to sexual health services. polls close in parts of australia as two political veterans battle it out for the country s top job. and could this be the first of record breaking heatwaves across europe? hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. to australia, where polls have closed in the country s first election since 2019. it sees prime minister scott morrison go up against one of the country s longest serving politicians, labor leader anthony albanese. more than 17 million people were enrolled to vote which is compulsory for over 18s. either party will need to win at least 76 of the 151 seats in the house of representatives where the prime minister sits to form a majority government. let s take a closer look at the two main candidates. scott morrison has been the prime minister since 2018. he has been taking credit for adopting a tough closed borders approach to covid 19, which helped australia achieve one of the lowest death rates globally. an
the russian armed forces are now intensifying attacks in the eastern dom bess region of ukraine. they ve made advances after heavy bombardment of ukrainian positions at donbas region. there are now concerns they could turn their attentions to another country, moldova, which used to be part of the soviet union. it is not a member of nato so it is not protected from russian aggression. it lies between romania and ukraine and within it is the russian backed separatist region of transnistria. one month ago there was a series of explosions in the area raising concerns the war could widen. today the british foreign secretary liz truss made clear there is a serious threat which she says russia trying to restore what is described as greater russia. in another move indicating how far russia will go in destabilising countries, it has now been revealed that moscow has cut gas supplies to finland, the country at one of several now hoping to join nato. meanwhile president biden current
and booze and addiction. i think with addiction the end result for anybody is death, prison, or institution. it s the story of the fight to get clean for those living the edge. generally, seriously, one slip would kill me, because i d feel like there would be no going back. a sharp scratch. at a time when drug and alcohol deaths are soaring, something has to change. i simply hope that people will who have been treated rather like lepers are now on a journey which treats them as people with a health condition and that they have hope that it can be better. hello. mike? yes. jeremy. didn t recognise you with your mask on, mate. you all right. yeah, good to see you. thank you. it s early may 2021. come on, we ll have a seat. yeah, that s fine. ..and i m meeting mike. you look younger in person than on. yeah. my god, i almost look like your granddad. yeah. we ve spoken before on zoom, so i already know he has plenty of troubles. it is now time for a brew. thanks so much, that s br
it was applying to join nato. meanwhile, in ukraine, russia intensifies its attacks in the donbas region as its forces capture more territory in the south and east. pharmacists have been given temporary power to make swaps to women s hormone replacement therapy prescriptions, amid ongoing shortages. and rangers face heart of midlothian in the scottish cup final this afternoon, looking to put behind them the disappointment of their europa league heartbreak on wednesday. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. opposition parties are demanding that the prime minister explains a meeting with the senior civil servant sue gray over her report into parties held in downing street during lockdown. it s emerged the pair met several weeks ago but there are conflicting accounts of what was discussed. our political correspondent jonathan blake is here what can you tell us about this meeting? we know the prime minister and sue gray met and i am tempted to say thatis gray met and i am t