Shanghai blockades COVID-hit buildings
SHANGHAI, RAW – Shanghai authorities battling an outbreak of COVID-19 have erected mesh barriers outside some residential buildings, sparking fresh public outcry over a lockdown that has forced much of the city’s 25 million population to stay at home. Images of white hazmat-suit-clad workers sealing entrances of housing blocks and closing off entire streets with…
COVID pill shows rapid clearance of virus
TOKYO, RAW – An experimental antiviral pill treatment has shown rapid clearance of the virus that causes COVID-19, according to new data from Japanese drug maker Shionogi & Co Ltd says. The pill, S-217622, “demonstrated rapid clearance of the infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus”, Shionogi said in a statement, citing Phase-2b results from the Phase II/III clinical…
Macron wins 2nd term, pledges change
PARIS, RAW – Emmanuel Macron has comfortably defeated his far-right rival Marine Le Pen, heading off a political earthquake for Europe but acknowledging dissatisfaction with his first term and saying he would seek to make amends His supporters erupted with joy on Sunday as the results appeared on a giant screen at the Champ de…
Wall Street slides amid rate hike worries
NEW YORK CITY, RAW – Wall Street has slumped to a lower close, ending a whipsaw week of surprise earnings news and increased certainty around aggressive near-term interest rate rises, which also pushed them into negative territory for the week. It was the third straight week of losses for both the S&P 500 and the…
ASX falls sharply in global sell-off
SYDNEY, AAP – The Australian share market has closed down sharply amid growing concerns the global economy will suffer a hard downturn and that the cost of capital will rise. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was saturated with red on Friday, falling 119.5 points, or 1.57 per cent, to close at 7473.3. Miners drove the exchange…
Cost of medicines a key election issue
CANBERRA, AAP – Health and community pharmacy peak bodies have formed a coalition urging parties to recognise medicine affordability as a key election issue. The Pharmacy Guild of Australia, the Australian Patients Association, Chronic Pain Australia and Musculoskeletal Australia, say 30 per cent of voters are struggling to afford medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme….
NT man charged over $1.47m cattle theft
DARWIN, AAP – A 71-year-old man faces theft and deception charges after allegedly taking cattle worth almost $1.5 million from a Northern Territory station. Detectives went to a station on the Sturt Plateau, south of Darwin, in June last year amid allegations that 435 head of cattle had been taken from a nearby property. They…
Australian bank Westpac penalised $113 million
The Federal Court has ordered Westpac to pay penalties in the amount of $113 million for widespread compliance failures across multiple businesses, including Westpac’s banking, superannuation, wealth management and insurance brands. Justice Beach today handed down his decision in the last of six separate civil penalty proceedings filed by ASIC against Westpac in November 2021…
Australian aged care world ‘standard’: PM
CANBERRA, AAP – Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia’s aged care system is seen as a global standard, with the government working to introduce round the clock nurses in facilities by 2025. Mr Morrison is campaigning in Brisbane on Friday, where he said the government was planning to introduce the recommendation made by the royal…
Labor, coalition war of words over China
CANBERRA, AAP – WAR OF WORDS OVER CHINA Prime Minister Scott Morrison has sought to pivot from criticism he was too slow to act against a China-Solomons security pact by attacking Labor’s record on Beijing. Mr Morrison seized on reported comments from Deputy Labor Leader Richard Marles, accusing him of hypocrisy. But Labor has hit…
