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Category Archives: headline
City put on edge as COVID-19 cluster grows
Casual contacts of Sydney's new COVID-19 cluster have been asked to cancel weekend plans as tracers race to stem the outbreak amid fears it's being passed from fleeting contact with infected people.
As the number of cases grew on Friday to three people, so to has the list of exposure sites increased.
The highly transmissible Delta variant has caused the exposure sites to spread from the Eastern Suburbs into other parts of Sydney, with new positive cases having shared little more than a fleeting crossover at the same store or cafe as Patient Zero, a limousine driver.
READ MORE: The highly contagious Delta strain explained
Caught on CCTV in the Myer at Westfield Bondi Junction was the fleeting crossover last Saturday between Patient Zero and a new case, a man in his 50s.
"At the moment they know that they've placed him on the same floor in the same section of Myer," Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said.
The "fleeting interaction" was enough to spread the virus.
The following day, Sunday, a woman in her 70s was infected at the Belle cafe in Vaucluse — she was sitting outside while Patient Zero was inside.
"The randomness of that is what makes it scary," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
The list of exposure sites stretches from Bondi Junction and Vaucluse across to North Sydney, Campbelltown, Newtown, North Ryde, Redfern and Zetland.
Masks have become mandatory on public transport again for the next five days and the premier has asked anyone who fits the criteria of a casual contact to cancel their weekend plans to avoid the possibility of a further spread of the virus.
NSW Health on Friday night issued a new alert adding more venues to the list of exposure sites at Westfield Bondi Junction. (Full list in our graphic below.)
The infected limousine driver also visited David Jones on Level One on Saturday from 10.55am-11.15am before heading to Myer on Levels Two and Four from 11.15am-11.50am the same day.
As a result, anyone inside either of the department stores at Bondi Junction are now considered close contacts, who must contact NSW Health, get a COVID-19 test as soon as possible, and quarantine until 14 days have passed since they were at the venue, regardless of the result.
You will be considered a casual contact if you visited the Bondi Junction Westfield food court between 1.15pm-1.45pm on Sunday, June 13.
Anyone at all who was at the shopping centre on Saturday, June 12 between 11am-12pm and Sunday, June 13 between 1pm-2pm and 4pm-4.30pm, are being asked to get tested even if they were only in the carpark and have no symptoms.
Anyone who visited the Tea Gardens Hotel Bondi Junction's gaming room on Sunday between 5pm-5.15pm is considered a close contact and must immediately get tested and self-isolate for 14 days regardless of the result.
Anyone who visited the shopping centre at any time between June 11 and 18 has been told to monitor closely for symptoms and get tested if they become unwell.
The nursery Eden Gardens in Macquarie Park was also listed as a casual contact, with people who visited between 12.30pm-1pm on Sunday asked to get tested and self isolate until a negative test is received.
Scroll down for a full list of venues.
Greek pilot charged with murdering UK wife and staging robbery
A Greek helicopter pilot was charged Friday with the murder of his British-Greek wife, whose death he had initially claimed was caused by burglars during a brutal invasion of their home on the outskirts of Athens.
Pilot and flight instructor Babis Anagnostopoulos, 33, was arraigned for the May 11 killing of Caroline Crouch, 20, who died of suffocation.
He was led in handcuffs and a bulletproof vest to an Athens court and is due to return next week to give evidence.
In brief remarks to reporters, his lawyer confirmed that he had confessed to the crime, adding that he had expressed remorse for his actions.
Police investigators said analysis of data from a smartwatch worn by the victim had helped reveal inconsistencies in the pilot's account of events.
The pilot had publicly claimed that armed robbers broke into the couple's home and tied up and gagged him and his wife in their bedroom as their months-old daughter slept. He had said the men stole cash before escaping.
The account shocked the nation and prompted government officials to announce a €300,000 ($475,000) reward for information about the crime.
Their daughter was unharmed, but the family dog was found choked to death on a leash, hanging from a staircase rail, authorities said.
"Everything was staged for the crime scene to look like the scene of a robbery," Costas Hassiotis, director of the greater Athens homicide division told reporters, adding that the suspect had tied his own hands and those of his dead wife.
He said the examination of mobile devices, a smartwatch with a heart rate monitor used by Crouch, and cameras, had established a timeline that contradicted with the pilot's testimony.
Hassiotis said forensic experts established the time a memory card had been removed from a security camera, adding to the evidence against the pilot.
Anagnostopoulos was detained after authorities summoned him for questioning Thursday while he was attending a memorial service for Crouch on the Aegean Sea island of Alonissos, where she grew up.
He was flown to Athens by helicopter from the nearby island of Skiathos, and interviewed for more than six hours before police announced that he was a suspect.
In a May 16 post on Instagram, Anagnostopoulos uploaded an undated photograph of the couple on a trip to Portugal for a wedding photoshoot, writing: "Always together. Farewell, my love."
https://www.instagram.com/p/CO7_VDrpUE5/?utm_source=ig_embed&
An ounce of prevention
Benjamin Franklin in 1736 coined the phrase, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. One would think that it had something to do with health – why the American printer and publisher, author, inventor and scientist, and diplomat made that famous comment – but he was actually speaking to firefighters in, at the time, fire-threatened Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Franklin was trying to inspire firefighters to seek out areas and things that could easily catch fire, and make them less incendiary. Preventing a fire is better than trying to put it out.
What Franklin said 285 years ago can be equated to what Prime Minister Harris and Premier Brantley have been telling Kittitians and Nevisians for a year now. Get vaccinated, the life you save might be your own.
Studies show that vaccinated persons who are exposed to the coronavirus have a greater chance of surviving than unvaccinated people.
As of yesterday, at least one person has died from COVID-19 in St. Kitts and Nevis. We hope that this would be the only one, but are not overly hopeful because of the way people in St. Kitts And Nevis live, in multigenerational lodgings. In many homes up to four or five generations board .
In many cases, grandparents and great grandparents seldom leave home. Children and grandchildren care for their elderly parents at home. So the extent that COVID-19 has been taken home to the elderly is yet unknown.
The full extent of the community spread is also unknown. Sadly, more loved ones could be lost.
The people of the Federation have been begged for months to take the vaccine, in an effort to get St. Kitts and Nevis to reach herd immunity; prevent super spreaders as much as possible, and allow the country to return to normalcy as quickly as possible.
The same thing that our leaders encouraged us to avoid has happened. Hundreds of residents are now infected with COVID-19, and not even half of the country have been vaccinated. Vaccines are available and are free, yet many have scoff at them.
Life was slowly returning to normal. A cruise ship was on its way, but had to be cancelled. Only about 11,000 out of more than 50,000 persons in St. Kitts and Nevis have been fully vaccinated. Things appear to be bleak right now, and this situation could have been avoided.
There is a major problem in our country; even persons who cannot read or write know more than the doctors and scientists. They give absurd reasons why they won’t get vaccinated, and also encourage others not to vaccinate.
Educated persons are also doing the same. Politicians are encouraging constituents and others not to vaccinate. They do so both by omission and by commission.
The picture in St. Kitts and Nevis could have been vastly different, if only good sense prevailed and the population heeded the advice to vaccinate. That ounce of prevention would have literally been worth more than hundreds of cures.
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Democracy too precious in CARICOM not to defend it abroad
By Sir Ronald Sanders
(The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own)
More commonality was shown by CARICOM countries in a vote on Tuesday June 15 at the Organization of American States (OAS) than has been seen in recent times.
Eleven CARICOM countries joined 15 other member states of the OAS in adopting a resolution “expressing alarm at the recent deterioration of the political climate and human rights situation in Nicaragua” and condemning “the arrest, harassment and arbitrary restrictions placed on presidential candidates, political parties and independent media”. The resolution also urged the government of President Daniel Ortega to promote “transparent, free and fair elections in November” including observation by international bodies.
In full transparency, I disclose that I chaired the June 15 meeting in my capacity as Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador and, presently, President of the Permanent Council of the OAS.
In joining this resolution, the 11 CARICOM countries were consistent in their position that there should be no interference in the internal affairs of states. However, no country can be a member of any Organization, which proclaims adherence to the rule of law, democracy, human rights, and free and fair elections, and remain silent when these principles are discarded. It should be noted that, in 13 of the 14 independent CARICOM countries, these principles are fully respected, and when they were under severe threat in Guyana last year, CARICOM countries played a vital role in ensuring, particularly, that presidential and regional elections were not stolen.
Democracy, free and fair elections, a free press and the right of dissent are all vigorously upheld in the majority of CARICOM countries. Upholding and respecting these principles might be hard for parties in power to accept, especially if false charges and accusations are made against them. Nonetheless, opposition politicians are not locked-up and the media is not silenced.
As an example of this, a Facebook posting (at: https://fb.watch/635WS4LYwv/) shows a live scene in Antigua of Prime Minister Gaston Browne and Leader of one of the Opposition parties, Harold Lovell, with supporters meeting in a street in a constituency while the Prime Minister was on a “walk about”. There were verbal exchanges between them, but there was not one armed soldier present, no building was burned, no citizen threatened, and no person charged or detained.
Dissent is defended in 13 of the 14 independent CARICOM countries because it is a fundamental right for which these societies fought through slavery, indentured labour and worker exploitation. Democracy and free and fair elections are safeguarded because they are valued by people as a peaceful means of changing governments with which the majority are dissatisfied.
Because the people of these countries respect – and expect – these values in their homelands, their representatives cannot be silent spectators when they are violated elsewhere.
There is still one member state of CARICOM where democracy and the rule of law are being ignored, and in which transparent, free and fair presidential and legislative elections are in serious peril. Silence, so far, by CARICOM collectively on the destruction of democratic institutions in this member country disregards the Charter of Civil Society which was invoked in the Guyana situation last year.
Fascism, authoritarianism, and the sheer lust to retain power, despite the majority will, lurks dangerously everywhere – even in the United States which lays claim to being a bastion of democracy and the rule of law. That democracy was weakened by naked political ambition backed by vested interests and manifested by an organized assault on the US Congress and a bogus claim of stolen elections. Fortunately, for the people of the US, other institutions of democracy such as the Courts, the media, and the armed forces, remained faithful to their national obligations. But, the US is today wounded and weakened by these events.
Ponder, therefore, how smaller nations could suffer prolonged agony in trying to regain democracy when it is seized from their grasp.
That is why 11 CARICOM delegations at the OAS, on June 15, opted to send a clear signal to President Ortega that they want him to act democratically, to release persons who have been arbitrarily arrested, and to stop onslaughts on the media.
The 11 CARICOM countries did not come to their common position without giving President Ortega’s government every chance to remedy conditions in Nicaragua. For example, Antigua and Barbuda and a few other CARICOM countries voted against previous resolutions aimed at Nicaragua. They did so to give President Ortega time to address grave charges raised by the Inter American and UN Commissions on Human Rights. These Commissions reported that the “human rights crisis has resulted in at least 328 deaths and some 2,000 injuries, as a result of action by state agents or armed civilians acting with their acquiescence and tolerance”.
The recent spate of arbitrary arrests of persons, of beatings while in prison, of denials of access to legal representation and needed medicines, with no effort to change these conditions, including no attempt to implement much needed electoral reform, left the 11 CARICOM countries with no choice. As the Ambassador of Barbados, Noel Lynch, said at the June 15 meeting, “the evolving circumstances in Nicaragua are sufficiently worrying to warrant a strong call from the OAS membership for adequate steps to be taken to ensure transparent, free and fair elections in Nicaragua”.
Sadly, when as President of the OAS Permanent Council, I convened a meeting on Monday, June 14 to allow the representatives of Nicaragua an opportunity to state their view on the resolution, they opted not to show up.
Nicaragua may seem distant from the CARICOM area, but CARICOM must speak out to uphold democracy and the rule of law everywhere, or risk endangering these vital safeguards of freedom at home.
Responses and previous commentaries:www.sirronaldsanders.com
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Tropical Storm to Drench US Gulf Coast
Forecasters predict a tropical system will bring heavy rain, storm surge and coastal flooding to the northern Gulf Coast as early as Friday and throughout the weekend.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida — extending from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, to the Okaloosa-Walton County line in the Florida Panhandle, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The poorly organised disturbance was located Friday morning about 255 miles (410 kilometres) south of Morgan City, Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph). It was moving north at 14 mph (22 kph).
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards late Thursday issued a state of emergency due to the potential weather threats. The move is an administrative step that authorizes the use of state resources to aid in storm response efforts, the governor’s office said.
The system is expected to produce up to 8 inches (20 centimetres) of rain across the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, and up to 12 inches (30 centimetres) through the weekend along the central US Gulf Coast.
The combination of storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline, the hurricane centre said. The water could reach the heights of about 1-3 feet (30-91 centimetres).
There have already been two named storms during the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. Meteorologists expect the season to be busy, but not as crazy as the record-breaking 2020 season.
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World Bank Report Lauds Bahamas Unemployment Benefits
A World Bank report has lauded The Bahamas’ level of unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, explaining that this country is one of a few in the region to offer unemployment payments to citizens not eligible for the National Insurance Board’s contributory unemployment benefit.
According to the report, titled “Employment in Crisis”, only about one-third of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) offer a national unemployment income support plan.
“Job displacement income support – programs specifically designed to sustain the income and consumption of laid-off workers and their families – in the form of unemployment insurance is, therefore, relatively rare in the region,” the report states.
“Workers with formal employment contracts in Brazil, Chile and Uruguay have access to large risk pools offered by a national unemployment insurance plan (that is, one not specific to a worker’s firm, occupation, or sector). In addition, Argentina, The Bahamas, Barbados, Colombia, Ecuador and the República Bolivariana de Venezuela offer unemployment insurance in the form of contributory risk-pooling plans.”
The report explained that some countries, like The Bahamas, offered unemployment coverage that was effective during the pandemic.
At the start of the pandemic, the government created what is called an unemployment assistance (UEA) program, which was separate from the National Insurance Board’s unemployment benefit.
Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis in The Bahamas, the government has spent $16 million on self-employed, government-funded unemployment assistance programs, $134.6 million on the government-funded unemployment extension program and $97.4 million on the national insurance unemployment benefit.
The report outlines how workers in informal sectors are often in danger of missing out on unemployment coverage in many countries in the region.
“Workers with formal but more precarious contracts may be statutorily excluded from coverage by unemployment income support programs,” the report states.
“And even among formally employed workers with ‘standard’ employment contracts, effective coverage is disappointingly low. Demanding eligibility requirements that fail to reflect the patterns of employment and tenure achieved even by many formal workers impede effective coverage.
“Regulatory and administrative failures often mean that contributions are not received. The transaction costs of securing benefits can be prohibitively high, particularly if the benefits are meager.”
The report reveals that Barbados leads the region in protecting its citizens during the pandemic through unemployment payments, delivering benefits to almost 90 percent of unemployed workers, while The Bahamas captured about 26 percent.
“Beyond the exceptional case of Barbados, whose system delivers benefits to 88 percent of unemployed workers, only in The Bahamas, Chile and Uruguay do national unemployment insurance arrangements appear to provide widespread, effective coverage,” the report states.
“Outside these three countries, even in the remaining few LAC countries that offer unemployment insurance, coverage remains too low.”
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Newspaper Cover for 18th June, 2021
The post Newspaper Cover for 18th June, 2021 appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.
Coroner rejects murderer's claim Tiahleigh 'accidentally suffocated'
A coroner has found Queensland schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer likely choked or asphyxiated to death at the hands of her foster father Rick Thorburn, who may also have been sexually abusing her while she was in his care.
In handing down her findings into an inquest into Tiahleigh's death, the coroner today rejected Thorburn's account that he "accidentally suffocated" her as she attempted to leave their Logan home.
The 12-year-old's body was found partially submerged in the Pimpama River, west of the Gold Coast, six days after Thorburn reported her missing in late October 2015.
Her body was badly decomposed and she was wearing only a pair of torn underpants.
READ MORE: Masks mandatory on Sydney public transport after new case
A near year-long police investigation revealed Thorburn had murdered Tiahleigh at the family's Chambers Flats home, south of Brisbane, on October 29, 2015.
He then dumped her body after his son Trent confessed to his mother Julene and a cousin that he had sex with Tiahleigh and feared she may be pregnant.
He later pleaded guilty to murder, interfering with a corpse and two counts of perjury and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
On day one of the inquest, Thorburn claimed the schoolgirl stopped breathing while he was "carrying" her up the family's driveway, following an argument about her refusing to go to bed.
He had been home alone with her at the time.
"I do not accept that Richard Thorburn accidentally killed Tiahleigh. I find that he did so deliberately," Deputy State Coroner Jane Bentley found.
The coroner found the lack of injuries to Tiahleigh's body or evidence at the Thorburn home indicated it was "most likely" that Thorbun choked or asphyxiated her.
She found it most probable he killed Tiahleigh because he was worried Trent's abuse would be revealed, however it was also possible he had abused her himself and was worried that too would be revealed.
In 2016, Thorburn was convicted of sexual offences against two girls, aged four and 11, who were in his wife's care at the same time Tiahleigh was living at the home.
"He had access to Tiahleigh – his family all gave evidence that he and Tiahleigh would have been alone together," the coroner found.
Tiahleigh had told her foster mother she "had a secret" in the months before her death and told her that if anybody knew about it, she would be removed from their care.
She noted Thorburn had also refused to explain why Tiahleigh was found wearing only underpants or what had happened to her clothes.
However, she said there was only circumstantial evidence that Thorburn had been sexually offending against Tiahleigh, which meant she must conclude that the most probable reason for the murder was to cover up Trent's abuse.
The coroner found Thorburn was "completely without remorse" and had not cooperated with the inquest and recommended that be taken into consideration when he becomes eligible for parole in 2036.
She made no recommendations relating to the involvement or any failings by government agencies in Tiahleigh's case, noting they had been dealt with in numerous reviews, including a broad whole-of-government review of policies and procedures concerning missing children by the Queensland Family and Child Commissioner which made 29 recommendations.
READ MORE: Second AstraZeneca dose 'absolutely vital' despite new advice
Thorburn's wife, Julene, served six months in jail for perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Their son Trent was released on parole after 16 months in prison for incest, perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Their other son, Joshua, served three months in jail for perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
COVID Deaths Top 4M, Record Moscow Cases, World Stats
Reuters – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
Global COVID-19 death toll exceeds 4 million
Coronavirus-related deaths worldwide passed 4 million on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, as many countries struggle to procure enough vaccines to inoculate their populations.
It took over a year for the COVID-19 death toll to hit 2 million, while the next 2 million were recorded in just 166 days, according to a Reuters analysis. read more
Cases hit an all-time daily high in Moscow
Daily cases of COVID-19 hit an all-time high in Moscow on Friday, official data showed, with the number of new cases in the Russian capital tripling in two weeks to reach 9,056 amid talk of a third wave.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said he was extending restrictions imposed earlier such as bans on public events with more than 1,000 people, shutting cafes and restaurants at night, and closing soccer fan zones set up for the European Championship.
Russia reported 17,262 new cases nationwide on Friday, pushing the national infection tally to 5,281,309 since the pandemic began. read more
Health experts warn of Olympic COVID-19 threat
Japan’s top medical experts warned on Friday that holding the Olympic Games during the pandemic could increase infections, and said banning all spectators was the least risky option, setting up a possible collision with organisers.
The report, led by top health adviser Shigeru Omi, was released after Tokyo 2020’s organising committee chief told the Sankei newspaper she wanted to allow up to 10,000 spectators at stadiums for the Games, which kick off on July 23.
Japan is pushing ahead with hosting the delayed Games despite worries about another surge in infections and strong public opposition. Organisers have banned spectators from overseas. read more
India should brace for third wave, say health experts
A third wave of infections is likely to hit India by October, and although it will be better controlled than the latest outbreak the pandemic will remain a public health threat for at least another year, according to a Reuters poll of medical experts.
The June 3-17 snap survey of 40 healthcare specialists, doctors, scientists, virologists, epidemiologists and professors from around the world showed a significant pickup in vaccinations will likely provide some cover to a fresh outbreak.
Of those who ventured a prediction, over 85% of respondents, said the next wave will hit by October, including three who forecast it as early as August and 12 in September. The remaining three said between November and February. read more
Britain reports steep rise in Delta variant cases
Britain has reported another steep rise in weekly reported cases of the Delta coronavirus variant, Public Health England data showed on Friday. Concerns about the variant prompted Prime Minister Boris Johnson to decide this week to delay the final lifting of lockdown restrictions.
PHE said there had been 33,630 new cases of the Delta variant in the week to June 16, taking the number of confirmed cases to 75,953, a 79% increase on the previous total. read more
Notting Hill Carnival, billed as Europe’s biggest street party, has been cancelled for a second year in a row, organisers said on Friday. read more
Compiled by Karishma Singh Editing by Robert BirselLD
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WORLD STATS
Highlighted in green
= all cases have recovered from the infection
Highlighted in grey
= all cases have had an outcome (there are no active cases)
Latest News
June 18 (GMT)
Updates
- 6 new deaths in El Salvador [source]
- 2 new cases in Faeroe Islands [source]
- 42 new cases and 3 new deaths in Madagascar [source]
- 3 new cases in China, Hong Kong SAR [source]
- 6,833 new cases and 110 new deaths in the Philippines [source]
- 385 new cases and 4 new deaths in Uzbekistan [source]
- 653 new cases and 4 new deaths in Kyrgyzstan [source]
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