Australia news live: Woodside braces for shareholder revolt over climate plan; NSW settles class action with $230m offer to underpaid junior doctors

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Settlement of $229.8m is the largest underpayment class action outcome in Australian legal history. Follow the day’s news live

Inspired by similar protests in the United States, students from Sydney University established a protest on the quad in support of Palestine last night, stating they will remain until the uni cuts ties “with Israeli universities and weapons manufacturers”.

In the US, dozens of students have been arrested at pro-Palestine demonstrations at Yale University and New York University amid similar protests:

For six months now, we have watched bombs rain down on Gaza. These bombs hit their civilian targets because of the research carried out by universities like Sydney University... Students have a responsibility to stand up and refuse to be complicit in genocide.

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US Senate passes $95bn aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan

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The Senate, in a bipartisan super-majority, overwhelmingly voted to advance the measure, which Joe Biden is expected to sign

The US Senate voted resoundingly on Tuesday to approve $95bn in wartime aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as a bipartisan super-majority united to send the long-stalled package to Joe Biden’s desk for signature. The final vote was 79 to 18.

The bill easily cleared a key procedural hurdle earlier in the day. The Senate overwhelmingly voted to advance the measure in a step hailed by the Senate majority leader as “one of the greatest achievements the Senate has faced in years”.

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Molly Ticehurst: review ordered into court decisions made before Forbes woman’s alleged murder

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Chris Minns to announce details of review after court hears the man charged with her murder was on bail for other offences

The New South Wales government has ordered a review of the decisions a court made to bail a man facing charges of raping and stalking Molly Ticehurst, and who has subsequently been charged with her murder.

The premier, Chris Minns, said he would announce the details of the review on Wednesday after Daniel Billings was charged with the domestic violence murder of his 28-year-old ex-girlfriend.

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Australia’s inflation rate slows less than expected to 3.6%, dimming hopes of interest rate relief

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Economists had tipped CPI growth for the March quarter of 0.8%, and an annual inflation rate of 3.5%

Australia’s inflation rate slowed less than expected in the March quarter, dimming hopes the cost of living crunch was easing and chances of a 2024 cut in official interest rates.

The consumer price index for the first three months of 2024 was 3.6%, slowing from the 4.1% annual pace in the December quarter, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. Economists had tipped CPI would drop to 3.5%.

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Russian minister detained after taking especially large bribe, law enforcement agency says

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Deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov, who has been sanctioned by US and EU, faces up to 15 years in jail

A Russian deputy defence minister has been detained on suspicion of bribe-taking, the country’s top law enforcement agency has said, a rare move amid the offensive in Ukraine.

The investigative committee reported Timur Ivanov’s detention on Tuesday without offering any details of the accusations against him, saying only that he is suspected of taking an especially large bribe – a criminal offence punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

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Summer Lee wins Pennsylvania primary in victory for progressives

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The significant victory for the ‘Squad’ member comes amid concerns of pro-Israel funding targeting pro-ceasefire candidates

Summer Lee, a Pennsylvania congresswoman, easily beat back a primary challenge on Tuesday, delivering progressives one of their most significant victories yet of this election cycle as they brace for a wave of pro-Israel funding targeting pro-ceasefire candidates.

The Associated Press called the 12th district Democratic primary at 9.21pm, roughly an hour and an half after Pennsylvania polls closed at 8pm ET.

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Athens swallowed up by orange haze from Sahara dust storm

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Authorities in Greece warn the dust concentrations can reduce sunlight and visibility, while increasing levels of fine pollution particles pose health risks

Clouds of dust blown in from the Sahara covered Athens and other Greek cities on Tuesday, one of the worst such episodes to hit the country since 2018, officials said.

A yellow-orange haze smothered several regions after days of strong winds from the south, limiting visibility and prompting warnings from the authorities of breathing risks.

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Cobram death: homicide detectives launch investigation after woman’s body found in Victoria

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Police say a man is in custody after the body of a woman, 49, was found near NSW border on Tuesday

Victorian homicide detectives are investigating the death of a woman after her body was discovered in the state’s north on Tuesday.

Emergency services were called to an address on Campbell Road in Cobram, near the border between Victoria and New South Wales, at about 2.15pm.

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Plane crashes into river in Alaska, officials say

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Two people were onboard Douglas DC-4 that went down near Fairbanks on Tuesday, authorities say

A Douglas DC-4 airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday and burst into flames, authorities said. No survivors have been found, Alaska state troopers said.

The plane took off in the morning from Fairbanks international airport. It crashed about 7 miles (11km) from there and “slid into a steep hill on the bank of the river where it caught fire,” according to Alaska state troopers.

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US priest accused of raping teen in 1975 not fit to stand trial, psychiatrists say

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Retired Lawrence Hecker, 92, charged in New Orleans, has memory loss and should be re-evaluated at later date, report finds

A 92-year-old retired Catholic priest charged with strangling a teenager and raping him in a New Orleans church in 1975 has short-term memory loss that prevents him from assisting in his defense, according to a team of forensic psychiatrists whose findings could influence whether one of Louisiana’s most prominent cases of clergy abuse is ever tried.

In a report which has not been publicly released but was reviewed Tuesday by WWL Louisiana and the Guardian, the psychiatrists said the priest – Lawrence Hecker – should not be tried for now on rape, kidnapping, crimes against nature and theft charges until he is re-evaluated later.

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England childcare scheme may struggle to deliver places, finds ‘damning’ report

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Watchdog says only a third of local authorities are confident they will have enough places for September

The deployment of the government’s childcare scheme to tens of thousands more families is facing “significant uncertainties” and may struggle to meet its own targets, according to a report by Whitehall’s spending watchdog.

The National Audit Office revealed the Department for Education (DfE) had assessed the likelihood of being able to deliver the funded childcare places it promised for September 2024 and 2025 as “amber/red problematic”.

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Ethnic minorities in England ‘need more GP visits’ before cancer diagnosis

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One in five people on average need at least three interactions – but for ethnic minorities figure rises to one in three

Ethnic minorities and young people require more visits than other people to the GP before being diagnosed with cancer, according to new analysis.

On average, one in five people across England require three or more GP interactions before being diagnosed with cancer. But for people from ethnic minority backgrounds, the figure rises to one in three, according to analysis of the NHS cancer patient experience 2022 survey by QualityWatch, a joint programme from the Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation.

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At least 21 migrants dead after boat capsizes off coast of Djibouti

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Children among those killed in second fatal incident in two weeks close to the Horn of Africa, says UN agency

At least 21 people have died after a boat capsized off the coast of Djibouti, the UN’s migration agency has said.

It was the second fatal maritime accident in two weeks off the Horn of Africa nation, which lies on the perilous so-called eastern migration route from Africa to the Middle East.

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Mother of Nottingham stabbing victim criticises police officer’s comments

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Open letter says ‘callous and degrading’ police group WhatsApp message caused ‘more trauma than you can imagine’

The mother of one of the Nottingham attack victims has written an open letter to members of a police WhatsApp group in which a message was posted describing her son as being “properly butchered”.

Emma Webber, the mother of Barnaby Webber, 19, who with Grace O’Malley-Kumar, 19, and Ian Coates, 65, was stabbed to death by Valdo Calocane, has written to the Nottinghamshire police officer who she says posted graphic details of the victims’ injuries in the chat group.

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London Marathon ‘wine guy’ on how he sampled 25 wines during race

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Vintner Tom Gilbey raised more than £13,000 for hospice charity with challenge that went viral on social media

A wine merchant who blind tasted a different glass of wine at each mile of the London Marathon has said he feels “honoured” his challenge went viral on social media, as he surpassed his fundraising target.

Tom Gilbey, nicknamed “the wine guy”, sampled 25 glasses of wine during the race, stopping to guess the drink’s grape variety, country of origin and vintage at each mile.

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‘England is hope’: some say they will try again – despite Channel deaths

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Attempt to cross via overcrowded dinghy from Wimereux aborted after engine stalls and five people drown

They could have been on a school trip. Fifty teenagers from Vietnam, dressed for the biting cold in puffer jackets, smart trainers and woolly beanies, sat on the pavement by the bus shelter outside Gare Calais listening to music and watching videos on their smartphones.

They were waiting for the 423 bus to take them back to a forest outside Dunkirk, where they have been staying at night with about a thousand others. It had been a disappointing morning for the group.

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Humanitarian groups demand safe routes to UK after five deaths in Channel

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UN and Council for Europe add voices to outcry as more people drown within hours of ‘cruel’ Rwanda bill being passed

Humanitarian groups have called for new safe routes to Britain after five people died trying to cross the Channel within hours of ministers passing the controversial Rwanda bill.

A child and four adults drowned on Tuesday while trying to reach the UK in a boat from Wimereux, in France. More than 110 people were said to have been on board the vessel when it left the French coastline at 5am.

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Welsh government may reverse 20mph limit on hundreds of roads – but denies U-turn

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Minister admits mistakes have been made but says speed limit will remain in high-risk areas

Hundreds of roads and streets where a 20mph speed limit was introduced under a controversial law could be returned to 30mph, as the Labour-led government admitted mistakes had been made over the policy.

The Welsh government denied it had performed a U-turn and insisted the default 20mph for roads in built-up areas would remain to prevent deaths and save the NHS money.

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UK government dementia adviser resigns over prosecutions of carers

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Johnny Timpson says he wants to ‘take a stand’ after revelations thousands of unpaid carers are being forced to pay huge fines

One of Rishi Sunak’s dementia advisers has resigned over the government’s approach towards unpaid carers, describing the prosecutions of vulnerable people as “beyond the pale”.

Johnny Timpson, who advised No 10 on its dementia strategy, said he wanted to “take a stand” after the Guardian revealed that tens of thousands of unpaid carers were being fined huge sums and in some cases prosecuted for minor infringements of earnings rules.

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