MELBOURNE, Australia — A new deal could spell the end of a long-running dispute over where to dump tonnes of contaminated soil from the troubled West Gate Tunnel project in Australia. Toll road operator Transurban, the state government’s partner in the project, on June 24 confirmed it had signed a contract with Hi-Quality in Bulla to construct a purpose-built facility to collect, treat and dispose of the contaminated soil. This is being looked like one of the possible ways to come out of this long-standing issue. Hi-Quality’s tip, north of Melbourne Airport, was nominated by the tunnel’s builders, CPB Contractors and John…
Author: zenger.news
SYDNEY — The resources sector says jobs and billions of dollars of revenue are at risk if Australian service companies can’t secure finance and insurance. A new federal parliamentary inquiry is looking at the impact of changes in banking, insurance and superannuation practices on export companies such as Australia’s big miners. The Queensland Resources Council told a hearing on June 25 a recent study had shown 75 percent of small and medium-sized businesses which service the sector reported accessing banking or lending services has become much more difficult in the past two years. Nine out of 10 had experienced a major change…
WASHINGTON — When Georgia surprised many by choosing both Democratic Party candidates in the dual run-off elections for its two Senate seats on Jan. 5, many of the 500 pastors of the state’s African Methodist Episcopal Church thought their years of organizing had paid off. Coming two months after Georgia was carried by now-President Joseph R. Biden Jr in the presidential election — making then-President Donald J. Trump the first Republican to lose the state since the country’s last one-term president, George H.W. Bush, in 1992 — it seemed to many that a new golden era of Democratic ascendency in Washington,…
WASHINGTON — American tech giant Microsoft, during its Windows 11 launch event on June 24, said it is bringing Android apps to the platform. The apps will run natively on Windows 11 and will be downloadable from Amazon’s App Store via the new Windows Store that’s included in the operating system. Android apps on Windows 11 are an answer to Apple’s progress with its M1 chips and running iOS apps on macOS. While there are web equivalents to mobile apps, they are often lackluster, and some apps like Snapchat, Ring, Venmo, Roomba, and most home automation apps aren’t available on the web. Thanks to…
WASHINGTON — Listening to music while running might be the key to improving people’s performance when they feel mentally fatigued, a new study suggested. The findings of the study were published in the Journal of Human Sport and Exercise. The performance of runners who listened to a self-selected playlist after completing a demanding thinking task was at the same level as when they were not mentally fatigued, the research found. The study is the first to investigate the effect of listening to music playlists on endurance running capacity and performance when mentally fatigued. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland used two tests…
SYDNEY — Sydney’s latest lockdown will inflict AU$750 million ($569.64 million) of “carnage” on businesses during one of the busiest times of the year, the retail peak body says, sparking calls for financial assistance. Premier Gladys Berejiklian issued the localized stay-at-home orders on the morning of June 25 after the state recorded another 22 new local cases of Covid-19. The seven-day lockdown, which will come into force from midnight, applies to people who live or work in the Woollahra, Waverley, Randwick and City of Sydney council areas. National Retail Association chief executive Dominique Lamb said that retailers accept the need for a…
LONDON — Silverstone and Formula One on June 24 announced a packed crowd at this year’s British Grand Prix after the event was included in the United Kingdom Government’s event research program. Ticket holders will be asked for either proof of a negative lateral flow test taken within 48 hours of arrival at Silverstone or proof of complete vaccination, the second dose having been received at least 14 days before the first day of attending the British Grand Prix, according to a statement. “It is fantastic news that Silverstone will be a full capacity event, and it will be an incredible weekend with hundreds of…
CANBERRA, Australia — Indigenous Australians who have experienced racism develop poor health, a study has found. Australian National University researchers analyzed data from more than 8000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults. They found victims of discrimination had poor health and wellbeing regardless of their age, where they live, and their gender. Racism was linked to pain, poor life satisfaction, psychological distress, anxiety, depression, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. “We found these negative outcomes were increasingly common as the extent of discrimination increased,” social epidemiologist Katherine Thurber said on June 25. “Discrimination experiences were pervasive, with almost…
Signaling a move away from “gray” coastal and marine construction toward environmentally friendly infrastructure, a consortium that included Israel-based ECOncrete won European Commission Horizon 2020 Fast Track to Innovation funding for a large-scale “Living Ports” demo project at the Port of Vigo, Galicia, Spain. The Port of Vigo is one of Europe’s most important fishing ports. The start-up, which is led by two marine biologists, produces and infrastructure designed to encourage regeneration of marine life. The consortium has three additional partners: the Port of Vigo, Spanish shipbuilding and ship repair company Cardama Shipyard and Technical University of Denmark’s Civil Engineering…
GENEVA — Africa is in the grip of a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, as cases surge weekly and are on course to overtake the second wave at its peak if the trend continues, the World Health Organization reported on June 24. “Africa is facing a fast-surging third wave of Covid-19 pandemic, with cases spreading more rapidly and projected to overtake soon the peak of the second wave the continent witnessed at the start of 2021,” said a statement from the organization. The number of infections in Africa has been increasing for five consecutive weeks since the onset of…