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To date Chile has ordered close to 90 million vaccine doses – enough to fully vaccinate its population of 19.2 million people twice. It’s set to receive vaccines from Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sinovac and Johnson & Johnson as well as from the global vaccine-supply programme, Covax.

Australian governments acted to protect homeless people from COVID-19 in 2020 on an even larger scale than previously thought. In the first six months of the pandemic, the four states that launched emergency programs housed more than 40,000 rough sleepers and others.

Exxonmobil’s oil refinery at Altona in Melbourne is to close with the loss of around 350 jobs. BP’s refinery in WA closes this year.

A recent report by audit and consultancy firm PwC predicts that the impact of COVID-19 will lead London to see its first population decline in decades. Is this set to be a blip, quickly reversed – or a turning point which will mark the start of long-term population decline in...

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Rising infections from quarantine hotel at Melbourne Airport worry SA health authorities, who have banned travellers from the Victorian capital.

The House passed a single article of impeachment against Trump, for “incitement of insurrection”, the charge now being considered by the Senate. There is no standard process for an impeachment trial. The guidelines for the trial are agreed by senators to reflect the particular circumstances.

Trillions of barely visible pieces of plastic are floating in the world’s oceans, from surface waters to the deep seas. These particles, known as microplastics, typically form when larger plastic objects such as shopping bags and food containers break down.

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Alcohol has been ranked as the most harmful drug to Australian communities, and the greatest harm of all comes from heavy drinking. In Australia an estimated three-quarters of all alcohol is consumed by the top 20% of its heaviest drinkers, a group that the alcohol industry depends on and actively...

Anthony Albanese will risk a backlash from employers when he releases an industrial relations policy promising a Labor government would substantially increase the legal rights and protections for Australians in insecure work.

Disaster assistance for coastal shires hit by flooding. Resources sector contributes funds for people who lost homes in bushfires.

Roads, railways, mines and dams have disrupted the well-worn trails that reindeer follow each year, particularly across northern Europe.

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Could it be a plea for more pork on the menu? Did a short-sighted tradie put it on the wrong roof? An Adelaide restaurateur is puzzled.

One major consequence is that UK financial institutions must trade euro-denominated shares and bonds from within the euro-bloc. Some temporary measures are in place to keep trades moving, such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority allowing UK companies to trade EU derivatives until June, but this business will also probably...

Officials in Halmstad municipality, Sweden, recently forced a teacher to remove their mask and prohibited the use of masks and all forms of PPE in schools.

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A university could not close a language program involving a nationally strategic language without government approval. This condition was important symbolically as well as practically. It emphasised to universities the importance of commitment to Asian languages.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison might be warming to the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, but federal Nationals leader Michael McCormack has thrown a spanner in the works by suggesting agriculture be excluded from the target.

Ai Group concerned the post-lockdown economic lift may be more of a short-term policy-led bounce than an enduring revival.

Chinese officials angry at Australia as foreign minister calls for ‘procedural fairness and humane treatment’ of arrested Australian journalist.

Endemic viruses are those that have constant presence within a geographical area. Such viruses are all around us, though they vary by location.

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These days people trading on the stock market want more than just a strong financial return. They’re increasingly opting for investments that will also have a positive societal impact.

The Morrison government on Friday released a plan to reduce carbon emissions from Australia’s road transport sector. Controversially, it ruled out consumer incentives to encourage electric vehicle uptake.

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South Africa will pause its rollout of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after a small study suggested it offers minimal protection against mild and moderate infection from the South African coronavirus strain known as B.1.351.

Victorians awoke to news this morning that another hotel quarantine staff member has tested positive for COVID, this time from the Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport.

Chinese national living in Perth forged documents to convince unsuspecting clients they had been granted an Australian entry visa.

A ground-breaking Victorian initiative that uses dogs to support children and other vulnerable people testifying in court is being expanded.

Courts in the US and the EU have filed cases against big tech as part of what’s been dubbed the “techlash” against their growing power. But Berners-Lee’s answer to big tech’s overreach is far simpler: to give individuals the power to control their own data.

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The unemployment rate that newspapers commonly cite is known as the U-3. But one of its biggest shortcomings is that it doesn’t include people who have given up looking for work.

The future of Australia’s near neighbour, New Caledonia, is uncertain, with signs of a return to the instability and violence of the 1980s. The Australian media and public take little notice, yet developments there carry serious security implications for Australia at a time of regional change.

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An independent expert panel today rejected a proposal to expand the operations of the Dendrobium coal mine under Sydney’s drinking water catchment.

Increased growth of Asian forest habitats favoured by bats could have played a direct role in the emergence of the pandemic.

US foreign policy will now focus more on multilateral diplomacy and working with other nations in a more positive way. But Biden stressed this should not be considered a soft approach, insisting that diplomacy would be the best way to get what the US wants.

As Australians try to put the upheavals of past year behind them and warily look ahead into 2021, probably one of the last things they want to contemplate is the prospect of a pugilistic election campaign.

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Opposition says nannies working for movie stars have been allowed to enter NZ, but not cruise ship hospitality staff with specialised training.

February has already been a bad month for Perth. Bushfire has destroyed 81 homes and burned more than 10,000 hectares northeast of the city. Residents in the midst of a COVID-19 lockdown were told to abandon their homes and seek shelter as the bushfire raged.

Seeing or hearing Greta Thunberg once doesn’t instantly turn someone into a climate activist. Nonetheless, we discovered a potentially important pattern of associations. Those more familiar with Thunberg were more likely to think their actions were effective and meaningful and were more intent on doing something about climate change.

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The world must decide what needs to change to prevent events like the COVID-19 pandemic happening again, according to the former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark.

The recent controversy over a decision by the Tauranga City Council to establish a Māori ward reminds us that arguments about Māori political representation are nothing new.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been disastrous for many children, whose education and development have been badly affected by repeated school closures.

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