Heena Sharma Blog

  An Australian state government on Friday declared an emergency due to a COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney. The New South Wales state government reported one fatality and 136 new infections in the latest 24-hour period, the biggest daily tally of new cases since the outbreak began in mid June. State Premier Gladys Berejiklian called on the federal government to provide more vaccines for the worst-effected suburbs in Sydney's west and south. Sydney has been locked down for a month. The delta variant cluster has spread from Sydney to Victoria and South Australia states which are also locked down. Half Australia's population of 26 million is currently locked down. Only 15% of adult Australians are fully vaccinated. While there are ample supplies of locally-manufactured AstraZeneca, many are concerned about the slight risk of blood clots associated with that vaccine and a demanding Pfizer, the only alternative registered in Australia. Read More

West Indies cricket star Chris Gayle Monday won a Aus dollars 300,000 (USD 221,000) payout from an Australian media group which claimed he exposed his genitals to a massage therapist. The all-rounder was accused by Fairfax Media, publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, in a series of stories in the newspapers in 2016. They alleged he exposed his penis and indecently propositioned the woman in a dressing room at the 2015 World Cup in Sydney. Gayle strenuously denied the allegations, claiming at the time that the journalists behind the story wanted to "destroy him". His teammate Dwayne Smith, who was in the changing room at the time, also denied the incident took place. He won his defamation case in October last year, with jurors finding Fairfax was motivated by malice and had failed to establish a defence of truth. Read More Business Standard