ADELAIDE, Australia — South Australia has tightened Covid-19 restrictions with Victoria, imposing measures on anyone arriving from the Greater Melbourne area. Anyone coming to South Australia must take a virus test within 24 hours and self-isolate until they test negative. Further tests on days five and 13 are required. They are also banned from high-risk areas and must not attend any events with 1000 people or more. The restrictions are on top of those already imposed in relation to high-risk locations in Melbourne, with the South Australian border closed to people who attended them at particular times. They come after Melbourne’s cluster grew…
Author: zenger.news
CANBERRA, Australia — The government’s online safety laws are in place to stamp out behavior similar to embattled Australian Liberal Party backbencher Andrew Laming‘s online actions, Labor has confirmed. The Morrison government’s online safety plan has passed the first hurdle of parliament and is being considered by the Senate. The bill includes a scheme to prevent adult cyber abuse by providing a complaints process, which could result in the eSafety Commissioner requesting offending material be taken offline. Labor’s Nita Green has used a Senate estimates hearing to see if the scheme would apply to Bowman’s Member of Parliament Laming. Labor’s Nita…
BRISBANE, Australia — Sir Llew Edwards, who oversaw Australia’s Brisbane’s transformative World Expo 88, will be fondly remembered as one of “nature’s gentleman”, revered for his humanity and sincerity. A Queensland Liberal leader during the state’s controversial Bjelke-Petersen era, Llew, who has died aged 85, was widely respected on all sides of politics. Born in 1935 in working-class Ipswich, his path towards a political life started on a different track by working as an electrician before studying medicine at the University of Queensland. He graduated at 27 in 1963 and went on to work in Queensland hospitals, travel overseas, and then…
CANBERRA, Australia — The minister responsible for superannuation has defended a controversial proposal to allow the treasurer to overrule spending and investment decisions by industry funds. The federal government is trying to push through major changes to Australia’s superannuation system. Employers will have to dish out more funds to pay millions of Australians higher compulsory superannuation under new changes announced in the federal budget. Hundreds of thousands of Australians holding casual or part-time jobs are set to be paid superannuation on their wages for the first time. Senator Jacqui Lambie has called it total overreach, to allow the treasurer to overrule spending and…
BRISBANE, Australia — Water theft and insider trading in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin could be punished by up to five years behind bars under a shake-up of the river system’s rules. Water Minister Keith Pitt on May 26 introduced legislation to federal parliament to hand substantive powers to the basin’s inspector-general almost two years after the role was announced. The mooted “cop on the beat” for the nation’s largest river network is being created alongside tough new penalties for water theft and insider trading. Stealing the precious resource or gaming the market will be punishable by three to five years in jail…
MELBOURNE, Australia — More than 10,000 people in Australia’s Northern Territory are now fully inoculated against coronavirus, with more than 42,000 vaccine doses administered. The rollout is tracking well, with the first jab given to about one in six Territorians over the age of 16, Health Minister Natasha Fyles says. “We are gradually increasing our vaccine rollout, and it’s great to see so many Territorians rolling up their sleeves,” she said on May 26. More than 30 Covid-19 vaccine centers across the Northern Territory, with 5.5 percent of the Territory’s 246,500-strong population now vaccinated. Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the first jab given…
CANBERRA, Australia — Moon gazers are in for a treat when a rare super blood moon appears in the sky on May 26 evening. A super blood moon is when a total lunar eclipse (or blood moon) happens at the same time as the ‘super’ moon — which appears brighter and bigger. Lunar eclipses, unlike solar eclipses, are safe to see and may be seen with the naked eye without the use of any additional equipment. The previous complete lunar eclipse, popularly known as a blood moon, occurred in January 2019, though Australia has not seen one since 2018. Australian National…
A sand sculpture exhibition targeting environmental concerns opened May 21 in Lubeck, Germany. A total of 25 sand sculptors from 11 European countries have gathered in the Travemunde resort for the third annual sand exhibition, themed “Flora and Fauna.” Over 60 sculptures are displayed on a 27,000-square-feet boat shed at the Baltic Sea resort. The sculptors’ motifs include elephants, rhinos, buffalos, lions and leopards, as well as many herbal specimens. “The show is not only intended for entertainment but should also draw attention to nature conservation and species protection,” said exhibition director Oliver Hartmann. The sand sculptures are inventive and…
CHENNAI, India — “One of the most enduring memories of my childhood is waiting for my father and grandfather to finish the paper over breakfast every morning,” Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google and parent Alphabet Inc, said in October 2020 while announcing a $1 billion investment in partnerships with news publishers. The firm, led by the Indian-American, on May 18, said it was launching its Google News Showcase in India as part of the investment. Showcase is the company’s licensing program, where it pays news organizations for their digital content. News Showcase already has deals signed by 700 news publications in more…
Video shows donkeys Flapjack and Horacio playing with rubber boots. The footage was recorded by The Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth, Devon, England. The charity runs 10 sanctuaries across the UK and Europe and cares for more than 7,000 donkeys. Donkeys that had been abused get a second chance for a safe life. The sanctuary, described as the world’s largest equine welfare charity, was started in the 1969 by British animal welfare advocate Elisabeth Svendsen. The donkeys get plenty of play time, known as “enrichment.” (The Donkey Sanctuary/Zenger News)The charity grew after Svendsen decided to travel the world and provide care…