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UN agency says most arriving in UK by small boat should not be called migrants, in challenge to Priti PatelThe UN refugee agency has said “a clear majority” of people arriving in the UK by small boats across the Channel should be considered to be refugees, in a challenge to the home secretary, Priti Patel.Patel told MPs and peers last year that 70% of people making the crossing were “single men who are effectively economic migrants”, and the government has repeatedly referred to them as “migrants”. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson allies seize on Tobias Ellwood’s comments to say Brexit would not be safe with rebel Tories

Conservative MSPs criticise rivals’ ‘petty, student politics’ while republicans praise boycottRepublican campaigners have applauded a decision by Scottish Green MSPs to boycott a Scottish parliament debate celebrating the platinum jubilee by walking out en masse.All seven Scottish Green MSPs, including two government ministers – Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater – left the Holyrood chamber as Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister and Scottish National party leader, led celebrations of the Queen’s 70 years as monarch. Continue reading...

Jubilee getaway congestion expected as Grant Shapps holds ‘productive’ meeting with airline companiesBritain’s holidaymakers face further road travel woes as the four-day bank holiday gets under way, adding to the ongoing disruption at airports and some railway stations.More than 19 million drivers are expected to take to the roads over the platinum jubilee weekend, according to a survey by the AA. Continue reading...

Ex-PM Peter O’Neill criticises timing of foreign minister’s visit, saying no agreements should be signed with Beijing before pollChina’s top diplomat has begun his visit to Papua New Guinea in the midst of the island’s national election as Beijing races to salvage a controversial deal in a battle of influence with Australia and other western powers.The visit of Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, came a few days after a proposed economic and security deal collapsed on Monday. But his visit has also been criticised by the former Papua New Guinea prime minister Peter O’Neill, who is campaigning to take back the top job, in a series of media interviews, during which he said no agreements should be signed with China before the national election. Continue reading...

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claims 200,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly taken to RussiaThe western Ukrainian city of Lviv has commemorated the children killed during the Russian invasion. Titled “excursion that will never happen”, the city’s memorial featured empty school buses with stuffed toys strapped into seats to represent each of the 243 children so far claimed to be lost in the war.On Wednesday Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, made note of International Children’s Day during his nightly video address to the nation, saying that since Russia began its latest invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, Ukraine’s emergency services had counted 243 children as killed, 446 wounded and 139 missing. Continue reading...

Jurors in US court ruled in favour of Depp’s claim of defamation on three counts after seven-week trialThe actor Amber Heard is reported to be planning an appeal after losing a defamation trial against her former husband Johnny Depp over allegations of domestic abuse.Jurors in a Virginia court ruled in favour of Depp’s claim of defamation on three counts, awarding the Pirates of the Caribbean actor $15m (£12m), which was later reduced by the judge to $10.35m. Continue reading...

Home secretary urges everyone to ‘rally behind’ celebrations, as letters of no confidence believed to near trigger pointPriti Patel has suggested Tory plotters against the prime minister risk overshadowing the Queen’s jubilee celebration in the latest intervention from Boris Johnson’s cabinet supporters to try to head off a confidence vote in the prime minister.Speaking to the Daily Mail, the home secretary urged those pushing for Johnson to resign to “forget it” and warned that writing letters against him was a “sideshow”. Continue reading...

Scathing report finds Department of Social Services has not demonstrated the program is meeting objectives

Tanya Plibersek seeks ‘urgent briefing’ over Coalition scrapping of recovery plans; NSW man diagnosed with monkeypox; nation records 57 Covid deaths. Follow all the day’s news

Delay of up to three weeks possible for trial of Bruce Lehrmann, who has pleaded not guilty to assaulting Higgins in Parliament House in 2019

The 73-year-old, who was sentenced in 2014 to a maximum of 10 years and nine months in prison, has been granted parole and will be deported to UK upon releaseDisgraced Hey Dad! actor and convicted child sex offender Robert Hughes has been granted parole and will be deported to the United Kingdom after his release from jail this month.Hughes, who starred as Martin Kelly in the TV comedy from 1987 to 1994, was sentenced in 2014 to a maximum of 10 years and nine months in prison, which is due to expire in January 2025. Continue reading...

Britons expected to take advantage of four-day break to splash out on street parties and nights outThe jubilee weekend is expected to deliver a £6bn-plus boost to high streets and hospitality businesses as Britons take advantage of the four-day break to splash out on street parties and nights out.Revellers are expected to spend more than £2bn on food and drink supplies alone, while pubs, bars and restaurants are hoping to ring up almost £3bn in sales, research suggests, as the two bank holidays combine with half-term breaks for most schools in England and Wales. Continue reading...

She has carried out more than 21,000 engagements during her reign and sent 300,000 birthday messages to centenarians1. Elizabeth’s birth in 1926 was attended by the home secretary. She became heir to the throne aged 10. She never went to school.2. Elizabeth was given her first corgi, Susan, on her 18th birthday in 1944. Susan once bit the ankle of a royal clockwinder, Leonard Hubbard, and has her own Wikipedia page, with sections including “royal life” and “death and legacy”. Continue reading...

Tourists suffered severe hold-ups at airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and BristolHolidaymakers who battled lengthy queues and delays leaving the UK could encounter further problems on their return journey as hubs in Europe and the US struggle with their own travel disruption.Tourists have faced severe hold-ups at UK airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham as they took advantage of relaxed Covid travel restrictions to enjoy a break at half-term. Continue reading...

Severe undercounting undermines our efforts to ‘understand and get ahead of the virus’, researcher says after New York surveyThe United States is now in its fourth-biggest Covid surge, according to official case counts – but experts believe the actual current rate is much higher.America is averaging about 94,000 new cases every day, and hospitalizations have been ticking upward since April, though they remain much lower than previous peaks. Continue reading...

Ita Buttrose previously branded investigation of complaints handling ‘an act of political interference’

Person 81 tells court he did not observe any conduct by Roberts-Smith and two other soldiers that caused him suspicion they had murdered anyone

Regional matters must be taken to Pacific Islands Forum, says Fiame Naomi Mata’afa after countries declined deal with Beijing

Analysis: both sides agree grain must reach world markets soon but each wants to decide howIn a game of diplomatic cat and mouse, Russia and the west are coming up with similar if sometimes competing ideas for how Ukraine’s badly needed grain can be given safe passage through the Black Sea and on to the world markets. They are also competing to win the battle for world opinion if the plans collapse.Both sides are busy diplomatically across Africa and the Middle East trying to portray their adversary as the culprit for spiralling food and fertiliser prices. Russia and Ukraine export more than a quarter of the world’s wheat, while Russia is the world’s top fertiliser exporter. The World Bank’s Fertiliser Price Index rose nearly 10% in the first quarter of 2022, to an all-time high in nominal terms. Continue reading...

African state that signed deal with UK to host asylum seekers perpetrates ‘transnational repression’, Freedom House report saysRwanda has been accused of being among the worst perpetrators of “transnational repression” in the US, stalking, harassing and threatening exiles there, according to a new report.The report by the Freedom House advocacy group in Washington, names Rwanda alongside China, Russia, Iran and Egypt as the principal offenders in seeking to extend the reach of their repressive regimes into the US. Continue reading...

Police arrest man and woman over alleged traffic incident involving pedestrian on Stuart Highway on Darwin’s outskirts

Nick Coyle says monthly consular visits by Australian officials were suspended because of China’s strict Covid-19 protocols

Finn now on crossbench after Liberals expelled him over Facebook post saying abortion should be banned even for rape survivors

Russia hits back at US supply of medium-range rocket systems; Russian forces control two-thirds of Sievierodonetsk; Ukraine suffers 100 casualties a day

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereAway from the war in their homeland, Ukraine’s men’s football team are competing for a place in this year’s Fifa World Cup in Qatar. Nick Ames writes for us:When Ukraine face Scotland at Hampden Park tonight it will be less a rebirth than a reminder that, much as Russia might wish to erase the country’s cultural identity, its football heritage remains truly alive. The act of playing for a World Cup place on Wednesday night, and over the next five days if all goes well, is both one of defiance and of expectation that, despite everything, good things can lie ahead. Continue reading...

New prime minister says ‘not all foreign affairs is best done with a loud hailer’ when asked if he will intervene on behalf of the WikiLeaks cofounderAustralian government backbenchers hope the new prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will stay “true to his values” and press the US to drop the case against Julian Assange.Albanese has previously expressed concern about the US government’s efforts to try the WikiLeaks cofounder in connection with the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, as well as diplomatic cables.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...

Attorney general Mark Speakman says state’s drug laws are ‘clearly not working’ as he pushes case for reform

Person 81, the troop commander during event central to the trial, says he was not informed of any insurgents killed at the timeThe most senior SAS officer called to give evidence by Ben Roberts-Smith in his defamation trial has contradicted another of Roberts-Smith’s key witnesses over the death of a man during a 2009 raid on an Afghan compound.Person 81, a serving senior officer in the SAS and a 25-year veteran of the military, is the final of 40 witnesses called in Roberts-Smith’s year-long defamation trial. Continue reading...

Co-founder of Multiverse believes ‘obsession with the academic’ is holding some people back

Gareth Bale, Eve Muirhead, Bonnie Tyler and Chi-chi Nwanoku among honourees from arts and sportFootball commentator Rio Ferdinand and actor Damian Lewis are among well-known faces from the worlds of sport and the arts recognised in the platinum jubilee Queen’s birthday honours.Lewis, 51, star of Band of Brothers, Homeland and Wolf Hall, receives a CBE for services to drama and charity. During the coronavirus lockdown he and his late wife, the actor Helen McCrory, co-founded Feed NHS, helping to raise more than £1m to give food from high street restaurants to NHS staff. The honour comes after McCrory, 52, a star of stage and screen including roles in Peaky Blinders and the Harry Potter films, died in April 2021 after suffering from cancer. Continue reading...

After preselection chaos, party is pointing fingers at the state executive, Alex Hawke, Scott Morrison – and Covid restrictions

Fighting continues in key eastern city as Zelenskiy says up to 100 Ukrainian soldiers dying each day

European Commission to decide whether Poland has met requirements to reform its legal systemThe European Commission is poised to approve a long-delayed Covid recovery plan for Poland, overriding concerns that Warsaw is making cosmetic changes to its heavily criticised legal system to unlock EU cash.The commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, is expected to sign the agreement in Warsaw on Thursday, although Poland will have to initiate further judicial reforms to access €36bn (£30.68bn) in recovery grants and loans. Continue reading...

Comedian, 85, is not attending trial at which he is accused of forcing Judy Huth to perform sex act at Playboy Mansion in 1975Bill Cosby will again be facing sex abuse allegations on Wednesday as attorneys give opening statements in a civil trial that is one of the last remaining legal claims against the comedian.Lawyers for 64-year-old Judy Huth will outline the evidence they plan to present that Cosby forced her to perform a sex act at the Playboy Mansion in 1975 when she was 16 years old. The case will hinge on the testimony of Huth, bolstered by photos and other archival exhibits to place the incident in time. Continue reading...

Passengers face more delays going into extended platinum jubilee bank holidayBritish Airways and easyJet cancelled more than 150 flights to and from the UK on Wednesday, as holidaymakers faced further departure lounge delays going into the extended Queen’s platinum jubilee bank holiday.BA cancelled at least 124 short-haul flights at Heathrow airport, although the airline said passengers were given advance notice. Continue reading...

Figures for England and Wales show that in year to April 2021, 92% of complaints resulted in no actionOnly one in every hundred complaints against police officers have resulted in proceedings, new figures disclose.Data released on Wednesday by the Home Office showed there were 14,393 complaints against officers in England and Wales in the year to 1 April 2021. Continue reading...

Holyrood committee hears evidence on draft bill aiming to streamline people’s ability to legally change sexThe process for reforming gender recognition law in Scotland has so far been “exceptionally poor and a recipe for bad law”, opposition campaign groups and policy analysts have told a Holyrood committee.Addressing the committee taking evidence on a draft bill that aims to streamline the process by which an individual can change their legal sex, the groups raised concerns about cis women excluding themselves from women-only services over fears of encountering a transgender individual, and suggested that young people were being “confused” by celebrities who came out as queer or non-binary. Continue reading...

Move to ease inflation threatens city-state’s de-facto national dish of poached chicken and riceSupplies of Singapore’s beloved de-facto national dish, chicken and rice, are under threat after neighbouring Malaysia banned exports of the meat in an attempt to ease domestic price increases.The Malaysian prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, announced last week that the country would block exports of 3.6 million chickens a month from 1 June to stabilise supply at home. The ban is expected to lead to price increases and shortages in Singapore, which relies upon Malaysia for a third of its poultry imports. Continue reading...

You may not be a monarchist but, from cake to conversation, there’s lots to enjoySo you’re a republican. You agree with Polly Toynbee that Elizabeth II should be Elizabeth the Last. And the prospect of wall-to-wall jubilee celebrations fills you with dread.But still … you like bank holidays. So, how do you survive the next four days? Continue reading...

Scent familiar to ‘generations of local residents’ becomes example of emerging field of ‘olfactory heritage’

Tweed shire mayor Chris Cherry says mitigation and levees only go so far and relocations are needed

Brendan Leigh Russell found guilty in November of manslaughter and grievous bodily harm

Reports of cheers at an advance screening as Hollywood risks anger in Beijing at depiction on apparel of Cruise’s Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ MitchellWhen the trailer for Top Gun: Maverick was first released online, keen-eyed viewers noticed a key detail from the 1986 original had changed: Taiwanese and Japanese flag patches on the back of a jacket worn by Tom Cruise appeared to have gone, leading to speculation they were removed to appease China’s censors.But the two flags remain in the cut being screened in Taiwan, with local news outlet Setn reporting that audiences at an advance screening cheered and applauded at the sight of the jacket. The inclusion of the flags left “many Taiwanese viewers moved, surprised and delighted”, Setn reported. Continue reading...

Logistics industry must ‘get house in order’ within two years to curb driver shortage caused by Covid and BrexitThe road haulage industry should be given a two-year deadline to upgrade facilities for lorry drivers, with clean showers, healthy food and spaces for female drivers, or face a new tax, ministers have been told.On Wednesday, a cross-party group of MPs called for the logistics industry to “get its house in order” by improving overnight facilities for drivers and providing new training routes to recruit more truckers from diverse backgrounds. It comes as the sector struggles with a lack of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers, leading to regular fuel shortages at petrol pumps and empty shelves in supermarkets. Continue reading...

Rural areas now have 84,600 unfilled jobs, far exceeding the 2011 peak, despite constraints of limited housing

Oaxaca state counts cost of strongest hurricane ever to come ashore in May during eastern Pacific hurricane seasonHurricane Agatha caused flooding and mudslides that killed at least 10 people and left 20 missing, the governor of the southern state of Oaxaca said on Tuesday.Alejando Murat said rivers overflowed their banks and swept away people in homes, while other victims were buried under mud and rocks. Continue reading...

GDP figures show annual rate of growth in the Australian economy declined from 4.2% in December quarter to 3.3% in first three months of 2022Australia’s economic growth slowed in the March quarter as rising spending by households, businesses and governments could not counter a dive in net exports.In the first three months of 2022, gross domestic product rose to an annual rate of 3.3%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. That eased from the earlier reported annual pace of 4.2% and compared with about 3% forecast by economists. Continue reading...