10 things you need to know this morning in Australia

Morning, folks.

1. Victoria recorded 76 new COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths today. The Nine papers reported that the modelling used by the Victorian government to justify the state’s strict lockdowns are “based on outdated contact tracing assumptions” which do not take into account improvements in the health response.

2. Further to the above: Victoria is moving to a NSW-style contact tracing system, based on five urban response hubs. The difference between the NSW and Victorian systems has become as much a political flashpoint as a medical one, with the federal government describing NSW as the “gold standard” while criticising Victoria’s.

3. Testing of AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s vaccine candidate has been put on hold due to a “suspected serious adverse reaction in a participant in the United Kingdom”. Yes, this is one of the vaccines that our government has secured on the proviso it passes its trials. A spokesperson for AstraZeneca said in a statement that the company’s “standard review process triggered a pause to vaccination to allow review of safety data.”

4. Australian businesses will be allowed to trade while insolvent until December 31 under an extension of relief measures implemented by the federal government in March. The Minister for Industrial Relations Christian Porter said the measures “will help to prevent a further wave of failures before businesses have had the opportunity to recover.” However, creditors have warned the extension will only allow bad debts to accumulate, hurting the eventual economic recovery.

5. A new report looks at the employment outcomes of graduates from Australian universities. It found that the full time employment rate for undergraduates three years after completing university is 90.1%. It provided rankings of the universities with the best employment outcomes, with the top three being the Australian Catholic University, The Australian National University, and the University of Canberra.

6. Tasmania’s travel voucher scheme was so popular it sold out in 40 minutes. The vouchers allow residents to claim back what they spent on accommodation and travel experiences in the state. More than 21,500 vouchers were issued under the $7.5 million scheme, and while the program has since closed, Premier Peter Gutwein is considering the release of a second round.

7. Australia’s top TikTok users are trying to safeguard their huge followings by encouraging them to experiment with other platforms, as Trump’s sale deadline looms. Some are worried about what the sale could mean for them, while others aren’t even aware it’s happening.

8. Apple is expected to announce new products like updated versions of the Apple Watch and iPad Air at a virtual event on September 15. The company typically announces new iPhones at its September events, but the new models are likely to be delayed this year. Apple may instead announce its anticipated iPhone 12 in October, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

9. Donald Trump has escalated tensions with the US military, accusing military leaders of seeking war to make defence contractors “happy.” He made his comments Monday as part of his denial of The Atlantic’s report that he privately described dead American troops as “losers” and “suckers.” “I’m not saying the military’s in love with me,” he said on Monday. “The soldiers are.”

10. A Facebook software engineer quit the company on Tuesday, and criticised Facebook’s approach to handling misinformation, accusing the platform of “profiting off hate in the US and globally.” The engineer, Ashok Chandwaney, said Facebook should take a stronger approach to removing content that encourages violence, citing Facebook’s decision not to take down a Trump post that said, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” as well as its failure to remove an event that called for violence against protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

BONUS ITEM

Do you remember those stories from a few months back about people across the world receiving random packets of seeds in the mail? VICE has a great story about what happened next.