Category Archives: headline

Albanese's disapproval rating jumps in major opinion poll

After a tumultuous first two weeks on the campaign trail, neither major party can point to a significant change in fortune among two of the nation's leading opinion polls.

The Coalition has gained ground on Labor in a few metrics across both The Australian Financial Review's Ipsos poll and The Australian's Newspoll, both released last night. But they were almost all minor shifts, within the margin of error. 

Ipsos had Labor's primary vote down one point to 34 while the Coalition rose one to 32, as the Greens rose two points to 12 and the number of people planning to vote for other minor parties remained steady.

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On a two-party preferred basis — based on 2019 preference distribution — the results were almost unchanged from the last poll carried out at the start of the month. Based on the latest survey, Labor would get 50 per cent of the vote, down one point, and the Coalition would receive 42 per cent, with the rest undecided. 

That gap expanded to 55-45 in favour of Labor when respondents were forced to pick a side.

A few more of those polled were able to decide on a preferred prime minister this time around, with 40 per cent opting for Labor leader Anthony Albanese, up from 38, and 38 per cent choosing incumbent PM Scott Morrison, up from 37.

There was only one statistically significant change among the 2302 voters polled from Wednesday night to Saturday.

Following a fortnight that began with his failure to name the unemployment rate and ended with his COVID-19 infection, Mr Albanese's disapproval rating increased three percentage points to 35 per cent.

Both leaders' approval ratings increased by one point and Mr Morrison's disapproval rating remained stable.

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Scott Morrison Anthony Albanese April 11, 2022.

The poll's margin of error is 2.2 per cent.

Newspoll also had Labor in the lead (53-47, same as the last two surveys) on a two-party preferred basis and a tight primary vote. 

The Australian's pollster of choice had the major parties taking a point each off minor parties in their primary vote, with Labor up to 37 per cent and the Coalition on 36. The Greens fell a point to 11 per cent and One Nation lost a point to 3 per cent.

Mr Morrison widened the gap as preferred prime minister with a two-points increase to 46 per cent, as his rival remained steady on 37 per cent.

This was despite a statistically significant shift in his net approval rating thanks to a one-point fall in approval, to 42 per cent, and a two-point increase in disapproval, to 54 per cent.

The fall came after a week in which the Morrison government was intensely criticised for its failure to stop the Solomon Islands signing a security deal that could allow a Chinese military presence in the Pacific nation, less than 1800km from the Queensland coast. 

Mr Albanese's fortunes were reversed with a one-point improvement in both measures for a 38 per cent approval rating and a 50 per cent disapproval rating.

The Newspoll surveyed 1538 voters from Wednesday to Saturday and has a margin of error of 2.9 per cent.

READ MORE: Labor plan for training of Pacific armies to deter China

World's oldest person, Kane Tanaka, dies in Japan aged 119

Kane Tanaka, the world's oldest person, has died in Japan aged 119, according to a statement released by the country's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Ms Tanaka, who was born on January 2, 1903, died on April 19, the ministry said on Monday.

Guinness World Records said it was saddened to hear of Ms Tanaka's passing, and said the news of her death had been confirmed by senior gerontology consultant Robert Young, who also helped confirm her record as the oldest person alive back in 2019.

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Kane Tanaka world's oldest person

"She became the oldest living person in January 2019 at the age of 116 years and 28 days," Guinness World Records said, in a tweet.

"She is also the second oldest person ever recorded, behind only Jeanne Calment who lived to the age of 122."

https://twitter.com/GWR/status/1518586957156298753?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Ms Tanaka's family said in a tweet earlier this month that she had been frequently sick recently and "in and out of hospital".

Ms Tanaka married a rice shop owner at the age of 19 and worked in the family store until she was 103.

She twice survived cancer and lived through a multitude of historical events, surviving two world wars and the 1918 Spanish flu — as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

CNN previously reported on Ms Tanaka during her preparation to participate in the Olympic torch relay ahead of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.

The plan had been that she would take the flame as it passed through Shime, in her home prefecture of Fukuoka, but ultimately she did not participate, because of concerns about COVID-19.

Japan's Kane Tanaka has taken out the title of oldest person on Earth, celebrating her 116th birthday.

Ms Tanaka had been living in a nursing home in Fukuoka. Her family said she kept her mind and body engaged by doing math and remaining curious.

Her great-granddaughter Junko Tanaka set up a Twitter account in January 2020 to celebrate the supercentenarian's life.

She tweeted photos of her great-grandmother enjoying treats such as cake and soda pop, and shared her achievements and the exchanges she had with her relatives.

https://twitter.com/tanakakane0102/status/1479812035177480195

"I might be biased because I'm related to her but I think it's kind of amazing — I wanted to share that with the world and for people to feel inspired and to feel her joy," CNN previously reported Junko as saying of her grandmother:

In 2020, one in every 1565 people in Japan was older than 100 years old — more than 88 per cent of them women.

Government figures released in July 2020 showed that women have a life expectancy of 87.45 years compared with 81.4 for men.

Announcing Ms Tanaka's death on its website on Monday, Guinness World Records said "the titles of oldest person living and oldest person living (female) are currently being investigated" and that further details would be announced in due course.

Russia Failing in Ukraine?, Macron Wins, Beijing Covid Lockdown, More Military Aid for Ukraine, More

April 25, 2022 Here is today’s selection of top stories from The Associated Press at this hour to begin your day.  Today’s Headlines Russian advance in Ukraine slow; US says Moscow ‘is failing’ KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Top American officials pledged Monday to help ensure Ukraine wins its fight against Russia following face-to-face talks with […]

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Protesters Call for Reparations as Royal Family Visits St. Vincent & the Grenadines

By Santana Salmon St. Vincent and the Grenadines gave a red-carpet welcome to two members of Britain’s royal family, but a small group of protesters registered their objection to the visit and instead called for reparation for African slavery. Prince Edward, 58, and his wife, Sophie, 57, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, were greeted […]

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US Coast Guard Offloads Multi-Million-Dollar Caribbean Cocaine Seizure

By Santana Salmon The United States Coast Guard says the crews of its cutters Joseph Tezanos and Heriberto Hernandez recently offloaded about 1,289 pounds of cocaine, with an estimated wholesale value of about US$11.7 million, and transferred custody of six suspected smugglers at Coast Guard Base San Juan following two separate vessel interdictions in the […]

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US Judge Orders Detention of Former Honduran President Hernandez

NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Friday ordered the detention of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, in Hernandez’s first court appearance after being extradited to the United States on drug and weapons charges. U.S. prosecutors said Hernandez, once a Washington ally, received millions of dollars from drug traffickers, including Mexico’s […]

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Guyana Gets $106M from Exxon for New Platform’s Oil Output

By Neil Marks   The logo of Exxon Mobil Corporation is shown on a monitor above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, December 30, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo April 24 (Reuters) – Guyana sold its first share of crude oil from the country’s newest offshore production facility to Exxon Mobil […]

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