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Murray Watt hopes to break down misconceptions between the ALP and rural Australia

State and territory leaders also want the prime minister to address labour and skills shortages following the pandemic

Andrew Giles doesn’t specify when or how Tamil family will be allowed to remain in Australia and blames Coalition for long visa wait times

New program will consist of 30 hours a week of play-based learning for all four-year-olds in both states

Suzie Holt finished fourth on primary vote in the LNP-held seat, but is at 42.89% of 2PP after preferences

Thawing diplomatic relations with China shouldn’t mean ‘taking a backwards step with Beijing’, Human Rights Watch says

Fears grow over the hundreds of civilians believed to be sheltering in the city’s Azot chemical plant

Maroš Šefčovič says Brussels will launch fresh legal action against UK over treaty obligations

Universities looking to stabilise numbers after Covid surge, says Ucas, while grappling with increase in number of 18-year-oldsThe offer rate for A-level students applying to leading universities has dropped significantly, with medicine and dentistry courses even harder to get on to than in previous years, according to data from the Ucas admissions service.Higher-tariff universities, including those in the research-intensive Russell Group, have tightened up their offers, with the proportion of applications that result in an offer down from 60.5% in 2021 to 55.1% this summer. Continue reading...

Passengers across Great Britain told not to attempt to travel on 21, 23 and 25 June unless necessaryNetwork Rail said there was “no real hope” of avoiding the biggest railway strike in 30 years next week, as it told passengers to plan ahead and only travel if necessary.The walkouts are on 21, 23 and 25 June and a special timetable will be in operation from 20 to 26 June. The full timetable will be published on Friday but several operators including Southern, Northern and Transport for Wales have already told passengers not to attempt to travel on strike days. Continue reading...

Internal polling points to two-point deficit – smaller than at same point in victorious North Shropshire campaignThe Liberal Democrats plan to flood Tiverton and Honiton with activists after internal polling suggested the party was only marginally trailing the Conservatives before next week’s byelection in the Devon constituency.A sample carried out by the party, based on tens of thousands of voter contacts, suggested that of people intending to vote on the day of the byelection, the Conservatives had 46% support and the Lib Dems 44%. Continue reading...

The actor, who received an honorary Oscar this year, spoke out against the producers’ handling of the in memoriam section, as well as the choice of presentersSamuel L Jackson has criticised this year’s Oscars ceremony for its handling of the death of pioneering actor Sidney Poitier, as well as their attempts to reach a wider demographic by expanding the pool of presenters.Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Jackson said he was “still a little ticked that the greatest actor we had in Hollywood died and they gave him, what, 10 fucking seconds. No. It should have been a whole Sidney Poitier section.” Continue reading...

Joe Biden working with European governments to avert global crisis and help lower food prices

Martina Patti claimed her child was taken by three men, before confessing a day later in MascaluciaA woman in Sicily has been arrested after admitting killing her four-year-old daughter, having initially claimed the child was taken by hooded kidnappers for a ransom.The body of Elena Del Pozzo was found in a field close to her home in Mascalucia, a town in the province of Catania, on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Copy of film on now antiquated format was previously owned by actor Tom Wilson, who played Biff Tannen in movie seriesA sealed VHS tape of the hit 1980s movie Back to the Future has sold for $75,000 in the first ever auction of the now antiquated video-playing format.The auction, held by Texas-based Heritage Auctions, featured 260 sealed VHS tapes, most of which were first-edition copies of movies from the 70s and 1980s. The Hill reported that the price tag meant the tape was likely the most expensive ever sold. Continue reading...

Virus may be evolving to refavour infecting lung tissue. We assess what this could mean for the course of the pandemicIf you thought Covid-19 was dead and gone, think again. Early signs indicate that the UK may be at the start of a new wave of Covid infections driven by BA.4 and BA.5 – while new data suggests these variants may have evolved to refavour infecting lung tissue, which could make them more dangerous.So what can we expect in the coming weeks and months? Continue reading...

Arrest follows joint operation by Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command and British security servicesSecurity officials trying to thwart Russian spying in Britain have arrested a man at Gatwick airport as he was trying to board a flight to leave the UK.The arrest followed a joint intelligence-led operation by Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command – which deals with arrests for espionage matters – and the British security services. Continue reading...

Australian author denies he is a plagiarist and says he has been ‘influenced by the greats’ of literature

Inquiry hears of residents’ anger that disaster agencies treated flood response as a ‘nine-to-five job’

People who turned to books during Covid lockdowns continuing to buy them, company saysBloomsbury has reported a record year for sales, as the Harry Potter publisher said the pandemic rise in reading had become “permanent” after lockdown measures eased.The company benefited substantially from Covid restrictions when homebound consumers turned to new hobbies, including reading, to pass the time. Continue reading...

Jupp will play opposite Justin Edwards in adaptation of the classic Ealing comedy set to tour the UK this autumnGraham Linehan revived The Ladykillers in 2011, Stephen Mangan became The Man in the White Suit in 2019 and now another Ealing comedy, The Lavender Hill Mob, has been adapted for the theatre.The 1951 film, in which a Bank of England employee and his lodger hatch a plan to purloin a vast amount of gold bullion, will star Miles Jupp and Justin Edwards and tour the UK this autumn. The pair had been due to star together in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s The Comedy of Errors, which was delayed by Covid and staged last summer with a different cast. Continue reading...

Researchers believe the Amphylaeus morosusis bee only recently made the switch from solitary to colony livingThe unusual social life of a native species of Australian bee has shed light on how cooperative behaviours in bees evolved, new research suggests.Flinders University scientists have analysed the behaviour of Amphylaeus morosus, a forest-dwelling bee that lives in small nests of rarely more than two females. Continue reading...

School books will reportedly say China never recognised the treaties that ceded it to colonial powers during opium warsNew Hong Kong textbooks will teach students that the city was never a British colony, after an overhaul of a school subject that authorities have blamed for driving the pro-democracy protests.According to local reports, the new texts will teach students that the Chinese government didn’t recognise the treaties that ceded the city to Britain after the opium wars. They ended in 1997 when Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese control, and therefore the texts claim Hong Kong was never a British colony. Continue reading...

Diabetes UK warns cost of living crisis could aggravate problem and accuses government of ‘letting our children down’The number of children being treated at paediatric diabetes units (PDUs) in England and Wales has increased by more than 50% amid a “perfect storm” of rising obesity levels and the cost of living crisis, health leaders have said.Diabetes UK said alarming obesity levels among children had led to a “concerning climb” in the number diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and predicted that the cost of living crisis could lead to further problems in the years to come. Continue reading...

Experts call for redefinition of breed to curb fixation on excessively short noses and wrinkled skinEnglish bulldogs must be bred with less extreme features to improve their health and to prevent breeding from being banned in the UK on welfare grounds, veterinarians have said.A study by the Royal Veterinary College found that distinctive features of English bulldogs such as their flat faces, protruding lower jaws and folds of skin contribute to them being twice as likely as other breeds to have health problems and substantially shorter lives. Continue reading...

Public sector employees also encouraged to find work overseas and send money home amid unprecedented economic crisisSri Lanka is asking government workers to take an extra day off each week to grow crops in their back yards in a bid to forestall a looming food shortage.An unprecedented economic downturn has left several staple foods in short supply, along with petrol and medicines, and high inflation is ravaging household budgets. Continue reading...

Spikes in aerosols in the stratosphere after volcano erupted in January likely causing unusually vibrant skiesUnusually fiery and vibrant sunrises and sunsets across New Zealand and Australia in recent weeks could be due to aerosols that were hurled up into the stratosphere following Tonga’s volcanic eruption in January.New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospherics (Niwa) has been inundated with messages from people asking what is causing the “strange but beautiful phenomenon”. Continue reading...

‘Small work plan’ is another signal of intensifying security interests in the region, in the wake of Beijing’s security deal with HoniaraNew Zealand is developing its own maritime security “work plans” with Solomon Islands, its defence minister has said, months after news of China’s defence pact with the Pacific nation emerged.New Zealand minister Peeni Henare said in an interview with Newsroom published on Tuesday that the two countries had begun discussions of a work plan, focused on maritime security, after his meeting with Solomon Islands’ national security minister, Anthony Veke, over the weekend. Continue reading...

Peak body labels growth in seclusion and restraint despite royal commission recommendations ‘very disappointing’

US media firm says it has not made contact with Fan who was detained in Beijing in 2020 on suspicion of national security crimesHaze Fan, a Bloomberg News staff member in China who was detained in late 2020, was released on bail early this year, according to a statement by the Chinese embassy in Washington that was dated May and reported by the news organisation on Tuesday.New York-based Bloomberg said in a news report that it was made aware of the embassy statement over the weekend, and that it had not been able to contact Fan. Continue reading...

Landlords who rent out their entire property for longer than 60 days a year will pay 50% more in rates from July

Exclusive: government hired Newgate to devise ‘corporate narrative’ for body criticised as 'accounting sham’

The tourism-dependent Pacific country will reopen with almost no restrictions in July, though there are concerns about lack of airline dealsVanuatu, one of the last Covid hermit nations, is set to open up to international travel, but there are concerns the country is not ready to restart tourism, with a lack of deals with foreign airlines posing a significant problem.From 1 July, international tourists will be able to return to Vanuatu, a country of 300,000 people three hours from Australia, which has had some of the toughest border restrictions in the world through the pandemic. Continue reading...

Suspect is brother of first person held by police over disappearance of the British journalist and indigenous activistPolice in Brazil say they have arrested a second man in connection with “the alleged murder” of the British journalist Dom Phillips and the Brazilian Indigenous defender Bruno Pereira.Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, 41, was arrested on Tuesday and is being held in Atalaia do Norte, the isolated river town Phillips and Pereira were trying to reach when they vanished on Sunday 5 June. Continue reading...

Opposition leader’s transfer to maximum security penal colony known for abuse follows secrecy over his whereaboutsThe imprisoned Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been transferred to maximum-security prison, according to the chairman of a prison monitoring commission.On Tuesday, Navalny was moved to the IK-6 prison in the village of Melekhovo in the Vladimir region, Russian news agencies reported, citing Sergei Yazhan, chairman of the regional Public Monitoring Commission. Continue reading...

Public accounts committee says institutions ‘potentially exposed to significant financial risks’, with 80 declaring annual deficitUniversities in England face danger from financial instability and falling student satisfaction, according to a report by MPs that blames the government and regulators for failing to ensure students receive value for money for their time in higher education.The report, by the public accounts committee (PAC), says some universities are heavily reliant on overseas students’ fees, using that income to cross-subsidise research and other activities – leaving them “potentially exposed to significant financial risks” if international student numbers fail to keep growing. Continue reading...

First flight to Rwanda grounded after lawyers make successful emergency applicationBoris Johnson’s plan to send an inaugural flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda has been abandoned after a dramatic 11th-hour ruling by the European court of human rights.Up to seven people who had come to the UK seeking refuge had been expected to be removed to the east African country an hour and a half before the flight was due to take off. Continue reading...

Stoppage by drivers is preventing the flow of key components in the tech industry and could add to global supply chain problemsA week-long strike by truck drivers in South Korea threatens to be the latest bottleneck in the global supply chain after industry bosses warned that the production of computer chips across Asia faced disruption.With the worldwide flow of goods struggling with hurdles such as lockdowns in China and the war in Ukraine, Tuesday saw the first concrete sign that the strike was affecting South Korea’s world-leading semiconductor sector. Continue reading...

Feared backlash fails to emerge despite leading Conservative warning of international law breachMinisters believe they have largely muted Conservative opposition to the Northern Ireland protocol bill, even though one leading Conservative critic has said no MP should be voting for a breach of international law.Leading opponents of Boris Johnson held off from publicly rejecting the legislation after it was published, despite the government’s fears beforehand that it would provoke a backlash. Continue reading...

Sanaa Seif says UK government is not standing up for her brother Alaa Abd El Fattah, on hunger strike and facing deathThe sister of a British dual national human rights activist held in a Cairo jail and on the 74th day of a hunger strike, on Tuesday urged the UK foreign secretary to publicly demand that Alaa Abd El Fattah is saved from death by being released.Sanaa Seif was speaking at an event attended by Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the released British-Iranian dual national, and Gurpreet Singh, the brother of Jagtar Singh Johal – a Sikh activist from Dunbarton detained by the Indian police nearly five years ago. He has still not been charged and says a confession was extracted under torture. Continue reading...

Paul Erickson to tell Press Club of election-winning strategy including Anthony Albanese’s leadership and stoking ‘mood for change’

Probe ordered into Star’s suitability to hold licence amid construction of Queen’s Wharf developmentOne of Australia’s leading gambling researchers says the business case for Brisbane’s $3.6bn Queen’s Wharf development could possibly collapse if Star Entertainment were to be stripped of its casino licence.The state’s attorney general, Shannon Fentiman, has ordered a probe into the casino operator’s suitability to hold a licence in Queensland after a New South Wales inquiry heard allegations Star had potentially acted criminally. Continue reading...

MPs from Greece’s neo-Nazi organisation return to court eighteen months after original criminal convictionsThe imprisoned protagonists of Greece’s once-powerful neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party will seek to overturn prolonged prison terms in an appeals court trial due to open amid anti-fascist protests in Athens this week.Eighteen months after being convicted of operating a criminal organisation that had masqueraded as a political party, appellate judges will start hearing the case afresh on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Civilians evacuated in ‘quiet’ moments as Russia shifts bulk of military efforts to capturing city

Temperatures could hit 30C or 34C in the south-east and 28C in north-westA heat alert warning has been issued by the Met Office and UK Health Security Agency (UKSA) as temperatures are set to soar to 34C later this week.The forecaster said a level 2 alert has been issued for southern and central England from midnight on Friday until midnight on Sunday, with a lower level 1 alert in place for northern England. Continue reading...

Anger over asylum plan has grown in intensity, with Boris Johnson and Priti Patel under mounting pressureControversy surrounding the government policy of flying asylum seekers to Rwanda has gathered in intensity amid the countdown to the first deportation flight. It has been argued the policy is designed as a “wedge” issue, specifically intended to cause outrage among opponents while shoring up support in the Tory base. But did Boris Johnson and Priti Patel really reckon on uniting monarchy, celebrity and clergy in one alternative opposition? Continue reading...

Infections among workforce lead theatres to cancel performances, with loan repayments, soaring energy prices and the cost of living crisis adding to their woesWith infections on the rise in the UK, theatres are contending with the challenges posed by Covid cases among casts and production teams, leading to postponed opening nights, cancelled performances and substantial costs.Northern Broadsides was forced to cancel performances of As You Like It at the Viaduct in Halifax on Sunday and on three further days this week due to Covid cases, with ticket buyers offered reallocated tickets or a refund. On Monday, Curve in Leicester announced that due to a number of cases among the company of its new production of Billy Elliot: The Musical, performances would now begin on 13 July rather than 7 July. A statement from Curve’s chief executive Chris Stafford and artistic director Nikolai Foster said that valuable preparation time had been lost and the delay would “allow us to make up time in the rehearsal room and ensure we deliver a first-class production for our audiences”. The run has been extended by an extra week and the company are said to now be “fighting fit”. Continue reading...

Aviation sector should ‘take all possible steps’ to avoid travel disruption before summer holidaysAirlines have been told to review their schedules by the government to avoid more flight chaos, as airports and unions said the problems behind recent cancellations would not be fixed by summer.The Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said airlines should ensure flights on sale are “deliverable”, and cancellations should be made “at the earliest possibility”. Continue reading...

UN expert says minors have been beaten and forced to endure mock executionsScores of children have been killed in Myanmar since last year’s coup, not just in the crossfire of conflict but as deliberate targets of a military willing to inflict immense suffering, a United Nations expert said on Tuesday.Minors had been beaten and stabbed and had fingernails or teeth removed during interrogation, while some were made to endure mock executions, according to a report from UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews. Continue reading...