Category Archives: Australia news

Coronavirus Australia live: Victoria premier Daniel Andrews provides Covid update after 113 new cases and 15 deaths

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Security firms involved in guarding Melbourne quarantine hotels continue giving evidence at the state’s inquiry into the program. Follow live news and updates today

This is also very interesting, given what we have seen play out this pandemic:

Our Parliamentary Library has published its latest research note that provides a brief overview of the size, operation and recent history of residential aged care in Victoria. It’s available at https://t.co/DonHd6SQ4g #springst

The auditor-general has responded to Stephen Jones’s request to have the early superannuation access scheme audited.

He has said no, as there are other priorities at the moment:

Dear Mr Jones

I am writing in response to your letter of 5 August 2020 requesting that I review the integrity and performance of the Government’s early release scheme for superannuation, as established through the Coronavirus Economic Response Omnibus Package Act 2020.

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Coronavirus live news: Trump pushes to withdraw WHO funding immediately

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US public health departments being told to prepare November vaccine distribution; signs Covid-19 easing in Brazil; Berlusconi tests positive. Follow the latest updates

On loneliness in Victoria, Australia:

Under Melbourne’s strict lockdown rules, couples who live apart can visit each other but other visitors are banned, so a lot of single people who live alone, like Ford, have spent weeks completely isolated. Victorians are allowed to exercise with one other person for an hour outdoors, but that person has to live nearby because of the restrictions on movement. In practice, this means that unless you live in the same suburb as your friends and family, you are unlikely to be able to exercise together:

Related: 'It gets into your bones': the unique loneliness of coronavirus lockdown when you live alone

The UK government is to trial routine weekly Covid testing of the population as part of preparations to head off a possible winter second wave, as the former health secretary Jeremy Hunt called for such tests to become the norm.

Matt Hancock said the government was committing an extra £500m to scale up testing capacity and launch community pilots trialling the effectiveness of repeat testing in schools and colleges, as well as in the population as a whole. It will also ramp up the trials of a new test kit that it is claimed can provide results within 20 minutes:

Related: Mass weekly Covid-19 testing of population to be trialled in England

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Typhoon Maysak: ship with 43 crew and nearly 6,000 cattle missing off Japan

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Lifeboat spotted but strong winds and rain hamper rescue of crew from Philippines, New Zealand and Australia

The Japanese coastguard is looking for a cargo ship carrying livestock and dozens of crew members that went missing after issuing a distress signal during typhoon Maysak.

The Panamanian-registered vessel, called Gulf Livestock 1, sent the distress call from the East China Sea, to the west of Amami Oshima Island in south-western Japan, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported.

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The Christchurch testimonies: survivors and the bereaved give their accounts of New Zealand’s worst terror attack

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More than 90 people – the wounded, the mourning, the defiant – spoke at the sentencing hearing for the gunman responsible for New Zealand’s most deadly terrorist attack, explaining how the massacre changed their lives forever. Here we document their evidence

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Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s every step being followed inside prison in Iran

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Sources say authorities make two prisoners follow the British Australian academic everywhere in the Covid-ravaged Qarchak jail

Kylie Moore-Gilbert has enough money to buy food and water inside Iran’s notorious Qarchak prison, but is closely surveilled everywhere she goes, sources inside the jail say.

Fellow prisoners report that the British Australian academic appears to have so far escaped infection in the wave of Covid-19 sweeping through the prison, but that her communications with the outside world are strictly proscribed, according to Roya Boroumand, executive director of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center (ABC) for Human Rights in Iran.

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Coronavirus live news: leading US Democrat Nancy Pelosi pictured without face covering in hair salon

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US rejects global vaccine effort; cases rise in India, Russia and Hungary; Australia enters recession

Greece recorded has recorded the first coronavirus case in the overcrowded migrant camp of Moria on the island of Lesbos, two migration ministry officials said on Wednesday.

A 40-year old asylum seeker has tested positive for the virus and had been put in isolation, one of the officials told Reuters. Authorities were trying to trace the people he had been in contact with, the official said.

I am now handing over the blog to the very capable Amy Walker. Thank you for reading and please do keep us updated on all coronavirus-related tips and stories.

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Turkey seeing second peak of Covid-19 outbreak – as it happened

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US president’s move challenged by Congress; Silvio Berlusconi has Covid-19; Brazil’s death toll appears to be easing. This blog is now closed

We’ve launched a new blog at the link below – head there for the latest:

Related: Coronavirus live news: Trump pushes to withdraw WHO funding immediately

Brazil’s Covid-19 death toll appears to be easing for the first time since May, data shows, a sign the Latin American country could be descending from a long infection plateau that has seen it suffer the world’s second-worst outbreak after the United States, Reuters reports.

With nearly 4 million confirmed cases, the virus has killed over 120,000 people in Brazil. But the level of average daily deaths dropped below 900 per day last week - the lowest in three and a half months and below the rate of both the United States and India, according to a Reuters tally.

Researchers at Imperial College London also calculate that the transmission rate in Brazil, at which each person infected with the coronavirus infects another person, is now below 1, the level required for new infections to slow.

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Journalists charged with breaching George Pell suppression order to face trial in November

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Twenty-one separate publications, six corporate groups and 19 individual journalists charged

Twenty-one separate publications, six corporate groups and 19 individual journalists charged with breaching a suppression order during the George Pell trial in 2018 will face a single, but complex, trial in November.

Pell was acquitted of all charges by the high court on appeal in April.

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Coronavirus live news: Hungary shuts borders with second wave ‘knocking on door’; Greece delays school reopening

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Hungary introduces measures stricter than at height of pandemic; Greek pupils’ return delayed for a week; Spain saw 75% drop in tourists

Spain recorded 8,115 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday evening, 2,731 of them diagnosed in the previous 24 hours, according to the latest figures from the national health ministry.

The latest statistics bring the country’s total to 470,973 cases, of which 99,889 have been logged over the past fortnight. Over the past seven days, 159 people have died from the virus, bringing the death toll to 29,152.

Cuban authorities launched a strict 15-day lockdown of Havana on Tuesday in order to stamp out the low level but persistent spread of coronavirus in the capital.

Aggressive anti-virus measures, including closing down air travel, have virtually eliminated Covid-19 in Cuba with the exception of the capital, where cases have increased from a handful a day to dozens daily over the last month.

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Coronavirus has fuelled authoritarian trends around the world, Australia’s Dfat warns

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Officials acknowledge ‘clear differences’ exist in Australia’s relationship with China as they prepare to spell out how Covid-19 is reshaping the global order

Covid-19 has fuelled protectionist and authoritarian trends around the world as some countries take advantage of the pandemic to erode the rule of law, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade warns.

As officials prepare to face a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday, Dfat has also acknowledged “clear differences” exist in the relationship with China, while insisting Australia seeks a constructive partnership “that is not defined by those differences”.

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‘A form of connection’: Spoonville craze revives community spirit in Australia

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Handmade ‘villages’ of spoons that first sprouted on nature strips have brought welcome enjoyment, especially for children, amid the coronavirus

During the first wave of the coronavirus, one could barely walk a block in an Australian suburb without seeing a teddybear peeking through a window.

Aimed at brightening children’s days as the world around them became increasingly gloomy, the uplifting activity slowly died out as the pandemic dragged on.

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Tony Abbott: some elderly Covid patients could be left to die naturally

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‘Health dictatorships’ failing to consider economic costs of crisis, ex-Australian PM says

Tony Abbott, the former Australian prime minister tipped to become a UK trade envoy, has railed against Covid “health dictatorships”, saying the economic cost of lockdowns meant families should be allowed to consider letting elderly relatives with the coronavirus die by letting nature take its course.

He claimed it was costing the Australian government as much as $200,000 (£110,000) to give an elderly person an extra year’s life, substantially beyond what governments would usually pay for life-saving drugs.

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Facebook threatens to block Australians from sharing news in battle over landmark media law

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Digital giant says it will stop users of Facebook and Instagram sharing local and international news if new law proposed by competition watchdog is approved

Facebook will block Australians from sharing news if a landmark plan to make digital platforms pay for news content becomes law, the digital giant has warned.

The sharing of personal content between family and friends will not be affected and neither will the sharing of news by Facebook users outside of Australia, the social network said.

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Australia coronavirus live update: Victoria records 70 new cases and five deaths as NSW relaxes border rules

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In Canberra, the relationship with Beijing will dominate, while NSW premier travels to Albury to ease border pain. Follow all the updates

Keep an eye on this one

Despite Scott Morrison announcing it was a priority to cancel international deals by states, local governments and universities, there’s still no legislation five days later.
 
It’s his usual pattern - make an announcement and get a headline without any substance to deliver.

The second case in Queensland is a 37-year-old nurse from Ipswich hospital, who was working with Covid patients.

He had no symptoms other than abdominal pain - which is a rare symptom for Covid - but it turned out that yes, he had it.

So he is also in isolation. Queensland health minister (and yes, he is also the deputy premier) Steven Miles said the health worker had been taking precautions.

This underlines how we can all do the right thing by monitoring our health and if we have any symptoms at all that are of any cause for concern, we can go and get tested so we thank him very much for that.

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‘It is about China’: foreign relations bill lambasted as ‘complete overkill’ on Q+A

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Former Western Australia premier Colin Barnett calls legislation ‘patronising’

The former premier of Western Australia Colin Barnett has blasted the federal government’s proposed foreign relations bill as “complete overkill”.

Appearing on the ABC’s Q+A on Monday night, the former WA Liberal leader was asked about the intention of the legislation to be considered by parliament, which would give the federal government power to veto agreements that state and local governments and universities enter into with foreign governments.

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Australia coronavirus live update: Victoria records 73 new cases and 41 deaths as NSW records 10 new cases

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Figure of 41 deaths in Victoria includes 33 people who died in aged care but not reported until yesterday; legislation to extend but reduce jobkeeper and jobseeker payments will be considered by the Senate today. Follow all the latest news and updates, live

This report from AAP earlier today:

NSW deputy premier, John Barilaro, is calling for a national code to allow agricultural workers to cross state borders without permits.

Twenty Victorian aged care providers have been found to be non-compliant with standards under the Aged Care Act since July.

My colleague Melissa Davey has this report:

Related: Twenty Victorian aged care homes ordered to improve 'inadequate' standards after Covid outbreaks

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Liberal party branch-stacking: fears push for virtual state council could kill off audit

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Insiders say campaign for digital Victorian council could scuttle forensic audit of new members

Federal electorate conference chairs in 14 Victorian seats are campaigning for a virtual state council of the Liberal party – a sortie which party insiders fear is an effort to scuttle a forensic audit to deal with fresh branch stacking allegations.

Labor has ratcheted up pressure on Scott Morrison to take action after fresh allegations were aired by the Nine network last weekend about Liberal party branch-stacking orchestrated by a conservative party powerbroker with links to the Victorian frontbencher Michael Sukkar and veteran MP Kevin Andrews.

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Coronavirus live news: Queensland steps up alert; protesters try to storm Reichstag

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Demonstrations in Germany and UK against coronavirus restrictions; Australian opposition calls for wider care home inquiry; Turkey sees two-month high in cases. Follow all the developments live

AFP is reporting from Rome:

Three Nigerian migrants attacked staff in a military hospital in Rome after testing positive for Covid-19, the defence ministry said Saturday.

And in Victoria, Australia’s worst-affected state.

#COVID19VicData for 30 August, 2020. There were 114 new cases detected in Victoria yesterday. Sadly we report 11 lives lost - condolences to all affected. More information will be available later today via our media release. pic.twitter.com/4voh37S3oM

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Coronavirus live news: India reports record rise in infections; global cases pass 25m

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India records world’s highest single day rise; Latest Johns Hopkins figures show 842,702 people have died; Jacinda Ardern thanks Aucklanders

The coronavirus pandemic has shut down art exhibitions around the globe, but organisers of the RIBOCA2 biennial in Latvia have pushed ahead, reimagining the event to reflect challenging times.

To ensure social distancing, installations by nearly 70 international artists are showcased at the sprawling 20-hectare (50-acre) Soviet-era Andrejsala industrial port in Riga, long abandoned and given up to nature.

Hello, I’m taking over from Amy for the next few hours, as ever please don’t hesitate to share relevant tips and pointers with us, you can get me on Twitter @JedySays or via email.

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Wild weather and winds of up to 100km/h forecast for Victoria

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Residents in suburbs without power or drinking water from the storm on Thursday are exempt from coronavirus travel restrictions

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting more damaging winds to sweep Victoria, while some Melbourne residents are still dealing with the impacts of Thursday’s storm.

The Bom has forecast that strong north to northwesterly winds will develop early Sunday ahead of a front that will move across the state during the day.

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