TRANSCRIPT
- Health minister Mark Butler says new vaping laws will protect younger Australians.
- Australia becomes the first nation to impose a ban on engineered stone.
- And in sport, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has broken the women's 400-metre hurdle world record at the U-S Olympic trials.
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Health minister Mark Butler has stressed that business owners must follow new laws which have now made selling e-cigarettes outside of a pharmacy illegal.
In an attempt to protect younger Australians from nicotine addiction, the final stage of the government's anti-vaping laws have come into effect today ensuring vapes can only be sold in plain packaging and without flavouring .
Minister Butler says stores who continue to sell vapes could cop millions of dollars in fines and years in jail.
"From today, vapes are only able to be sold legally in a therapeutic setting. They're only able to be sold in a pharmacy after a conversation about smoking cessation or nicotine addiction with a qualified health professional. Vape stores, tobacconists, convenience stores, that have been selling these things over the past several years, are no longer able legally to do that. All governments expect business to do the right thing and to comply with the law."
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Australia has become the first nation worldwide to impose a ban on engineered stone.
Engineered stone is most commonly used on the development of kitchen benchtops, with workers who use the material being put at risk of developing the deadly lung disease silicosis.
The ban, which comes into effect across the country from today, follows the discovery that the material has been the main catalyst behind the deaths of many construction workers and stonemasons across the country.
Zack Smith, National Secretary of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union, welcomes the decision, saying it will save the lives of many workers.
However, Dean Morris, a former stonemason who now has silicosis, says it's too late for workers like him.
"I have mixed emotions about it because this is something that should've happened years ago. It's taken far too long. And the issue we'll have, you'll see probably in the next decade or so, that the exposure that we've had in the past couple of years now is yet to come for tradies. It's not just permanently being short of breath with this. It's chest pains, muscle aches and joint pains. Severe fatigue, I'm always tired."
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New research into the body image of men has found that many are anxious about the size of their penis.
Although men's body image is commonly associated with elements such as muscular mass and fitness, new research from Monash University focused on an understudied but significant aspect: the size of their penis.
Twenty men, most of whom were in their mid-twenties, took part in the experiment.
According to the findings, the majority of participants felt that "bigger is better" when it comes to penis size.
Associate Professor Gemma Sharp, senior clinical psychologist and lead of the study, says the findings demonstrate that men who are concerned about their penis form or size are less likely to seek medical attention for sexually transmitted illnesses.
"If a man is concerned about his penile size, shape, appearance. It can certainly mean he is less likely to undergo things like STI checks, prostate examinations, all of those urological type routine screenings that men are meant to undergo. We've certainly seen that across the gender spectrum as well. So I think anyone who has any concerns in that area is more likely to avoid medical intervention. Even if they might be really needing it."
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In athletics,
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has broken the women's 400 metre hurdles world record at the United States Olympic trials in Oregon.
The 24-year-old Olympic champion clocked 50.65 seconds to best her own mark of 50.68 seconds set two years ago at the same Hayward Field track.
The moment was captured by commentators on NBC Sports.
"It's a world record in the last event of the trials! Sydney's done it again! That is the fifth time that Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has broken the world record, she is simply incredible!"
McLaughlin-Levrone exploded out of the blocks and took the lead immediately, soaring over each hurdle in a technically flawless performance.
She was nearly two seconds clear of the rest of the field as she crossed the finish to thunderous applause from the crowd.
