Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 29 June. Top stories A million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute, and scientists predict that by 2050 the ocean will contain more plastic by weight than fish. In this exclusive report the Guardian reveals that the threat from plastic choking the planet may be as serious as climate change. Demand is fuelled by an apparently insatiable desire for bottled water, and the spread of a western, urbanised "on-the-go" culture to China and the Asia-Pacific region. But as use soars around the globe, efforts to collect and recycle the bottles are failing to keep up, with between 5m and 13m tonnes of plastic leaking into the world's oceans each year. Hugo Tagholm, of the marine conservation and campaigning group Surfers Against Sewage, said: "Current science shows that plastics cannot be usefully assimilated into the food chain. Where they are ingested they carry toxins that work their way on to our dinner plates." Read Margaret Atwood on the evils of plastics here. Christopher Pyne has issued an apology for his comments boasting about the influence of the moderate faction of the Liberal party under Malcolm Turnbull's leadership and pointing to an imminent resolution on marriage equality. The defence industry minister described the remarks, which triggered a factional brawl within the Liberal party, as "ill chosen and unwise". Pyne said Turnbull ran an "inclusive" government and conceded his words had been unhelpful and damaging. Tony Abbott said he understood why some colleagues believed Pyne's position as leader of the house was "difficult to maintain". Meanwhile, the prime minister was trying to keep his frustration at the media's "fascination with personalities" zipped up. The Australian Greens have voted to temporarily suspend the New South Wales senator Lee Rhiannon from the party room. The suspension follows complaints from all nine of Rhiannon's federal colleagues, including the leader, Richard Di Natale, that she derailed the party's negotiations over school funding and breached the faith of the party room. Read Gabrielle Chan's analysis of why Rhiannon's suspension is more than a clash of party and principle here. Climate change will cause ice-free areas on Antarctica to increase by up to a quarter by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions aren't reduced. Such a massive decline in ice-free areas would threaten the diversity of the unique terrestrial plant and animal life that exists there, according to projections from the first study examining the question in detail. Projected warming and changes in snowfall will cause ice-free areas – which now make up about 1% of Antarctica and are home to all of the continent's terrestrial plants and animals – to increase by as much as 17,000 sq km. Six people have been charged with criminal offences over the Hillsborough disaster, which saw 96 die in a crush at the stadium in Sheffield in 1989, and over an alleged police cover-up that followed. David Duckenfield, the commanding officer in charge of the FA Cup semi-final, has been charged with manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 men, women and children. A timeline of the disaster and subsequent investigation is here, and detailed information on the six people charged can be found here. Sport The Melbourne Cup winner Michelle Payne has been stood down from racing and trackwork after she returned a positive urine test for a banned substance this month. She will front a Racing Victoria inquiry this morning to plead her case. Payne, who became the first woman to win the Melbourne Cup when she guided 100-1 shot Prince of Penzance to victory, returned a positive result for phentermine at the Swan Hill Cup meeting on 11 June. Regardless of the outcome of Thursday night's appeal hearing regarding Bachar Houli's two-week suspension, the AFL has made a mockery of its own judicial process with an unprecedented vote of no confidence against its own tribunal, writes Russell Jackson. Thinking time | 
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Indian ragpickers search for recyclable items. Photograph: Arindam Dey/AFP/Getty Images 
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