Good morning. Fears mount for the defenders of Mariupol as Russian troops enter the besieged city’s Azovstal steel plant. On the Australian election trail, Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese will be out in Sydney, with jobs and childcare on the agenda.
Contestants in the north Queensland seat of Herbert have condemned One Nation for running a candidate who lives in outer Melbourne, with independent Angela Egan saying she was “flabbergasted and disgusted” and Katter’s Australian party’s Clynton Hawks reviling a “ring-in from three states away”. Analysts suggest declining party memberships plus additional competition among the libertarian right could explain One Nation’s scramble to field candidates in a state it still hopes to yield a Senate seat. With the election seemingly tightening, both Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg have warned of the “chaos” of a potential hung parliament, but a Guardian Australia analysis suggests minority governments have enjoyed relative success passing legislation. And, as Paul Daley writes, stark differences remain between Labor and the Liberals, not least their ability to wrangle a potentially rowdy 47th parliament.
Up to 600 people are now believed to have been killed in Russia’s bombing of a theatre in Mariupol in March, a number double that previously estimated. Contact has been lost with Ukrainian defenders of the Azovstal steelworks – a symbol of the city’s ongoing resistance to heavy Russian shelling. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has called for Vladimir Putin to pay “a high price for his brutal aggression”, with the EU proposing a ban on Russian oil imports. Oil revenue from the EU has handed the Kremlin an estimated €21bn (A$31bn) since the conflict started. Hungary and Slovakia have voiced opposition to the move.
Joe Biden has slammed Trumpian Republican supporters as “the most extreme political organisation in American history”. The president’s comments came in response to the shock leaking of a supreme court draft ruling that would move to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade case, which guaranteed the right to abortion. The news has prompted a wave of protests outside courts across the US, with leading Democrats discussing option of codifying abortion rights into law via the US Congress instead.
Australia
Conservationists have accused the NSW Liberals of caving in to their Coalition partners, the Nationals, over koala habitat preservation. Under new rules core koala habitat is protected from logging but there is a lengthy list of exemptions.
Regional Australians living in areas historically sustained by fossil fuel industries are “overwhelmingly” acknowledging the need to transition, a report claims. But local workers have expressed concerns that new industries could adversely affect working conditions.
Victoria’s population is poised to reverse pandemic declines, with increasing migration from overseas and returning international students set to return growth to pre-pandemic levels by mid 2024. Interstate migration is also tipped to rise, due to the state’s favourable liveability ratings.
The world
The son of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos leads just days out from the nation’s presidential election, withe polls suggesting Ferdinand Marcos Jr is favoured to win, despite a history of corruption and human rights abuse during his father’s 21-year rule, including nine under martial law.
The US Federal Reserve has moved sharply to act against inflation, issuing a 0.5 percentage points rise in the benchmark interest rate – the largest single raise since 2000, and a first increase since 2018.
Splits are emerging within Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats over the country’s mooted Nato membership, with leading ministers reportedly loath to reverse nearly 200 years of neutrality.
Recommended reads
For those trapped in the cycle of insecure renting, meeting mortgage repayments amid looming interest rates rises is a daunting prospect. But as Jordyn Beazley writes, Labor’s Help to Buy election promise could just make a difference. And there’s a real-world example of this already happening in outer Melbourne: “It allows you security of tenure, it’s your house … And on a monthly basis, you’re spending, in some cases, substantially less than you would if you’re in the private rental market.”
Every month Guardian Australia adds 20 of Australia’s best new songs to a Spotify playlist. And if you love Mallrat and Azealia Banks then we’ve got a treat in store for you. Plus the Gold Coast quintet Pure Milk, the seemingly irrepressible Lisa Mitchell and the long-awaited return of Daniel Johns, curated by Nathan Jolly.
The internet is very different once you hit 40. But that isn’t daunting this week’s guest curator of our 10 funniest things on the internet, Carl Donnelly, because even if you’d not au fait with TikToks, there are still plenty of guffaws kicking round YouTube. Come for the puppet corpsing, stay for accents good and bad.
Listen
Australia’s Covid cases per capita figure is among the highest in the world. But new antiviral treatments are offering hope for the immunocompromised – if they can access them. On this episode of Full Story, medical editor Melissa Davey examines the challenges surrounding the treatments.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Real Madrid and Manchester City are scrapping for their chance to contest the Champions League final, with the two sides deadlocked a short time ago during their second-leg semi-final clash. Catch the latest action and reaction, with our live blog.
Media roundup
Long-running industrial action from NSW nurses is expected to fail after the state’s Labor opposition backflipped to support the government’s position, the Sydney Morning Herald says. Scott Morrison has vowed to create 400,000 new family businesses in the next five years, the Australian reports, by lowering energy bills and general overheads. And an “extreme power” imbalance between landlords and renters is driving many home hunters to accept shoddy repairs and sky-high prices, the Adelaide Advertiser claims, with analysts describing the state’s rental market as “broken”.
And if you’ve read this far …
Courts and protesters aren’t usually the best of bedfellows. But a Dublin court has praised “the nicest and most courteous” malcontents – two octogenarian anti-war protesters who broke into an Irish airport base in an attempt to block US military aircraft.
Sign up
If you would like to receive the Guardian Australia morning mail to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com.
Discover Australian Weekend
Every Saturday from 6am, enjoy early access to the best journalism planned for the weekend in one elegant app, plus a curated selection of the week’s news and analysis from Australia and the world.
