Yahoo Finance Morning mail: experts back mass vaccination hubs, hope after Chauvin verdict, sedentary killer
Good morning. Covid-19 dominates the headlines both domestically and internationally this Thursday, while in the United States the outpouring of emotion continues following the Derek Chauvin murder conviction.
Health experts have backed a proposal by hardware company Bunnings to set up vaccination hubs in store carparks, in a bid to assist the federal government’s vaccine rollout. Epidemiologist Hassan Vally says mass vaccination centres could help “nudge” nationwide efforts, stating: “If people go to Bunnings and can get their sausage sandwich after their vaccine on the way out, that’s a good thing.” It’s welcome news for Scott Morrison who faces ongoing criticism over his government’s “glacial pace” of vaccine delivery, a plight seemingly shared by New Zealand. Meanwhile, state and territory leaders are expected to debate whether Australia’s 1,400-strong Olympic delegation should be fast-tracked for vaccination. And elsewhere, a new report has found that the rate of dementia deaths declined during the Covid-19 pandemic. In Western Australia, two returned travellers have contracted Covid-19 in hotel quarantine in Perth, sparking an investigation into the source of the infections. And in Sydney, health officials are investigating whether Covid-19 has spread inside a second quarantine hotel.
The US attorney general has announced a systematic review of policing practices in Minneapolis following the conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. The nation’s highest law officer, Merrick Garland, announced a civil investigation, with the brief of determining “whether the Minneapolis Police Department has engaged in a pattern and practice of unconstitutional ... policing”. The unanimous jury decision to convict Chauvin was met with widespread celebrations outside the courthouse, and has been welcomed by President Biden as well as Floyd’s family.
India is facing an unprecedented increase in Covid-19 infections, with nearly 300,000 new cases in the past 24 hours. Prime minister Narendra Modi described the recent surge as “like being hit by a storm” after cases increased 30-fold between February and April. Modi has ordered the capital Delhi into a strict lockdown, after the rate of infection in Delhi hit 30%, with nearly two-thirds of cases affecting people under 40. Modi’s predecessor Manmohan Singh was also admitted to hospital this week and is described as being in a “stable” condition. An incredibly infectious “double mutant” variant is being blamed for the sharp rise, alongside poor political leadership and lax social distancing practices.
Australia
Scott Morrison is set to announce a $565.8m technology drive over the next eight years in response to climate inaction criticism. The Australian prime minister is tipped to announce the initiative for “practical, project-based international partnerships” during US leader Joe Biden’s virtual climate summit.
Facebook has been accused of failing to remove anti-Islamic hate speech, with a representative organisation for Australian Muslims lodging a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission after faltering discussions with the tech giant.
Twenty-five organisations representing car manufacturers, environmentalists and industry groups have lambasted the Victorian government, taking out a full-page newspaper advertisement dubbing the state’s proposed tax on electric vehicles the “worst electric vehicle policy in the world”.
Long-time Collingwood vice-president Mark Korda has replaced Eddie McGuire as the club’s president, saying the club must “do and be better”, but also praising the “wonderful legacy” of his predecessor.
An “unprovoked” verbal attack on Australian trade minister, Dan Tehan, ahead of UK-Australian trade talks has been described as a “serious setback” between the two nations, on the eve of post-Brexit bilateral negotiations.
The world
Search operations are under way off the north coast of Bali for an Indonesian submarine that has gone missing with 53 people on board. Australia and Singapore have been asked to assist in the search.
Human rights activists have accused an Australian-backed company of meeting with Myanmar junta officials to negotiate mining rights, even after 738 people were killed in violent government crackdowns on protesters.
A court in London has ordered the son of a Putin-allied oligarch to pay his mother £75m, as part of a settlement to what’s being billed as the world’s largest divorce case. During the ruling, Temur Akhmedov was described as “a dishonest individual who will do anything to assist his father”.
Recommended reads
She’s a television veteran of 25 years, but after her axing from a high-profile presenter’s contract, Melissa Doyle drew upon the inspiration of younger women to try and “change the narrative” around women and ageing. “Getting older is extraordinary, and it’s better,” Doyle says. “And I’ve got so much more and I’m richer for it. So why aren’t they the conversations that we’re having? Why do we spend so much time worrying about wrinkles and grey hair and stuff like that when that’s only 0.05% of it?”
“You would not expect that the financial stress of low-income households would fall, nor that their income would rise, during a recession.” But that’s the power of initiatives like jobseeker, Greg Jericho argues. And while the end of the Australian recession is no doubt good news, it could now coincide with a sharp rise in financial stress for those least able to endure it: “A truly odd, and cruel, scenario.”
“How do I tell my moody 19-year-old niece that when she comes over to stay she has to help out around the house with chores?” That’s this week’s leading question for advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith, who counsels meeting seemingly childish behaviour with an adult response. “I wonder whether she’d take to just being spoken to directly about this. If she’s chafing at being treated like a child, you might get success by talking to her as an adult.”
Listen
Sedentary living. It’s a bigger killer than obesity. With the proliferation of digital jobs, screen time and car travel, 1.5 billion humans are now so inactive they face greater risk of everything from heart disease to diabetes, cancer, arthritis and depression, even dementia. On this episode of Full Story, Anushka Asthana speaks with author Peter Walker about a public health crisis decades in the making.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Consistency of refereeing. It’s the bugbear of many rugby league fans, but after a series of seemingly inconsistent rulings during round 6 of the NRL, Matt Cleary argues the case for refs to be left to call it as they see it. “ If you demand consistency-uniformity there can be no nuance, no subjectivity. Because that would be inconsistent. And that, apparently, is bad.”
The European Super League project appears likely to be shelved, but a peace offering from Uefa could yet be withdrawn, Ed Aaron reports. A provision to set aside two Champions League spots to clubs based on “historical performances” now faces pushback from clubs outside the so-called “dirty dozen”.
Media roundup
Kevin Rudd has renewed calls for a mining super-profit tax amid buoyant commodity prices, the Australian Financial Review writes. Iron ore prices have increased five-fold since 2015, largely on the back of strong Chinese demand. Rates of domestic violence order breaches are fuelling community anger, a Queensland MP has said, with the Brisbane Times reporting nearly 100 breaches a day in the state, according to police statistics. And the Western Australian premier, Mark McGowan, has called for a ban on all travellers from India, including returning Australian citizens, after the spread of Covid-19 within a Perth hotel quarantine facility, according to the West Australian.
Coming up
An Air New Zealand flight will leave Hobart airport for Auckland, the first regular international service in 25 years in Tasmania and marks a further gradual opening of travel between NZ and Australia.
Victoria police will mark the first anniversary of the deaths of four officers who were killed after being hit by a truck on Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway.
And if you’ve read this far …
It’s a common complaint in offices around the world: nobody seems to notice my work. For one Italian hospital worker, that claim has been pushed to the absolute limits, after the man the local press has dubbed the “king of absentees” continued to pick up a monthly salary despite skipping work for 15 years. It took a police investigation to uncover the €538,000 deceit; which has now sparked inquiries into six managers responsible for the man.
Sign up
If you would like to receive the Guardian Australia morning mail to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here.
