Good morning. It's Tuesday 31 May, and here's a round-up of the latest news.
Labor likely to form majority government
Labor is likely to form majority government after counting shows the party has secured the 76 seats it needs.
The Member for the seat of Macnamara in Melbourne, Josh Burns, has posted on Facebook saying he's excited to be part of a majority Labor government under Anthony Albanese.
His statement comes after a tight three-way contest in the electorate where he faced stiff competition from Greens candidate Steph Hodgins-May.
As vote counting continues, the New South Wales seat of Gilmore and the Victorian seat of Deakin are still too close to call.
Russia enters outskirts of Sievierodonetsk
, where Russian forces have entered the outskirts of Sievierodonetsk.
During his visit to the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the situation in the east as "indescribably difficult." Source: AP / AP
Russia has concentrated its firepower on the last major population centre still held by Ukrainian forces in the eastern Luhansk province, in a push to achieve one of President Vladimir Putin's stated objectives after three months of war.
EU leaders fail to agree on Russian oil import ban
EU leaders on Monday made clear they would fail to agree on a Russian oil import ban at a two-day summit in Brussels, prompting swift criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
A draft of their summit conclusions showed the leaders of the 27 EU countries are set to agree on the principle of an eventual oil embargo, but will leave the hard decisions for later.
Mr Zelenskyy denounced the lack of EU resolve.
"All quarrels in Europe must end, internal disputes that only encourage Russia to put more and more pressure on you," Mr Zelenskyy told the summit via video-link.
"It is clear that there should be progress in sanctions against Russia."
Penny Wong responds to shelved security deal
has responded to a shelved security deal between China and Pacific Island nations, saying it's up to the countries of the region to make their own choices.
China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, is on a two-week visit to the Pacific, where he has been aiming to get support for a region-wide deal on security and trade.
In Fiji's capital of Suva, he held an online meeting with foreign ministers from 10 Pacific countries to get more nations to sign the deal.
But, he and Fiji's Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, later confirmed the region-wide proposal for greater collaboration on policing, trade and disaster relief had been put on hold.
Issuing a statement, Ms Wong says Australia wants to help build a strong Pacific family.
Ukrainian Eurovision winners sell trophy
The Ukrainian winners of this year's Eurovision Song Contest have sold their trophy for over one million Australian dollars to raise money for the war in Ukraine.
The band, Kalush Orchestra, held a Facebook auction for the crystal microphone with the funds to be used to buy drones for the Ukrainian military.
They won the contest with their song, 'Stefania', a tribute to the group frontman's mother.
He outlined their reasoning for selling the trophy ahead of the bidding.
Investigation to be launched into Nepal plane crash
Authorities in Nepal have located the bodies of all but one of 22 people who were on board a plane that crashed into the Himalayan mountainside.
Two Germans, four Indians and 16 Nepalis were on the aircraft which crashed 15 minutes after taking off from the tourist town of Pokhara, 125 kilometres west of Kathmandu.
A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority of Neap says, "there is very little chance to find survivors".
An investigation is being launched to into the incident.
