WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A trial regarding the White Island-Whakaari volcanic eruption appears many months away after a hearing in the Whakatane District Court on June 3. In December 2020, New Zealand’s workplace safety watchdog Worksafe laid charges against 13 parties following the devastating 2019 eruption, in which 22 people were killed. Parties are still yet to enter pleas due to the complex case and the mountain of paperwork to assess. The WorkSafe investigation itself took 12 months, costing $NZ5.5 million ($3.93 million). People arrive at the Whakatane District Court in Whakatane, New Zealand. (Troy Baker, Pool/AAP Image)The charges relate to…
Author: zenger.news
KOLKATA, India — Two new species of the woolly flying squirrel, one of the world’s rarest mammals, have been found in the Himalayan mountains by Australian and Chinese scientists. The species weighs more than 5.5 pounds with a length of up to one meter. Though known to scientists for almost 130 years, one of the largest gliding mammals in the world acquired a scientific name — Eupetaurus cinereus — only in 2021. A recent research paper reveals that two related species of gigantic woolly flying squirrels, both previously unknown to science, occur in India and China. “The research to describe the woolly flying…
NEW DELHI — Before the pandemic, many Mumbai office-goers could enjoy fresh, home-cooked food in the midst of a busy workday, thanks to the “dabbawalas” or the carriers of tiffins. Clad in spotless whites with a traditional Gandhi cap perched on their heads, an army of around 5,000 dabbawalas deliver food to almost 200,000 workers in the city from their homes at 1 p.m. sharp. The tradition started over 130 years ago. These days, however, the sight of the tiffin man, charging around the city streets with his precious cargo, is rare. A second lockdown to counter India’s ferocious second wave…
Two adorable red “dancing” lemurs named Beatrice and Elliott now call Chester Zoo their home. Elliott, 8, and Beatrice, 9, are critically endangered red lemurs, which have never been cared for at a European zoo. They are part of a breeding program that hopes to save the species from extinction. The zoo stated the two Coquerel lemurs traveled over 4,000 miles from the Duke Lemur Center in North Carolina and arrived in Chester on May 29. The wide-scale destruction of their habitat in Madagascar has caused their numbers in the wild to dwindle 80 percent in the last 30 years.…
CHENNAI, India — While India was dealing with mass destruction amid the deadly second wave of Covid-19, an Indian non-profit organization filed a petition in the country’s financial center, Mumbai, against Amazon Retail India over the sale of fake medical-grade face masks. Friends of Wadala East’s Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court was also against the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs for failing to check the sale of fake masks. The NGO had placed a bulk order of 400 masks for healthcare workers on Amazon in May. But the…
BRISBANE, Australia — Embattled backbencher Andrew Laming has rejected suggestions his behavior could be captured by new online safety laws. The Queenslander has been accused of harassing two women from his federal electorate over several years. He categorically denies the allegations and claims all his online communications were policy and work-related. The 54-year-old recently returned to work after taking a month of paid medical leave to seek counseling and empathy training. Laming publicly apologized for any hurt and distressed he caused but insisted it was not an admission of guilt. “My online debates were entirely legitimate, with political opponents, and replied…
FREMANTLE, Australia — Western Australia will ban “sexist and demeaning” slogans from being displayed on vehicles such as the controversial Wicked campervans. Wicked Campers began in 2001 in sunny Brisbane, Australia, where they offer cheap camper van hire for budget travelers. Since then, Wicked has grown exponentially, with over 1,000 vehicles in Australia as well as 46 locations across the globe — including Depots in the UK, Europe, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, Canada, USA & Chile! New legislation to go before parliament will allow vehicle licenses to be canceled or refused if offensive slogans are not removed. It follows similar laws…
KINGSTON, Australia — Australia’s auto market is on track to sell more than one million vehicles this year, with a strong performance in May. The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) claims 100,809 cars and trucks were retailed last month, taking the demand for the first five months of 2021 to 456,804. The May result was a 68 percent improvement in the same month last year when the sector was severely impacted by the first wave of Covid-19 lockdowns. But it was also an 8.9 percent improvement on the May performance in 2019. Toyota was the market-leading company in May with sales of…
CANBERRA, Australia — An investigation has been launched into a major security breach after a child abuse survivor’s private details were uploaded to someone else’s myGov account. Confidential information, including the person’s address, phone number, bank details, and Centrelink number were shared with a complete stranger. Their application to the national redress scheme, outlining the sexual abuse they suffered, was also shared with another survivor. Social Services Minister Anne Ruston has apologized for the bureaucratic bungle and breach of trust. “I regret most sincerely that this error has occurred and that any trauma or distress that has been caused to the person whose information has…
MELBOURNE, Australia — New figures for retail spending and international trade will show how the economy is shaping up in Australia after recording another solid performance in the first three months of 2021. The latest national accounts released on June 2 showed the economy grew 1.8 percent in the March quarter and is now 1.1 percent larger than a year earlier, meaning it has now fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels. “The Australian economy continues its strong recovery from the biggest economic shock since the Great Depression,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said in Canberra. But he warned Australians not to be complacent, with…