TRANSCRIPT:
- Preparations underway to mark the weekend funeral of Pope Francis with special services in Australia;
- The UK to host peace negotiations for Ukraine in the coming hours;
- Collingwood captain Darcy Moore to miss the Anzac Day blockbuster with Essendon.
Australians are making plans to mark the funeral of Pope Francis over the weekend with dedicated mass services.
Catholics from Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains will attend a service at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Parramatta on Sunday.
Similar services planned across the country.
Bishop John Panam-thotta-thil from Melbourne's Syro-Malabar Eparchy of St Thomas the Apostle has told SBS Malayalam that this period of mourning is an important moment for his congregation - and Catholics around the world.
"He loved the poor people. And he loved the marginalised - people who were sidelined. And that was why he was described as the conscience of this world. And really we lost this real grace of this world. That's why the entire world is saddened. Let's pray for the departed soul of Pope Francis."
.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy will host US and European negotiators in the coming hours for fresh talks on peace in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says a Ukrainian delegation meeting officials from Western countries in London will have a mandate to discuss a full or partial ceasefire.
Mr Zelenskyy says he has not received a proposal from Donald Trump outlining specific steps towards ending the fighting.
But the Ukrainian President says once that is in hand, he will be ready for direct talks with Vladimir Putin.
.
Half a million people have already cast their ballots in this year's federal election, on the first day of early voting.
The Australian Electoral Commission says 542,000 people have made their decision at early voting centres.
That represents a 70 percent increase on first day pre-polling from the 2022 election.
.
Opposition defence spokesperson Andrew Hastie has linked the Coalition's proposal to hike defence spending to the ascendency of Donald Trump in the U-S.
He says the policy would send a message to the world that Australia is serious about its own security.
"We can't take anything for granted anymore. If there's a lesson out of Ukraine, it's that you've got to be able to stand up on your own two feet, at least until your allies can come and support you, and I think with the election of President Trump, America is moving to a 'America first' posture. We still have a strong relationship with the United States, but we can't take anything for granted. The world has changed, and under Peter Dutton, the Coalition, we are taking the hard decisions to get Australia back on track."
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has indicated a Coalition government will use higher income taxes to help pay for its pledge to dramatically boost defence spending, but he remains coy on key details like where the money will go.
Meanwhile Greens leader Adam Bandt says the Coalition's defence policy would actually undermine Australia's safety - especially if the nation follows through on its AUKUS submarine deal.
"Peter Dutton is doing what Donald Trump wants, not what Australia needs. Now is precisely the wrong time to be handing over even more billions of dollars for nuclear submarines that are never going to arrive and that make Australia less safe."
.
The New South Wales government has pleaded with residents to get vaccinated against the flu, ahead of the peak influenza season.
The call comes on the back of figures that indicate there have already been more influenza B cases so far in 2025 than at the same time in recent years, particularly in school-aged children and young adults.
Public Health Association of Australia chief executive Terry Slevin says many people equate colds and the flu together as relatively minor ailments, despite influenza causing up to 2000 deaths per year.
Health Minister Ryan Park says vaccinations will give people the best chance of avoiding severe illness or hospitalisation.
"It is absolutely imperative that we do what we can as we track towards what is likely to be a difficult flu season. What we're observing in North America and Europe is a challenging flu season that they've come out. That normally trends for us in a similar way, so we can expect a significant impact on the community over the coming months."
.
William Shakespeare's four folios are going to auction in London, more than 300 years after they were first published.
Experts say the first folio, which contains 36 of Shakespeare's plays, is the most significant publication in the history of English literature - because without it up to half of the writer's plays would have been lost.
The folios are expected to fetch between £3.5 million ($A7.3 million) and £4.5 million ($A9.4 million) when they go on sale at Sotheby's on May 23, a month after the Bard's birthday - which falls today, on April 23.
.
In AFL news,
Collingwood captain Darcy Moore will miss the Anzac Day blockbuster against Essendon at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Coach Craig McRae has ruled him out, saying he has an inner ear problem - which is not related to a knock he experienced in a previous game.
"We've done the protocols a couple of times, or the assessment a couple times. There's no issue there. It's just something this little lingered early in the week and then it's - yeah, it's not going away. So he hasn't had the ability to train and we're getting the bottom of it. Hopefully we'll find out today what's going on."
