News Dabba for 22 November 2022: Five stories for a balanced news diet

Indie Journal brings you the daily updates that the internet is talking about through various news websites. Here's a glance through some of the National and International news updates, from Australia ratifying free trade deals, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in the Solomon Islands, to BMC vaccinating kids against Measles.

Australia ratifies free trade deals with India and Britain: The Hindu

Australia’s Parliament passed bilateral free trade agreements with India and Britain on Tuesday, the Hindu reported. The deals are considered to be crucial for Australia to diversify its exports from the troubled Chinese market to India and to Britain’s need to forge new bilateral trade relations since it left the European Union. The report adds that the Bills easily passed the House of Representatives on Monday and the Senate made them law on Tuesday. The deals need to be ratified by the respective British and Indian Parliaments before they take effect, but neither has done that yet. Read the full report here.

BBC report on 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Solomon Islands

An earthquake of 7.0 magnitude has struck the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean, near the south-west region of Malango. Although the report says no injuries or deaths have been reported yet, people in the capital Honiara reported significant shaking and tremors for around 20 seconds. It adds that amid immediate warnings of a tsunami, the prime minister's office advised locals to move to higher ground. However, the islands' meteorological service later dropped the warning. The earthquake caused power outages and prompted some in Honiara to rush out of buildings. Read the full report here.

Aaftab Poonawala says killed "in heat of the moment": NDTV report

NDTV reports that Aaftab Ameen Poonawala, accused of murdering his live-in girlfriend Shraddha Walkar, today admitted in a Delhi court that he killed her "in the heat of the moment". He also alleged that whatever is being said about him now is "not entirely true". The Saket court today extended the police custody of Poonawala to four more days after he was produced before the court via video conferencing in a special hearing, the report adds. His five-day custody had ended today. Read the full report here.

The Straits Times: Musk says Twitter to hold off relaunching blue check verification

The Straits Times reports that Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk, said on Monday that the social media company is holding off the relaunch of its blue check subscription service. It's a delay from his initial tentative timeline to bring back the service on the platform. “Holding off relaunch of Blue Verified until there is high confidence of stopping impersonation,” Mr Musk said in a tweet as per the report adding, “Will probably use different colour check for organisations than individuals.” The coveted blue check mark was previously reserved for verified accounts of politicians, famous personalities, journalists and other public figures. Read the full report here.

BMC races to vaccinate kids against Measles in Mumbai's Govandi, Deonar, Mid-Day reports

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has stepped up counselling parents in the M East ward that is under the grip of measles outbreaks. Mid-Day reports that over the past few days, health workers have visited 2.47 lakh homes and counselled nearly 12.65 lakh people. The civic body’s health staff are also screening children for measles symptoms like fever and rashes. More than 300 workers have fanned out across Govandi and Deonar, which are dotted with slum pockets, for the job. The measles outbreak in the M East ward came to the fore after the Mid-day reported of the death of three children within 48 hours at Rafi Nagar, Govandi, apparently due to malnutrition. Read the full report here.