Federal politics and COVID-19 have been dominating local headlines this morning.
Here’s what is making news overseas.
The United States
The mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, has declared a state of emergency because of the monkeypox outbreak.Credit:AP
San Francisco’s mayor has announced a legal state of emergency due to the city’s monkeypox outbreak.
The decision means officials can cut through red tape to more easily mobilise public resources. It comes after New York declared a public health emergency earlier this week.
Read more here from our world desk.
The United Kingdom
Flag bearers Eddie Ockenden and Rachael Grinham lead Team Australia at the opening ceremony.Credit:Getty
This year’s Commonwealth Games have opened with a celebration of classic British cars, a defiant message against homophobia and a stirring speech from the world’s youngest Nobel Prize winner.
Europe correspondent Rob Harris was there and wrote this story.
New Zealand
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.Credit:Getty
Jacinda Ardern has cast doubt over her party’s sunken polling as Labour adjusts to a closer political contest in New Zealand.
For two COVID-dominated years, Labour has held sway in politics, including the 2020 election, which gave the prime minister a second term with a historic parliamentary majority. But the polls this year have been telling a different story.
From stratospheric highs, Labour has fallen back down to earth to be in a close contest with the centre-right National party.
Labour led the Nationals in 52 consecutive published polls beginning in February 2020.
The Nationals, under leader Chris Luxon, snapped that streak in January this year when Australian pollsters Roy Morgan put it ahead 35 per cent to 33.
The blue side of politics has led a majority of published polls since, including a May poll that stretched their lead to 8.5 points.
China
Xi Jinping, the general secretary of the Chinese Community Party. Credit:AP
China’s financial deal makers are getting a crash course in austerity with pay cuts and perks reined in, as state-owned employers respond to Beijing’s “common prosperity” drive.
State-owned investment banks including China International Capital Corp and Citic Securities have implemented pay cuts this year as well as delayed bonus payments to their staff. The cuts, in some cases, amounted to as much as 60 per cent, according to multiple sources.
Others such as state-owned China Merchants Securities have slashed travel and entertainment allowances since the beginning of the year, according to two other people familiar with the matter.
Pay cuts for investment bankers in China started last year in response to a business downturn as the economy slowed, but industry watchers say the trend has gained momentum this year.
with AP, AAP and Reuters