Daily News Roundup

August 6, 2020

 

THURSDAY AUGUST 6

Wayne Bennett faces a fine and could potentially miss this Friday’s grudge match against the Broncos after reportedly breaking the NRL’s COVID-19 rules, news.com.au reports.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported the South Sydney coach was spotted at an Italian restaurant in Leichhardt in Sydney’s inner-west on Wednesday. He was with a woman believed to be his partner.

Bennett told reporters on Thursday that he and his partner had lunch at Grappa restaurant in Leichhardt on Wednesday.

Under the rules, players and staff members of each club are not allowed to attend public places like pubs, clubs, restaurants or cafes.

Bennett’s Rabbitohs side is due to face his former team the Brisbane Broncos at the Olympic stadium in Sydney on Friday night.

“I didn’t think it was a breach: I went there with my partner, who I live with,” Bennett told a press conference.

The Souths coach said he had not been contacted yet by the NRL Integrity Unit.

Bennett said it was hard to keep track of the rules surrounding COVID-19.

Asked when the last time he had been told about the NRL’s rules, Bennett recalled a conversation with players and coaches a couple of weeks ago.

“I’m confident I do know the rules, I just went out for lunch yesterday,” he said.

Pressed on his understanding of the protocols, Bennett replied: “I’m still allowed to eat, aren’t I?”.

The master coach will now be forced to take a coronavirus test and could be stood down as the NRL Integriy Unit launches an investigation.

Nine’s Danny Weidler said Bennett will “most likely” be forced to spend seven days in isolation even if the test is negative. The Daily Telegraph is predicting a two-week ban.

The Rabbitohs were unaware of the breach when contacted by the Daily Telegraph today. The newspaper was tipped off by a patron at the restaurant.

The NRL’s strict protocols ban players and coaches from visiting public places.

The 70-year-old mentor gave his tick of approval to the league’s COVID-19 rules when asked about it last month.   

The news of Bennet’s restaurant visit came as Victoria announced another 471 coronavirus cases this morning as the state’s harsh stage four lockdown gets underway.

It comes a day after Victoria suffered its worst 24 hours of the COVID-19 pandemic with a record 725 new cases and 15 deaths, including the youngest victim so far – a man in his early 30s.

Leaked modelling has suggested the deadly second wave will get much worse before it gets better, with predictions of daily case numbers peaking at more than 1000 in the coming weeks.

“It’s the numbers we don’t want to see and we hope always the modelling is wrong,” Austin Hospital COVID-19 ward leader Associate Professor Jason Trubiano told Nine’s Today.

Health authorities in NSW have confirmed 12 new coronavirus infections in the 24 hours to 8:00pm yesterday.

None of the new cases were returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine.

Queensland had no new cases.

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As the investigation into the Beirut explosion continued, Lebanon’s Cabinet agreed to place all Beirut port officials who have overseen storage and security since 2014 under house arrest.

The army will oversee the process until responsibility for the explosion is determined but it was not clear how many officials would be included or their seniority level.

The massive explosion killed at least 135 people, injuring almost 4,000, flattening much of the port, and sending a shock wave that damaged buildings across the city.

Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun has declared three days of national mourning.

He said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate had been stored for six years at the port without safety measures, which was “unacceptable”.

Port general manager Hassan Koraytem told Lebanese news channel OTV the material had been put in a warehouse on a court order, and there had been multiple requests for it to be re-exported.

Two documents seen by Reuters showed Lebanese Customs had asked the judiciary in 2016 and 2017 to request that the “concerned maritime agency” re-export or approve the sale of the ammonium nitrate.

One document cited similar requests in 2014 and 2015.

“We requested that it be re-exported but that did not happen,” Badri Daher, director-general of Lebanese Customs, told broadcaster LBCI.

The Lebanese capital’s problem have been exacerbated by the damage to the health system.

Several hospitals in Beirut were badly damaged during the blast, as was a warehouse that housed some of the country’s medical supplies stockpile.

Rafic Hariri Hospital’s Dr Diana Hatoum said they had already been stretched by coronavirus patients and now had to take in patients transferred from other hospitals that were totally destroyed.

“Some of the [staff] lost their houses, and many staff couldn’t work. I came and worked the shifts for them,” Dr Hatoum said.

The American University of Beirut Medical Centre (AUBMC) was one of those severely damaged.

Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab said uncovering how the disaster occurred would be a priority.

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A woman has been arrested and charged with manslaughter over the death of Adelaide disability care recipient Ann Marie Smith.

Ms Smith died on April 6 from severe septic shock, multi-organ failure, severe pressure sores, malnutrition and issues connected with her cerebral palsy.

The 54-year-old’s death sparked multiple investigations, including by SA Police, and it is believed she may have spent up to a year confined to a cane chair before her death.

SA Police said they arrested a woman at Hectorville this morning, and searched her home and another property at Banksia Park.

She is expected to face court either this afternoon or tomorrow.

Earlier this year Major Crime detectives revealed $35,000 of jewellery and two fridges were missing from her home.

They also revealed her car had been used by an unknown person and that two separate loans totalling $70,000 were taken out in Ms Smith’s name in the last six years.

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Dutch cyclist Fabio Jakobsen has been put in a medically induced coma after crashing at the finish line on stage one of the Tour of Poland following a collision with compatriot Dylan Groenewegen.

Jakobsen, who rides for the Deceuninck-Quick Step team, was jostling for position with Groenewegen in the final metres, but the pair came together with Groenewegen sending Jakobsen flying into the barriers, where he collided with a race official.

The sport’s governing body, the UCI, issued a statement strongly condemning what it called the “dangerous behaviour” of Groenewegen, accusing him of causing the crash and disqualifying him from the race.

“The UCI, which considers the behaviour unacceptable, immediately referred the matter to the Disciplinary Commission to request the imposition of sanctions commensurate with the seriousness of the facts,” the UCI said.

Czeslaw Lang, the race director, also criticised Groenewegen for the incident.

“The competitor who caused this accident drove very incorrectly, because while riding in the middle, seeing that someone was coming out on the right, he started to pull down to the right,” Lang told state-controlled TVP.

The race official’s condition is not life threatening, the state-controlled news agency PAP reported.

Jakobsen’s team, Deceuninck-Quick Step, put out a statement later describing his condition as serious but stable.

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