One person is seriously injured following a crash in Northcote, on Auckland’s North Shore.Police received a report of the crash between a vehicle and a pedestrian at around 7pm on Northcote Rd.Traffic management is currently in…

By RNZ The former chief executive of the Ports of Auckland – Tony Gibson – has been charged following the death of a stevedore.Maritime NZ yesterday revealed it had laid several health and safety charges against the port company…

A baby has been rushed to hospital after a 16-year-old driver allegedly mounted a Melbourne footpath, hitting a woman pushing a pram.

The Ford Falcon allegedly rammed the woman and a pram she was pushing right after the Ford crashed into a 4WD Jeep on Rosella Avenue, Werribee about 2.50pm, according to Victoria Police.

The woman and the baby were not injured but the baby was taken to the Royal Children's Hospital for observation.

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The hospital has confirmed the child is in a stable condition.

Police arrested the alleged driver of the Ford, a 16-year-old boy, at the scene.

Four others who were passengers in the Ford were not injured.

Ambulance Victoria confirmed they assessed another baby at the scene who did not need further medical attention.

Police in the US city of Norfolk say they've solved the decade-old slaying of a college student who was a nephew of the late Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings.

WAVY-TV reports Norfolk police announced yesterday that they have made four arrests in the killing.

Christopher Cummings, 20, was a student at Old Dominion University in 2011 and had just finished his junior year when he was shot and killed in his home. His roommate also was shot but survived.

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Police say four men from the nearby city of Newport News have been indicted on 15 charges each, including murder.

Police identified the men as Kwaume Edwards, 32; Javon Doyle, 31; Ahmad Watson, 30; and Rashad Dooley, 28. They have been jailed without bond, police said. It's not known if any of them has hired an attorney who could comment on the case.

A police news release gave few details about the killing and did not offer a suspected motive. Police Chief Larry Boone said in a statement that investigators "followed up on every lead necessary to ensure the Norfolk Police Department was able to deliver justice to both the surviving victim and to the Cummings family."

Mr Cummings was the son of the late congressman's brother, James Cummings. In 2011, Elijah Cummings spoke about the shooting and reflected on what it was like for tragedy to strike his own extended family.

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"When it hits your house and it hits your family, I'll tell you, it's a lot different because I think it gives you a far better understanding of what people are feeling in those circumstances, and you can also understand the pain and the anger and the desire for closure that is, making sure that whoever might be responsible for an incident like this is brought to justice," Mr Cummings told The Associated Press then.

The congressman died in 2019.

A quarter of Australian adults are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called current jab rates "world class", claiming they rival even those achieved in the United Kingdom.

However, the rising vaccination uptake comes as the NSW outbreak continues to surge, with 390 cases recorded in the state today.

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Just one month ago, the percentage of Australians who were double vaccinated stood at 11.6 per cent.

"That just demonstrates how quickly this vaccination program is gathering pace all around the country," Mr Morrison said.

Yesterday saw another daily record set with 270,000 doses administered.

"It is equivalent in per capita terms to the fourth best day they had in the UK ever," the prime minister said.

"So the vaccination rates now being achieved under Operation COVID Shield right across the country are now hitting those world-class marks.

"I think that gives all Australians great hope about the path ahead.

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"Australians are charting that course. Australians are making that path ahead for our nation out of COVID-19 with every step they take into those vaccination clinics."

New South Wales' recent vaccine push amid its spiralling outbreak means it has now vaccinated more than half its population with at least one dose, joining the ACT and Tasmania.

But Mr Morrison said Tasmania was "leading the charge", with 52.5 per cent of its population having had at least one vaccine and more than 30 per cent having received two.

More than half of Australians aged over 70 are now fully vaccinated.

Vaccine rollout commander Lieutenant-General John Frewen said the "sense of momentum is very real" in the ongoing jab campaign with falling rates of vaccine hesitancy an "encouraging" sign.

"Recent surveys indicate to us that 79 per cent of Australians are prepared to get vaccinated and another 14 per cent are still deciding whether they will," Lieutenant-General Frewen said.

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Chief Medical Officer Professor Kelly said data from the UK and Singapore, two highly-vaccinated populations, showed the clear protection vaccines provided.

He said while both countries had undergone spikes in COVID-19 cases recently, high levels of vaccination had, to a great extent, prevented widespread hospitalisations and deaths.

The coronavirus has claimed 39 lives in Australia so far this year, most of them in NSW.

Greater freedoms for those who have been vaccinated are also looking increasingly likely, the prime minister saying they "stand to reason".

"If you are vaccinated, you presented less of a public health risk to yourself and to others around you – your work colleagues, your community – so … it only stands to reason that you would have different arrangements," Mr Morrison said.

The prime minister noted that no decisions had been made on policies for the vaccinated as yet, but he backed WA's new mandate that exempt NSW travellers be vaccinated.

"That is not unlike the sorts of things we have been talking about for some time, where people are vaccinated, and an exemption has been granted, but the vaccination aids that exemption being given on public health grounds," Mr Morrison said.

However, he said such measures would not be permanent under the national plan, with vaccination levels of 70 per cent and 80 per cent meaning border restrictions could be discarded entirely.

Sex work will be decriminalised in Victoria with a raft of reforms set to be implemented over the next two years.

The decriminalisation will mean sex workers will have access to the same rights as any other Victorian employee, regardless if they work for themselves, a small employer or a large company.

The Victorian Government in a statement said a range of reforms will be implemented over the next two years to increase safety, reduce stigma and improve access to government health and justice services.

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https://twitter.com/SWLRV/status/1426027613076660230

"Decriminalisation recognises that sex work is legitimate work and should be regulated through standard business laws, like all other industries in the state," it read.

"The current sex work regulatory system – which has not been updated for close to three decades – is out-of-date and no longer fit-for-purpose."

The changes will bring Victoria into line with other jurisdictions – including NSW – where sex work was decriminalised in 1995.

The government said sex workers have reported current working conditions as unsafe in both the licensed and unlicensed sectors, with issues involving violence in the workplace, deterrents to reporting violence and a lack of compliance with safe-sex measures.

"Every Victorian deserves to feel safe in their place of work – decriminalisation will ensure that sex work is safe work and go a long way towards breaking down the stigma sex workers continue to experience," Consumer Affairs Minister Melissa Horne said.

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In 2019, Northern Metropolitan Region MP Fiona Patten led a targeted review of sex work regulation and how to decriminalise the industry.

The government has considered the recommendations and vowed to remove offences and criminal penalties for consensual sex work and repealing public health offences.

They will also repeal the Sex Work Act 1994 to regulate sex work and update planning, public health and anti-discrimination laws to support a decriminalised system.

Only sex work between consenting adults will be decriminalised.

There will still be criminal offences to protect children and workers from other forms of non-consensual sex work.

"Replacing criminal sanctions with standard industry regulations has been proven elsewhere to improve workers, access to workplace health and safety, healthcare and justice," Workplace Safety Minister Ingrid Stitt said.

Feedback to inform the implementation of the sex work decriminalisation reforms is welcome via: engage.vic.gov.au/sex-work-decriminalisation

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