Preparations for the Coronation of King Charles III have begun around England, as residents prepare for the first Royal coronation since 1953.

One-in-five customers of National Australia Bank are becoming trapped in a "mortgage prison", meaning they are unable to refinance their loan due to higher interest rates.

Chief executive Ross McEwan said less mortgage competition due to potential interest rate increases may force regulators to change the rules to make it easier for borrowers to switch lenders, the Australian Financial Review reports.

NAB yesterday recorded a 17 per cent increase in its cash profit to $4.07 billion in its six-month results to the end of March, driven by interest rate rises.

READ MORE: Aussies locked out of property market warned retirement in jeopardy

Amid the cost-of-living crisis, authorities may be pushed to reexamine the current 3 per cent "serviceability buffer", McEwan said.

In simple terms, the loan serviceability buffer means banks or lenders will add a buffer to the home loan interest rate to accommodate for any changes to the cash rate.

So say you have a $500,000 loan with an interest rate of 3 per cent, you would be assessed on whether you can afford up to 6 per cent.

Mortgage holders who took out loans before the 11 interest rate hikes began last May were finding it the toughest to switch lenders.

NAB's chief financial officer, Gary Lennon, said the number of "mortgage prisoners" was two in five for customers who borrowed between August 2019 and July last year, when rates were at their lowest.

"It is going to get harder to move for that cohort," he said.

"There are going to be more and more customers who will find it harder to move banks."

READ MORE: 'Game-changing' new deal just weeks away from coming into force

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) John Lonsdale and Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn have signalled mortgage serviceability tests could be revised to meet changing interest rate cycles.

The Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) managing director Peter White said earlier this year keeping the serviceability buffer means more people will be unable to refinance their current loans to negotiate a better rate.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

A fight has broken out between Ukrainian and Russian delegates after the latter tore down a Ukrainian flag at a conference in Turkey.

Video shows Ukrainian MP, Oleksandr Marikovski, holding a Ukrainian flag at an international summit in Turkey, when his Russian counterpart, Valery Stavitsky, snatches the flag away from him.

Marikovski then follows Stavitsky and punches him in the face, grabbing the flag back before they were separated.

READ MORE: Aussies locked out of property market warned retirement in jeopardy

The two delegates were in Turkey for the Summit of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) when the event occurred.

Oleksandr Marikovski took to Facebook after the incident, sharing a video of the fight with the caption "Paws off our flag, paws off Ukraine."

Valery Stavitsky has not made any official statements about the incident yet.

READ MORE: Zelenskyy wants Putin trial; Russia accuses US on drones

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended his decision to pledge the oath of allegiance to King Charles at his coronation tomorrow, as hopes reignite of an Australian tour by Prince William and Princess Kate.

Last week it was announced that at the coronation the Archbishop of Canterbury would ask "all who desire, in the Abbey, and elsewhere (to) say together: I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God."

READ MORE: Prime Minister tells Piers Morgan he will pledge oath of allegiance

Despite being a life-long Republican, Albanese said he intended to "follow protocol" at the historic ceremony, and compared taking the optional oath to being sworn into the Australian Parliament.

"As the Australian prime minister, people expect me to not come to the King's coronation in order to create a controversy," he told the ABC.

READ MORE: King Charles III coronation: What can we expect during monarch's reign

"As a Republican, I think at some stage (Australia's constitutional arrangements) will change when Australia is ready for that, but it's not up to me as prime minister to impose my position on Australia."

The prime minister continued rubbing shoulders with royalty yesterday as he sat down with heir to the throne, Prince William at Kensington Palace.

https://twitter.com/AlboMP/status/1654139108300820483?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

He told the prince that he and other members of the royal family were welcome to visit Australia at a time of their choosing.

Earlier on Thursday, the Prince and his wife Kate had taken their first trip on the Elizabeth Line of London's Underground, named after William's late grandmother Queen Elizabeth.

They met with crowds outside the Dog and Duck pub in Soho, where they told 9Honey they planned to come to Australia "very soon".

"We've had some good times in Sydney. We'll be back soon," Prince William said.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about King Charles III's coronation

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers could hand down a shock surplus when he delivers the federal budget next week, but a back-in-black bottom line will do little to ease Australia's total debt.

Soaring tax revenue on high-value exports such as coal, iron ore and gas could help the Albanese government deliver a surplus budget for the first time in 15 years.

A budget surplus simply means the government's income is greater than its expenses.

READ MORE: What we know so far about the May 9 federal budget

The Australian government's gross debt is currently hovering around $900 billion and is tipped to hit the $1 trillion mark by 2025-26.

When asked about a possible surplus this morning the treasurer was measured in forecasting attractive headline figures while so many Australians struggle to cover household bills.

"The fact that people are speculating even about a Budget in balance is because of the responsible approach that we have taken to the first two budgets by making sure when we get these big upward revisions to revenue that we let most of that flow through to the bottom line," Chalmers told reporters.

"And that, more than anything – our responsible approach to the budget – is why people are speculating about a budget in much better nick.

"Our objective all along is to get the budget in much better nick so that we can fund the things that our society values: help for the vulnerable, setting the economy up to grow into the future."

READ MORE: When life will actually get cheaper for Australians

Pay rises, energy bill bonuses and welfare boosts: federal budget to fight cost-of-living

The government has heralded that next week's federal budget will be firmly focused on easing the costs faced by the nation's most vulnerable.

Measures announced already include a pay increase of up to $10,000 for more than 250,000 aged care workers, and a doubling of some prescription measures to save patients up to $180 a year.

The rate of Jobseeker is set to be boosted for recipients over the age of 55, while the government has also signposted that there will a substantial package aimed at tackling rising energy bills.

READ MORE: Gabrielle Carey, author of Puberty Blues, dies aged 64

Well-off Australians could find themselves disappointed by next week's budget, with experts tipping that a number of generous tax discounts that benefit high-income earners will be wound down.

"The top end of town should be on notice if the recently proposed superannuation changes are anything to go by," said Mark Molesworth, Tax Partner at BDO in Australia.

"Tax breaks on superannuation earnings and contributions are not the largest tax expenditure but the government's move could be seen as a harbinger of other measures that similarly target a smaller population or group of entities that are seen to be well off."

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

Multiple states and territories are bracing for icy weather this weekend after some of the biggest ski resorts received decent falls of snow ahead of the season.

The Bureau of Meteorology said a low-pressure system is crossing south-eastern parts of Australia today and will be followed by cold air accompanied by strong winds.

For many south-eastern parts it will feel like winter has arrived early, particularly for Victoria, Tasmania and parts of southern New South Wales and the ACT.

READ MORE: Ed Sheeran didn't steal Gaye's tune, jury decides

But while many people look to rug up, the early wintry blast has given a preview of the forthcoming season for skiers and snowboarders.

Just weeks out before its start, the cold front has brought a burst of snow showers over major ski resorts.

Satellite images released by WeatherZone showed the it was cold enough to produce snow over the Australian Alps.

Perisher resort in NSW reported 15cms of snow yesterday, while Thredbo had 6cms, with more forecast on the weekend. Mount Hotham in Victoria recorded 2cms.

Photographs from Perisher show the resort's runs covered in snow and deep layers on nearby mountain peaks.

READ MORE: Gabrielle Carey, author of Puberty Blues, dies aged 64

Away from the alpine regions, snowfall is predicted to be much lighter. 

But skiers shouldn't read too much into the early snowfalls.

Autumn snow usually melts before the ski season and has no bearing on winter snow.

READ MORE: King Charles III coronation – What can we expect during monarch's reign

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.



A federal jury in New York has concluded that British singer Ed Sheeran didn't steal key components of Marvin Gaye's classic 1970s tune Let's Get It On when he created his hit song Thinking Out Loud.

As the jury answered the single question of whether Sheeran proved he didn't infringe upon the copyright in the affirmative, the crooner briefly put his hands over his face in relief before standing and hugging his lawyer.

As jurors left the courtroom, Sheeran quietly mouthed "thank you" in their direction. He then spoke for about 10 minutes with the plaintiffs, including the daughter of Ed Townsend, who co-created the 1973 soul classic with Gaye.

READ MORE: Gabrielle Carey, author of Puberty Blues, dies aged 64

They hugged and smiled with each other.

Sheeran later addressed reporters outside of the courthouse.

"I am obviously very happy with the outcome of this case, and it looks like I'm not going to have to retire from my day job, after all," the singer read from a prepared statement.

"But at the same time, I am unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all."

He also said he missed his grandmother's funeral in Ireland because of the trial, and that he "won't get that time back."

The verdict came after a two-week trial that featured a courtroom performance by Sheeran as the singer insisted, sometimes angrily, that the trial was a threat to all musicians who create their own music.

Sheeran sat with his legal team throughout the trial, defending himself against the lawsuit by Townsend's heirs. They said Thinking Out Loud had so many similarities to Let's Get It On that it violated the song's copyright protection.

READ MORE: First mpox case in six months detected in NSW

At the trial's start, lawyer Ben Crump told jurors on behalf of the Townsend heirs that Sheeran himself sometimes performed the two songs together.

The jury saw video of a concert in Switzerland in which Sheeran can be heard segueing on stage between Let's Get It On and Thinking Out Loud.

Crump said that was "smoking gun" proof he stole from the famous tune.

When Sheeran testified, he repeatedly picked up a guitar resting behind him on the witness stand to demonstrate how he seamlessly creates "mashups" of songs during concerts to "spice it up a bit" for his sizeable crowds.

The English pop star's cheerful attitude on display under questioning from his attorney, Ilene Farkas, all but vanished under cross examination.

"When you write songs, somebody comes after you," Sheeran said during his testimony as he explained that the case was being closely watched by others in the industry.

He insisted that he stole nothing from Let's Get it On when he wrote his tune.

Townsend's heirs said in their lawsuit that Thinking Out Loud had "striking similarities" and "overt common elements" that made it obvious that it had copied Let's Get It On, a song that has been featured in numerous films and commercials and scored hundreds of millions of streams spins and radio plays in the past half century.

READ MORE: US denies 'ludicrous' Russian claim it ordered Kremlin drone attack

Sheeran's song, which came out in 2014, was a hit, winning a Grammy for song of the year. His lawyers argued that the songs shared versions of a similar and unprotectable chord progression freely available to all songwriters.

Gaye was killed in 1984 at age 44, shot by his father as he tried to intervene in a fight between his parents.

He had been a Motown superstar since the 1960s, although his songs released in the 1970s made him a generational musical giant.

Townsend, who also wrote the 1958 R&B doo-wop hit For Your Love, was a singer, songwriter and lawyer who died in 2003.

Kathryn Townsend Griffin, his daughter, testified during the trial that she thought Sheeran was "a great artist with a great future."

She said she had hoped the lawsuit would not result in a trial, "but I have to protect my father's legacy."

Gabrielle Carey, the Australian author who co-wrote the iconic coming-of-age novel Puberty Blues, has died. She was 64.

Carey co-wrote the book with fellow Kathy Lette when the two were both teenagers. It was published in 1979, and two years later was turned into a film.

It was then adapted for TV, with two seasons airing between 2012 and 2014.

READ MORE: Axe attack victim thanks good Samaritans who saved her

Lette sent her "heartfelt condolences" to Carey's friends and family in a statement issued overnight.

"I'm deeply saddened by this tragic news," she said.

"I have such happy memories of our teenage years. They were halcyon, heady days full of love, laughter and adventure.

"We made some mischief and broke some barriers by writing Puberty — our raw, earthy take on the brutal treatment of young women in the Australian surfing scene which is sadly, still so relevant."

In addition to Puberty Blues, Carey authored nine other books, ranging from fiction to biographies and essay collections.

Her 2020 title Only Happiness Here: In search of Elizabeth von Arnim was shortlisted for the Nib Literary Award. 

READ MORE: Video shows police officer stopping armed ice user from firing his gun

In addition to her books, Carey also penned articles for newspapers like the Sydney Morning Herald and Australian.

She also taught writing at a number of universities, including the University of Sydney, the University of Technology Sydney and the University of Canberra.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

The experienced broadcaster labelled the closure of Today as ‘brutal’.

An 18-year-old man has been charged over a "terrifying" attempted carjacking in Melbourne's northern suburbs.

A woman was stopped in traffic outside Broadmeadows Central on Coleraine Street about 5.30pm yesterday when the man allegedly opened a rear passenger door of the Toyota Kluger and climbed into the car.

The Roxburgh Park woman wrestled with the man while her two children, aged five and seven, were strapped in the backseat.

READ MORE: Truck driver jailed for 'horrific' cyclist hit-and-run in Victoria

The driver jumped out of the car and tried to pull the man out of the backseat, but was pushed to the ground.

He allegedly then climbed over the car's centre console into the driver's seat and tried to lock the car doors.

The woman jumped into the front passenger seat before he began driving down Pascoe Vale Road.

The woman and man allegedly fought to take control of the car, causing it to cross onto the wrong side of the road and crash into a railway fence.

READ MORE: Australian online alcohol retailer Boozebud collapses

Numerous witnesses ran to help the woman and children and held the man until police arrived.

Peter Daher witnessed the distressing incident.

"You know, kidnapping kids to steal a car. I don't know what to say. I'm about to tear (up) because of what's happened," he said.

"It's not right. It's not right."

An 18-year-old man from Broadmeadows has since been charged with carjacking, theft of motor vehicle and other offences.

He was denied bail today, with the magistrate saying the accused was a danger to himself and the public.

The court heard that, half an hour before the alleged carjacking, the accused tried to steal another vehicle with a child inside near the shopping centre but the driver was able to lock the door and speed off.

The 18-year-old will face court again in June.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.