Australia’s Victoria state will not do special deals with unvaccinated athletes to allow them to compete at major events, an official said on Tuesday, putting Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open title defence and bid for the Grand Slam record in doubt.
World number one Djokovic, level on 20 Grand Slam titles with Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, declined to reveal his vaccination status again this week and said he was unsure if he would defend his Australian Open crown as authorities work out COVID-19 restrictions for the tournament.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said he opposed special arrangements to let unvaccinated athletes compete in the state, which is scheduled to host the Grand Slam at Melbourne Park in January.
“On the question of vaccination, no,” he told a media briefing.
“(The virus) doesn’t care what your tennis ranking is, or how many Grand Slams you’ve won. It’s completely irrelevant. You need to be vaccinated to keep yourself safe and to keep others safe.”
Tennis Australia, which organises the Grand Slam, declined to comment.
via Reuters
The leaders of Finland and Norway called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to urge him to end the war in Ukraine, breaking with a longstanding practice among Western European l...
The European Commission will unveil a sweeping overhaul of EU border agency Frontex on Oct. 27, turning it into a fully-fledged “European return agency,” according to two EU officials fa...
Morning Briefing
Budget 2027 combines family tax cuts with higher pensions and targeted assistance
Budget 2027 extends the phased reduction in income tax for families with children...
Updated 0950
Magistrate Monica Vella faces disciplinary proceedings over delays
Disciplinary proceedings have been launched against Magistrate Monica Vella following complaints abo...
The European Commission has unveiled an ambitious package of tax reforms aimed at simplifying tax rules across the European Union, reducing compliance burdens for businesses and strength...
The European Union's new Migration and Asylum Pact enters into force on 12 June, ushering in the most significant reform of the bloc's migration framework in years and placing renewed em...
Saudi Arabia plans to store crude oil at Singapore's Jurong Rock Caverns from the second half of 2027 to strengthen supply security in the region, energy ministers from both countries s...
Developers of the PHP programming language released emergency patches Wednesday for two critical security flaws that could let hackers remotely take over websites and servers, prompting ...
What began last year as a blood donation initiative involving six companies is expanding into a broader corporate effort, with three additional companies joining this...
Artificial intelligence is rapidly moving up the boardroom agenda, raising an important question for non-executive directors: are boards equipped to oversee the transformation AI is brin...
GO has partnered with workforce management platform Talexio to introduce human resources and payroll tools into its Business Plus proposition, marking a further step in the telecoms grou...
GO plc, has released the Q2 2026 edition of GO Trends, its data intelligence report on how international visitors move around the Maltese islands. Building on the full-year 2025 report p...
Fears of renewed escalation gripped the Middle East on Wednesday after the United States and Iran exchanged their biggest barrage since July, with Washington striking Iran's southern co...
President Donald Trump announced late Saturday that he had called off planned U.S. strikes on Iran, saying renewed negotiations had raised hopes of easing the conflict and reopening ship...
At least 32 people have been killed and more than 700 injured after two powerful earthquakes — measuring 7.2 and 7.5 — struck central Venezuela seconds apart, causing widespread destruct...
Thousands of Cuban security personnel have begun leaving Caracas after nearly two decades in Venezuela, as Washington ramps up efforts to dismantle the long standing alliance between the...
Ukraine said Thursday it struck a Russian oil refinery and damaged six Russian warplanes at an airfield, resuming attacks on Russian energy infrastructure after President Volodymyr Zelen...
Ukrainian drones hit Russia's biggest data centre, owned by the country's largest bank and technology company, Sberbank, but did not disrupt its operations, a senior company executive ...
