13 Jan: Reuters: Australian open tennis draw delayed until further notice
The Australian Open draw has been postponed until further notice, organisers said on Thursday, amid uncertainty over Novak Djokovic’s participation in the tournament.
The draw was to start at 3 p.m. local time (0400 GMT), but after a short delay, a tournament staffer told reporters outsde the media conference room it would not go ahead.
Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke is weighing exercising discretionary powers to revoke Djokovic’s visa, which could scuttle the Serbian superstar’s bid for a record 21st major tennis title and 10th at Melbourne Park. (Reporting by John Mair Editing by Shri Navaratnam)...
https://news.trust.org/item/20220113041458-pkqd8
plenty of Australians will cheer this on too:
VIDEO: 1m19s: 13 Jan: Daily Mail: Astonishing moment FIVE Aussie police arrest woman after she ‘refused to show her vaccine passport’ as she shrieks: ‘Don’t arrest me’
Woman dramatically arrested at cafe in Hervey Bay, Queensland on Wednesday
She refused to show police officers her proof of vaccination after attending cafe
Footage shows five officers forcing the woman into the back of a police car
Owners say their behaviour was excessive and that it left staff emotional
Police say she repeatedly refused to comply before her arrest
By SAM MCPHEE
A middle aged woman has been dramatically arrested by five police at a popular cafe after refusing to show her vaccination certificate.
Footage shows the moment police arrived at the Dayman General Store in Queensland’s Hervey Bay - before a woman was seen rushing out past officers.
The video then shows the large squad of officers arresting the 46-year-old out the front of the store as she shrieked ‘you can’t arrest me’.
She was bundled into the back of the police car, taken to the watchhouse, charged and fined $1,300...
The cafe’s owner Matt told Daily Mail Australia the business has been fully compliant with state and federal laws around check-ins and vaccinations.
He said that it was the first time the woman, named Rebecca, had visited their establishment.
‘It was her first time coming here, and first time she’s been out since December 17,’ he said.
‘She thought “bugger it, I’m going to have a coffee today”, and look what happened.’
‘People can go to food courts and sit side by side, we thought if we opened our garden area, it’d be OK,’ the cafe owner said.
‘We did a video saying we welcome all of the community, a few days later, on Christmas Eve, three police arrived in their paddy wagon saying we were providing false information and that unvaccinated people can’t even sit in the garden.
Queensland Health told Daily Mail Australia that because the garden is attached to the venue, all patrons must be vaccinated, as they must also be in food courts.
‘Restricted businesses have a higher risk of transmission, where there are people at higher risk if they contract COVID-19, or settings where contact tracing can be difficult,’ a spokeswoman said.
‘Businesses cannot apply for an exemption to the mandate. Individuals can apply for an exemption if they cannot be vaccinated for genuine medical reasons – this applies to very few people.’
Dayman General store owners and managers had been warned by the officers that they would come back and continue checking patrons’ vaccination certificates, and if anyone was unvaccinated they would ‘face fines’.
That led to the incident on Wednesday where police arrived to check passports after receiving a complaint someone in attendance was unvaccinated.
Footage shows police walking through the venue inspecting customers’ proof of vaccines, before continuing to walk through the cafe as a woman stands and walks out.
Rebecca can be seen glancing back at police as she leaves, before police follow her out.
Matt claims he was cleaning tables outside before hearing her screams and came running around the front with his camera...
‘I came running out the front and all five police were on her. She’s got bruises all over her arm.’...
He said his staff were all very emotional over the incident and said they ‘couldn’t believe this was happening in Australia.’
Charge sheets seen by Daily Mail Australia show the woman was charged with one count of Contravene Direction or Requirement, and one count of Obstruct Police Officer.
She will face Hervey Bay Magistrates Court in March...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10396161/Hervey-Bay-Queensland-Video-shows-FIVE-police-arresting-general-store-patron-vaccine-passport.html