at ‘appalling’ accusations against unnamed parliamentarianThe Conservative MP arrested on suspicion of rape and other offences has been bailed, as Liz Truss said she was worried that there were once again “appalling” accusations against a parliamentarian.The MP was arrested on Tuesday after being accused of rape and sexual assault offences spanning seven years between 2002 and 2009. Continue reading...

Officer seriously injured and two men in custody on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harmTwo men have been arrested after a police officer was hit by a van in Merseyside.The van was driven at the officer after he arrived in the St Helens area at about 8.05pm on Tuesday following reports of a rucksack in the road suspected to contain cannabis, Merseyside police said. Continue reading...

Ibac found 41% of files audited contained indicators of bias on behalf of investigators

If Roe v Wade is overturned, it will encourage anti-choice groups – particularly in the developing world, activists warnThe probable demise of abortion as a federal right in the US will be a “catastrophe” for women in low and middle-income countries, with an emboldened anti-choice movement likely to raise renewed pressure on hard-won gains, doctors and activists have warned.The leak this month of the US supreme court’s draft majority opinion, which argued that the 1973 ruling effectively legalising abortion had been “egregiously wrong from the start”, stunned and enraged many in America. Continue reading...

Witness Greg Simms says he wouldn’t want to speak to former teacher and rugby league player who has pleaded not guilty to killing his wife in 1982

European Union’s special envoy cites concerns ‘multilateral rules-based order will not be fully respected’ in regionThe European Union has resolved to step up its defence strategy in the Indo-Pacific region in light of fears about China’s growing presence and concerns for the international order sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.“Our motto is always to cooperate whenever possible, but to defend whenever necessary as well,” said Gabriele Visentin, the EU’s special envoy to the Indo-Pacific. “It’s not directed against a country or another – it’s a way of enhancing our capacity and our credibility in terms of defending our interests.” Continue reading...

Thousands head overseas, partly because of economic conditions, with departures accelerating and labour shortage fearedYoung New Zealanders are leaving in droves as borders reopen and economic conditions tighten at home.The latest data from Stats NZ found that in the year to March, annual net migration was negative, with 7,300 more people leaving than entering. That loss marks a dramatic shift from early in the pandemic when border closures and the relative safety of Covid-free New Zealand prevented many from leaving. In the year to March 2020 there was a record net gain of 91,700. Continue reading...

Scott Morrison says Australia is now ‘living with Covid’ as nation records one of the highest transmission rates in the world

Labor says figures released by the ABS show gap between wage growth and cost of living increases in Australia is now the largest in more than two decades

Know what’s behind the innocent-sounding names of more than 30 minor and micro parties running this federal election, and find out what the lesser-known groups are after – before you cast your vote on the Senate ballot paper

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Public Accounts Committee report says business department efforts to identify fraud came after trails had ‘long ago gone cold’The business department’s handling of Covid support schemes left an “open goal” to fraudsters and embezzlers that has added “billions to taxpayer woes”, parliament’s spending watchdog has found.In its review of the annual report of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it recognised that the government offered crucial support to businesses at the height of the pandemic. Continue reading...

More nurses leave NHS than at any time since Covid struck, many reporting stress as their main reasonMore than 27,000 nurses and midwives quit the NHS last year, with many blaming job pressures, the Covid pandemic and poor patient care for their decision.The rise in staff leaving their posts across the UK – the first in four years – has prompted concern that frontline workers are under too much strain, especially with the NHS-wide shortage of nurses. Continue reading...

State government commits $610,000 to a survey to be held next year as animal ownership rates increase

Man held liable for the Omagh bombing, is due to face charges related to weapons smuggling for the Real IRAThe man found civilly liable for the 1998 Omagh bombing in which 29 people were killed has been extradited to Lithuania after a lengthy legal process.The Irish supreme court ruled last week that Liam Campbell could be extradited to the Baltic country in relation to offences of smuggling, the possession of firearms and terrorism. Continue reading...

Conservative MPs to urge chancellor to tackle inflation with VAT cuts, energy bill support and improved benefitsTory MPs are piling pressure on Rishi Sunak to take decisive action to deal with the cost of living crisis with measures such as cutting VAT, increasing energy bill support and raising benefits, as inflation is forecast to top 9% on Wednesday.A string of Conservatives from across different wings of the party called on the chancellor to intervene within weeks, amid dire economic predictions about the squeeze on households. Continue reading...

Eminent jurists say ahead of election that watchdog crucial to halt ‘serious erosion’ of democratic principles and restore trust in politics

Heads reluctant to increase burden on families already caught in cost of living crisisAt St Jude’s, a small Church of England primary school in south London, the morning breakfast club is exceptionally busy. Over the past six weeks the number of pupils coming in to have porridge, scrambled egg and fruit smoothies before the school day begins has climbed from eight to 22 – nearly a quarter of the Southwark school’s population.Families hit by the cost of living crisis are increasingly desperate, says the acting deputy head, Matt Jones. They need help with their debts; they can’t pay their bills. Staff are making more and more referrals to StepChange, a debt charity, and the school has made discretionary payments to help families unable to afford gas, electricity or nappies. Continue reading...

Analysis: leak blindsided US officials, caused shock waves in Europe and appears to have annoyed No 10Given that it has just announced a bill that could spark a trade war in the middle of a cost of living crisis, it is remarkable how often members of the government say that what they want is for everyone to calm down.The intention to legislate is now formally announced but when the bill will be seen by MPs is intentionally unclear. The Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, says it was never meant to be this week. Of course it wasn’t. Now the only commitment is “before the summer”. Continue reading...

Alex Davies, described in court as the ‘biggest Nazi of the lot’, found to have remained in the group after it was bannedThe founder of a violent neo-Nazi group created to inspire a race war in the UK is facing jail after being found guilty of continuing to be a member of the organisation after it was banned.Alex Davies, 27, who was described in court as the “biggest Nazi of the lot”, formed the group National Action (NA) when he was a teenager and acted as its main recruiter. Continue reading...

While older fans praise teenager’s courage, younger people wonder why football is so behind the timesAs the UK’s first male professional footballer to come out as gay in more than 30 years, the Blackpool forward Jake Daniels’ announcement on Monday night was destined to make an impact. But walking along the town’s promenade on Tuesday, opinion among locals was divided.While older fans praised the courage and strength exhibited by the 17-year-old, barely out of school and newly in the public eye, many younger fans asked “so what?” and called on football as a sport to move more swiftly with the times. Continue reading...

Dr Rosalind Ranson forced out of job and accused of ‘seeking limelight’ after raising Covid concernsThe chief minister of the Isle of Man has expressed his “deep discomfort” after a tribunal found that the island’s medical director had been forced out of her job and suffered “disgraceful” bullying for whistleblowing over the Manx approach to Covid-19.Alfred Cannan, the chief minister since October last year, accepted that the conclusions of Dr Rosalind Ranson’s employment tribunal had “understandably damaged confidence in government.” Continue reading...

Fate of Ukrainian soldiers unclear after evacuation from Mariupol; peace talks stall between Russia and Ukraine

Roger Bilodeau and his son Anthony Bilodeau believed that Jacob Sansom and Maurice Cardinal were thieves, court hearsTwo white Canadian men followed and then shot dead two Indigenous hunters because they believed they were thieves, prosecutors have told a court at the start of a murder trial in Alberta.Roger Bilodeau, 58, and his son Anthony Bilodeau, 33, have both pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder over the deaths of Jacob Sansom and his uncle, Maurice Cardinal in March 2020. Continue reading...

People ‘who do not necessarily pose terrorism risk’ referred to anti-extremism programme to speed up access to supportMental health campaigners have sounded the alarm over a leaked review of anti-extremism programme Prevent, which suggests those without extremist views are being referred to the programme to access faster mental health services.Draft extracts of the leaked report by William Shawcross, seen by the Guardian, warn of a “serious misallocation of resources” and that the programme is being misused because of the strain on mental health provision. Continue reading...