Australia warns coronavirus outbreak will take weeks to tame

13 Sept 06:23 Key points summarised by AI

Australia's second-biggest city, Melbourne, faces a surge in COVID-19 cases, prompting a six-week partial lockdown and mandatory mask-wearing.
Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly warns it will take weeks for the outbreak to subside, citing a minimum two-week delay between implementing measures and observing their effects.
Rising daily infections in Victoria and neighboring New South Wales (NSW) are fueling fears of a national second wave, despite Australia's relatively low overall case count.
Untraceable clusters in NSW and the potential for new restrictions threaten Australia's economic recovery, which is already grappling with its first recession in nearly three decades.

Suchada: Meet the reluctant star of Thailand’s cryptic crypto drama

Today 15:38 Key points summarised by AI

Thai MP Suchada Zhang Thaensap faces intense scrutiny over her husband’s substantial 1.84 billion baht wealth, with opposition lawmakers alleging connections to international scam networks.
A significant portion of her husband, Taiyang Zhang's, declared assets includes a 1.44 billion baht loan to the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, which still owes him 1.34 billion baht.
Opposition MP Rangsiman Rome accused Suchada's husband of links to online scam networks and gambling sites, prompting Suchada to vehemently deny the claims, demand evidence, and file a defamation complaint.
Taiyang Zhang's background includes co-founding Ren Protocol, later sold to Alameda Research (linked to the FTX collapse), and some of his former associates have been convicted in crypto company failures.
Suchada, a former actress and first-time MP, maintains her husband's innocence, while her party leaders have distanced themselves from the allegations, deeming it a private matter.