JUNE 2 (GMT) – JUNE 3 (AEST), 2021

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES FROM FRANK NEWS

FULL STORIES START ON PAGE 3

USA WORLD AUSTRALIA

Russian crew do spacewalk at ISS Flaming warship sinks Melbourne remains in lockdown

Two Russian cosmonauts ventured out The largest warship in the Iranian navy Melbourne’s lockdown will be extended of the International Space Station on caught fire and later sank in the Gulf of for another week as authorities remain a spacewalk to prepare for the arrival Oman under unclear circumstances, concerned about the transmission of of a new Russian module. It’s the first semiofficial news agencies reported. the Indian variant of COVID-19 between spacewalk for both Oleg Novitsky and The Fars and Tasnim news agencies said strangers. Acting Premier James Merlino Pyotr Dubrov, who arrived at the space efforts failed to save the support warship confirmed Greater Melbourne will remain station in April, and it’s expected to last Kharg, named after the island that serves in lockdown for seven more days. about 6 1/2 hours. as the main oil terminal for Iran.

UK CANADA TRANS-TASMAN

UK nears new record Stronger economic growth China slams Ardern, Morrison

The UK is on the brink of reaching the The Canadian economy grew at an China has aimed its sights at Australia milestone of three-quarters of adults annual rate of 5.6 per cent in the first and New Zealand, accusing their receiving their first COVID-19 vaccine, quarter of the year before falling back prime ministers of making “groundless amid debate over ending restrictions. in April, leaving experts looking forward accusations” and “grossly interfering in its It is expected to come the day after no to summer and hopes for household internal affairs”. deaths within 28 days of testing positive spending to ignite a sharp rebound. for COVID-19 were reported for the first time since July 30 last year.

1 JUNE 2 (GMT) – JUNE 3 (AEST), 2021

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES FROM FRANK NEWS

FULL STORIES START ON PAGE 6

WORLD EUROPE AUSTRALIA

Mexico boosts virus toll EU starts vaccination passport Pressure on government

Mexico has announced that a clinical Greece, Germany and five other The Morrison government is under review of past deaths has led officials to European Union nations introduced renewed pressure over quarantine raise the country’s confirmed COVID-19 a vaccination certificate system for and the vaccine rollout after Victoria death toll by 4272, to a total of 227,840. travelers, weeks ahead of the July 1 extended its lockdown, with other states The adjustment was carried out by teams rollout of the program across the on high alert. Melbourne’s restrictions will of doctors and is largely one of record 27-nation bloc. now last until June 10, while conditions keeping, because even government in regional Victoria will still ease from officials acknowledge Mexico’s true Thursday night. pandemic death toll is far, far higher.

USA WORLD NEW ZEALAND

Biden hits out at Democrats Elephants head for Chinese city Farmers take stock of land

President Joe Biden has called out two A herd of 15 wild elephants that walked Farmers near burst stopbanks in Mid Democrats in explaining why he hasn’t 500km (300 miles) from a nature reserve Canterbury are beginning to find out enacted some of the most ambitious in China’s mountain southwest were the “devastating” costs of the hugely elements of his agenda, noting that approaching the major city of Kunming damaging floods. Receding floodwaters slim majorities in the House and as authorities rushed to try to keep them have revealed piled up debris, damage to evenly divided Senate have hamstrung out of populated areas. farm roads and fences, and waterlogged legislative negotiations around key issues winter feed, buildings and machinery. like voting rights.

2 JUNE 2 (GMT) – JUNE 3 (AEST), 2021

Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky, left, and Pyotr Dubrov, members of the crew to the Health Secretary Matt Hancock. - PA International Space Station (ISS), perform their first spacewalk. - AP

USA UK Russian crew do UK nears record after spacewalk at ISS zero deaths

Two Russian cosmonauts ventured out of the The UK is on the brink of reaching the milestone of three- International Space Station on a spacewalk to prepare quarters of adults receiving their first COVID-19 vaccine, for the arrival of a new Russian module. amid debate over ending restrictions.

It’s the first spacewalk for both Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov, It is expected to come the day after no deaths within 28 days who arrived at the space station in April, and it’s expected to of testing positive for COVID-19 were reported for the first time last about 6 1/2 hours. since July 30 last year. The two needed to get the space station ready for the Latest Government data suggests that so far, more than 39.4 undocking and disposal of the Pirs docking compartment, million people had received their first dose – equating to 74.9 which will be replaced later this year by the new Nauka per cent of adults. (Science) multipurpose laboratory module. In a speech, Health Secretary Matt Hancock will praise They have already replaced a fluid flow regulator and also the central role of the NHS in the vaccine rollout and say need to replace biological and material science samples on the the Government “backed lots of horses”, investing “at risk” in exterior of the Russian modules. different projects. The two Russians currently team up at the space outpost His comments come amid continuing debate over whether with NASA Mark Vande Hei, the final stages of unlocking restrictions in England can go and Megan McArthur; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ahead later this month due to concerns over the spread of the ; and European Space Agency Indian variant. astronaut . ■ Hancock will speak at the Jenner Institute in Oxford ahead of the UK-hosted G7 Health Ministers’ meeting later this week. He is expected to say: “Even before the first COVID-19 case arrived in the UK we’d started the work on how to develop, procure and roll out the vaccines that would ultimately make us safe. “I was told a vaccine had never been developed against any human coronavirus. We dared to believe … and we started early. “We put out a call for research in February. By March, we were supporting six different projects, including the Oxford vaccine, alongside the vital work on treatments – including the Recovery trial, which led to the discovery of dexamethasone, the first proven treatment to reduce coronavirus mortality. These two projects, together, have already saved over a million lives.” Hancock will say: “The biggest risk would have been the failure to find a vaccine at all. So we explicitly embraced risk early on. So we backed lots of horses and invested at risk. ■

3 JUNE 2 (GMT) – JUNE 3 (AEST), 2021

personnel standing on Iran’s navy support ship Kharg after being caught on fire in the Gulf - CP of Oman.- AP

WORLD CANADA Flaming warship sinks Stronger economic in Gulf of Oman growth expected

The largest warship in the Iranian navy caught fire The Canadian economy grew at an annual rate of 5.6 per and later sank in the Gulf of Oman under unclear cent in the first quarter of the year before falling back circumstances, semiofficial news agencies reported. in April, leaving experts looking forward to summer and hopes for household spending to ignite a sharp rebound. The Fars and Tasnim news agencies said efforts failed to save the support warship Kharg, named after the island that serves Part of the optimism comes from the billions in savings as the main oil terminal for Iran. Canadians are sitting on that have grown through the pandemic The blaze began around 2.25am and firefighters tried to as consumers had fewer options to spend their extra cash and contain it, Fars said. The vessel sank near the Iranian port of government aid put a financial floor under hard-hit households. Jask, some 1,270 kilometers (790 miles) southeast of Tehran The savings rate rose to 13.1 per cent from the 11.9 per cent on the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow recorded in the final quarter of 2020, marking four straight mouth of the Persian Gulf. quarters where the rate was in double digits, and more than Photos circulated on Iranian social media of sailors wearing double the 5.1 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2020. life jackets evacuating the vessel as a fire burned behind them. Generally, higher income households had higher savings State TV and semiofficial news agencies referred to the Kharg than lower income households. Overall, households added as a “training ship.” Fars published video of thick, black smoke another $47 billion in savings in the first quarter to the over rising from the ship early Wednesday morning. $200 billion added in 2020, RBC senior economist Nathan Satellite photos from Planet Labs Inc. analyzed by The Janzen said. Associated Press showed the Kharg off to the west of Jask In an interview, he said the figures on savings and increases on Tuesday. Satellites from the US National Oceanic and in disposable income, which Statistics Canada noted rose by Atmospheric Administration that track fires from space $32.3 billion over the first quarter, suggest consumer spending detected a blaze at the site of the Jask that started just before could quickly recover when restrictions ease. the time of the fire reported by Fars. “That’s probably not so much of a May story, but we could The Kharg serves as one of a few vessels in the Iranian navy start to see early stages of that recovery in June,” Janzen said. capable of providing replenishment at sea for its other ships. “Then certainly over the summer as vaccination rates, It also can lift heavy cargo and serve as a launch point for presumably, will have ramped up significantly, you could see helicopters. The warship, built in Britain and launched in 1977, more spending going back to more normal levels, or above, entered the Iranian navy in 1984 after lengthy negotiations that and not just for goods, but also for those high-contact services followed Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. that have been essentially unavailable for purchase for most of Iran’s navy typically handles patrols in the Gulf of Oman and the last year.” the wider seas, while the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary The growth for the first three months of the year was Guard operates in the shallower waters of the Strait of Hormuz better than the contraction first forecast months ago, but still and the Persian Gulf. In recent months, however, the navy represented a slowdown from the 9.6 per cent pace seen over launched a slightly larger commercial tanker called the Makran the last three months of 2020. ■ it converted into serving a similar function as the Kharg. ■

4 JUNE 2 (GMT) – JUNE 3 (AEST), 2021

Near empty streets are seen in Melbourne. - AAP New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. - AAP

AUSTRALIA TRANS-TASMAN Melbourne to remain in China hits out at Ardern, lockdown Morrison

Melbourne's lockdown will be extended for another China has aimed its sights at Australia and New Zealand, week as authorities remain concerned about the accusing their prime ministers of making “groundless transmission of the Indian variant of COVID-19 between accusations” and “grossly interfering in its internal strangers. affairs”.

Acting Premier James Merlino confirmed Greater Melbourne It urged Jacinda Ardern and Scott Morrison to “stop making will remain in lockdown for seven more days. irresponsible remarks and act in ways that are conducive to But restrictions are poised to ease in regional Victoria from bilateral relations and regional peace and stability, rather than 11.59pm on Thursday night. the opposite”. Melbourne residents will continue to have only five reasons The pair met in Queenstown for the annual trans-Tasman to leave home: to shop for food and essential items, to leaders’ dialogue culminating in a strong united front, including provide or receive care, for exercise, work or study, or to get on China, laid out in a joint statement and reinforced in vaccinated. comments to media. The five-kilometre travel limit for exercise and shopping, and “New Zealand and Australia stand together in facing a compulsory wearing of masks both indoors and outdoors, will challenging global environment,” the introduction to the also remain in place. section titled Indo-Pacific and Global security reads. However, travel restrictions in regional Victoria will be lifted, They “reiterated their shared commitment to support an as will the five reasons for leaving home. Indo-Pacific region of sovereign, resilient and prosperous The state government will also extend its support for states, with robust regional institutions and strong respect for business, with an extra $209 million in grants. international rules and norms, and where sovereign states can The "circuit-breaker" lockdown was meant to end at 11.59pm pursue their interests free from coercion”. on Thursday. Australia and New Zealand “committed to continue their Victoria recorded six new locally acquired cases of close co-ordination and cooperation, as allies and partners, on coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the latest outbreak to 60 current and emerging economic, security and environmental active infections. challenges in the Indo-Pacific region”. Of the five new cases, one is a person who travelled to NSW They directly referred to a number of live issues, expressing while potentially infectious. concern ranging from the South China Sea to the Uyghur There are now 4800 close contacts self-isolating as part of people in Xinjiang. the outbreak and more than 350 exposure sites across the On South China Sea: “Serious concern over developments … state, including country petrol stations in Euroa, Glenrowan including the continued militarisation of disputed features and and Wallan. an intensification of destabilising activities at sea.” In the 24 hours to midnight, 51,033 people were tested for On Hong Kong: “Deep concern over developments that COVID-19 and 20,585 were vaccinated. limit the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong and Meanwhile, aged care and disability workers in Victoria will undermine the high degree of autonomy China guaranteed be able to jump the queue at 10 vaccination centres across the Hong Kong until 2047 under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.” state as part of a five-day jab blitz.■ On the Uyghur minority: “Grave concerns about the human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.” ■

5 JUNE 2 (GMT) – JUNE 3 (AEST), 2021

People in buses and cars wait to be vaccinated with the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine at the President Joe Biden. - AP parking lot of the Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. - AP

WORLD USA Mexico boosts confirmed Biden hits out at fellow virus toll Democrats

Mexico has announced that a clinical review of past President Joe Biden has called out two Democrats in deaths has led officials to raise the country’s confirmed explaining why he hasn’t enacted some of the most COVID-19 death toll by 4272, to a total of 227,840. ambitious elements of his agenda, noting that slim majorities in the House and evenly divided Senate have The adjustment was carried out by teams of doctors and is hamstrung legislative negotiations around key issues largely one of record keeping, because even government like voting rights. officials acknowledge Mexico’s true pandemic death toll is far, far higher. Biden, speaking during an event marking the 100th anniversary Because the country of 126 million people does so little of the Tulsa race massacre, responded to critics who question testing, many Mexicans have died at home or never got a why he hasn’t been able to get a wide-reaching voting rights bill test. So the government performs two kinds of adjustments passed. – one by teams of doctors reviewing case files and another “Well, because Biden only has a majority of effectively four computerized search of death certificates for mentions of votes in the House, and a tie in the Senate – with two members symptoms related to COVID-19. of the Senate who voted more with my Republican friends,” he The quicker, computerized analyses of excess deaths related lamented. to COVID-19 now stand at over 350,088, which gives Mexico It appeared to be a veiled reference to Democratic Sens. Joe one of the highest per capita rates in the world. Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, both The vast majority of the re-classified deaths announced of whom have frustrated Democrats with their defense of the – 3924 of the 4272 – occurred in Mexico’s first wave of filibuster – the rule requiring most legislation to win 60 votes to coronavirus infections between March and June 2020. ■ pass, making many of Democrats’ biggest priorities like voting rights and gun control bills dead on arrival in the 50-50 Senate. While Sinema is a sponsor of the voting rights bill that passed the House, known as the For the People Act, Manchin has refused to sign on, calling the measure “too broad.” But in fact, it’s not just Manchin and Sinema who oppose doing away with the filibuster – as many as 10 Democratic senators are reluctant to change the rules even for must-pass legislation like the voting rights bill. Biden himself has not said he wants to end the filibuster. What’s unclear is whether Biden’s comments will changes senators’ views. The president’s remarks come as senators are facing tough choices ahead as pressure mounts for changes. ■

6 JUNE 2 (GMT) – JUNE 3 (AEST), 2021

- AP A herd of wild elephants that walked 500km from a nature reserve in China’s mountain southwest were approaching the major city of Kunming. - AP

EUROPE WORLD EU kicks off vaccination China tries to keep passport elephants out of city

Greece, Germany and five other European Union nations A herd of 15 wild elephants that walked 500km (300 introduced a vaccination certificate system for travelers, miles) from a nature reserve in China’s mountain weeks ahead of the July 1 rollout of the program across southwest were approaching the major city of Kunming the 27-nation bloc. as authorities rushed to try to keep them out of populated areas. The other countries starting early were Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Croatia and Poland, according to the Chinese wildlife authorities say they don’t know why the herd European Commission. left a nature reserve last year near the city of Pu’er, a region Greece, which depends heavily on tourism, has been known for tea cultivation. The group was 16 animals, but the pressing for the commonly-recognized certificate that uses government says two returned home and a baby was born a QR code with advanced security features. The certificates during the walk. are being issued to people who are fully vaccinated as well Authorities have blocked traffic on roads while the elephants as those have already contracted the virus and developed crossed and were setting up barriers and using food as bait antibodies and others who have had a PCR test within the last to try to keep them away from Kunming and other populated 72 hours. areas. The documents will have both digital and paper forms. They’ll The herd was in Yuxi, about 20km (12 miles) from Kunming, be free of charge, distributed in the national language plus a city of seven million people, the official Xinhua News Agency English and be valid in all the bloc’s countries. said. It said images taken by drones used to track the herd “EU citizens are looking forward to travelling again, and they show six female and three male adults, three juveniles and want to do so safely. Having an EU certificate is a crucial step three calves. on the way,” EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said. Chen Mingyong, an Asian elephant expert cited by Xinhua, Greece’s digital governance minister, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, said the incident was the longest-distance migration of wild said easier travel will open up within the EU as nations adopt elephants recorded in China. the new verification standard. Chen said it was possible their leader “lacks experience and “What will happen is that countries will stop issuing led the whole group astray.” certificates using their own convention and adopt the common A taskforce of 360 people with 76 cars and nine drones was convention. That will simplify things considerably, because you tracking the elephants, Xinhua said. can imagine the number of bilateral agreements that would Last week, the elephants walked wandered the streets of the otherwise need to be worked out,” Pierrakakis told private Skai town of Eshan for six hours after residents were warned to stay television. indoors, according to Xinhua. Kyriakides said in the next few weeks, all EU nations need to Damage done by the elephants to farmland is estimated at “fully finalize their national systems to issue, store and verify 6.8 million yuan ($1.1 million), according to Xinhua. ■ certificates, so the system is functioning in time for the holiday season.” Countries will be allowed to add extra vaccines to their individual entry list, including those that have not been formally approved for use across the EU. ■

7 JUNE 2 (GMT) – JUNE 3 (AEST), 2021

Federal minister Richard Colbeck has rejected criticism of the government’s COVID-19 An aerial view shows the flooded town of Selwyn Huts, south of Christchurch, New management. - AAP Zealand. - AP

AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND Pressure on after Farmers take stock of lockdown extended flooded land

The Morrison government is under renewed pressure Farmers near burst stopbanks in Mid Canterbury are over quarantine and the vaccine rollout after Victoria beginning to find out the “devastating” costs of the extended its lockdown, with other states on high alert. hugely damaging floods.

Melbourne’s restrictions will now last until June 10, while Receding floodwaters have revealed piled up debris, damage conditions in regional Victoria will still ease from Thursday to farm roads and fences, and waterlogged winter feed, night. buildings and machinery. Parts of NSW have been drawn into the outbreak after a man Among the worst hit is the Rooney family, who have watched with coronavirus travelled through a slew of towns last month. the Ashburton River carve a new path right through their There are also renewed calls for an overhaul of hotel Methven Highway dairy farm where five generations have lived quarantine after a man in Perth became infected by a fellow and worked. returned traveller in a room next door. They made a last minute escape from their house when Federal Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck reacted stopbanks burst, swamping the property. to the lockdown extension during a second day of gruelling Philly Rooney said the floodwaters had taken “basically Senate estimates hearings in Canberra. everything,” so even calculating the damage was a daunting “It’s unfortunate that they have had to. It’s unfortunate the task. circumstances the Victorians find themselves in,” he said. “The winter feed’s all gone. The straw’s all ruined. The fences Labor frontbencher Murray Watt argued serious holes are gone. I’m not sure if we’ve lost any cows or not,” she said. in hotel quarantine and problems with the vaccine rollout “It’s just a huge amount of damage. Its going to be a huge showed the federal government was to blame. cleanup of branches, mud, everything. It’s terrible.” “Every time this government doesn’t do its job there are Until a friend flew them home by helicopter, the Rooneys consequences. People lose their jobs. People get COVID. didn’t know if their house near the river had been flooded or if People can’t move around,” he told the minister. their Great Dane, in the garage, had survived. “When are you going to start doing your job?” They’ve confirmed their belongings and the dog are okay, but Senator Colbeck said he completely rejected the criticism. discovered the house is damp and “messy”. Respected health adviser Jane Halton, who undertook a Meanwhile, half the farm remains underwater, and Laurence major review of quarantine, said recent breaches in hotels Rooney can only get part of the way across in his tractor. were because her recommendations were not being adopted. He is discovered flooding in his beer shed and damage to his “I’m disappointed that it certainly appears that we don’t have workshop, while an outdoor play area is now covered in stones continual adoption of best practice right across the system,” carried more than a hundred metres from the riverbed. she told ABC radio. Before the cleanup can begin, Philly Rooney said their “To say that I’m disappointed about that I think is the priority was getting 200 cows and a number of bulls to safety minimum.” on leased land up the road as soon as the floodwaters allow. Halton said it was perplexing it had taken so long to increase “Our heifers, as soon as we can walk them, will go to a capacity at the Howard Springs quarantine camp in the NT and neighbours onto a truck and up there. And we’ve got some look at facilities in other states. ■ jersey bulls that a guy’s said he’ll take for us, so that’s quite handy,” Rooney said. ■

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