In the face of spending cuts on the back of inflation and Covid-19, Auckland Council could be forced to give its staff a 6 per cent pay rise costing ratepayers an extra $57 million.Today’s inflation figure of 5.9 per cent and a…

A series of vaccines in development could put an end to the COVID-19 pandemic entirely, with the common cold disappearing as a side-effect.

After the vaccines being widely used today were revealed to be less effective in stopping the spread of the Omicron variant than earlier strains of the virus, some talk has now shifted to a pan-coronavirus vaccine.

Such a jab would not only render all COVID-19 mutations ineffective, but also a range of other diseases, including the common cold.

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White House Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci touted the development of such a vaccine earlier this month.

"The importance of developing a pan-coronavirus vaccine, namely one that would be effective against all SARS-CoV-2 variants, and ultimately against all coronaviruses, becomes even more apparent," Dr Fauci said.

"We won't be chasing after the next variant."

The problem with vaccines like the COVID-19 ones made by Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca is the part of the virus they target is vulnerable to mutation.

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"Most of these first-generation vaccines target the whole or the majority of the spike protein," Brisbane's Mater Hospital Director of Infectious Diseases Paul Griffin told 9News.

"With new variants, that is prone to change and can affect the efficacy of our vaccines."

But new COVID-19 vaccines in development target regions in the virus less prone to change.

Dr Griffin is not especially optimistic about a pan-coronavirus vaccine that also immunises people against the common cold.

"There is talks of a true pan-coronavirus vaccine, I think it's too soon to hope for that," he said.

"It might give better protection across new variants."

But a pan-coronavirus vaccine developed by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in the US has shown promise.

Pre-clinical trials in non-human primates have shown the vaccine protects against major variants of COVID-19, as well as the 2002 SARS virus.

"The accelerating emergence of human coronaviruses throughout the past two decades and the rise of SARS-CoV-2 variants, including most recently Omicron, underscore the continued need for next-generation pre-emptive vaccines that confer broad protection against coronavirus diseases," vaccine co-inventor Kayvon Modjarrad said.

"Our strategy has been to develop a 'pan-coronavirus' vaccine technology that could potentially offer safe, effective and durable protection against multiple coronavirus strains and species."

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Early analyses of the Walter Reed vaccine's human trials are expected soon.

Coronaviruses are named after the spike proteins around the edge of the virus, which appear as crowns or wreaths. The Latin word for crown is "corona".

In addition to the common cold and COVID-19, other coronaviruses include SARS and MERS.

A complete set of Cook’s Voyages in first editions will be auctioned in New Zealand next week. The voyages of Captain James Cook (1728-1779) includes three volumes relating to the famous explorer’s circumnavigation of the globe….

The Ministry of Education has acknowledged frustration from school principals as they try to navigate the changing protocols around the response to Omicron.With some students back on campus already and thousands due back next week,…

Test your brains with the Herald’s afternoon quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz for the morning quiz tomorrow. To challenge yourself with more quizzes, CLICK HERE.

A job for an entertainer who will be employed to go around schools promoting Covid-19 vaccination is being advertised. A high-profile Auckland talent agency has put the call out for the entertainer to join a six-week Ministry of…

ANALYSIS: It has been six months of hell for Joe Biden, and the problems that have plagued his presidency have shown little sign of letting up.

After an initial honeymoon in the polls, voters rightly or wrongly are blaming Mr Biden for inflation, stalled legislation, the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan and the persistent COVID-19 pandemic.

Now for the first time in months, Mr Biden is being handed a rare opportunity to look like a winner.

READ MORE: Supreme Court judge to retire, opening first vacancy for Biden

Supreme Court Justice Steven Breyer has announced his retirement, and Mr Biden gets to pick his replacement.

Appointing judges to the Supreme Court is one of the most consequential and long-lasting achievements a president can make.

And a seamless nomination process could reverse Mr Biden's sinking approval ratings.

The appointment is a likely success for Mr Biden – as the former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he knows all the ins and outs of getting a judge put on the bench.

And the centrist Democrats in the Senate who have obstructed his agenda in the past few months are unlikely to vote against his nominee.

READ MORE: Biden forced to clarify 'minor incursion' remarks

Because it was an easy win, Biden supporters have been wringing their hands in recent months hoping for Justice Breyer to retire before the midterms.

Democrats feared the 83-year-old would stay on the bench indefinitely, as is a Supreme Court judge's right.

Liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg did just that, refusing to retire in her old age before she died during Donald Trump's presidency.

Justice Ginsburg was replaced with the far more conservative Amy Coney Barrett, much to Democrats' chagrin.

Mr Biden pledged during the campaign that he would name a Black woman as his first Supreme Court pick.

A Black woman has never served on America's highest court.

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The most likely choice is Kentanji Brown Jackson, who was elevated to the US Court of Appeals in the DC Circuit last year.

Justice Brown Jackson has been considered a potential candidate for the Supreme Court since Barack Obama was in the White House.

California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger is another option, as is appeals court judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi.

The White House has already dismissed one potential nominee – Vice President Kamala Harris.

Ms Harris is deeply unpopular as vice president, and naming her to the Supreme Court would allow Mr Biden to replace her.

As a former attorney-general and prosecutor, Ms Harris has the qualifications to serve on the bench.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki poured cold water on the suggestion today.

"The president has every intention, as he said before, of running for reelection and for running for reelection with Vice President Harris on the ticket," she said.

Unfortunately for Mr Biden, this appointment is far less consequential than he would like it to be.

Liberals account for just three of the nine Supreme Court justices.

After Justice Breyer steps down and is replaced, that number won't change.

Nevertheless, Mr Biden will be able to make his mark on the court.

And the White House will hope he'll get a polling bump as a result.

In recent weeks, Mr Biden's approval rating has gone below 40 per cent in some polls.

A Morning Consult poll published today shows Mr Biden would lose to a "generic Republican" by a 46-37 per cent margin.

Fortunately for Mr Biden, "generic Republican" cannot appear on a ballot.

The poll showed Mr Biden would beat Donald Trump by a single point, Mike Pence by two points, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis by five points and Texas Senator Ted Cruz by six points.

The US Navy is trying to retrieve its most advanced fighter jet from the depths of the South China Sea, an extremely complex operation that analysts say will be closely monitored by Beijing.

The F-35C, a single-engine stealth fighter and the newest jet in the US Navy fleet, crash-landed on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson during routine operations on Monday, the Navy said.

The US$100 million ($140 million) warplane impacted the flight deck of the 90,000-tonne aircraft carrier and then fell into the sea as its pilot ejected, Navy officials said. The pilot and six sailors aboard the Vinson were injured.

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While damage to the Vinson was only superficial, and it and the carrier's air wing have resumed normal operations, the Navy faces the daunting task of attempting to pull the F-35 off the ocean floor in some of the most contested waters on the planet.

The Navy is giving scant details on its recovery plans for the F-35C, the first of which only became operational in 2019.

"The US Navy is making recovery operations arrangements for the F-35C aircraft involved in the mishap aboard USS Carl Vinson" is all a spokesman for the US Seventh Fleet, Lieutenant Nicholas Lingo, would tell CNN today.

Though the Navy has not revealed where in the South China Sea the crash occurred, Beijing claims almost all 3.3 million sq/km waterway as its territory and has bolstered its claims by building up and militarising reefs and islands there.

Chinese naval and coast guard vessels maintain a constant presence in South China Sea waters.

READ MORE: 'Once per century' weather event smashes Victoria

The US disputes those Chinese territorial claims and uses deployments like the one the Vinson was on to push its case for a "free and open Indo-Pacific".

There has been no official Chinese comment on the crash, with state media reporting it only citing "foreign media".

But China will almost certainly want to get a look at the lost F-35, analysts said.

"China will try to locate and survey it thoroughly using submarines and one of its deep-diving submersibles," Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Centre in Hawaii, said.

Mr Schuster, a former US Navy captain, said it's possible China could make a claim for the salvage rights based on its territorial claims in the South China Sea.

"Salvaging the plane with commercial and coast guard assets will enable Beijing to claim it is recovering a potential environmental hazard or foreign military equipment from its territorial waters," Mr Schuster said.

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But such an operation would present political risks, Collin Koh, research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said.

"To overtly go about doing this may risk worsening tensions with the US. I don't believe Beijing has stomach for that," he said.

"However, we can expect the Chinese to shadow, hang around and keep tabs on any such American salvage and recovery operation," Mr Koh said.

Mr Schuster said the US Navy will likely keep some presence in the area where the wreckage is believed to be in an operation that could take months, depending upon how deep under the South China Sea the F-35 is.

US salvage vessels are 10 to 15 days transit time to the site, Mr Schuster said, and recovery once there could take up to 120 days.

Asked whether the US could just destroy the wreckage with a torpedo or an explosive charge, analysts said that was unlikely.

This US Navy recovery effort will mark the third time a country flying the F-35 has tried to pull one from the depths.

Last November, a British F-35B crashed on takeoff from the deck of its aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth into the Mediterranean Sea.

Britain's Defence Ministry confirmed to news outlets in early January that it had been recovered in December amid worries the sunken aircraft could have been a target for Russian intelligence.

A Japanese F-35A crashed into the Pacific in 2019.

A man allegedly had his car rammed before he was chased through a Melbourne car park by a machete-wielding man in a shocking instance of road rage.

The alleged attacker rammed the man's car in a shopping centre car park on Millers Road in Altona North just before 9.30pm yesterday, according to Victoria Police.

The man was allegedly then confronted by the attacker, who was armed with a machete and proceeded to damage the man's car.

READ MORE: Thousands without power as 'very dangerous' storms lash Melbourne

The attacker allegedly then chased the man through the car park on foot while carrying the machete, until the man managed to get in his car and escape.

Police were called to the car park about 9.30pm and arrested the alleged attacker inside a nearby supermarket.

The 31-year-old Mount Duneed man has been charged with affray, conduct endangering serious injury, assaults and weapons offences.

He has been bailed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court in August.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or with information that could assist police with their investigation is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or log onto www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.

A Sydney woman got a nasty surprise while picking chilli from her backyard yesterday, as she nearly stepped on an eastern brown snake — the world's second most venomous animal.

The reptile was a juvenile, estimated to be three to four years old.

Despite its tender age Sean Cade, owner of Australian Snake Catchers, said a bite would have still proved deadly.

READ MORE: 'Once per century' weather event smashes Victoria

"Venom is venom," he told 9news.com.au, explaining it's the volume of venom contained in a bite that "causes issues".

By the time Mr Cade had arrived to remove the snake from the house in Edmondson Park, in Sydney's south west, it had managed to slip between a concrete retaining wall.

READ MORE: Deadly brown snake leaves behind 'rare' gift for snake catcher

Mr Cade reached in and carefully removed the young animal before it was safely relocated to bushland.

"The woman was very grateful as they had young children in the house," he said.

The eastern brown snake's venom is deemed the world's second most deadly, with the Inland Taipan topping the list.

Australia is currently in the middle of snake season, which typically starts around mid-September and runs to March.

Earlier this week a Gold Coast family received the fright of their lives after finding a large snake beneath their toddler's cot.