Good morning. It’s Friday 29th April, and here’s a round up of the latest news.
Kyiv rocked by Russian strikes during UN chief's visit
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his team were "shocked" by the proximity of the Russian strikes which slammed into central Kyiv as they were visiting on Thursday but were all "safe", a spokesman said.
"It is a war zone but it is shocking that it happened close to us," Saviano Abreu, spokesman for the UN's humanitarian office told AFP, without saying how close they were to the point of impact.
Russian strikes slammed into central Kyiv on Thursday, wounding three in the first such attack on the capital since mid-April.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (left) and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres walk in the hall during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday. Credit: AP
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said there had been "two hits in the Shevchenkovsky district", with one hitting "the lower floors of a residential building".
Anthony Albanese set to end COVID-19 isolation
Federal Opposition leader Anthony Albanese will re-join the election campaign today.
He's been isolation in Sydney since last week after contracting COVID-19.
Mr Albanese says he's been advised by his doctor to cut back on the 16 and 20-hour work days he was doing at the start of the campaign, but he is looking forward to getting back out among the public.
Mr Albanese will officially launch the Labor party's campaign in Perth on Sunday.
Major banks predicting interest rate rise
Three of Australia's four major banks are now tipping an interest rate rise next month after .
Westpac has joined the National Australia Bank and ANZ in predicting the Reserve Bank of Australia will raise the official interest rate by 15 basis points at its meeting next Tuesday.
Dr Nicola Powell is the Senior Research Analyst for property website Domain.
She also expects interest rates to rise, but says that could end the pandemic property price boom.
"I think we are likely to see interest rates move higher very soon. And what we tend to find is that there is a relationship between housing prices and interest rates — there's an inverse relationship. As interest rates rise, we tend to see property prices come off. We're already seeing weakness come out of our capital city markets."
Joe Biden announces $46 billion military support for Ukraine
United States President Joe Biden is asking Congress for $46 billion worth of support for Ukraine for weapons, ammunition and other military assistance.
The funding would also cover direct economic assistance, as well as humanitarian aid.
Mr Biden says the cost of helping to counter Russia's invasion of Ukraine is not cheap, but caving to aggression is going to be more costly.
US President Joe Biden. Source: AP / Carolyn Kaster/AP
"Russia is the aggressor. No ifs, and, or buts about it. Russia is the aggressor. No one should be making idle comments about the use of nuclear weapons or the possibility of using them. It's irresponsible."
Ben Stokes named England Test captain
Ben Stokes is England's new Test cricket captain.
The 30-year-old, widely tipped for the job, has been formally chosen by the England men's team's new Managing Director, Rob Key.
Stokes takes over after Joe Root resigned as captain.
England has been through a horror patch in Test matches, winning just one of its last 17 matches, including a four-nil defeat in the Ashes series in Australia last summer.
Stokes' first match as the new permanent Test captain is against New Zealand, starting on 2 June, at the famous Lord's Cricket Ground in London.
