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Health minister Ryan Park promises the two closures are ‘just the beginning’ as NSW tries to stem sharp rise in illicit cigarettes and vapesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTwo stores selling illicit tobacco in Sydney have been shut down, the first premises to be closed under new state laws cracking down on black market cigarettes and vapes.The stores on the city’s north shore have been shut down immediately for 90 days and the Minns government can now seek further court orders to close the outlets for 12 months. Continue reading...
Health minister Ryan Park promises the two closures are ‘just the beginning’ as NSW tries to stem sharp rise in illicit cigarettes and vapesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTwo stores selling illicit tobacco in Sydney have been shut down, the first premises to be closed under new state laws cracking down on black market cigarettes and vapes.The stores on the city’s north shore have been shut down immediately for 90 days and the Minns government can now seek further court orders to close the outlets for 12 months. Continue reading...
the Guardian
First stores allegedly selling illegal tobacco shut down in Sydney as officials wield new powers
Health minister Ryan Park promises the two closures are ‘just the beginning’ as NSW tries to stem sharp rise in illicit cigarettes and vapes
Kaja Kallas to issue update this afternoon on progress countries are making towards becoming union memberSpeaking of the marking process, the civil rights group Liberties has also just published its assessment of the EU commission’s separate annual rule of law report, which looks at the union’s member states and their work in this area.In a scathing summary, the assessment found that the EU’s analysis “in key areas was even less comprehensive, with key issues neglected and no consequences for non-compliance with recommendations,” with some parts of the report literally “repeated verbatim, regardless of the level of progress, the seriousness of the violation, or the implications of continued inaction” from previous years. Continue reading...
Raids by rival hives aren’t rare after a dry, hot summer, but Christine McDonald was surprised to find her store besieged by beesA Canadian beekeeper has described fending off thousands of “robber bees” as they raided her shop in a brazen attempt to steal honey.Christine McDonald, who owns Rushing River Apiaries in the British Columbia city of Terrace, said she entered her shop to find it overrun by the swarm. Continue reading...
Temperatures in Lytton and Ashcroft climb to 40C, while a powerful hailstorm lashes Kansas and OklahomaA spate of extremely hot weather in British Columbia has broken Canada’s national maximum temperature record for September.On Tuesday, it reached 40C (104F) in Lytton, matching the previous all-time high. This is only the third time that temperature has been recorded in the country in September. Continue reading...
Two such groups claim they persuaded Alberta to institute sweeping public school book banSocially conservative “parents’ rights” groups that have emerged as powerfully political lobbying groups in the US are quickly gaining ground in Canada, academics and free speech advocates say, after two such groups claimed they had persuaded Alberta to institute a sweeping public school book ban.Alberta recently directed schools to purge library books from shelves that fit its definition of “explicit sexual content” by 1 October. If the policy is applied precisely as outlined, a host of books face being purged, including George Orwell’s 1984 due to passages in the text that discuss sexual intercourse and rape. Continue reading...
Rain helped cool Flat fire that destroyed homes in Oregon, while the Pickett fire has charred 10 sq miles of Napa countyA wildfire that destroyed four homes in central Oregon has started to stabilize, while a blaze in northern California wine country has so far spared some of the state’s most famous vineyards.Moisture helped the 1,200 firefighters battling Oregon’s Flat fire, but more work needed to be done, authorities said. Dry, hot weather had fueled a rapid expansion of the blaze across of rugged terrain in Deschutes and Jefferson counties since the fire began late Thursday. Continue reading...
Government source confirms decision that will help meet net zero targets and £300 energy bills pledgeMinisters have decided not to cut Labour’s landmark £13.2bn fund to fix draughty homes and install heat pumps and solar panels in next week’s spending review, it has emerged.A government source confirmed Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, would not be making cuts to the flagship warm homes plan. The decision, which was first reported by the Daily Telegraph, marks a victory for Ed Miliband in his negotiations with the Treasury over the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s budget. Continue reading...
