Labor hikes international student visa fees as sector warns of ‘death by 1,000 cuts’

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Australia’s charge out of step with competitors – ‘why would you waste that much money when you have more surety of going to the USA?’

The Albanese government has more than doubled the international student visa application fee from $710 to $1,600 in the latest measure to reduce arrivals to Australia.

The government announced the move on Monday, confirming pre-budget speculation in the tertiary education sector that fee hikes will be used in addition to the international student cap as a means to clamp down on net migration.

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Macron is already over. Can anyone stop Le Pen? – POLITICO Europe

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  1. Macron is already over. Can anyone stop Le Pen?  POLITICO Europe
  2. Macron weakened at home and abroad as an early French election gives the far right momentum  The Associated Press
  3. Emmanuel Macron is about to become unbearable  The Telegraph
  4. How the fall of Macron's centrists has changed France's political landscape  Euronews
  5. A Tiny Circle of Advisers Helped Prod Macron to Take a Giant Risk  The New York Times
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Life at the heart of Japan’s lonely deaths epidemic: ‘I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried’

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Some 68,000 people are expected to die alone and unnoticed in Japan this year, police say, as the population continues to age

“We occasionally greet each other, but that’s all. If one of my neighbours died, I’m not sure I would notice,” says Noriko Shikama, 76. She lives alone in a flat Tokiwadaira, in Tokyo’s commuter belt and has come to the Iki Iki drop-in centre to catch up with residents over cups of coffee served by volunteers.

Here, amid the everyday discussions about the merits or otherwise of dyeing grey hair, people also share news about the latest lonely death, or kodokushi – officially defined as one in which “a person dies without being cared for by anyone, and whose body is found after a certain period”.

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‘Weird and cool’: bilby genome sequence could help to save the species

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Bilbies have the biggest genome of any marsupial, which could be down to how it evolved its incredible sense of smell

Genetic research has revealed the threatened Australian native bilby – with its ridiculously oversized ears and stretched snout – does not only look odd from the outside.

“Bilbies are weird and cool. The genome has been fascinating,” said Prof Carolyn Hogg, of the University of Sydney, who led research that sequenced the greater bilby’s genome for the first time.

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Melbourne airport staff accused of smuggling drugs for organised crime cartels

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Scores of workers allegedly breached security checks, and air crew accused of stashing illegal products in false-bottom suitcases

Dozens of Melbourne airport staff have been accused of working for organised criminals trying to smuggle drugs into Australia.

Aviation workers were the subject of a Border Force investigation targeting criminals in airport supply chains.

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At least 30 dead, more than 100 injured after multiple suicide bombings in Nigeria: Sources – ABC News

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  1. At least 30 dead, more than 100 injured after multiple suicide bombings in Nigeria: Sources  ABC News
  2. Suspected female suicide bombers kill at least 18 in Nigeria  BBC.com
  3. At least 18 killed, dozens injured in Nigeria suicide attacks  Al Jazeera English
  4. Bomb blasts kill at least 18 in Nigeria  CNN
  5. At least 18 people killed in series of suicide attacks in Nigeria  The Guardian
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‘A Classic Example From the Russian Playbook’ – Ukraine at War Update for July 1 – Kyiv Post

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  1. 'A Classic Example From the Russian Playbook' – Ukraine at War Update for July 1  Kyiv Post
  2. Ukraine war briefing: Russia launches attacks on Kharkiv and Kyiv as Zelenskiy appeals for help  The Guardian
  3. Deadly Russian Glide Bomb Hits Postal Sorting Hub in Kharkiv  Bloomberg
  4. One Dead, Nine Wounded in Bombing of Post Office in Ukraine  The Moscow Times
  5. Russia attacks Ukraine's two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv  Yahoo! Voices
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Chinese space rocket crashes in flames after accidental launch

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Company Space Pioneer says first stage of its Tianlong-3 launched during test after ‘structural failure’ and crashed in hills near city of Gongyi

The space rocket of a Chinese private company crashed and exploded into flames near a city on Sunday, after it accidentally launched during a test.

The first stage of the Tianlong-3 rocket left its launch pad due to a structural failure at the connection between the rocket and the test stand, said company Beijing Tianbing, also known as Space Pioneer, in a statement on its official WeChat account. The rocket landed in a hilly area of the city of Gongyi in central China, it said.

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Far-right National Rally in reach of being dominant French party after election first round

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RN has won about 34% of national vote, exit polls suggest, as Marine Le Pen targets absolute majority

Marine Le Pen’s far-right, anti-immigration party is in reach of becoming the biggest political force in the French parliament after a historically high showing in the first round of snap parliament elections.

The left and centrists immediately began to call for tactical voting to try to stop the far-right before next Sunday’s final round runoff, after exit polls indicated the National Rally (RN) had won about 34% of the national vote share with the leftwing alliance in second place and Emmanuel Macron’s grouping trailing in a distant third.

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Jay Slater’s family vow to continue Tenerife search – BBC.com

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  1. Jay Slater's family vow to continue Tenerife search  BBC.com
  2. Jay Slater: Search for missing teenager in Tenerife called off by police  BBC.com
  3. Spanish police hunting for Jay Slater must re-examine Airbnb where he was hours before disappearing and allow  Daily Mail
  4. Jay Slater’s family left ‘in the dark’ & told to use £44k GoFundMe to keep up hunt after ‘PR stunt’ final p...  The Sun
  5. Jay Slater detective finds 'important' new information on missing teen as search ends  Express
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French election: thousands protest far-right results in Paris – as it happened

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The far-right National Rally’s Marine Le Pen will soon address supporters after first estimates put her party in the lead.

With polls now closed, first estimates have been published.

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