CANBERRA, Australia — A review of all aspects of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout plan will be completed within weeks, as an inquiry heard “hardly anyone” has received a second dose. Lieutenant General John Frewen, the coordinator-general of the national Covid-19 vaccine task force, told a Senate committee looking at the pandemic response he had been brought in to test “all planning assumptions”. “We are now looking at all aspects of the rollout plan and looking for any opportunities we will have to accelerate the rollout through the year as supplies come online,” he said. The review would also include the use…
Author: zenger.news
MELBOURNE, Australia — Five days before she died, Australian Sally-Anne Wills celebrated her 30th birthday and plans for the future with her girlfriend. She was a young woman who left a lasting impression on people after just one meeting. Chris Polden was the sort of guy who would show up at family and friends’ homes unannounced. Adopted into a family of eight siblings, one brother says he can’t ever remember a disagreement with him. After being diagnosed as HIV-positive he launched himself into a life of advocacy, volunteering with the Aids Housing Action Group and was always willing to help others.…
DARWIN, Australia — Spare beds at the Howard Springs COVID-19 quarantine facility should be used for foreign agricultural workers, the Northern Territory Farmers Association says. Territory growers “desperately” need 2000 fruit pickers to help harvest crops, with many facing financial ruin if a quarantine location isn’t found. “The Commonwealth government has ignored the pleas of farmers on the issue despite our efforts to propose quarantine solutions to the government,” chief executive Paul Burke said. ‘Capacity is going to waste at the Howard Springs quarantine facility; 1000 beds are not being utilized and could be filled with seasonal workers.” Farmers have previously…
MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia’s Victorian corruption watchdog has recommended widespread reforms after exposing serious staff misconduct within the state’s prison system. In a special report tabled in Victorian parliament on June 22, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission highlighted systemic corruption stemming from four finalized investigations. It found private and publicly managed prisons posed serious corruption risks from excessive use of force, inappropriate strip-searching practices, misuse of information, improper relationships, and trafficking of contraband. The report also mentioned that Victoria’s prison population grew by almost 80 percent from June 30, 2010, to June 30, 2019, although the prison population decreased in the 12 months…
Five months before Nicaragua’s general election, all signs point to Ortega retaining control. He might run for a third term, or his regime could still run the government. Daniel Ortega (La Libertad) has been Nicaragua’s president twice: from 1985 through 1990 and 2007 to the present time. Between 1981 and 1994, he was part of the Government Junta of National Reconstruction, which officially governed the country from July 1979 to January 1985. As the Sandinista National Liberation Front’s main leader, Ortega was a cornerstone of the Sandinista Revolution. This left-wing movement dethroned the Somoza family (supported by the U.S. government)…
Four years ago, biotech executive Avital Beck decided it was time to found a startup. She invited former classmates from her molecular biology and genetics PhD program at the Weizmann Institute of Science for a brainstorming session. One of those friends, Hadas Shatz-Azoulay, brought her nursing baby and came up with the best idea: A home kit to check the freshness and vitamin content of refrigerated, pumped breast milk. “We were talking about tackling cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes — it was a very high-level discussion,” Shatz-Azoulay recalled. But she shared a more immediate concern: Was her newborn receiving optimum nutrition from…
NAIROBI, Kenya — In the hit song “Lazizi” by Kenyan boy band Sauti Sol, they sing of a smitten young man wooing a beautiful girl, promising to take her out to Java for coffee and small talk. The song immortalized Java House in Kenya’s urban dating scene and its role in nurturing a coffee-drinking culture in Kenya. Kenya is the sixth biggest producer of coffee in Sub-Saharan Africa, but features in the “others” category in the list of top consumers as most Kenyans prefer tea. However, there has been a noticeable shift in coffee consumption trends in major urban towns, especially in the capital Nairobi. It is…
When you flip on your TV to watch an NBA or WNBA game, you’re watching a finished or close to finished product. However, developmental coach Marcus Stout often gets these athletes in the early stages of their basketball potential. A Fordham University Hall of Fame inductee in 2015 — who went undrafted by the NBA after graduating in 2008 — has carved out a niche in developing players from grade schoolers to the professionals. He’s established a gym known as “The Trench,” where he takes an old-school approach to teaching the game that has afforded him the ability to spread…
Fashion around the world has undergone many changes since the beginning of the pandemic. Most of the changes were expected, but the pandemic expedited adaptations that were supposed to take around five years. One of these trends is sustainability. For several years, business reports have suggested that fashion brands should focus on being more sustainable. But Covid has made everyone realize how they are dependent on a supply chain that involves many countries; that they should care about their employees at all levels; and that the next climate disruption might be around the corner. Therefore, sustainable practices seem the likely…
A stork known for her 10-year friendship with a local fisherman uses her body to protect her chicks during a hailstorm in video filmed near the small village of Eskikaraağaç, Turkey. Seconds before the storm starts, Yaren, the star of an award-winning documentary named after her, ensures the chicks are in position. Then she covers them with her wings to shield them from the rain, which soon turns to hail. “Yaren realized the intensity of the sudden downpour just in time,” said photographer Alper Tuydes, who shared the video. “This is just one of the many challenges they deal with…