NOVEMBER 11 (GMT) – NOVEMBER 12 (AEST), 2020

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES FROM FRANK NEWS

FULL STORIES START ON PAGE 3

NORTH AMERICA UK AUSTRALIA

‘No evidence’ to overturn vote Nation pays respect to war dead Australia urged to ‘pick battles’

Utah Senator Mitt Romney, the The nation has paid silent tribute to A former ambassador to China believes Republican 2012 presidential nominee, those who lost their lives in conflict on a Australia must pick its battles more says he still has yet to see any evidence coronavirus-hit Armistice Day. COVID-19 carefully when speaking up about human of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 restrictions forced much of the British rights. Geoff Raby also argues Australia election. To say the election was a public to observe the traditional two- should not be throwing stones about fraud would be “not accurate” and minute silence at 11am from their homes trade disputes after “harassing” China “destructive to the cause of freedom,” this year. But scaled back socially- with copious anti-dumping investigations. Romney said while speaking to reporters. distanced commemorations were also Raby said navigating human rights Romney said President Donald Trump held across the UK, from London to concerns was a perennial problem in is within his rights to call for recounts Edinburgh. handling diplomatic relations with Beijing. and investigations into any voting irregularities.

NORTH AMERICA UK NEW ZEALAND

Trump loyalists get top jobs Nuclear plants to deliver jobs Homes left uninhabitable

A day after President Donald Trump A group led by engine maker Rolls-Royce More homes in Napier have been fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper, has pledged to create 6000 regional UK declared uninhabitable, following three staunch loyalists to the president jobs within the next five years under Monday’s devastating storm. Hawke’s Bay were named to top defense jobs. plans for a fleet of 16 mini nuclear power Civil Defence said as of 4pm Wednesday, Among them was a former Fox News stations. The consortium said the jobs 225 homes had been assessed, and 30 commentator who failed to get through would help support the Government’s are not fit to live in. Eleven homes on Senate confirmation because of offensive levelling up agenda, with up to 80 per Napier Hill are severely damaged, as are remarks he made. The abrupt changes cent of the power station components two in the suburb of Marewa. Affected sent reverberations through the set to be made in factories across the residents are evacuating to welfare Pentagon as nervous civilian and military Midlands and North of England. centres set up in Napier and Hastings, or personnel waited for the next shoe to to friends and family. drop.

1 NOVEMBER 11 (GMT) – NOVEMBER 12 (AEST), 2020

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES FROM FRANK NEWS

FULL STORIES START ON PAGE 6

NORTH AMERICA UK AUSTRALIA

Biden plans stimulus, regulation ‘Lockdown’ word of the year Call to allow more Aussies home

President-elect Joe Biden will inherit a Collins Dictionary has named “lockdown” A single mother separated from her vulnerable economic recovery under as its Word of the Year 2020 after a autistic son is one of thousands of threat from a resurgent virus, likely with sharp increase in its usage amid the Australians still stranded overseas, a divided Congress that will hinder his coronavirus pandemic. The dictionary desperate to return home. Lynne ability to address the challenges. Yet said it added the term because it travelled to Scotland to care for her sick despite the obstacles, the former vice “encapsulates the shared experience mum, who has since died. She’s urgently president and senator will pursue a of billions of people who have had trying to get home as her 13-year-old drastic shift in America’s economic policy. to restrict their daily lives in order to is son has been staying with friends in contain the virus”. Collins’ lexicographers Australia. Lynne also has health issues registered over a quarter of a million that have gone unchecked in Scotland. usages of “lockdown” during 2020, against only 4000 the previous year.

NORTH AMERICA UK NEW ZEALAND

Democrats clinch House control Patients enduring ‘long COVID’ National unveils shadow cabinet

Democrats have sealed two more More than two-thirds of patients National Party leader Judith Collins is years of controlling the House but hospitalised due to coronavirus continue unveiling her new shadow cabinet as with a potentially razor-thin majority, a to suffer from debilitating symptoms the party picks up the pieces after its bittersweet finale to last week’s elections more than seven weeks after being crushing election defeat. Earlier, Shane that has left them divided and with scant discharged, a new study suggests. Reti was announced as the deputy margin for error for advancing their Researchers found that 54 days after leader of the National Party after Gerry agenda. The party has now nailed down discharge, 69 per cent of patients were Brownlee announced he was stepping at least 218 seats, according to The still experiencing fatigue, and 53 per down as deputy leader. Collins said the Associated Press, and could win a few cent were suffering from persistent party’s new line-up reflects a wealth of others when more votes are counted. breathlessness. talent and experience.

2 NOVEMBER 11 (GMT) – NOVEMBER 12 (AEST), 2020

Utah Senator Mitt Romney. - AP The Pentagon in Washington. - AP

NORTH AMERICA NORTH AMERICA Romney: No evidence Trump loyalists get to overturn election top Pentagon jobs

Utah Senator Mitt Romney, the Republican 2012 A day after President Donald Trump fired Defense presidential nominee, says he still has yet to see any Secretary Mark Esper, three staunch loyalists to the evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. president were named to top defense jobs. Among them was a former Fox News commentator who failed to To say the election was a fraud would be “not accurate” and get through Senate confirmation because of offensive “destructive to the cause of freedom,” Romney said while remarks he made. speaking to reporters. Romney said President Donald Trump is within his rights The abrupt changes sent reverberations through the Pentagon to call for recounts and investigations into any voting as nervous civilian and military personnel waited for the next irregularities. But he said any problems likely won’t change the shoe to drop. And they fueled worries of a wider effort to drum outcome of the election. out anyone considered not loyal enough to Trump. “Had we not had COVID at all, I think it would have been likely The unease was palpable inside the building throughout the president would have been re-elected,” Romney said. the day over concerns about what the Trump administration Only a handful of Republicans, including Sens. Susan Collins, may do in the months before President-elect Joe Biden takes Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski, have congratulated Biden office and whether there will be a greater effort to politicize the on the election. historically apolitical military. While radical policy shifts seem There is no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 unlikely before the January 20 inauguration, the changes could election. In fact, election officials from both political further damage prospects for a smooth transition already parties have stated publicly that the election went well and hampered by Trump’s refusal to concede his election loss. international observers confirmed there were no serious James Anderson, who had been acting undersecretary irregularities. for policy, resigned and he was quickly replaced by Anthony The issues Trump’s campaign and its allies have pointed to Tata, a retired Army one-star general. A short time later, are typical in every election: problems with signatures, secrecy Joseph Kernan, a retired Navy vice admiral, stepped down as envelopes and postal marks on mail-in ballots, as well as the undersecretary for intelligence, hastening what had been an potential for a small number of ballots miscast or lost. With already planned post-election departure. Kernan was replaced Biden leading Trump by wide margins in key battleground by Ezra Cohen-Watnick, who becomes acting undersecretary states, none of those issues would have any impact on the for intelligence. outcome of the election. The departures came on Christopher Miller’s second day on Trump’s campaign has also launched legal challenges the job as defense chief. Miller also brought in his own chief complaining that their poll watchers were unable to scrutinize of staff, Kash Patel, to replace Jen Stewart, who had worked the voting process. Many of those challenges have been tossed in that job for Esper. Patel and Cohen-Watnick are both out by judges, some within hours of their filing; and again, none considered staunchly loyal to Trump and previously worked of the complaints show any evidence that the outcome of the at the National Security Council. ■ election was impacted. ■

3 NOVEMBER 11 (GMT) – NOVEMBER 12 (AEST), 2020

People gather at the war memorial in Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, to remember the Part of the Turbine Hall at Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. - PA war dead on Armistice Day. - PA

UK UK Nation honours war dead Nuclear power plants to mark Armistice Day to deliver regional jobs

The nation has paid silent tribute to those who lost their A group led by engine maker Rolls-Royce has pledged to lives in conflict on a coronavirus-hit Armistice Day. create 6000 regional UK jobs within the next five years under plans for a fleet of 16 mini nuclear power stations. COVID-19 restrictions forced much of the British public to observe the traditional two-minute silence at 11am from their The consortium said the jobs would help support the homes this year. Government’s levelling up agenda, with up to 80 per cent of But scaled back socially-distanced commemorations were the power station components set to be made in factories also held across the UK, from London to Edinburgh. across the Midlands and North of England. This year, Armistice Day marks the centenary of the burial of These components would then be sent on to existing the Unknown Warrior in London’s Westminster Abbey after the nuclear sites around the country for rapid assembly. end of the First World War. As well as the potential to create 6000 jobs by 2025, the Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has penned a poem plans could deliver a further 34,000 roles in 15 years, most commemorating the anniversary, which honours the symbolic of which would be high value manufacturing jobs, according “son we lost” who is “a soul without name or rank or age or to Rolls. home”. The group – which also includes National Nuclear Laboratory Officials attended a private, televised service at the abbey and Laing O’Rourke – said it is hoping to get a “clear to mark the funeral of the unknown British serviceman whose commitment” from the Government for the flat-packed power body was brought back from northern France in 1920. station project. He was laid to rest at the west end of the abbey’s nave on The Government handed the Rolls-Royce-led coalition £18 November 11 that year to represent all those who lost their million last year to design the small modular reactors (SMR). lives in the First World War but whose place of death was The consortium matched the funding and is now looking to unknown or body never found. secure a further £217 million, which would also be matched In his poem The Bed, Armitage charts the fallen soldier’s by industry. journey, from being “broken and sleeping rough in a dirt grave” Tom Samson, interim chief executive of the consortium, to being buried “among drowsing poets and dozing saints”. said: “This creates a unique opportunity to revitalise the It concludes: “All this for a soul, without name or rank or UK’s industrial base and paves the way for the future age or home, because you are the son we lost, and your commercialisation of advanced reactor solutions, including rest is ours.” fusion technology. Elsewhere in the capital, early morning train services run by “Our ambition to accelerate the deployment of a fleet Great Western Railway carried swathes of poppy wreaths from these power stations across the UK will contribute massively locations along its network to Paddington Station. to the ‘levelling up’ agenda, creating sustainable high value The Poppies to Paddington initiative, involving military manufacturing jobs in those areas most in need of economic charities, local authorities and military bases, aimed to place activity.” the wreaths by the station’s war memorial on Platform 1 on He added: “The fleet approach will bring huge value to the behalf of those unable to travel to London for Remembrance communities of which these power stations will be a part, with events this year. ■ economic activity spanning 60 years of operations.” ■

4 NOVEMBER 11 (GMT) – NOVEMBER 12 (AEST), 2020

- AAP Floods waters submerge Rutherford Rd and Latham St in Napier. - RNZ / Anusha Bradley

AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND Australia urged to ‘pick Flooding leaves more its battles’ with China homes uninhabitable

A former ambassador to China believes Australia must More homes in Napier have been declared pick its battles more carefully when speaking up about uninhabitable, following Monday’s devastating storm. human rights. Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence said as of 4pm Wednesday, 225 Geoff Raby also argues Australia should not be throwing stones homes had been assessed, and 30 are not fit to live in. about trade disputes after “harassing” China with copious anti- Eleven homes on Napier Hill are severely damaged, as are dumping investigations. two in the suburb of Marewa. Raby said navigating human rights concerns was a perennial Affected residents are evacuating to welfare centres set up problem in handling diplomatic relations with Beijing. in Napier and Hastings, or to friends and family. He said China “took a different approach to the human rights Civil defence controller Ian McDonald said it was too early to discussion” than Australia. say how much it would cost to fix the damage. Asked how Australia could speak up about issues including However, safety inspections of dozens more properties Hong Kong and the treatment of Uighurs without inflaming are likely to be completed tomorrow, and the longer term tensions, Raby talked up the importance of private discussions. challenge will be finding permanent accommodation for people “You’ve got to do both – but the public stuff you have to work currently in emergency accommodation. out how and when you do it,” he told the National Press Club Welfare checks will also continue. in Canberra. “Multi-agency teams also continue to check people’s welfare Raby also suggested Australia raise concerns less frequently. and well-being in the most severely impacted suburbs of “You need to pick the issues, the ones that really matter, or Maraenui, Mārewa and Pirimai and to coordinate support to the ones that you think public statements in good company affected residents,” Fire and Emergency area manager Ken with other countries may have an impact and be heard,” Cooper said. he said. “We are working with Kainga Ora to check their tenants living “The main thing with diplomacy is not how loudly you speak in impacted areas.” but the outcomes you get.” Mihi and David Alyliffe are enjoying a new lake view from From 1997 until a few years ago, senior Australian and their upstairs balcony over what used to be Whitmore Park. Chinese officials met each year to discuss human rights issues. The downstairs of their Nuffield Avenue home is a different Raby, who chaired the annual dialogue several times, said matter. the talks produced progressive change and improvement in “We were walking in ankle deep water throughout the whole China’s performance. of the bottom of the house,” Mihi Ayliffe said. “You are better having platforms, a capacity to engage Books, electronics and musical instruments are all water and talk, rather than just be shouting at each other through damaged, she said. megaphones,” he said. In nearby Barker Road, Tracey Tasovac returned to her home Australia has lodged about 90 anti-dumping investigations for the first time this morning to find floors flooded and the against China in the past decade, compared to a handful in contents of the garage badly damaged. the other direction. “This was all stacked neatly … it was all household stuff in here. My mobility scooter, all our camping gear … personal ■ family photos.” ■

5 NOVEMBER 11 (GMT) – NOVEMBER 12 (AEST), 2020

President-elect Joe Biden, joined by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, speaks in Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. - AP Wilmington, Delaware. - AP

NORTH AMERICA NORTH AMERICA Biden plans stimulus, Democrats clinch House tougher regulation control, small majority

President-elect Joe Biden will inherit a vulnerable Democrats have sealed two more years of controlling economic recovery under threat from a resurgent virus, the House but with a potentially razor-thin majority, likely with a divided Congress that will hinder his ability a bittersweet finale to last week’s elections that has to address the challenges. left them divided and with scant margin for error for advancing their agenda. Yet despite the obstacles, the former vice president and senator will pursue a drastic shift in America’s economic policy. The party has now nailed down at least 218 seats, according He has vowed to reverse much of the Trump administration’s to The Associated Press, and could win a few others when aggressive deregulation and indifference to domestic spending more votes are counted. While that assures command of the and economic development in favor of big investments in 435-member chamber, blindsided Democrats were all but education, infrastructure and clean energy. He wants stricter certain to lose seats after an unforeseen surge of Republican rules to rein in big tech companies and to tackle environmental voters transformed expected gains of perhaps 15 seats into issues. losses potentially approaching that amount. And to help pay for it all, the president-elect would turn to “We have the gavel, we have the gavel,” said House Speaker large tax increases for corporations and wealthy individuals by Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who seems all but certain to continue in reversing much of President Donald Trump’s tax cuts. that role. While she bemoaned Democrats’ losses in districts Biden is already distinguishing himself from Trump in his where GOP votes proved “almost insurmountable,” she told approach to the pandemic, which economists generally see as reporters last week, “We’ve lost some battles but we’ve won the gravest threat to the recovery. Trump saw the pandemic’s the war.” impact on the economy through the lens of government- By retaining the House, Democrats will control the chamber mandated shutdowns: He argued that to fight the pandemic for four consecutive years for only the second time since 1995, by imposing curbs on face-to-face businesses like restaurants when Republicans ended 40 years of Democratic dominance. – the approach favored by most health experts – was to Yet though Joe Biden won the presidential election, there doom the economy. Yet even when states reopened, many was a strong chance Republicans would keep Senate control. consumers stayed cautious about dining out, going to movies That would force Democrats to scale back their dreams of or flying. sweeping health care, infrastructure and other initiatives, “It wasn’t all about shutdowns – it was about people instead needing compromises with the GOP. getting scared,” said Claudia Sahm, a former Federal Reserve As the bad news sunk in, Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., who economist. “I imagine people are getting scared again.” led House Democrats’ campaign committee, announced Biden’s view reflects the warning from most economists that she wouldn’t seek another term leading that organization. until the virus is controlled, the economy cannot fully recover. Democrats said privately she would have lost had she again “It starts with doing everything possible to get the COVID-19 sought the post, for which the party’s lawmakers vote. under control,” Biden said, “so that we can reopen our Republicans have been heartened by the House results, businesses safely and sustainably.” ■ which many believe position them for a strong run for the majority in the 2022 elections. They also bolstered their distressingly low number of women representatives from 13 to at least 26, a record for the GOP. ■

6 NOVEMBER 11 (GMT) – NOVEMBER 12 (AEST), 2020

- PA - PA

UK UK ‘Lockdown’ claims 2020 Virus patients enduring word of the year title ‘long COVID’ for weeks

Collins Dictionary has named “lockdown” as its Word of More than two-thirds of patients hospitalised due the Year 2020 after a sharp increase in its usage amid the to coronavirus continue to suffer from debilitating coronavirus pandemic. symptoms more than seven weeks after being discharged, a new study suggests. The dictionary said it added the term because it “encapsulates the shared experience of billions of people who have had to Researchers found that 54 days after discharge, 69 per cent of restrict their daily lives in order to contain the virus”. patients were still experiencing fatigue, and 53 per cent were Collins’ lexicographers registered over a quarter of a million suffering from persistent breathlessness. usages of “lockdown” during 2020, against only 4000 the They also found that 34 per cent still had a cough. previous year. In addition 38 per cent of chest radiographs (X-rays) According to the dictionary, lockdown is defined as “the remained abnormal and nine per cent were getting worse, imposition of stringent restrictions on travel, social interaction, according to the study carried out in collaboration with and access to public spaces”. clinicians at the Royal Free London (RFL) and University College It came into common parlance as Government’s around the London Hospitals NHS Trust (UCLH). world responded to the spread of COVID-19 in early 2020. Dr Swapna Mandal, an honorary clinical associate professor Collins’ annual 10-strong list of additions is dominated at UCL division of medicine, said the data shows so-called “long by words and phrases relating to the pandemic, including COVID” is a real phenomenon and that further research is “furlough”, “key worker”, “self-isolate” and “social distancing”. needed to understand how the symptoms of COVID-19 can be “Coronavirus” itself also features. treated in the long-term. “Key worker” has seen a 60-fold increase in usage reflecting She said: “Patients whose COVID-19 illness is serious enough the importance attributed to professions considered to be for them to require hospital care often continue to suffer essential to society. ■ significant symptoms for many weeks after their discharge.” Professor John Hurst at UCL division of medicine, said: “Understanding ‘long COVID’ is critical in helping people who have been through this life-changing experience return to health, while rapid roll-out of this follow-up service shows how our clinical teams worked together to deliver an innovative service during a period of unprecedented demand on our staff.” In the study published in the medical journal Thorax, clinical teams set up a post-COVID follow up clinic to review both the psychological and physiological symptoms of discharged patients. In total, they observed 384 patients who had tested positive and had been treated at Barnet Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital or UCLH. ■

7 NOVEMBER 11 (GMT) – NOVEMBER 12 (AEST), 2020

- AAP National Party leader Judith Collins. - RNZ / Dom Thomas

AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND Call to allow more National Party unveils Aussies return home new shadow cabinet

A single mother separated from her autistic son is one National Party leader Judith Collins is unveiling her new of thousands of Australians still stranded overseas, shadow cabinet as the party picks up the pieces after its desperate to return home. crushing election defeat.

Lynne travelled to Scotland to care for her sick mum, who Earlier, Shane Reti was announced as the deputy leader of has since died. the National Party after Gerry Brownlee announced he was She’s urgently trying to get home as her 13-year-old is son stepping down as deputy leader. has been staying with friends in Australia. Collins said the party’s new line-up reflects a wealth of talent Lynne also has health issues that have gone unchecked and experience. in Scotland. “New Zealand’s economic recovery will be at the forefront of Her story is one of a handful being shared by human everything we do … we have a shadow cabinet brimming with rights organisation Amnesty International, which is ramping business experience,” she said. up its campaign to help the more than 35,000 stranded “We’ll be focused on being a positive opposition as long as Australians return. that’s not counterproductive. Where we can be positive we Amnesty campaigner Joel Mackay says the distressing will be… I expect that we’ll be professional, that we’lll bring a accounts show the impact of the weekly limit on people professionalism to opposition.” returning to Australia. Collins was reconfirmed as party leader, with no challengers “The prime minister promised to get the stranded Aussies – something she said was “an enormous privilege”. home by Christmas,” he said. Reti, who as spokesperson for children will oversee the “This is a promise that looks certain to be broken. party’s stance on Oranga Tamariki and child poverty reduction, “The piecemeal approach to bringing people home needs to said he’s very interested in both, holding the government to be supercharged. More quarantine spaces, home quarantine, account and coming up with constructive ideas about how we more repatriation flights – this is what will bring Aussies home.” can do better. Another stranded Australian is Carmelina, who is stuck in Paul Goldmsith has lost his finance role and rocketed down Italy with her son Oscar. the rankings from three to 12. The pair have spent about $15,000 trying to get home, Collins has split the finance portfolio – Andrew Bayly will with multiple tickets cancelled because airlines have be shadow Treasurer and Michael Woodhouse will be overbooked flights. the shadow Finance Minister. Bayly is ranked higher than Carmelina says she’s receiving little assistance from the Woodhouse at number three. Woodhouse has gone up the Australian embassy and has written to federal politicians asking rank to number four. for help. She said splitting Finance and Treasurer is very close to Amnesty is calling on the federal government to work with the Australian experience, that Woodhouse and Bayly are the states to let more people return home each week. “quite joined at the hip” and get on very well and will be a The group says Australians should be allowed to quarantine powerhouse. at home if safe to do so. Woodhouse and Bayly can be seen jostling one another’s It’s also urging more repatriation flights and for Melbourne hips as she said this. ■ to reopen to international arrivals. ■

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