Daily News Roundup

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5

The Matildas will earn the same pay as Socceroos players under a landmark deal set to be announced by Football Federation Australia.

The deal will give the Matildas an equal share of commercial revenue with their male counterparts.

The FFA says it has been in talks with the players’ union for many months, but the negotiations are yet to be finalised.

An official announcement is expected later this week.

Matildas captain Sam Kerr told Channel Seven she was excited at the prospect of equal pay.

“Obviously it’s a welcome investment into women’s football and we’re really excited about it,” she said.

“It hasn’t been finalised so hopefully we can get the deal over the edge, but yeah, it’s exciting.”

The Matildas have been consistently high-performers on the world stage in recent years, climbing as high as fourth in the world in 2017.

During the World Cup earlier this year the women’s team reached the knockout stages, taking home $1 million for their efforts.

The Socceroos, meanwhile, failed to win a single game but pocketed $8 million for simply qualifying.

The deal would make the Matildas the world’s first female football team to be guaranteed the same revenue as the men’s team.

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Vietnam’s state media is reporting that police have arrested eight people in relation to the discovery of 39 dead Vietnamese in a truck near London last month.

“Based on what we learn from the suspects, we will actively launch investigations to fight and eradicate these rings which bring people illegally to Britain,” said Nghe An province police chief Nguyen Huu Cau, according to the official Vietnam News Agency (VNA).

“The best thing to do now is to deal with the consequences of the incident and help family members receive the bodies,” Mr Cau added.

Mr Cau said police were treating the tragedy as a smuggling incident, rather than a case of people-trafficking, according to VNA.

British police last week charged two men with manslaughter over the deaths of the group, whose bodies were found inside a container on the truck on October 23.

Most of the victims were from the neighbouring provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh, in north-central Vietnam, where poor job prospects, encouragement by authorities, smuggling gangs and environmental disaster all contribute to the wave of migrants.

On Friday, police in Ha Tinh said they had arrested two people and summoned others for questioning on suspicion of involvement in the incident.

The discovery of the bodies has shone a spotlight on the illicit trade that sends the poor of Asia, Africa and the Middle East on perilous journeys to the West.

The alleged truck driver has already been charged over the deaths, and on Friday detectives said Eamon Harrison, 23, from Northern Ireland, was also accused of 39 counts of manslaughter as well as human trafficking and immigration offences.

A delegation of Vietnamese diplomats and police left for Britain on Sunday where they were expected to meet with their British counterparts on Monday, Vietnam’s official government website said.

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Queensland health authorities have stepped up their investigation into the cause of contamination at a popular island resort off the coast of Brisbane after more than 50 people took ill late last week..

Initial tests of the drinking water at Moreton Island’s Tangalooma Island resort have shown positive samples of E.coli

The investigation was launched after dozens of cases of patients with gastroenteritis were reported to Queensland’s Public Health Unit from Wednesday.

Dr Kari Jarvinen from the Metro South Public Health Unit said initial tests of the drinking water at the site returned positive tests of a bacterial infection.

“This is being addressed and further testing is being undertaken,” he said.

“All guests and staff have been advised to boil their drinking water or use commercially supplied bottled water until the issue is resolved.

“Anyone on the resort or anyone who has recently visited the resort should be alert for symptoms of gastro-enteritis and seek medical advice if they have concerns.

“Initial reports to Queensland Health involved 50 cases, however the exact number of people potentially affected is unknown.”

Kate McCorkindale was staying at accommodation near, but not owned, by the resort on the weekend for a friend’s 30th birthday.

She was reported by the ABC as saying her group did not find out about the contamination until 24 hours after resort guests were told.

“We found out from other resort guests who came to visit us in our house. We were drinking the water and they said, ‘oh stop, don’t drink the water’.”

“We were really disappointed with the response.”

Ms McCorkindale said the owner of the house where she was staying was also in the dark.

“Perhaps it wasn’t the resort’s responsibility, but no-one let us know,” she said.

Seven people in her group of 16, which included a pregnant woman, had mild cramping and diarrhoea.

A one-year-old was among those who got sick.