Category Archives: Australia news

Coronavirus live news: US deaths near 150,000 as Hong Kong warns hospitals could collapse

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Hong Kong outbreak ‘overwhelming’ medical system; pilgrims quarantined in Mecca as hajj begins; WHO warns pandemic is ‘one big wave’

The US attorney general William Barr will be tested for Covid-19, after coming in close contact with Texas Republican congressman Louie Gohmert on Tuesday when Barr testified before the House Judiciary Committee, a Justice Department spokeswoman confirmed to Reuters.

Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec added that Barr already faces routine testing for Covid-19 at the White House.

Berlin’s Tegel airport began large-scale coronavirus testing on Wednesday, as airports across Germany prepared for the advent of free, compulsory testing for many passengers from next week.

Two rooms were set aside for tests, but an airport spokeswoman said a larger space was being prepared, indicating that authorities are preparing for testing to remain a fixture for a long time to come.

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Coronavirus Australia live update: Victoria records six deaths and 384 Covid-19 cases and NSW 14 new cases – latest news

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State suspends non-urgent elective surgery as Covid-19 cases in nursing homes rises, while NSW announces 14 new cases. Follow live updates

Migrants drove more than a quarter of regional Australia’s population growth before the coronavirus pandemic forced border closures, AAP reports.

Treasury’s Centre for Population officials on Tuesday told a parliamentary inquiry that overseas migration was behind 26 per cent of regional population growth nationally.

A staff member at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) has tested positive for Covid-19, prompting the organisation to close all of its sites today.

In a statement, the ASRC said it closed all its sites this morning for terminal cleans and that staff would get “appropriate leave and full pay” for those who need to get tested or self-isolate.

Given the unprecedented pandemic impacting all our lives, we have been planning for this scenario for months.

We have taken early and swift action to close down all ASRC sites to protect staff, people seeking asylum and the community.

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Coronavirus live news: WHO says Covid-19 is ‘easily the most severe’ crisis it has faced

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Global cases doubled in last six weeks; deaths pass 650,000; Amazon’s treatment of workers investigated. Follow the latest updates

Hotels and restaurants in Kyrgyzstan have been converted into makeshift hospitals after widespread complaints about the lack of hospital beds to treat coronavirus patients, AP reports.

The head of the Chinese centre for disease control and prevention says he has been injected with an experimental coronavirus vaccine in an attempt to persuade the public to follow suit when one is approved, AP reports.

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Kylie Moore-Gilbert: British-Australian academic moved to notorious Iran desert prison

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Middle East scholar, who was arrested in 2018, taken to Qarchak women’s jail, one of the most hostile institutions in the country and reportedly stricken with Covid-19

A British-Australian academic serving a 10-year-prison sentence in Iran for espionage has been moved to a remote desert prison, notorious for violence and reportedly stricken with coronavirus.

Cambridge-educated Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a Middle East scholar, had been held in Tehran’s Evin Prison for nearly two years, before her sudden move three days ago to Qarchak women’s prison, south-east of Tehran.

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‘Smelly and create great stains’: emus banned from pub in outback Australia town

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Kevin and Carol, friendly emus who wander the town of Yaraka in Queensland, have been barred from the only pub after leaving droppings on the floor and stealing toast

It can’t be easy being an emu in outback Australia at the best of times what with the heat and the perennial droughts.

But to be banned from your local pub for bad behaviour must now be added to the list of grievances inflicted upon the big birds.

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Almost 3 billion animals affected by Australian megafires, report shows

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Exclusive: Bushfires ‘one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history’, say scientists

Nearly 3 billion animals were killed or displaced by Australia’s devastating bushfire season of 2019 and 2020, according to scientists who have revealed for the first time the scale of the impact on the country’s native wildlife.

The Guardian has learned that an estimated 143 million mammals, 180 million birds, 51 million frogs and a staggering 2.5 billion reptiles were affected by the fires that burned across the continent. Not all the animals would have been killed by the flames or heat, but scientists say the prospects of survival for those that had withstood the initial impact was “probably not that great” due to the starvation, dehydration and predation by feral animals – mostly cats – that followed.

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Coronavirus live news: Belgium set to tighten restrictions; China reports highest new cases since April

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Vietnam evacuates 80,000 tourists from Danang; Spain’s Covid-19 deaths could be 60% higher; global deaths near 650,000

In the US, more than 40 people were infected with the coronavirus after attending a multi-day revival event at a north Alabama Baptist church, the Associated Press reports.

“The whole church has got it, just about,” Al.com quoted pastor Daryl Ross of Warrior Creek Missionary Baptist church in Marshall County as saying.

My colleagues over in the US of A have launched their live blog, with coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in the country, its election campaign, protests in Portland and other cities and a lot more besides.

Click the link below to follow their latest updates.

Related: US nears 150,000 Covid-19 deaths as Republicans and Democrats pitch opposing plans – live

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Police officer says three-week search for retiree who died in Westfield Bondi stairwell ‘consumed’ her

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Bernard Gore was found dead in shopping centre’s fire stairs which stretched for 14km

A police officer has broken down while recalling the fruitless search for a retiree whose body was later discovered in the stairwell of a Sydney shopping centre, while a colleague has suggested they should have searched the stairs themselves.

Bernard Gore, 71, was found dead in the fire stairwell at Westfield Bondi Junction in late January 2017 some three weeks after he went missing.

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Sydney coronavirus toilet paper stoush: mother and daughter found guilty

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Meriam Bebawy took the law into her own hands after another shopper grabbed a packet of toilet paper from her trolley at Woolworths, a magistrate has found

A Sydney magistrate has likened a coronavirus-fuelled stoush over toilet paper to a rugby league bust-up as he found a mother and daughter guilty of affray.

Health worker Meriam Bebawy, 23, and her daycare operator mother, Treiza Bebawy, 61, have been sentenced over an altercation with another woman at a Woolworths store in Chullora on 7 March.

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I left Manus Island but it’s hard to feel free while my refugee brothers and sisters are still detained | Imran Mohammad Fazal Hoque

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Those of us who have resettled in the US and other countries all left someone very close to us behind

On 19 July 2013 the Australian government announced that those who arrived by boat seeking safety would never reach the mainland. The effect of this policy is beyond description and I am still haunted by the memories of the time myself and hundreds of others were held captive on Manus Island.

The concept of a system ruining people’s lives is not easy to understand. It is complex, destructive and manipulative and every aspect is highly politicised. It is a form of systematic torture, the scars of which are not obvious, but they are real and will affect a person for the rest of his or her life.

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Coronavirus live news: UK quarantines arrivals from Spain; global cases pass 16m

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WHO says 1m cases reported per week for last five weeks; Florida’s infections overtake New York’s; North Korea holds emergency meeting after suspected Covid-19 case reported

Twenty-one new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed at a caravan park in England.

The local county council fears the number of cases at the site in Shropshire , which is in the town of Craven Arms, will continue to rise before infection control measures start to take effect.

President Donald Trump has announced his itinerary for next month amid the pandemic.

Because of my strong focus on the China Virus, including scheduled meetings on Vaccines, our economy and much else, I won’t be able to be in New York to throw out the opening pitch for the @Yankees on August 15th. We will make it later in the season!

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Australia’s childcare centres struggle to pay up to $9,000 for Covid-19 cleaning

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One-size-fits-all approach for sector puts not-for-profits in jeopardy, union warns

The not-for-profit early childcare education sector is struggling to pay up to $9,000 for deep cleaning each time a Covid-19 case is identified, while federal government transition payments may not be enough to keep the sector afloat as parents pull their children out of the system.

The United Workers Union’s director for early childhood education, Helen Gibbons, said the one-size-fits-all approach towards the early childcare sector needed a rethink or the community risked losing not-for-profit childcare centres, which comprise just under half of the sector.

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Australia declares ‘there is no legal basis’ to Beijing’s claims in South China Sea

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Australia says China’s claims to disputed islands are ‘invalid’ and are not consistent with UN convention on law of the sea

Australia has declared “there is no legal basis” to China’s territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea, marking an escalation of recent tensions with Beijing and bringing Canberra further in line with Washington.

The declaration, made in a submission to the United Nations on Thursday, comes after the United States hardened its position earlier this month, accusing Beijing of a “completely unlawful … campaign of bullying” to control the sea.

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NSW minister urges Morrison government not to ‘smash through’ conservation law changes

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State Liberal Matt Kean calls on his federal counterpart to drop opposition to an independent environment protection authority

The New South Wales environment minister has called on the Morrison government not to “smash through” changes to national conservation laws and to drop its opposition to an independent environment protection authority.

In a significant intervention from a Liberal government minister, Matt Kean questioned his federal counterpart’s rush to introduce draft laws to change the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act while a major review was still under way, saying it was more important to get the detail right.

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‘I didn’t know if she was alive’: the Australian couple split apart as Covid-19 tore through their cruise ship

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David Connell and his wife Margaret were separated for weeks in Italy after catching coronavirus on the Costa Luminosa. For days, David didn’t know if his wife had survived

‘I didn’t know if she was alive’: Australian couple separated overseas when Covid-19 hit cruise ship

‘I didn’t know if she was alive’: the Australian couple split apart as Covid-19 tore through their cruise ship

David Connell had to pack his wife Margaret’s luggage quickly. She was sick, lying on the cabin’s bed, conscious but barely.

Her knitting and a book were already in her bag, he threw in some essentials and put both their phones in his pocket for safekeeping. They were headed from their cruise ship to a hospital in Italy, which on 22 March was one of the countries most heavily infected by Covid-19.

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‘A wicked enemy’: how Australia’s coronavirus success story unravelled

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Weeks ago, Australia was the envy of the world. Now it has more than 3,000 active coronavirus cases and Melbourne is in lockdown. What went wrong?

Less than a month ago, Australia was the envy of much of the world. With daily new coronavirus cases in the single digits, it was feted as part of a group of “first mover” nations - countries like Taiwan, Singapore and New Zealand that acted decisively to quash coronavirus.

In mid-June, after three months of tight restrictions and differing levels of lockdown, life was not quite back to normal, but as politicians liked to stress, it was almost Covid-normal.

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Australian retailers urge government to broaden employers’ power to cut workers’ hours

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The National Retail Association wants all businesses to have greater flexibility, not just those receiving jobkeeper

Australia’s retailers are calling on the Morrison government to broaden the power of employers to cut workers’ hours and change duties, as Labor signalled it will oppose the move to extend flexibility linked to the jobkeeper wage subsidy.

The National Retail Association chief executive, Dominique Lamb, told Guardian Australia the government should consider granting all businesses the flexibility to vary work hours – not just the firms in receipt of the jobkeeper wage subsidy.

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Australia’s Coon cheese to change name in effort to help ‘eliminate racism’

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Company has previously resisted calls to change branding, saying it was named after American cheesemaker Edward William Coon

The Australian cheese brand Coon will change its name to help “eliminate racism” following a campaign stating the product name was offensive to Indigenous Australians.

Friday’s announcement by Saputo, the dairy company that owns Coon, “to retire the Coon brand name”, comes after a decades-long effort to rename the cheese, including an unsuccessful 1999 complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission from Indigenous activist Dr Stephen Hagan.

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Coronavirus live update Australia: Morrison to discuss Melbourne Covid-19 outbreak in national cabinet meeting

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Prime minister will discuss the impact of the pandemic as fears grow over pressure on aged care sector. Follow the latest news and updates

The AFL roadshow continues with a mini-hub to be created in Cairns, Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has confirmed.

Two yet-to-be named teams will base themselves in the city, and three games will be played at Cazaly’s Stadium. Strict quarantine protocols and the Covidsafe Industry Plan will be rigorously employed, as is the norm these days.

Three @AFL Premiership games will be played at Cazaly’s Stadium and two clubs will relocate to Cairns temporarily with strict quarantine protocols and the COVID Safe Industry Plan in place. It will inject millions of dollars into the local economy and support jobs. #AFL #qldjobs pic.twitter.com/MiILnH1DjX

The Australian Education Union says that senior school students and specialist school students should also be allowed to move to flexible learning because of increasing rates of community transmission in Victoria.

More from AAP:

Year 11 and 12 students are being taught in the classroom ahead of exams, as are special school students.

AEU Victorian branch president Meredith Peace said the rigid approach meant some students were missing out and there was additional stress for principals, teachers and support staff.

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Coronavirus live news: US cases top 4m as WHO chief chides Pompeo for ‘untrue’ claims

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US Secretary of State’s reported comments ‘untrue, unacceptable and without foundation’ says WHO; Trump cancels Jacksonville RNC; Bolsonaro not distancing despite positive test. Follow the latest updates

US infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci has thrown out the first pitch at a Nationals-Yankees game, and it didn’t go amazingly well, but it did lead to some okay Covid-19 jokes:

Fauci finally flattened the curve pic.twitter.com/I0zUwbl6OH

The US surpassed 4m coronavirus cases on Thursday, after more than 1,100 new Covid-19-related deaths were reported in a single day on Wednesday for the first time since late May.

As states continue to dial back reopening efforts, nearly every metric for tracking the outbreak has shown a worsening spread. The US politicians volunteering other people’s lives to fight Covid-19Read more

Related: US surpasses 4m Covid-19 cases as states dial back reopening

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