Singapore activist accused of illegal assembly over ‘smiley face’ protest
Social worker and activist Jolovan Wham appeared at a Singapore court on Monday for standing alone outside a police station holding a placard with a hand-drawn smiley face in March.
He was showing support to young climate change activists charged for similar one-man protests.
Residents are only allowed to participate in public assemblies with police permission at ‘Speakers Corner’, a small public park in the city.
Singapore has strict laws on public assembly and tightly controls the media and freedom of speech and expression.
Chinese President Xi Jinping pushes for global QR code COVID-19 tracking system
Chinese President Xi Jinping is pushing for a global coronavirus tracking system using QR codes.
In the system, each person’s QR code would store their travel and health history, and issue users with a colour code based on their level of potential exposure.
President Jinping believes both the QR code system and a uniform set of policies will help fast track international travel and business during the pandemic.
Victorian casual workers get access to paid sick leave under two-year trial
The Victorian government announced a $5 million two-year trial to provide paid sick leave and carer's pay for casual workers.
Premier Daniel Andrews says the Victorian government will provide funds to set up the Secure Work Pilot Scheme.
It will begin in late 2021 or early 2022 and provide up to five days of paid sick leave and carer's pay at the national minimum wage for casual or insecure workers in sectors with high rates of casual employment.
Aged care staff, cleaners, hospitality workers, security guards, and supermarket workers may be eligible.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian failed to self isolate while awaiting COVID-19 test result
New South Wales premier Gladys Berejikian admitted she failed to self isolate while waiting for her COVID-19 test result.
Berejiklian took a test after feeling a sore throat and waited in her office for two hours where she received confirmation she had tested negative.
While the Premier did break NSW health guidelines, she said an ordinary citizen wouldn't have taken a test with her limited symptoms, and that it was just extreme precaution.
Queensland police charge Sunshine Coast man over alleged murder threat against Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk
A 70-year-old Sunshine Coast man was charged with stalking and threatening to murder Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
The Queensland Police Service's Security Investigation Team says letters containing direct threats were sent to Ms Palaszczuk and Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young between September 15 and 22.
The man was granted bail on Monday and is scheduled to appear in court again in January.
Queensland opens border to Sydney on December 1
Queensland's border will open to Greater Sydney on December 1 after meeting the 28-day rule.
The rule requires states to go 28 days without a COVID case with an unknown source.
Victoria’s border will also be opened on December 1 if the state can meet this same threshold tomorrow.
ONEFOUR: Against All Odds
<p><span>- It’s hard to name a more highly anticipated Australian debut release than <strong>ONEFOUR</strong>’s <em>Against All Odds</em>. It’s only three years since the formation of the hip hop group from Mt Druitt in Western Sydney, and in that time they have racked up tens of millions of youtube views, been the main focus of a police street gang taskforce, had an international tour cancelled by the New Zealand government, and now have more than half the members serving lengthy prison terms for violent crimes.</span></p>
Orcha: Reflections
<p><span><span>- The violin-toting producer thing doesn’t seem to be as prevlaent as it used to be. Notable examples like <strong>Lupa J </strong>or <strong>LUCIANBLOMKAMP</strong> have forsworn the fiddle for the largest part, focusing on the synths and beats exclusively. That being said, <strong>Matt Shears</strong>, for his Orcha project, is holding on to his, although it can be a little difficult to tell.
9AM ZEDLINES - 24 NOVEMBER
By 4ZZZ reporters Hannah Davies and Norma Hilton.
Image: Wikimedia commons
AstraZeneca, Oxford University reveals positive results from their vaccine
AstraZeneca became the latest pharmaceutical company to unveil positive data in the global race for a coronavirus vaccine.
More than 23,000 adults are currently being assessed in the trials in the US, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Kenya and Latin America.
Oxford professor Andrew Pollard says their dosing regimens may be around 90 per cent effective and so more people could be vaccinated with a planned vaccine supply.
AstraZeneca say they are looking at producing three billion doses of the vaccine in 2021.