Good morning. It’s Friday 20th May, and here’s a round-up of the latest news.
Red Cross confirms prisoners of war in Mariupol
Confusion still remains about the fate of the remaining Ukrainian fighters inside the steel plant at Mariupol, as Russian forces take control of the port city.
The Red Cross has confirmed it has registered "hundreds" of Ukrainian prisoners-of-war from the Azovstal plant at the request of the parties.
But Russia's government says 1,730 Ukrainian fighters have now surrendered over the past three days, many more than the numbers acknowledged by the Ukrainians since ordering its soldiers to yield.
Ukraine has continually refused to say how many were inside the plant, apart from confirming that just over 250 had surrendered after it first ordered the garrison to stand down.
New multi-billion dollar US package for Ukraine
The United States Senate has voted in favour of a new multi-billion-dollar package of military and economic aid for Ukraine.
The $40 billion is in addition to the $14 billion in funding approved by Congress in March, and is a much larger deal than the $33 billion President Joe Biden had originally asked for.
The Senate approved the funding 86 votes to 11, with every Democrat and all but 11 Republicans backing the measure.
Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell has told the Senate there are much larger issues at stake.
"Aid for Ukraine goes far beyond charity," Mr McConnell said.
"The future of American security and core strategic interests will be shaped by the outcome of this fight. Anyone concerned about the cost of supporting a Ukrainian victory should consider the much larger cost should Ukraine lose."
G7 closer to Ukraine funding agreement
Meanwhile, finance ministers from the Group of Seven leading economies have moved closer to an agreement about their financial backing of Ukraine.
There are unconfirmed reports that the G-7 is considering providing Ukraine with $18.4 billion to cover its short-term needs.
Germany's Finance Minister and host of the meeting, Christian Lindner, says he's hopeful that funding for Ukraine to defend itself will be supported.
"We see a number of double-digit billions, which are needed for the foreseeable future of the next months and I'm quite optimistic that we will be able at this G7 meeting to raise funding which allows Ukraine to defend itself over the next months," Mr Lindner said.
Monique Ryan to take legal action against AEC
A candidate in the federal election is taking legal action over a loophole that could affect the rights of thousands of people with COVID-19 to vote in Saturday's poll.
Independent candidate for Kooyong Monique Ryan has begun a crowd-funding campaign to take Special Minister of State, Ben Morton, to the Federal Court over voting rules for those who are COVID-19 positive.
Thousands have been advised by the Australian Electoral Commission to apply for a postal ballot because of when they tested positive.
But many were not able to apply for a postal vote and remain ineligible to vote using a special AEC phone line.
Ms Ryan says at least 201,000 people — or 1.2 per cent of the electoral roll — are affected by this voting loophole.
Final day of the campaign trail
Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese begin their final day of campaigning today on opposite sides of the country, ahead of Saturday's federal election.
The Opposition leader begins his day in Sydney before a three-state blitz of marginal seats held by the Coalition.
The prime minister begins day 40 of his campaign in the west, in a final appeal to voters in Perth.
The latest opinion poll showed a tightening of the race between both leaders, with Labor holding a narrow lead over the Liberal National party on a primary vote.
New data on women's unemployment
Experts say a fall in the official unemployment rate can be explained by a decrease in the female labour participation rate.
The official rate was confirmed at 3.9 per cent on Thursday, a slight decrease from the earlier rate of 4.0 per cent.
But around 80,000 women have given up looking for work, with the female labour force participation rate moving from 62.4 per cent in February 2022 to 62.1 per cent in April.
University of Sydney business school Professor John Buchanan told SBS News the unemployment figures don't necessarily reflect the reality.
"Clearly, it's better to be lower than higher, but we've got to look at this wider range of measures, particularly those giving up on work altogether. And remember, there's been a lot of talk lately about the need for - to support women," Mr Buchanan said.
"A long-term effect of COVID has been rising absenteeism rates and rising levels of illness, and I suspect that a big part of that drop in the participation rate is not just a lack of work but a need for carers, and in our society unfortunately women carry most of the caring burden."
Australian sets new 200m breaststroke record
Twenty-three-year-old Australian Zac Stubblety-Cook has broken the men's 200 metre breaststroke world record at the Australian Swimming Championships in Adelaide.
The Brisbane-born athlete shaved 0.17 of a second off the previous record set by Russian Anton Chupkov in 2019 and became the first to swim the race in under two minutes and six seconds.
On the same night, Kyle Chalmers indicated a change of heart over his intention to swim at the FINA world championships in Budapest next month.
Chalmers had said he wouldn't swim at the world titles, but now says he will, which means pop star Cody Simpson will be denied his international swimming debut because only the top two in each final can be selected for the national team.
