Strike fears as Italy’s workers require COVID pass
Italy’s Green Pass became mandatory for all workplaces today but there are fears of disruption among transport workers and at ports where COVID vaccination rates are relatively low. There are reports of workers planning to strike, threats of a blockade and disruption to supply chains in the port of Trieste, as well as warnings of disruption to public transport in Rome and Milan.
Sydney to end COVID-19 quarantine for travellers
Sydney will end its COVID-19 quarantine for fully-vaccinated international travellers from November 1, New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet said on Friday, foreshadowing the full return of overseas travel after more than 19 months. Australia closed its international borders in March 2020 in response to the pandemic.
45,000 new COVID cases in the UK
New rebound of infections from COVID in the UK, with 45,066 cases recorded in the last 24 hours – a peak since July. Official data also indicate 157 deaths per day: up to a sum from the beginning of the pandemic equal to over 138,000.
Queen ‘vents her anger’ over climate change
Comments made by Queen Elizabeth about the climate crisis make the front page of several papers including the Daily Mail. During the opening at the Welsh parliament in Cardiff yesterday, the 95-year-old monarch was speaking to the Duchess of Cornwall, and the parliament’s presiding officer when her remarks were picked up on the event’s live stream, the paper says. She referred to the upcoming COP26 climate summit of world leaders in Glasgow, and said: “It’s really irritating when they talk, but they don’t do.”
Clinton hospitalised
Former US President Bill Clinton has been admitted to hospital in California with a suspected blood infection. CNN reports 75-year-old Clinton is in intensive care but is not attached to a respirator. His health conditions are not linked to his previous heart problems or to COVID-19.
Italian ship captain convicted after sending migrants to Libya
A court in Naples has convicted the captain of an Italian commercial ship for returning 101 migrants rescued at sea to Libya in 2018. The ship’s captain, Giuseppe Sotgiu, was found guilty of abandonment-related charges and sentenced to one year in prison. The verdict is the first of its kind in Italy and has been welcomed by human rights groups. The UN refugee agency and the EU do not consider Libya a safe port for rescued migrants.
Former Boeing chief test pilot convicted
A US federal jury has indicted a former chief test pilot for tricking the Federal Aviation Administration during the certification process of the Boeing 737 Max, which was involved in two fatal accidents. According to the indictment, Mark Forkner, 49, provided the federal agency with “materially false, inaccurate and incomplete information” on the flight control system, believed to be the cause of both disasters.
American tycoon,78, sentenced to life for murder
US real estate heir Robert Durst, 78, has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his best friend. He was found guilty of killing Susan Berman in 2000 to stop her talking to police about his wife’s disappearance. Then aged 55, she was found shot in the head in her Beverly Hills home. Prosecutors called Durst a “narcissistic psychopath”. He has denied the charges.
Another woman accuses Cosby of sexual abuse
Another woman is suing 83-year-old Afro-American actor Bill Cosby for sexual abuse after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned a sentencing two years earlier for procedural irregularities. He is now being reported by Los Angeles artist Lili Bernard, 57, who accuses him of drugging and raping her in an Atlantic City hotel room when she was 26, after promising to mentor her on her popular show.
‘Semi-destroyed’ Banksy painting sold for £18.5 million
‘Love is in the Bin’ by the English artist Banksy was sold at Sotheby’s in London at the record price of £18.5 million (almost €22 million). The work, originally called ‘Girl with Balloon’, was sensationally semi-destroyed in 2018 through a mechanism hidden in the frame immediately after being sold for almost £1.1 million (€1.3 million) at the auction house on Bond Street.
