WASHINGTON — America’s international approval ratings have soared under President Joseph R. Biden Jr compared to his predecessor Donald J. Trump, a new poll published Thursday shows. But the research, conducted in 16 countries, finds that a majority of people in 16 key U.S. allies did not call the country “a good example of democracy” and gave it continued poor ratings for its handling of COVID. The Pew Research Center poll of 16,254 people, conducted in Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, was released on the…
Author: zenger.news
PERTH, Australia — The G7 summit in Cornwall, England, will be somewhat of a homecoming for Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. G7 or the Group of Seven countries combine some of the most prosperous democracies in the world; Britain, the United States of America, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, and Italy, together with representatives of the European Union. As the prime minister noted in a speech in Perth on June 9: “It’s a long time since one of my family was in Cornwall”. Morrison’s ancestor William Roberts — who the prime minister described as his “fifth great-grandfather” — was born in the…
MORNINGTON, Australia — Police were not called when Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews fell and seriously injured his back, casting further doubt on the state opposition’s claims of a cover-up. Shadow treasurer Louise Staley on June 6, issued a press release calling for Andrews to answer 12 questions about his injury, including what time an ambulance was called and whether he was “interviewed either formally or informally by the police in relation to anything that occurred over that long weekend.” The Liberal-Nationals opposition has not provided any evidence to suggest anything untoward or unusual occurred. But Staley claims Andrews needed to “clear up” rumors circulating online regarding the…
MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia’s South-eastern state of Victoria’s Commission for Children and Young People is the latest voice calling for the state to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14. The commission made the recommendation in its report on the over-representation of Aboriginal children and young people in Victoria’s youth justice system, tabled in parliament on June 9. Across Australia, children as young as ten can be arrested by police, remanded in custody, convicted by the courts, and jailed. It is estimated almost 600 children aged between 10 and 13 were in custody last financial year. More than 60 percent were…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia risks being a sitting duck for coronavirus and the flu when international borders open unless there is significant surgery on public hospitals. That is the stark warning the Australian Medical Association has issued to the federal government ahead of a predicted gradual return to overseas travel mid-next year. Australian Medical Association president, Omar Khorshid, said the nation needed to have a significant conversation about what the health system would look like when restrictions ease. Khorshid said coronavirus cases would need to be managed, and influenza would re-emerge when international borders opened. “We are sitting ducks for not just Covid…
CANBERRA, Australia — New home sales in Australia jumped by 15.2 percent in May, aided by low-interest rates and despite the absence of the federal government’s successful HomeBuilder program. Combined with April, sales were 2.9 percent higher than the same period in 2019 — prior to the pandemic and the introduction of the HomeBuilder grant scheme, the Housing Industry Association says. “This solid level of sales in April and May indicates ongoing demand for new detached homes, even in the absence of stimulus,” Housing Industry Association (HIA) economist Tom Devitt says. The Housing Industry Association (HIA) new home sales report —…
SYDNEY — A group of refugees flown from Nauru to Sydney for medical treatment in February has hoped to be released into the community dashed. Instead, they’ve been told they must return to Nauru or stay in detention. Mustafa Salah was just 15 when he escaped Iraq with his father and fled to Australia in 2013. Now 23, he has spent almost eight years on Nauru in an Australian detention facility. When he finally left the island nation on February 18, he thought he’d soon be able to start his life as a free man. Australian Border Force officers told him he would be…
PERTH, Australia — West Australians aged under 50 are flocking to get vaccinated against coronavirus, but their middle-aged counterparts are proving less enthusiastic. The state’s rollout moved to its next phase on June 10, with people aged 30 to 49 receiving their first doses of the Pfizer vaccine at state-run clinics. Western Australia has gone one step further than other states in extending eligibility to people in their 30s. Since June 8, 91,000 people have registered interest, and 65,000 of those have made appointments. “There has been massive interest,” said Premier Mark McGowan at Claremont Showground, where 1300 people were set to receive the vaccine…
NEW DELHI — In early April, a pregnant 14-year-old from the eastern Indian state of Odisha was spared the horror of having to birth her rapist’s baby when the Orissa High Court and a medical board fast-forwarded an approval for the termination of her pregnancy. The teenager, 23 weeks pregnant at the time, had her case expedited because The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which allows abortions at 24 weeks, had just been passed. In the earlier version of the Act, a woman could only seek an abortion up to 20 weeks of her pregnancy. “The original The Medical Termination Of Pregnancy Act, 1971, required one…
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand’s biggest pop star Lorde is on the cusp of releasing her first music in four years. The Kiwi musician updated her website with a new record cover, on June 8 titled Solar Power, with a tagline “Arriving in 2021 … patience is a virtue”. Along with this, there was a link encouraging fans to sign up for Lorde’s mailing list. The news follows Lorde’s first confirmed performance in three years, a headlining slot at Spain’s Primavera Festival next year. Her fans spotted that Primavera’s website seemingly jumped the gun on Lorde’s album plans, boasting that she would “emerge from her retirement…