UNITED KINGDOM

Coalition opposes putting ‘boots on the ground’ in Ukraine saying peacekeeping is Europe’s responsibilityFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAnthony Albanese says Australia may send a “small contribution” of peacekeepers to Ukraine if asked, but it was premature to discuss the details before Russia agrees to a ceasefire agreement.The prime minister joined a phone hook-up overnight that was chaired by the UK’s Keir Starmer and included the leaders of Canada, New Zealand and Europe, a collection referred to as the “Coalition of the Willing”. It also included the

Bridget McKenzie, Barnaby Joyce, Alex Antic, Matt Canavan and Keith Pitt were invited to speak at the annual showcase of rightwing political activismGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastCoalition senators who addressed last year’s Australian Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) billed taxpayers thousands of dollars in flights, accommodation and car expenses on the weekend of the event.Guardian Australia can also reveal the former Labor senator Fatima Payman claimed more than $4,000 on a whirlwind Perth-to-Melbourne trip in which she appeared at a public meeting in solidarity with the embattled construction union.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking

Health secretary says the scrapping of NHS England is ‘beginning, not end’ of bid to slash ‘bloated bureaucracy’The health secretary has declared that scrapping NHS England is “the beginning, not the end” and has vowed to continue “slashing bloated bureaucracy”. Wes Streeting suggested hundreds more quangos could be in the line of fire after the prime minister announced this week the end of the body overseeing the health service in England. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Streeting said: “The abolition of NHS England – the world’s largest quango – is the beginning, not the end. “Patients and staff alike can