Where we’re going, we don’t need… combustion engines?
At least, that’s the thinking behind Canberra filmmaker Ché Baker’s latest project: a documentary following the conversion of his vintage DeLorean from a gas-guzzler to an electric vehicle.
“People ask me, ‘what’s the timeline for the project?’ And I say, ‘if we hit 88 miles an hour, it doesn’t matter’,” he said.
Mr Baker’s DeLorean featured prominently in his most recent film, Blue World Order, which saw a fleet of the cars race across the then dried-up Lake George, just outside Canberra.
And he said none of his pride and joy would go to waste as a result of the conversion — the engine will be donated to the Australian DeLorean community for parts.
Mr Baker featured a fleet of DeLoreans in his 2017 sci-fi film Blue World Order.(Supplied)
Mr Baker said his latest documentary would highlight how a traditional petrol car could be converted to electric, as well as exploring the state of the EV industry in Australia today.
“It’s a lot more than just the technology of electric vehicles themselves, but also how is that going to affect people’s lifestyles?,” he asked.
“How’s that going to affect the way people drive? How is that going to impact on other forms of electric transport?”
The DeLorean’s engine will be given to members of the Australian DeLorean community for parts. (Supplied: Che Baker)
Is converting my car to electric a good option?
Sure … if you have the money.
Che Baker inside his DeLorean in the moments leading up to its engine being removed.(ABC Canberra: Donald Sheil)
Mark Hemmingsen is the managing director of Electric Vehicles Canberra, and is providing the technical expertise and workshop space to convert Mr Baker’s DeLorean.
He said conversion was a costly and time-consuming process.
“I would budget at least $30,000 to $50,000, and I would expect that to possibly blow out,” he said.
Mark Hemmingsen said the conversion was an opportunity to give apprentices invaluable experience.(ABC Canberra: Donald Sheil)
“On a good year, we could probably do 12 conversions a year.
“The big problem is that we’re reliant on other local industries to do fabrication for things like battery boxes and motor mounts, and if those companies are busy as well then we’re going to be delayed a little bit by that.”
Electric conversion has gathered enormous momentum for classic car owners who want to preserve their pride and joy in a sustainable way.
For the everyday city driver, though, Mr Hemmingsen said second-hand EVs were the best option.
Mr Hemmingsen said replacing the batteries of existing EVs was very important to keep them out of landfill.(ABC Canberra: Donald Sheil)
Mr Hemmingsen said not only was buying an EV going to be cheaper in the future, but there would also be a growing second-hand market and the ability to replace the batteries as technology evolves.
“If we’re going to prevent them going to landfill, we take the battery out, we swap it over, we’re actually replacing it with a battery that’s twice the capacity of the original battery that was in there,” he said.
The battery of this Mitsubishi i-Miev will be replaced by a new, better one. (ABC Canberra: Donald Sheil)
He said specialized conversion kits for petrol cars would likely drive down the cost in coming years, but that replacing batteries for existing electric cars for the second-hand market would likely remain the best entry-point for consumers.
Are mechanics prepared for the impending EV boom?
Probably not, according to Australian Electric Vehicles Association president Chris Jones.
“We do need to skill-up in that field… your average three-year mechanic apprentice, they won’t have that experience,” he said.
“And there are only a handful of units within TAFE programs that give those trades exposure to electric vehicle technology, it needs more work.”
Mr Hemmingsen’s apprentices help replace the battery of an EV.(ABC Canberra: Donald Sheil)
Mr Hemmingsen said he was using the DeLorean conversion as an opportunity to give his apprentices invaluable practical experience, to make up for the lack of formal training in the industry.
Mr Jones said the “right to repair” debate surrounding smartphones and other appliances was also likely to gain a new battleground in the form of EVs, if battery replacements and other upgrades were made more difficult by manufacturers in the future.
Ché Baker is using his DeLorean as a head-turning hook for his EV documentary.(ABC Canberra: Donald Sheil)
“They’d rather you went and bought a new car again, they’ve got all sorts of reasons for that, but mostly they’ll just make more money selling you a new car than they would by doing upgrade parts,” he said .
“In my experience, these old electric vehicles have nobody that’s interested in doing the work on them.
“We feel very confident in doing the work, and we can pick up these old vehicles that the current industry is not really interested in keeping going.”
Microsoft is giving Xbox Series S game developers more control over memory on the console. A new Xbox software development kit has been released to developers recently, and it frees up more memory for developers to access for Xbox Series S games and boosts performance in certain titles.
“Hundreds of additional megabytes of memory are now available to Xbox Series S developers,” says Microsoft’s Game Dev team in a video detailing the updates. “This gives developers more control over memory, which can improve graphics performance in memory-constrained conditions.”
The $299 Xbox Series S launched as a console capable of 1440p gaming at up to 120fps, but many games have only hit 1080p and without the higher frame rates of the more powerful Xbox Series X. Microsoft’s larger and more powerful Xbox Series X console ships with far more GPU power, but it also has 16GB of RAM while the smaller Xbox Series S only has 10GB. Developers have to work with around 8GB of memory on the Series S, as Microsoft reserves around 2GB for OS tasks.
Those memory constraints have been detailed by Digital Foundry, with developers reportedly feeling some pain around optimizing games for the Xbox Series S. It’s less the CPU and GPU power of the Xbox Series S, particularly as the Series S has the same CPU as the X, but more the memory situation. Microsoft’s improvements, albeit small, could help reduce some of that friction around developing games for the Xbox Series S.
Microsoft has also “addressed an issue where graphics virtual addresses were being allocated considerably slower than non-graphics virtual addresses,” which means Xbox games can now take better advantage of other recent memory enhancements that Microsoft has added to its Xbox developer tools. Fingers crossed this all means we’ll see some improvements to performance in some games running on the Xbox Series S soon.
In the wake of the surprising news of the scrapped release of “Batgirl,” the filmmakers behind the $90 million budgeted project have issued a statement.
Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah served as directors on “Batgirl,” the pair taking the helm of the film following their break-out success with “Bad Boys For Life” and, more recently, a bunch of the “Ms. Marvel” series for the Disney+ service.
In a very unfortunate piece of timing, the pair were in Morocco in the midst of El Arbi’s wedding when they reportedly got confirmation of the cancellation of “Batgirl”. In a statement posted to Instagram, they say:
“We are saddened and shocked by the news. We still can’t believe it. As directors, it is critical that our work be shown to audiences, and while the film was far from finished, we wish that fans all over the world would have had the opportunity to see and embrace the final film themselves. Maybe one day they will insha’Allah.”
Warner Bros. Discovery opted to take a tax write-down on the film rather than release it, according to sources, as the new regime pivots to refocus Warners on theatrical, rather than streaming, releases. Leslie Grace, Michael Keaton, JK Simmons and Brendan Fraser starred in the now abandoned film.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has confirmed Jed Holloway will make his debut against Argentina in Mendoza.
Holloway will start at blindside flanker alongside Michael Hooper and Rob Valetini in the opening round of the Rugby Championship.
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The 29-year-old has been a revelation since returning from Japan, overcoming a calf injury that kept him out of the England series.
He is joined by Rebels prop Matt Gibbon, also in line for his debut via the bench.
Gibbon slots into the side after strong showings for Australia A, with Angus Bell (toe) and Scott Sio (neck/shoulder) ruled out.
“We’ve had a strong week of preparation over here in Argentina and we are highly motivated to put on a performance that makes our supporters proud back home in Australia,” Rennie said in a statement.
“It’s an extremely special occasion for Jed, Matt and their families and it’s up to the rest of us to make sure it’s a positive memory on their Test debuts.”
The Wallabies have received further boosts with Quade Cooper (calf) and Jordan Petaia (concussion) cleared to return.
Cooper slots into the halves alongside Nic White for his first Test of 2022, sensationally ruled out of the England series opener in the warm-up.
Meanwhile, Petaia slots onto the wing, with Rennie opting for Tom Wright at fullback after strong showings against England
His Reds teammate Hunter Paisami shifts to inside center after a season-ending injury to Samu Kerevi (knee), with Len Ikitau elevated from the bench.
Darcy Swain makes his return from suspension, partnering Matt Philip in the second-row whilst Nick Frost holds out Rory Arnold for a spot on the bench.
However, Dave Porecki (concussion) will not feature, with Folau Fainga’a slated to start and Lachlan Lonergan to come off the bench.
Lonergan is joined on the bench by Taniela Tupou as Allan Alaalatoa returns to the starting side.
“Argentina will be full of confidence after their home series win over Scotland and we know we’ll need to be at our best to get a good result on Saturday afternoon,” Rennie added.
Richard Marles isn’t the only Labor frontbencher doing the half rounds this morning.
Health Minister Mark Butler was on the ABC’s RN Breakfast earlier where he was explaining why it took a while for Australia to officially announce it had acquired monkeypox vaccines.
Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler. Credit:alex ellinghausen
Just over 20,000 monkeypox vaccines (from a total of 450,000 secured doses) will arrive in Australia in the next few days.
“These were highly difficult to get hold of as you [can] imagine,” Butler said.
“Monkeypox has only ever really been endemic in countries in Africa. And in the last 13 weeks we’ve seen it spread to 76 other countries, particularly in North America, and the UK and Europe. But we have 58 cases here in Australia as well.
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“So there’s been a burst of activity by governments to get their hands on the newest third-generation vaccine, which is the one we’ve got hold of. We’re now only one of a very small list of countries that has supplies coming to us in 2022.
“We’ve been talking for weeks now with state governments about how they’d roll them out.”
The health minister added that another 100,000 or so doses will arrive in Australia over the “next couple of months”.
The talks revolve around whether Trump would be able to shield conversations he had while he was president from federal investigators.
In recent weeks, investigators have moved aggressively into Trump’s orbit, subpoenaing top former White House officials, focusing on efforts to overturn the 2020 election and executing searches of lawyers who sought to aid those efforts.
The Trump team’s discussions are with the US attorney’s office in Washington, DC, which is in charge of the investigation, and its top January 6 prosecutor Thomas Windom, the sources said. The conversations have not been previously reported.
At this stage, the conversations are focused mostly on whether any communications that witnesses from the Trump West Wing had with the former president can be kept from a federal criminal grand jury under Trump’s claims of executive privilege, the people said.
The Justice Department has been anticipating a court fight with Trump over executive privilege. The issue has arisen as grand jury subpoenas have been issued to two former White House counsel’s office officials and to former Vice President Mike Pence’s chief counsel and chief of staff.
Trump’s legal defense team has warned him that indications are possible, sources tell CNN.
Some members of Trump’s legal team have discussed his potential defense strategies on at least two occasions in recent months, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as they brace for new developments in the Justice Department probe and a separate investigation by Georgia officials into his potentially criminal meddling in the state’s 2020 election results. Rolling Stone previously reported that Trump had been briefed.
Trump has grilled his attorneys on whether they actually believe he will face formal charges, sources said. Yet the former President has expressed a heavy dose of skepticism that he will be indicted, one of the sources familiar with the matter said.
Another source close to the former President told CNN that Trump also has posed questions about a potential indictment to members of his inner circle, some of whom believe the President is concerned about the possibility of federal charges.
But one person close to Trump said he is noticeably more engaged when he is chatting with friends and advisers about the 2022 midterms and his possible presidential campaign in 2024 than he has been during briefings on legal strategy.
This person described the former President as dismissive in conversations about his legal troubles, often repeating his “witch hunt” mantra as he claims the various probes he’s facing are plainly driven by political opponents.
A Trump spokesman said in a statement to CNN: “There is clearly a concerted effort to undermine the vital, Constitutionally-rooted Executive and Attorney-Client Privileges through partisan, political persecution.”
“How can any future President ever have private conversations with his attorneys, counselors, and other senior advisors if any such advisor is forced, either during or after the Presidency, in front of an Unselect Committee or other entity, and be forced to reveal those privileged, confidential discussions? the spokesman said. “President Trump will not be deterred by witch hunts or kangaroo courts from continuing to defend and fight for America, our Constitution, and the Truth.”
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Mark Meadows could be a key witness
In recent months, the former President has ignored advice from some of his advisers to avoid speaking with former and current aides who have become entangled in the House select committee’s probe into January 6 and may become part of the criminal investigation, people familiar with the matter told CNN.
Trump has specifically been counseled to cut contact with his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, whose actions leading up to and on the day of the US Capitol insurrection have been deeply scrutinized by the House panel, the people said.
Two of Meadows’ former top aides, Cassidy Hutchinson and Alyssa Farah Griffin, also have been highly critical of Trump, with Hutchinson testifying about damaging details about Trump’s actions on January 6 during her public testimony before the House panel in June. Hutchinson is cooperating in the DOJ probe as well.
Some of Trump’s attorneys believe Meadows could also be in investigators’ crosshairs and are concerned he could become a fact witness if he is pushed to cooperate in the Justice Department probe, according to two people familiar with the matter.
In response, Meadows’ attorney George Terwilliger told CNN on Thursday: “All of that is idle and uninformed speculation, apparently by people who know little but talk a lot.”
Former White House attorney Ty Cobb said Meadows is “perfectly positioned to be the John Dean of this month,” referring to the former Richard Nixon aide who offered crucial public testimony during the Watergate hearings.
“The reason [Meadows] is valuable is also the reason he is in jeopardy: He was basically at Trump’s right hand throughout all these exercises and participated in key meetings and phone calls,” Cobb said.
Yet, according to a source familiar with the relationship, Trump and Meadows have spoken a number of times. Another source close to Trump described their relationship as “not the same as it once was” while they served in the White House, but insisted they still maintained a relationship, even as Trump has complained about Meadows in his recent conversations with other allies.
Meadows has been known to attend fundraisers and events at the former President’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, where he also helped organize a donor retreat last April for the Conservative Partnership Institute, a group he runs with former Republican Sen. Jim De Mint.
The securing of Trump’s endorsement for US Senate candidate Ted Budd “was the last time Meadows was really around regularly. Since then, he’s never been a big part of the political operation or [Trump’s] thought process,” said a second person close to Trump.
CNN’s Pamela Brown and Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.
The latest update to Google Meet paves the way to do more than just get work done in video meetings, with support for YouTube, Spotify, UNO, and more.
About APKInsight: In this “APK Insight” post, we’ve decompiled the latest version of an application that Google uploaded to the Play Store. When we decompile these files (called APKs, in the case of Android apps), we’re able to see various lines of code within that hint at possible future features. Keep in mind that Google may or may not ever ship these features, and our interpretation of what they are may be imperfect. We’ll try to enable those that are closer to being finished, however, to show you how they’ll look in the case that they do ship. With that in mind, read on.
Right now, Google Meet is angled as a business/education-first service, with some steep limitations for using it with a free Google Account. But in the coming weeks/months, Google Meet is going to be replacing Duo to become the company’s primary app for video calling and conferencing.
In the meantime, Google Meet is continuing to add new features which should be seamlessly carried over to its new home within the app we currently call “Duo” — yes, it can be a bit confusing. One such in-progress feature, spotted today in the latest update (version 2022.07.24, rolling out now via the Play Store), will help make Google Meet more of a fun place to hang out — a “Hangout Meet,” if you will.
When it launches, you’ll be able to “live share” one of a handful of apps with your friends, family, or colleagues. These include business-ready options like GQueues to-do lists, delightful games like UNO and Kahoot, and streaming apps like YouTube. Each of the apps even has an icon inside Google Meet.
GQueues
Task manager for teams
Heads Up!
Play Charades with friends!
Kahoot!
Host and play engaging learning games
Spotify
Users can listen to their favorite music and/or podcasts
ONE!™
The Classic Game at your Fingertips
Youtube
Watch videos with others
Rather than introducing these apps/games directly into the video call, Google Meet is integrating with the Android app for each. When you decide to use live sharing, Google will “take your call to a third-party app,” and make sure your group sticks together. Unfortunately, this means that live sharing will only be available for those on Android, with no support for iOS or Web.
Available only for Android mobile users
For games like UNO!, Google Meet will likely create a new lobby and anyone who wants to join can do so with a single tap; it’s not clear how Google Meet will keep media apps like YouTube and Spotify in sync across call participants. Similar third-party services (of questionable legality) involved live-streaming a browser window of an app like YouTube or Netflix to everyone in the call.
Instead, Google’s approach seems to involve remotely controlling the various players. To that end, there are in-app “toasts” that suggest it will be possible to remotely pause/resume whatever is being shared.
{participant_name} paused the content
{participant_name} summarized the content
Thanks to JEB Decompiler, from which some APK Insight teardowns benefit.
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Brisbane coach Chris Fagan is thrilled Will Ashcroft chose to be nominated to join the Lions as a father-son selection.
Ashcroft, widely viewed as the best player in this year’s draft pool, informed the Lions of his decision on Thursday.
The prolific young midfielder is the son of 318-game Brisbane great Marcus Ashcroft.
Fagan says Ashcroft is an “outstanding” footballer and an “incredible” professional for someone so young.
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“I’ve had a big smile on my face all day,” the Lions mentor told sports day.
“He’s trained a fair bit with us, played some games in our reserves… he’s a wonderful person and he’s an outstanding footballer.
“He’s a real professional for his age – he’s incredible, really.
“I’ve been very, very hopeful that he would make that call and I’m so glad that he has.
“Obviously with Marcus playing 300 games for the club, it’s fantastic to continue the family tradition.
“He’s got a younger brother by the name of Levi who’s a pretty good little footballer too. Maybe they’ll all be in Brisbane colors eventually, which would be great.
“We’re incredibly grateful that he’s made the call to come to us.”
Fagan was asked if Ashcroft is currently at the level to play in Brisbane’s AFL side.
“It puts a lot of pressure on the kid if you answer yes to that question,” he replied.
“On what we saw in the reserves game he played against the Swans, it wouldn’t have been beyond the realms of possibility this year that if he was our player right now that he would’ve played at least some games.
“I think he’s a pretty special talent.”
Ashcroft, 18, averaged 28 disposals, eight tackles and five clearances across the two VFL games this year.
CheckMate is a weekly newsletter from RMIT FactLab which recaps the latest in the world of fact checking and misinformation, drawing on the work of FactLab and its sister organisation, RMIT ABC Fact Check.
You can read the latest edition below, and subscribe to have the next newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.
CheckMate August 5, 2022
This week, we examined a claim by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton that the soon-to-be-axed cashless debit card was well received by trial participants and led to a significant drop in gambling.
We also investigate whether the global outbreak of monkeypox means the virus has become “airborne”, and debunk claims that COVID-19 vaccinations are weakening our immune systems and driving higher reinfection rates.
Peter Dutton hailed the ‘success’ of the cashless debit card. But how successful was it?
Not quite right: Peter Dutton has been talking up the results of a survey on the cashless debit card, but the majority said the program had made life “worse.”(ABC News: Matt Roberts)
As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government gets to work on delivering its election promises, legislation to scrap the cashless debit card (CDC) program is set to become one of the first bills debated by the new parliament.
The Coalition, however, says it still “strongly supports” the program, which quarantines 50-80 per cent of a welfare recipient’s payments (depending on jurisdiction and circumstance) on a card that cannot be used on drugs, alcohol or gambling.
“Research from the University of Adelaide showed that the cashless debit card led to a 21 per cent decrease in gambling and 45 per cent of people believed it had improved their lives,” Opposition Leader Peter Dutton told parliament last week.
But that’s not quite what the research says.
The January 2021 report referenced by Mr Dutton was commissioned by the former Coalition government and involved a survey of CDC participants across the program’s first three trial sites.
Despite his claim that 45 per cent of participants “believed [the card] had improved their lives”, the report found just 15 per cent said it had made life “better”, while 17 per cent reported no difference.
Meanwhile, 56 per cent of those surveyed said the program had made life “worse.”
More broadly, only 21 per cent of those surveyed said the CDC had made a “positive difference” on quality of life for themselves, their family, friends and wider community.
As for gambling, the report “found some evidence of reductions … as a direct outcome of the CDC” — though it does not state gambling was reduced by 21 per cent, as Mr Dutton claimed.
According to the report, 14.4 per cent of participants gambled in the 12 months prior to the introduction to the CDC while 11 per cent were still gambling post-introduction.
The authors noted, however, that “most of the reported change since the introduction of the CDC came from the ‘once a month or less’ very low frequency gambling category, who reported that they typically shifted from ‘gambling very infrequently’ to ‘not gamble at all’.”
“We believe the numbers on reported gambling activity lack in statistical significance, probably due to under-reporting by those who gamble more regularly,” the researchers explained.
Mr Dutton’s figure of 21 per cent appears to relate to the report’s findings on the perceived impact of the cashless debit card on gambling among trial participants.
Asked whether the rollout of the CDC had helped “with reducing gambling problems” — for themselves personally, their family, their friends or where they lived — 21 per cent of survey participants said it had made a positive difference.
Of those, 35 per cent said the difference was for themselves personally, a figure that equates to 7 per cent of participants overall.
Monkeypox is spreading, but is it airborne?
As the global monkeypox outbreak gathers pace, a number of popular social media posts have variously asserted that the virus is, or is not, “airborne”.
Adding to the confusion, last week the World Health Organisation’s African office tweeted — then deleted — to video that claimed “monkeypox is not airborne.”
So, what does the evidence say?
The WHO defines airborne transmission as “the spread of an infectious agent caused by the dissemination of droplet nuclei that remain infectious when suspended in air over long distances and time”.
Such viruses may have a preference for airborne transmission but still spread through other means.
Importantly, there is a distinction — much debated during the COVID-19 pandemic — between smaller droplets (aerosols) that remain in the air and larger respiratory droplets (spray) that fall to the ground quickly.
According to the Department of Health, monkeypox spreads through close contact with lesions (rashes, blisters or sores), contaminated objects and also bodily fluids, including respiratory droplets.
“Transmission through respiratory droplets (for example, coughing or sneezing) is less common and usually only happens if there is prolonged face-to-face contact,” its website explains.
You are probably not going to get monkeypox by being in the same space as somebody who has it, one expert said.(CDC: Cynthia S.)
Notably, one preprint study being shared online has found that some air samples — taken from isolation rooms for monkeypox patients in the UK — contained low levels of “replication competent” virus able to grow in a cell culture.
That, however, is not necessarily something to worry about — or at least not outside of healthcare settings where, for example, changing the sheets may send particles into the air.
A virologist at the Australian National University who studies poxviruses, David Tscharke, told CheckMate: “Just because you can show the virus is in the air, it doesn’t magically mean that you can be infected, because every different virus requires a different amount to be in the air for you to be able to catch it.”
He added: “We actually don’t know what that amount is [for monkeypox]but the shape of the epidemic suggests that there needs to be quite a lot.”
That’s because the current epidemic had so far been largely confined to men who have sex with men, Professor Tscharke explained.
“If the virus was transmissible via aerosols in a way that SARS-CoV-2 [the virus that causes COVID-19] is transmitted, the epidemic would have to be bigger right now. And it would have to have moved out of that community,” he said.
“By walking past somebody who has this, or being in the same space, it probably means you’re not going to get it.”
Professor Tscharke noted that while some older studies certainly suggested aerosol spread was possible, it is “not considered to be a major route”, and the evidence in the latest outbreak so far suggests it is “unlikely” that this has changed.
Also, Christopher Fairley, a professor of public health with Monash University, told CheckMate there was a difference between airborne particles and airborne transmission, and that monkeypox was “not an easy virus to spread.”
He said the UK study’s finding of monkeypox DNA on surfaces was important but “not something that translates into transmission”, noting that “if” airborne transmission was occurring in the current outbreak “it must be very rare”.
“The very low rate of transmission in household contacts and virtual absence of transmission to health care workers is strong evidence of this.”
Indeed, a 16-country study during the current outbreak (April-June) found that 98 per cent of cases were gay or bisexual men, with 95 per cent of transmission suspected to have occurred through sexual activity.
This fact, coupled with news that a number of children have contracted the disease, has led to stigmatisation, exacerbated by misinformation that wrongly suggests sexual activity is the only way the virus spreads.
No, COVID-19 reinfections are not increasing due to rising vaccinations
The COVID reinfection rate has nothing to do with vaccines and is largely the result of new subvariants, experts said.(AAP: Lukas Coch)
Infectious disease experts have shot down claims spreading online that repeated COVID-19 vaccinations have led to weaker immune systems and higher rates of reinfections.
“The more covid 💉 the worse the reinfection rate seems to be. Is that what you see?” one post reads.
Another says: “The more shots, the sicker the people get because of lower immune systems. The more injections, the more infections and transmissions.”
But as RMIT FactLab recently found, those claims are false.
According to experts, there was no correlation between COVID-19 vaccinations and reinfections.
Infectious disease physician Paul Griffin, an associate professor at the University of Queensland, explained to FactLab that there was “no reduction in the immune system by being vaccinated.”
“The attempt of vaccination is to train or prime the immune system to be able to respond more quickly and more effectively against the virus without the risk of having the disease itself.
“[The reinfection rate is] largely driven by the new [Omicron] subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 that are not only more infectious, but evade protection from past infection and to a degree from vaccination,” Professor Griffin said.
Epidemiologist Catherine Bennett, of the Institute for Health Transformation at Deakin University, also dismissed the claim, saying: “[There is] no basis to this bizarre link being made.”
Law enforcement is responding to Mall of America due to reports of shots fired.
Bloomington Police confirmed to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS at around 4:30 pm that multiple units were at the mall working an “active incident” on the northwest side.
We are currently working an active incident inside Mall of America on the northwest side. Numerous officers are on scene. We will update when we have more information.
The mall confirmed that it is on lockdown, saying there is an “isolated incident in a tenant space.”
Mall of America is currently under lockdown. There is a confirmed isolated incident in a tenant space. Please remain in the closest secure location until the lockdown has been lifted. Please stay tuned for additional updates.
Mall of America remains under lockdown following a confirmed isolated incident. For all guests, please stay in the closest secure area until the lockdown is lifted.
