Category Archives: Australia news

Coronavirus live news: global deaths pass 975,000 as Israel plans for stricter lockdown

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Israel announces plans for stricter lockdown; Paris to unveil tighter restrictions; Follow the latest updates

Israel is tightening its coronavirus lockdown after an alarming spike in new cases, the cabiney decided on Thursday morning.

Bejamin Netanyahu, prime minister, has voiced alarm that a surge in infections was pushing the nation to “the edge of the abyss”.

Rarely can there have been a more low-key beginning to the cricket season in Australia. It’s usually a time of optimism as spring blooms and sports grounds are transformed from hosting football codes of different types into cricket ovals.

But of course 2020 is different and, as Australia’s Megan Schutt explains here, it’s all a bit surreal knowing that the teams have to put on a big show despite the lack of ceremony or razzamatazz in the Covid-era.

Related: Surreal and a little bit scary: cricket returns to Australia in the Covid era | Megan Schutt

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Bradley Robert Edwards found guilty of two murders in Claremont serial killings

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Judge says the former Telstra technician is guilty of the murders of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon but acquitted him of the murder of Sarah Spiers

Bradley Robert Edwards, a 51-year-old former Telstra technician from Western Australia, has been found guilty of the murders of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon but acquitted of the murder of Sarah Spiers in the Claremont serial killings case, Australia’s longest-running and most expensive criminal investigation.

The Claremont serial killings refer to the deaths of Rimmer, 23, Glennon, 27, and Spiers, 18, between 1996 and 1997. All three women went missing after a night out at the Claremont entertainment district in Perth’s eponymous western suburb.

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Corruption inquiry retrieves ex-NSW MP’s hard drive two years after staffer told ‘it gets lost in the post’

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Rebecca Cartwright tells anti-corruption watchdog she stored Daryl Maguire’s work computer in her parliament house office from 2018

A NSW government staffer didn’t reveal she was storing former Liberal MP Daryl Maguire’s parliamentary computer hard drive because it may have contained information that could implicate him, an inquiry has heard.

The government whip’s secretary, Rebecca Cartwright, on Wednesday told the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) that she has been storing the hard drive in her parliament house office since 2018.

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380 whales dead in worst mass stranding in Australia’s history

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More than 450 long-finned pilot whales became stranded in harbour in Tasmania with rescuers managing to save about 50

About 380 pilot whales were confirmed dead in Tasmania’s west on Wednesday afternoon with rescuers fighting to save the remaining 30 that are still alive.

More than 450 long-finned pilot whales were caught on sandbanks and beaches inside Macquarie Harbour with a rescue effort starting on Tuesday morning.

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Internal displacements reach 15m in 2020 with worst ‘still to come’ – report

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Extreme weather, locust invasions and violence have forced people to flee their homes

Millions of people were uprooted from their homes by conflict, violence and natural disasters in the first six months of this year, research has found.

Nearly 15m new internal displacements were recorded in more than 120 countries between January and June by the Swiss-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC).

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Coronavirus live news: Italy introduces border tests for French visitors; new cases at highest level, warns WHO

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Italian health minister says ‘we have to be cautious’; Iran death toll one of worst in Middle East; Madrid residents advised not to travel

The EU Council, scheduled for later this week, has been postponed after its president tested positive, reports Euronews political editor, Darren McCaffery.

MEANS: EU Council due to be held this Thursday and Friday has been postponed until next week, 1st and 2nd of September

The UN summit is proving to be a bad-tempered event.

In a recorded video, the US president, Donald Trump, called Covid-19 the “China virus”, adding: “We must hold accountable the nation that unleashed this plague upon the world.”

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Victorian coroner changes how Indigenous deaths in custody are investigated

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Aboriginal legal services say they don’t have enough funding to meet the new commitments

The coroner’s court of Victoria has changed the way it investigates Indigenous deaths in custody to reflect recommendations made in a royal commission almost 30 years ago, but Aboriginal legal services say they don’t have enough funding to meet the court’s new commitments.

The Victorian state coroner, judge John Cain, issued a practice direction on Tuesday outlining new standards for investigating Indigenous deaths in custody. It includes a requirement that the coroner attend the scene of death where practicable, instead of relying on the report of the police officer conducting the investigation.

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Superannuation calculator: how would scrapping the planned increase affect you?

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The government is considering ditching the superannuation increase from 9.5% to 12% by 2025. Find out what that would mean for your retirement

The Morrison government’s looming decision on whether to proceed with promised increases in superannuation contributions could have a big effect on the amount of money saved for your retirement.

The superannuation guarantee contribution is legislated to increase from its current rate of 9.5% of income to 12% by 2025 – and the Coalition promised at the last election to stick with that schedule, but is now rethinking it amid the Covid-19 crisis.

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Coronavirus live news: Iran sees highest daily cases since June; US approaches 200,000 Covid deaths

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177 people died with Covid in Iran yesterday; Czech health minister quits as cases rise; more than one in five Covid deaths globally is in US

A federal judge in South Carolina has struck down a rule requiring mail-in absentee ballots to be signed by witnesses for the upcoming November election, citing the severity of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a ruling on Friday, US district court judge J. Michelle Childs ordered the state Election Commission to immediately inform voters about the removal of the requirement.

The latest Guardian editorial, on the UK facing its second wave of coronavirus:

The United Kingdom is facing a Covid calamity, and it is a situation that was made in Downing Street. Infections and hospital admissions are rising rapidly.

An exponentially growing epidemic is outpacing the rate at which the testing regime is expanding, meaning that it is not possible to properly track the spread of the disease.

Related: The Guardian view on the Covid crisis: Boris Johnson let it happen

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Coronavirus live news: UK at ‘critical point’ in pandemic as US nears 200,000 deaths

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England’s chief medical officer to warn of a ‘very challenging winter’; more than one in five Covid-19 deaths globally is in US; Lebanon sees record case rise. Follow the latest updates

The UK government has warned of six more months of “very difficult” lockdown restrictions, amid a continuing rise in infections, the Times reports this morning.

According to the paper, the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, is expected to announce new movement curbs in the coming days, although there is said be a split among members of his cabinet over how extensive these should be, with the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is resisting a full shutdown of the hospitality sector.

The Times: Covid curbs will last for six months, No 10 warns pic.twitter.com/tLa5x8Deya

The UK is at a “critical moment” and if people fail to follow coronavirus rules “we’re going to end up back in situations we don’t want to be in,” a senior government minister warned in a broadcast interview this morning.

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, told Sky News:

We’re certainly at a critical moment this morning.

It is clear we’re just a few weeks behind what we’re seeing elsewhere in Europe.

.@grantshapps says it's important the public adhere to the new social distancing rules as #COVID19 'hospital admissions are creeping up'.

The transport sec says "deaths haven't gone up as yet" but the govt is expecting it to do so like Spain.#KayBurley: https://t.co/smsK11yuT6 pic.twitter.com/tOodnaTlsB

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Robodebt: fresh claims against federal minister Alan Tudge delay court trial

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Commonwealth needs to prepare for new argument former human services minister knew scheme was unlawful, court says

A federal court trial set to decide whether robodebt victims are entitled to compensation has been delayed after fresh claims were levelled against government minister Alan Tudge.

The court heard at a pre-trial hearing on Monday that Gordon Legal plans to argue Tudge, who was human services minister in 2016-17, either knew or was “recklessly indifferent” to the fact the botched program was unlawful.

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Global report: US Covid deaths near 200,000 as UK ‘heads in wrong direction’

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Israeli protesters return despite lockdown; Australian state of Victoria reports fewest infections in three months; New Zealand eases restrictions

The US is nearing the stark milestone of 200,000 deaths, nine months after the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, as cases in the UK rose to a four-month high and Europe continued to see rising infections.

The number of deaths in the US, the highest in the world, stood at 199,509 on the Johns Hopkins University tracker on Monday morning, roughly a fifth of the global total. Nearly 6.8m of the world’s 30.1m infections are in the US.

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Coronavirus live news: India sees 92,000 new infections; China faces fifth wave, expert says

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India now has 5.4m cases; China fears winter infections; NZ records new cases

Covid-19 has spread around the planet, sending billions of people into lockdown as health services struggle to cope, Pablo Gutiérrez and Seán Clarke write. Find out where the virus has spread, and where it has been most deadly:

A clown juggled and acrobats launched themselves through the air above a stage in an open field in Seoul at the weekend as the audience watched from the safety of their cars, cocooned from the risk of coronavirus.

The annual circus – usually held in May – was pushed back twice this year because of the virus until organisers turned it into a drive-in event, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. Cho Beong-hee, the manager of the Seoul Street Art Creation Centre, said:

The performing arts are very important even during a pandemic. So we came up with different ideas in trying to make this event happen and the drive-in option was chosen as it was deemed the safest idea.

I think watching performances in cars is great. I think it can be done in the future, with other performances like musicals.

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NSW Nationals MP Leslie Williams to defect to Liberals over ‘politically reckless’ koala saga

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Port Macquarie MP’s move comes after Nationals MP John Barilaro threatened to implode the Coalition if concessions were not made over koala policy

The New South Wales Nationals MP Leslie Williams has quit the party as the fallout from the koala policy saga rolls on.

In a statement, the Port Macquarie MP revealed she has applied to join the NSW division of the Liberal party.

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Western Australian toddler found safe after missing for 12 hours in dense bushland and poor weather

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Joy and tears after three-year-old found hungry but smiling after wandering off from his parents’ home south of Perth

Western Australian man Chris O’Reilly says he could have “ran on water” when news came through that his three-year-old son had been found safe after going missing in dense bushland south of Perth.

The toddler had wandered off from his parents’ home at 7:30am on Saturday morning, after going to play outside.

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Global preparation: how different countries planned for the second wave of Covid-19

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Lockdowns brought temporary relief to some but, everywhere, test and trace is key

The first wave of coronavirus swept through a world unprepared. Authorities struggled to test for the disease, and didn’t know how to slow the spread of Covid-19.

Lockdowns brought the virus under temporary control in some places, including the UK, buying a window for the revival of education and the economy, and time to prepare for future waves that epidemiologists said were almost inevitable.

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Melbourne anti-lockdown protesters arrested and chased by police on horseback

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Protesters run through back streets in ‘chaotic scenes’ as further demonstrations expected on Sunday

Police have arrested 16 anti-lockdown protesters and fined 21 others during “chaotic” scenes in Melbourne’s south-east in which demonstrators were chased by police on horseback.

About 50 to 100 demonstrators began protesting at the State Library but moved to Elsternwick Park where they were pursued by police.

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Victoria reports 21 new coronavirus cases and seven deaths as Brett Sutton apologises to Afghan community

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State’s chief health officer says it was ‘inappropriate’ to single out migrant community in Casey

Victoria’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton, has apologised for comments he made singling out Melbourne’s Afghan community in relation to a Covid-19 outbreak in Casey.

Sutton made the apology as the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, announced 21 new coronavirus cases and seven more deaths in the state on Saturday. It was the lowest number of new Covid-19 cases in the state since 24 June.

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Lord Sugar tweets about flight to Sydney, angering Australians unable to enter country

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UK billionaire praises Emirates for flight as thousands remain stranded by policy to ease pressure on hotel quarantine

A tweet by Lord Sugar about his recent flight into Sydney has angered scores of Australians stranded around the world who themselves are unable to enter the country.

Australia’s federal opposition seized on the tweet on Friday amid accusations a controversial policy to ease pressure on Australia’s mandatory hotel quarantine system was unfairly penalising economy travellers stuck overseas.

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Coronavirus live news: Iran in grip of ‘third wave’ of pandemic; Covid-related deaths in France on the rise

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New infections in Iran pass more than 3,000 a day again; deaths in France related to Covid-19 trend upwards for first time since lockdown

The US biotech company Moderna has announced that it expects to produce 20million doses of its experimental coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year, Reuters reports.

The announcement, made in a filing with US securities regulators, comes after Moderna’s chief executive, Stephane Bancel, told Reuters on Thursday that the company plans to seek emergency authorisation for the vaccine’s use in high-risk groups if it proves even just 70% effective.

Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands, has said his government is preparing “regional” measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak, after the country registered 1,972 cases in the past 24 hours, Reuters reports.

Rutte said the Dutch situation was “worrying” after the country registered a record number of cases for the fourth consecutive day, with particular rises in major cities in the west of the country, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague.

At this rate, the number of infections would double every week and we absolutely cannot have that.

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