Western Morning News

The world has been worried about pandemic diseases for many years. Before COVID-19, attention was focused on influenza viruses as the most likely cause. A recent paper reminds us that the threat from flu remains very real. It reports that a swine flu virus is circulating in China that hasContinue Reading

The world eagerly awaits new vaccines and drugs to combat COVID-19. To deal with a global pandemic, the production of new treatments needs to be scaled up towards supplying the whole world – and as quickly as possible. Borderless open and collaborative science and the free exchange of knowledge andContinue Reading

Kelly Barnes/ AAP There are now less than three months to go before the expanded JobSeeker payment is due to end. As a result, there is a growing political debate about what should happen to the unemployment payment that was roughly doubled in April. Read more: How to improve JobKeeperContinue Reading

Bikeworldtravel/Shutterstock Coronavirus has had an unprecedented impact on pubs in Britain. The British Beer and Pub Association estimates that the industry lost over £100m each month of lockdown. Hundreds of thousands of staff were placed on the government’s job retention scheme, and 70 million pints of unused beer have beenContinue Reading

From classic Andrew Lloyd Webber plays to the release of a recording of the original cast of Hamilton, theatre lovers have been able to stream the best of the stage at home during lockdown. Digital streaming has been a welcome stand-in while live performances haven’t been possible. However, as pubsContinue Reading

www.shutterstock.com Unprecedented border closures and the domestic lockdown have paralysed New Zealand’s $40.9 billion a year tourism industry. In the process, the vulnerability of the sector to external shocks and the tenuous nature of tourism employment have been exposed. While New Zealand’s handling of the pandemic has been hailed asContinue Reading

Shutterstock HESTA, the industry super fund for health and community workers, plans to dump its shares in thermal coal mining companies. Beyond that, its Net Zero by 2050 program announced on Friday commits it to cutting the carbon emissions in its portfolio by one third by 2030, and to “netContinue Reading

Shutterstock Emerging infectious diseases, including COVID-19, usually come from non-human animals. However our understanding of most animals’ immune systems is sadly lacking as there’s a shortfall in research tools for species other than humans and mice. Our research published today in Science Advances details cutting edge immunology tools we developedContinue Reading

In My Blood It Runs/ABC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains references to deceased people. In 2019, Dujuan Hoosan travelled from Garrwa country in the Northern Territory, to Geneva where he addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council. As he sat by his father’s side,Continue Reading

Shutterstock On Tuesday, a year-long New South Wales parliamentary inquiry revealed the state’s koalas are on track for extinction in the wild by 2050, without urgent government intervention. Habitat destruction and fragmentation for agriculture, urban development, mining and forestry has been the number one koala killer since European occupation ofContinue Reading