uk uk new zealand...2020/07/12 · styling itself as a champion of the regions, of the downtrodden,...

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JULY 12 (GMT) – JULY 13 (AEST), 2020

AUSTRALIAWORLDUSA

Police officers killed in shootout

Two police officers have been shot and killed in a South Texas border town after reportedly responding to a disturbance call. The McAllen police officers were shot on the south side of the city and transported to an area hospital, said Lt. Christopher Olivarez, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. A suspect in the shooting was also shot, though that person’s condition was not immediately available.

Transport restrictions set to ease

Restrictions on using public transport are reportedly set to be eased as the Government urges people to return to work rather than stay at home.

Funding to equip firefighters

The South Australian government will invest $20.3 million to implement an action plan that will better equip emergency services when tackling bushfires.

Virus stifles dengue prevention

To slow the spread of the coronavirus, governments issued lockdowns to keep people at home. They curtailed activities that affected services like trash collection. They tried to shield hospitals from a surge of patients.

Tax hikes ‘necessary’

Tax increases or spending cuts will be necessary to pay for Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s plan to help the economy weather coronavirus, former treasury minister David Gauke said.

NZ First may be slowing

As leader Winston Peters rests up from surprise surgery last week, his party New Zealand First is on life support ahead of the September election. On the evidence of Sunday’s rally in Whangarei, Jacinda Ardern’s government coalition partner might be running out of steam.

NEW ZEALANDUKUK

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES FROM FRANK NEWS

FULL STORIES START ON PAGE 3

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AUSTRALIAEUROPEWORLD

Pilot heads home after recovery

A British pilot who was Vietnam’s most critical COVID-19 patient has been discharged from hospital, less than a week after doctors said he was virus-free and healthy enough to return home to Scotland.

Mueller defends Russia inquiry

Former special counsel Robert Mueller has sharply defended his investigation into ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Victoria’s virus toll soars again

Victoria has recorded 273 new cases of coronavirus and another death. Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed a man in his 70s has died from the virus overnight, taking the national toll to 108.

Migrants saved after capsize

Four migrants have been rescued after their boat capsized while they were trying to cross the English Channel. The four were spotted by a passing passenger ferry and were picked up by the French navy.

Protests continue in Belgrade

Serbian police have detained 71 people after clashes during the fourth night of anti-government protests against the Serbian president that were initially sparked by his plans to reintroduce a coronavirus lockdown.

Research funds help CCTV

Covid-19 research money is going towards enabling police to track people using CCTV more easily. The $100,000 project by an Auckland company Safer Cities is under the government’s $25m pandemic research fund.

NEW ZEALANDEUROPEUSA

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES FROM FRANK NEWS

FULL STORIES START ON PAGE 6

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UK

People wear face coverings on the Piccadilly Line. – AP

Transport restrictions set to easeRestrictions on using public transport are reportedly set to be eased as the Government urges people to return to work rather than stay at home.

Current guidance for England states that people should consider “all other forms of transport” before using trains, tubes, buses and trams.

But the Sunday Telegraph said ministers are preparing to ease restrictions to encourage people to return to work and help reboot the economy.

Face masks are compulsory on public transport, and Boris Johnson hinted that they could soon be made mandatory in shops as well.

He also said he wanted people to go back to work “if they can” – in a major shift from the Government’s policy of urging people to work from home where possible.

The Prime Minister said: “I think everybody has sort of taken the ‘stay at home if you can’ – I think we should now say, well, ‘go back to work if you can’. Because I think it’s very important that people should try to lead their lives more normally.”

Transport operators have suffered major financial losses as the coronavirus restrictions dramatically drove down passenger numbers.

The Government gave Transport for London a £1.6 billion package to continue running services after a collapse in revenue in May.

A Whitehall source told the Sunday Telegraph: “It is costing a great deal of money to run all these train services with so few people on them.

“Different departments are looking at ways to ease in the message of avoiding public transport. The best way to do this, and when, is currently under discussion.

“There is some debate about how best to get the message across that the Government wants to allow more people to travel.” ■

Police crime scene investigation personnel seal off the scene of a shooting where two

police officers were killed. – AP

USA

Police officers killed in shootoutTwo police officers have been shot and killed in a South Texas border town after reportedly responding to a disturbance call.

The McAllen police officers were shot on the south side of the city and transported to an area hospital, said Lt. Christopher Olivarez, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. A suspect in the shooting was also shot, though that person’s condition was not immediately available.

“We have lost two brave public servants who sought only to keep peace in our City,” McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez said.

Olivarez said DPS sent troopers to secure the scene after the McAllen Police Department requested their assistance. He said his agency received a call about the incident around 4:30 p.m. McAllen is at the southern tip of Texas, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of the Gulf of Mexico

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton tweeted that his office will provide the McAllen Police Department with any help needed.

“Our prayers and full support are with the valiant men and women of the #CityofMcAllen PD this evening,” the tweet read. “We are grateful for police in McAllen and around this great state.”

US Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen said in a statement that receiving news of the two officers’ deaths was “devastating.”

“This is devastating news to our community. My heart breaks for these fallen officers and their families,” Gonzalez said. “They served McAllen bravely and honorably and I will keep them in my prayers.”

An investigation is ongoing. ■

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UK

Former UK treasury minister David Gauke says tax increases or spending cuts will be

needed for the new economic plan. - AP

Tax hikes ‘necessary for recovery’Tax increases or spending cuts will be necessary to pay for Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s plan to help the economy weather coronavirus, former treasury minister David Gauke said.

Sunak announced a “plan for jobs” which could cost up to £30 billion, the latest in a number of measures to dampen the impact of Covid-19.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said the country could face decades of tax rises to repair finances, adding that managing the elevated debt from the pandemic would be a task “for not just the current Chancellor, but also many of his successors”.

And Gauke, who left the Commons last year, said that “tax increases will have to do most of the heavy lifting” when the Government tries to balance the books.

He said that the spending pledges would see government debt grow larger than the size of the UK economy, and the “political challenge” in increasing tax by the required amount would be “immense”.

“Unlike the situation in 2010, it is hard to see that there are substantial savings to be made in Government spending,” he said.

“The one obvious exception is the pension triple lock – if wages are stagnant (or even falling) and inflation is negligible, it would be an act of intergenerational unfairness to increase the state pension by 2.5 per cent.

“To give an indication of the scale of the undertaking, a £40bn tax rise would be the equivalent of an increase of 7p on the basic rate of income tax or raising the standard rate of VAT by 6 per cent.”

Gauke added the Chancellor would have to set out his tax-raising strategy in autumn to provide certainty for business, adding it would be an “even tougher test” than the last four months. ■

People move away as health workers fumigate a slum to prevent an outbreak of dengue

fever in Jakarta, Indonesia. - AP

WORLD

Pandemic stifles dengue preventionTo slow the spread of the coronavirus, governments issued lockdowns to keep people at home. They curtailed activities that affected services like trash collection. They tried to shield hospitals from a surge of patients.

But the cascading effects of these restrictions also are hampering efforts to cope with seasonal outbreaks of dengue, an incurable, mosquito-borne disease that is also known as "breakbone fever" for its severely painful symptoms.

Southeast Asian countries like Singapore and Indonesia have dealt with concurrent outbreaks of dengue and coronavirus this year. In Brazil, where there are over 1.6 million COVID-19 infections, at least 1.1 million cases of dengue have been reported, with nearly 400 deaths, according to the Pan American Health Organization.

Dengue cases are likely to rise soon with the start of seasonal rains in Latin American countries like Cuba, Chile and Costa Rica, as well as the South Asian countries of India and Pakistan.

Dengue typically isn't fatal, but severe cases may require hospitalization. Prevention efforts targeted at destroying mosquito-breeding sites, like removing trash or old tires and other objects containing standing water, are still the best ways to curb the spread of the disease. But coronavirus-era lockdowns and other restrictions have meant that these efforts have been reduced or stopped altogether in many countries.

In northwestern Pakistan, plans to disinfect tire shops and markets that had dengue outbreaks in 2019 were shelved due to funds being used for the coronavirus, said Dr Rizwan Kundi, head of the Young Doctor's Association.

Health workers who would destroy mosquito-breeding sites in India's capital of New Delhi are also screening people for the virus. ■

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NEW ZEALAND

Winston Peters and, Jacinda Ardern. – AAP

NZ First may be running out of steamAs leader Winston Peters rests up from surprise surgery last week, his party New Zealand First is on life support ahead of the September election.

On the evidence of Sunday’s rally in Whangarei, Jacinda Ardern’s government coalition partner might be running out of steam.

Ahead of September 19’s election, New Zealand First is styling itself as a champion of the regions, of the downtrodden, and against political correctness.

But Kiwis yet aren’t buying it - and Peters, the deputy prime minister, is running out of time.

Peters, 75, was missing from the rally, holed up at home recovering from out-of-the-blue surgery last week.

That’s not ideal, less than eight weeks out from the start of voting.

Parties need to hit a 5 per cent threshold in New Zealand to enter parliament, and NZ First has dipped to record lows in recent polls; at 1.8 and 2.7 per cent in the most recent major public surveys.

That’s forced a strategic pivot to the party’s heartland in the north, in the hope of winning a seat outright and surviving.

Peters has entrusted Shane Jones, a Labor defector, with that task; running in Northland with the goal of unseating sitting National MP Matt King.

Jones, the self-styled “Force from the North”, known as the best orator in parliament, took to the stage dancing to the Doobie Brothers before giving a typically sharp address.

“Think of that ballot paper akin to a ticket to board the New Zealand First express, parliament-bound,” he boomed to an auditorium with around 300 supporters.

The diehards in the audience, made up of candidates, supporters and stickybeaks, shared that enthusiasm.

The most common belief is that New Zealand First will gain a last-minute surge of support if Ardern’s Labour continues to ride high in the polls. ■

A fire crew at an area around Parndana after bushfires swept through Kangaroo Island.

– AAP

AUSTRALIA

Funding to better equip firefightersThe South Australian government will invest $20.3 million to implement an action plan that will better equip emergency services when tackling bushfires.

Premier Steven Marshall announced the funding on Sunday after an independent review into the last bushfire season made 15 recommendations to better protect firefighters in the future.

The money will go towards suggested improvements, including investing in enhanced technology like Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) systems, burn over protection systems and new trucks.

As part of its action plan for the 2020/21 bushfire season, the commission of 25 fire trucks will be fast-tracked.

Almost 50 trucks will be installed with a Halo system, which sprays a water ring around the vehicle.

AVL systems will also be tested and thermal imaging capability for firefighting groups will be implemented.

Marshall said it was vital to implement change as quickly as possible.

"We know from this report, the media and our personal experiences that these were devastating bushfires," he said.

"We had the loss of life, property, livestock and wildlife in SA and it's incumbent upon every South Australian to understand what we can do ahead of the bushfire season."

Country Fire Service chief Mark Jones said it was unrealistic to install AVL systems in the service's 1000 vehicles by next season.

However, he said it was more important to identify a good system than install one as quickly as possible.

"We need a system that covers the whole state given the fact radio coverage and mobile telephony isn't everywhere," Jones said.

"It's important we get it right and make sure for future years, crews are safer because we know precisely where they are in bushfires." ■

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USA

Former special counsel Robert Mueller. – AP

Mueller defends Russia inquiryFormer special counsel Robert Mueller has sharply defended his investigation into ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

In a newspaper opinion piece, Mueller said the probe was of “paramount importance” and asserted that a Trump ally, Roger Stone, “remains a convicted felon, and rightly so” despite the president’s decision to commute his prison sentence.

The op-ed in The Washington Post marked Mueller’s first public statement on his investigation since his congressional appearance last July. It represented his firmest defense of the two-year probe whose results have come under attack and even been partially undone by the Trump administration, including the president’s extraordinary move Friday evening to grant clemency to Stone just days before he was due to report to prison.

Mueller said that though he had intended for his 448-page report on the investigation to speak for itself, he felt compelled to “respond both to broad claims that our investigation was illegitimate and our motives were improper, and to specific claims that Roger Stone was a victim of our office.

“The Russia investigation was of paramount importance. Stone was prosecuted and convicted because he committed federal crimes. He remains a convicted felon, and rightly so,” Mueller wrote.

Mueller did not specify who was making the claims, but it appeared to be an obvious reference to Trump, who as recently as Saturday derided the investigation as this “whole political witch hunt and the Mueller scam.”

The mere publication of the op-ed was striking in itself for a former FBI director who was tight-lipped during the investigation, refusing to respond to attacks by the president or his allies or to even make public appearances explaining or justifying his work. ■

British pilot Stephen Cameron salutes as he is carried on stretcher from a hospital in Ho

Chi Minh City. – AP

WORLD

Pilot heads home after Vietnam recoveryA British pilot who was Vietnam’s most critical COVID-19 patient has been discharged from hospital, less than a week after doctors said he was virus-free and healthy enough to return home to Scotland.

The 42-year-old man, identified by the official Vietnam News Agency as Stephen Cameron, was taken by ambulance from Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City to the city’s airport. He was scheduled to take a flight to Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, where he will depart on a flight to London, with a stop in Frankfurt.

Vietnam has gone all out to save Cameron, who was working for national carrier Vietnam Airlines when he tested positive for the coronavirus in March. He had been critically ill and spent 65 days on life support.

“I’m overwhelmed by the generosity of the Vietnamese people, the dedication and professionalism of the doctors and nurses working” at Cho Ray Hospital, Cameron said in a video released by the hospital.

“I can only thank everybody here for things that they have done,” he said, sitting in a wheelchair next to a group of doctors. “I’m going home with a happy heart because I’m going home, but it is sad that I’m leaving so many people here that I’m friends with.”

Cameron is known in Vietnam as “Patient 91,” as he was the 91st person in the country confirmed to have the coronavirus. He was Vietnam’s last patient in an ICU, and his recovery means the country still has not had any COVID-19 deaths.

“The patient’s recovery has been like a very long flight,” Dr. Tran Thanh Linh, the deputy head of the ICU ward at Cho Ray Hospital, said during a meeting between hospital officials, the British Consulate and Vietnam Airlines representatives just before Cameron’s discharge.

“But he made it,” Linh said. “All of the health workers are overwhelmed with joy to see him fully recovered and being discharged from the hospital today.” ■

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EUROPE

Protesters clash with riot police on the steps of the Serbian parliament during a protest in

Belgrade. – AP

Fourth night of protests in BelgradeSerbian police have detained 71 people after clashes during the fourth night of anti-government protests against the Serbian president that were initially sparked by his plans to reintroduce a coronavirus lockdown.

Fourteen policemen were injured in the latest rioting when hundreds of right-wing demonstrators tried to storm the parliament building in downtown Belgrade, police director Vladimir Rebic said.

Many demonstrators and several reporters were also injured in the protests.

Hundreds gathered on Saturday for another night of protests, but no incidents were reported.

The protesters, defying an anti-virus ban on gatherings, threw bottles, rocks and flares at police who were guarding the parliament building, and police responded with tear gas to disperse the angry crowds.

Similar clashes erupted twice earlier this week. The protests first started when President Aleksandar Vucic announced a strict curfew for this weekend to curb a surge in new coronavirus cases in the Balkan country

Vucic later scraped the plan to impose the lockdown. Authorities instead banned gatherings of more than 10 people in Belgrade, the capital, and shortened the working hours of indoor businesses.

Many in Serbia accuse the increasingly authoritarian Vucic and his government of letting the virus crisis spin out of control in order to hold a parliamentary election on June 21 that tightened the ruling party’s grip on power.

Vucic has denied this, although authorities had relaxed the rules prior to the vote, allowing massive crowds at soccer games, tennis matches and nightclubs.

Authorities reported 12 new coronavirus deaths on Saturday and 354 new infections, although there have been increasing doubts about the accuracy of the official figures. ■

French authorities rescue migrants in the English Channel. – PA

EUROPE

Migrants saved after boat capsizesFour migrants have been rescued after their boat capsized while they were trying to cross the English Channel.

The four were spotted by a passing passenger ferry and were picked up by the French navy.

They were found to have severe hypothermia and were taken to the French port of Calais.

French authorities say they are now safe and well, but repeated warnings about the dangers of crossing the narrow strait between the UK and the continent.

At least 21 migrants in three boats have been intercepted and brought back to France after attempting the death-defying journey.

Border Force has also been active in UK waters. In Dover, six migrants were located in a secure area of the docks after arriving in a small boat, the Home Office confirmed.

They were secured by police and handed over to immigration officials.

The most recent crossings follow reports that French authorities have dismantled a migrant camp near Calais, resulting in more than 500 people being moved on.

Clare Moseley, founder of humanitarian charity Care4Calais, said: “These continual evictions increase health risks – destroying possessions removes people’s ability to keep warm and dry, sleep properly or cook for themselves.

“Evictions are pointless and simply don’t work. This approach has been followed for 10 years with no perceivable impact.

“It was claimed that the demolition of the large Calais jungle in October 2016 would stop people coming to Calais to cross the Channel, but it did not.”

Instead, Moseley said the eviction was a “direct response” to UK Home Secretary Priti Patel’s calls for action following recent Channel crossings.

Patel said migrant crossings are a “complicated issue” and the English Channel has become “far too viable for criminals”. ■

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Research funds help CCTV trackingCovid-19 research money is going towards enabling police to track people using CCTV more easily.

The $100,000 project by an Auckland company Safer Cities is under the government's $25m pandemic research fund.

The Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) said it would build on existing ways of using video footage.

People and businesses often voluntarily provided police with their live or recorded video footage, it said.

Officers generally had to access the footage in person, "putting people at risk" if there were an outbreak.

"This platform aims to provide a digital, contactless connection, enabling police investigations to continue to operate without compromising any social distancing rules in place under various alert level conditions.

"It is important to note that the platform only uses community uploads (voluntary opt-in) and does not give users the ability to download information without permission."

It was subject to privacy laws and other regulations.In May, the police ordered a stocktake of surveillance

technologies after controversy over their trialling of facial recognition software.

Extra CCTV cameras had been expected to be put on Auckland streets in the run-up to the APEC leaders meeting in 2021.

However, that meeting has since been made into a virtual one only, due to travel disruption by Covid-19.

The ministry lists about 40 projects worth $19m approved so far under the Covid-19 Innovation Acceleration Fund. ■

NEW ZEALAND

Covid-19 research money is going towards enabling NZ police to track people using CCTV

more easily. - AAP

Victoria’s virus toll soars againVictoria has recorded 273 new cases of coronavirus and another death.

Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed a man in his 70s has died from the virus overnight, taking the national toll to 108.

“We send our best wishes and assure that family that our thoughts and prayers are with them. This will be a very, very difficult time for them,” he said.

It comes after a man in his 90s died from the virus on Friday. The state now has 3799 COVID-19 cases, of which 1484 are

active. There are 57 people in hospital with the virus and 16 of

those are in intensive care. Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said outbreaks in

health and aged care settings were of particular concern.There are 11 coronavirus cases linked to Brunswick Private

Hospital, eight to the Alfred Hospital and two to Box Hill Hospital.

Eleven people have also tested positive at a single aged-care facility.

“The workforces know what to do, but it is a risk that can’t be mitigated down to zero, and my thoughts go to those front-line workers,” Sutton said.

“I have been an emergency department doctor for years and they are brave and they are brilliant in responding to the challenges of positive cases that need to be managed there.”

There are also 22 cases linked to public housing in Carlton.“They are in towers. They are not as high-risk as the towers

in North Melbourne, in Flemington, but all towers - where there is a concentration of people - are at-risk settings,” Professor Sutton said.

The premier said he was grateful to the almost 32,000 people who were tested for the virus on Saturday.

“Arguably there is nothing more important than coming forward if you’ve got even mild symptoms,” Andrews said. ■

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media in Melbourne. – AAP

AUSTRALIA

uk uk new zealand...2020/07/12 · styling itself as a champion of the regions, of the downtrodden,...

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