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By Joshua Boscaini for ABC Photo: 123rf.com A new highly transmissible variant of Covid-19 has been detected in Australia, raising questions about whether it will lead to a wave of Covid-19 cases over summer. The XEC strain has been reported in 29 countries including the United States, United Kingdom and China, according to global health data platform GISAID. Here's what we know about the XEC variant and how many cases have been reported in Australia. What do we know about XEC? XEC is a "recombinant" Covid-19 variant, which means it's a mix of two previous Omicron subvariants called KS 1.1 and KP 3.3. A recombinant variant is created when someone is infected with two strains of a virus that go on reproduce and create another strain. There are conflicting reports about where the strain...

Photo: Madman Entertainment By Velvet Winter of the ABC Around the time Ali Abassi was first offered Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice in 2018, the Iranian-born Danish director couldn't actually enter the US due to Trump's infamous travel ban. Warning: This story contains language some readers may find offensive. After jumping through numerous hoops, Abassi was granted entry - temporarily. "I thought it was quite funny having gone through all this, and I was saying, 'If I leave the country, I can't get in again'," Abassi told The Screen Show's Jason Di Rosso. "So maybe I can do this on Zoom. The first feature directed from Zoom." The Apprentice is the semi-biographical story of Donald Trump's ascension through New York's real estate scene in the 80s, and his relationship with lawyer/me...

By James Mackenzie and Maya Gebeily, Reuters An image grab taken from a UGC video posted on social media on shows Israeli soldiers raising an Israeli flag in Lebanon's southern border village of Maroun al-Ras. Photo: AFp/Screenshot Israel's military said it had deployed a fourth army division into south Lebanon, signalling an expanding ground offensive against Hezbollah, and said the successor to the Iran-backed group's slain leader appeared to have been "eliminated". Defence Minister Yoav Gallant made the announcement about Hashem Safieddine, in what would be the latest shock to Hezbollah's hierarchy, as Israel began ground operations in southwest Lebanon, extending its incursions to a new zone. As Hezbollah's deputy leader left the door open to a negotiated ceasefire, the Israeli m...

Contractors put plywood over windows of a building in Tampa on 8 October 2024 ahead of Hurricane Milton’s expected landfall. Photo: AFP US President Joe Biden urged those who have been ordered to leave before Hurricane Milton makes landfall in Florida to "evacuate now", saying it was a matter of life and death. "This could be the worst storm to hit Florida in over a century, and God-willing it won't be, but it's looking like that right now," Biden said. Biden added that he has approved pre-landfall emergency declarations in Florida and is calling on airlines to accommodate evacuations and not engage in price-gouging. Hurricane Milton was expected to enlarge on Wednesday as it grinded past Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula en route to Florida's Gulf Coast, where more than 1 million people were ...

Diddy (R) and his mother, Janice Combs attend the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards at Prudential Center on September 12, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey. Photo: Jason Kempin The mother of Sean 'Diddy' Combs says her son is not a "monster" and has likened the rapper's public downfall to a "public lynching". The music producer is currently in a Brooklyn jail awaiting trial on counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution after he was arrested on Septmber 16. He has pleaded not guilty. His defence lawyers tried to have him released on a US$50 million bond, but prosecutors told the judge that Combs was "extremely dangerous to the community" and he was denied bail. His next court date is set for Thursday (local time). Last week, lawyer Tony Buzbee told...