usa world australia€¦ · 9/18/2020 · shadow housing secretary thangam debbonaire said the...

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SEPTEMBER 18 (GMT) – SEPTEMBER 19 (AEST), 2020

AUSTRALIAWORLDUSA

Biden won’t ‘downplay threats’

Joe Biden says he wouldn’t downplay any serious threat to the United States, like President Donald Trump did with COVID-19, during a town hall that was largely focused on the coronavirus pandemic early on.

10 million Brits in lockdown

Tough new measures to control the spread of coronavirus have come into effect in the north-east of England, taking the total number of people across the UK in lockdown to more than 10 million.

Federal MP quits parliament

Queensland Liberal MP John McVeigh is resigning from federal parliament, triggering a by-election in the seat of Groom. McVeigh submitted his resignation with immediate effect due to his wife’s ill health.

Global virus cases top 30 million

Confirmed cases of the coronavirus have topped 30 million worldwide, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally. The worldwide count of known COVID-19 infections climbed past 30 million, with more than half of them from just three countries: the US, India and Brazil, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins researchers.

Mystery £50bn in circulation

Mystery surrounds the exact whereabouts of £50 billion-worth of banknotes in circulation, according to a public spending watchdog.

Family unaware of test result

A South Auckland School acted within minutes of finding out one of its pupils was positive for COVID-19, the principal says. The child attended Chapel Downs Primary School from 8.30am to 9am on Monday before being collected by their family.

NEW ZEALANDUKUK

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES FROM FRANK NEWS

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AUSTRALIAEUROPEWORLD

Israel back in lockdown

Israel is set to go back into a full lockdown to try to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has steadily worsened for months as its government has been plagued by indecision and infighting.

Texas eases virus rules

Texas is ready to relax coronavirus restrictions for the first time in months, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced, but bars remain closed indefinitely and a mask mandate is still in place following a massive summer spread that became one of the deadliest outbreaks in the US.

Victoria virus cases rise

Victoria has had another five coronavirus deaths as new cases also rise to 45. That takes the state toll to 750 and the national figure to 837. The new case figure is a significant jump after Thursday’s 28 was the first time since June 24 that the number had been in the 20s.

Hospital hack’s deadly result

German authorities say that an apparently misdirected ransomware attack caused the failure of IT systems at a major hospital in Duesseldorf, and a woman who needed urgent admission died after she had to be taken to another city for treatment.

Labour: Homeless crisis looming

A winter homelessness crisis can only be averted if the ban on evictions in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak is extended, Labour says. The party’s shadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonaire said the Government needed to do more to help renters.

Back to zero: No new cases

There are no new cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today, for the first time since early August. The Health Ministry said the number of active cases had dropped to 70, with seven more people now recovered from the coronavirus.

NEW ZEALANDUKUSA

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES FROM FRANK NEWS

FULL STORIES START ON PAGE 6

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UK

- PA

10 million Brits in lockdownTough new measures to control the spread of coronavirus have come into effect in the north-east of England, taking the total number of people across the UK in lockdown to more than 10 million.

The new restrictions cover Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead, Sunderland and County Durham and began at midnight.

Residents are banned from socialising in homes or gardens with people outside their own households or support bubble, food and drink venues are restricted to table service only and leisure and entertainment venues must close at 10pm.

The changes run alongside the England-wide six-person limit on social gatherings.

It takes the total number of people under in areas under additional restrictions across the UK to more than 10 million, covering parts of Scotland, south Wales, the north west and north east of England, Yorkshire and the Midlands.

The new lockdown measures come amid reports that tougher restrictions are expected to be imposed on Lancashire.

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “Labour warned months ago that unless the Government spent the summer fixing the testing regime then we would face a bleak winter.

“The Government ignored that advice, the testing regime is collapsing and so it is not surprising national restrictions are back on the table.”

Meanwhile, the Government is expected to announce tighter restrictions on care home visits in areas with high numbers of coronavirus cases.

Care homes in areas subject to local lockdowns may be advised to temporarily restrict visits in all but end-of-life situations, it is understood. ■

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden. - AP

USA

Biden vows not to downplay threatsJoe Biden says he wouldn’t downplay any serious threat to the United States, like President Donald Trump did with COVID-19, during a town hall that was largely focused on the coronavirus pandemic early on.

“You’ve got to level with the American people – shoot from the shoulder. There’s not been a time they’ve not been able to step up. The president should step down,” Biden said to applause from the drive-in crowd at the CNN town hall in Moosic, outside his hometown of Scranton.

Speaking about Trump’s admission that he publicly played down the impact of the virus while aware of its severity, Biden declared: “He knew it and did nothing. It’s close to criminal.”

Biden faced a half-dozen questions about the coronavirus and a potential vaccine early in the town hall from moderator Anderson Cooper and audience members. The pandemic was not just the main topic of the night – it was the cause of the unusual format of the event: a drive-in of 35 cars parked outside PNC Field, just outside of Biden’s hometown of Scranton.

The cars were parked around the stage, each with small groups of people standing outside them or leaning or sitting on the hoods. The network erected blue and red spotlights over the dirt and gravel parking lot to make it easier to see, and each parking space was marked off with white chalk in large rectangles to ensure that each group of spectators stayed more than six feet (1.8m) apart.

The town hall marked the first time that Biden had faced live, unscripted questions from voters since winning the nomination. Trump participated in an ABC town hall earlier this week in an auditorium in Philadelphia. The appearances have been considered tuneups before the three presidential debates; the first is September 29. The format of Biden’s event was a stark reminder of the issue that’s been a central focus of Biden’s campaign – that the pandemic rages on, affecting Americans’ lives in ways large and small, and that stronger leadership in White House could have eased the crisis. ■

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UK

- PA

Watchdog: Mystery £50bn in circulationMystery surrounds the exact whereabouts of £50 billion-worth of banknotes in circulation, according to a public spending watchdog.

The National Audit Office (NAO), which said cash production capacity should be aligned closely to future needs, also said it could take at least a decade for current stocks of 2p and £2 coins to run out.

The NAO said little is known about around £50-billion worth of notes in circulation which are not being used for transactions or identified as savings held by UK households.

Possible explanations include holdings overseas, unreported domestic savings, or cash held for use in the “shadow economy”.

There is little reliable information to quantify how much is likely to be held where, the NAO said.

The NAO said a “fragmented” approach is being taken by the bodies involved in the UK’s cash system.

Five public bodies – the Treasury, the Bank of England, the Royal Mint, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Payments Systems Regulator (PSR) – play a role in administering or overseeing it.

But these bodies lack a shared view of what a good outcome for the consumer looks like and how the costs of achieving this are to be taken into account, the NAO’s report said. There is no single body with responsibility for overseeing how well the cash system is performing.

The NAO said when fieldwork was carried out, the Mint had no plans to produce new 2p or £2 coins for at least 10 years.

When the Mint replaced the old £1 coin, people returned unexpectedly large volumes of all coin denominations, the report said.

The Royal Mint’s “buffer” stocks in March 2020 exceeded targets in all denominations, the NAO said, with holdings of 1ps and 2ps six and eight times above target respectively, and £2 coins 26 times over target. ■

Passengers wait to board a humanitarian flight to Canada at the La Aurora international

airport in Guatemala City. - AP

WORLD

Global virus cases top 30 millionConfirmed cases of the coronavirus have topped 30 million worldwide, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

The worldwide count of known COVID-19 infections climbed past 30 million, with more than half of them from just three countries: the US, India and Brazil, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins researchers.

The number increased by 10 million in just over a month; global cases passed 20 million on August 12.

The United States leads the by-country count with at least 6,675,560 reported cases, followed by India with at least 5,214,677 and Brazil at 4,455, 386, the numbers showed.

Individual numbers could vary as the university’s tally sometimes lags behind country reports.

The US also leads in the number of deaths at 197,643, followed by Brazil at 134,935 and India with a death toll of 84,372, the tally showed. ■

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NEW ZEALAND

Chapel Downs School. - RNZ

Family unaware of positive test resultA South Auckland School acted within minutes of finding out one of its pupils was positive for COVID-19, the principal says.

The child attended Chapel Downs Primary School from 8.30am to 9am on Monday before being collected by their family.

The positive test result came back later the same day.Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) said

Chapel Downs School families were alerted as soon as it was confirmed that the pupil attended the school on Monday.

The school has now been shut down for deep cleaning and anyone who was present at the school on Monday morning is being advised to stay away from people outside their bubble until they are tested and receive a negative result.

A “very small” number had been determined to be close contacts but no number was specified by ARPHS.

The child and their family are now in isolation, with health authorities monitoring.

But parents are angry that despite the pupil testing positive on Monday afternoon, they were not notified until Wednesday.

Ramona Ah Fook, a pregnant mother of two children at the school, said morning period is busy and kids from all classes would be near each other.

Ah Fook was furious it took two days to find out about the positive case.

“They have absolutely no right to keep our kids, or to allow our kids, to go to a place where they know COVID existed for two whole days. And now they’ve decided to close down the school for a thorough clean,” she said.

School principal Vaughan van Rensburg said he could not go into details why the child arrived at school on Monday morning and was then picked up half an hour later by their family.

He first learned of the child’s positive test at 2pm on Wednesday from ARPHS and was liaising with them to find out the exact circumstances. ■

Liberal Member for Groom John McVeigh. - AAP

AUSTRALIA

Federal MP quits parliamentQueensland Liberal MP John McVeigh is resigning from federal parliament, triggering a by-election in the seat of Groom.

McVeigh submitted his resignation with immediate effect due to his wife’s ill health.

The coalition holds the Toowoomba-based seat with a margin of 20.5 per cent.

McVeigh was first elected in 2016 after stints in state parliament and local council.

He served in federal cabinet for eight months as the minister for regional development, territories and local government.

The by-election will be the second for the year after an earlier contest in the southern NSW seat of Eden-Monaro. ■

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USA

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. - AP

Texas eases virus rules as cases dropTexas is ready to relax coronavirus restrictions for the first time in months, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced, but bars remain closed indefinitely and a mask mandate is still in place following a massive summer spread that became one of the deadliest outbreaks in the US.

In allowing restaurants and gyms to let more people inside, as well as lifting a ban on elective surgeries and nursing home visits under certain criteria, Abbott said a dramatic drop in hospitalized COVID-19 patients has made it possible to begin easing restrictions put in place when new cases surged in June.

Texas has nearly 14,500 confirmed deaths from COVID-19, the fourth-highest in the nation, with the vast majority of those deaths occurring this summer.

“There are some Texans who want to fully open Texas 100 per cent as if COVID is no longer a threat,” Abbott said from his office at the Texas Capitol, which has been closed to visitors for months. “The fact is COVID does still exist, and most Texans remain susceptible.”

In keeping bars shut for what is now two months and counting, Abbott said Texas must tread carefully. Aside from angry bar owners who have sued Abbott over lockdown orders, conservative activists and even some GOP lawmakers have railed against the governor of America’s biggest red state over a statewide mask mandate and business restrictions, and polls have shown his typically high approval ratings plummet.

Florida also abruptly closed bars in June as an outbreak spread through the South, but Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis began letting them reopen at 50 per cent capacity last week. Bars remain under full closure orders in only a handful of other states, including Connecticut, which has one of the lowest infection rates in the country.

Under the new orders in Texas, restaurants and retail shops that until now have only been allowed to operate at half capacity can open up to 75 per cent starting next week in most of the state. ■

A protester holds a banner against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the

coronavirus countrywide lockdown in Tel Aviv, Israel. - AP

WORLD

Israel back in lockdown as cases mountIsrael is set to go back into a full lockdown to try to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has steadily worsened for months as its government has been plagued by indecision and infighting.

The three-week lockdown beginning at 2pm will include the closure of many businesses, strict limits on public gatherings, and will largely confine people to within a kilometer (0.6 miles) of their homes. The closures coincide with the Jewish High Holidays, when people typically visit their families and gather for large prayer services.

In an address late Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that even stricter measures may be needed to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed. There are currently more than 46,000 active cases, with at least 577 hospitalized in serious condition.

“It could be that we will have no choice but to make the directives more stringent,” Netanyahu said. “I will not impose a lockdown on the citizens of Israel for no reason, and I will not hesitate to add further restrictions if it is necessary.”

Israel has reported a total of more than 175,000 cases since the outbreak began, including at least 1,169 deaths. It is now reporting around 5,000 new cases a day, one of the highest per capita infection rates in the world.

Israel was among the first countries to impose sweeping lockdowns this spring, sealing its borders and forcing most businesses to close. That succeeded in bringing the number of new cases to only a few dozen per day in May.

But then the economy abruptly reopened, and a new government was sworn in that was paralyzed by infighting. In recent months authorities have announced various restrictions only to see them ignored or reversed even as new cases soared to record levels.

The occupied West Bank has followed a similar trajectory, with a spring lockdown largely containing its outbreak followed by a rise of cases that forced the Palestinian Authority to impose a 10-day lockdown in July. ■

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UK

- PA

Homeless crisis looming, Labour warnsA winter homelessness crisis can only be averted if the ban on evictions in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak is extended, Labour says.

The party’s shadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonaire said the Government needed to do more to help renters.

Debbonaire called for protection measures to be extended.Renters have been protected from eviction during the

COVID-19 outbreak by a ban announced in March which was then extended.

Debbonaire said it needed to be pushed forward beyond September 20.

“Coronavirus cases are rising, vast swathes of the country are set to be under local lockdown, and the COVID jobs crisis is set to get worse.

“This is no time for the Government to re-start evictions.“The Government is walking right into a homelessness crisis

this winter.“They’ve wasted the short time they bought themselves by

extending the ban in August, prioritising reopening old wounds on Brexit above protecting renters.

“The ban must be extended before Sunday, and the Government needs to come forward with a credible plan to keep their promise that no renter will lose their home because of coronavirus.”

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: “These claims are misleading – we’ve taken unprecedented action to support renters by banning evictions for six months, preventing people getting into financial hardship and helping businesses to pay salaries.

“We have now gone further by changing the law to increase notice periods to six months to help keep people in their homes over the winter months and introducing a ‘winter truce’ on the enforcement of evictions for the first time.

“In addition we have put in place a welfare safety net of nearly £9.3 billion and increased Local Housing Allowance rates to cover the lowest 30 per cent of market rents.” ■

An ambulance drives past the University Hospital in Duesseldorf, Germany. - AP

EUROPE

Hospital hack’s deadly resultGerman authorities say that an apparently misdirected ransomware attack caused the failure of IT systems at a major hospital in Duesseldorf, and a woman who needed urgent admission died after she had to be taken to another city for treatment.

The woman’s death appeared to be the first resulting from a ransomware attack, even if indirectly so.

The Duesseldorf University Clinic’s systems have been disrupted for a week. The hospital said investigators have found that the source of the problem was a hacker attack on a weak spot in “widely used commercial add-on software,” which it didn’t identify.

As a consequence, systems gradually crashed and the hospital wasn’t able to access data; emergency patients were taken elsewhere and operations postponed.

The hospital said that “there was no concrete ransom demand.” It added that there are no indications that data is irretrievably lost and that its IT systems are being gradually restarted.

A report from North Rhine-Westphalia state’s justice minister said that 30 servers at the hospital were encrypted last week and an extortion note left on one of the servers, news agency dpa reported. The note – which called on the addressees to get in touch, but didn’t name any sum – was addressed to the Heinrich Heine University, to which the Duesseldorf hospital is affiliated, and not to the hospital itself.

Duesseldorf police then established contact and told the perpetrators that the hospital, and not the university, had been affected, endangering patients. The perpetrators then withdrew the extortion attempt and provided a digital key to decrypt the data. The perpetrators are no longer reachable, according to the justice minister’s report. ■

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Back to zero: No new virus casesThere are no new cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today, for the first time since early August.

The Health Ministry said the number of active cases had dropped to 70, with seven more people now recovered from the coronavirus.

The 70 active cases include 33 imported cases in MIQ facilities and 37 community cases.

The last time the country reported zero new cases was on August 10, the day before the Auckland cluster was revealed.

There have now been no new cases in the community for several days, with some imported cases reported.

The Health Ministry said four people were in hospital with COVID-19 – one each at Auckland City and North Shore hospitals and two in Middlemore. Three are in isolation on a ward, while one is in ICU at Middlemore Hospital.

The total number of confirmed cases remains at 1458.New Zealand's laboratories processed 7360 tests on

Thursday.On Thursday seven new cases of COVID-19 were reported in

New Zealand, all managed isolation facilities, and most of them detected in day 3 testing.

A South Auckland school principal said he acted within minutes of finding out one of its pupils was positive for COVID-19. Some parents were upset that despite the positive test result on Monday afternoon they were not notified until Wednesday. But principal Vaughan van Rensburg said he first learned of the positive test on Wednesday afternoon.

In international developments, new weekly coronavirus cases in Europe have exceeded the numbers reported when the pandemic first peaked in March, the World Health Organisation has said. ■

NEW ZEALAND

- AAP

Five deaths as Victoria virus cases riseVictoria has had another five coronavirus deaths as new cases also rise to 45.

That takes the state toll to 750 and the national figure to 837.The new case figure is a significant jump after Thursday’s 28

was the first time since June 24 that the number had been in the 20s.

But the 14-day rolling average continues to improve, with 42.7 for Melbourne and 2.3 for regional Victoria.

The 14-day averages for cases with an unknown source have also dropped – 73 for Melbourne and none for regional areas.

Also, Melbourne’s “ring of steel” is sparking traffic delays, with a long line of vehicles on the road to Geelong.

Victoria Police and ADF personnel are enforcing traffic restrictions for a second day to ensure Melburnians don’t try to take advantage an easing of coronavirus restrictions in in regional Victoria.

Channel Nine aired helicopter footage of traffic at the Little River checkpoint heading to Geelong, stretching back for about 20km.

Assistant Commissioner Rick Nugent said police would try to keep delays at checkpoints to 30 minutes.

Melburnians risk a fine of nearly $5000 if they try to travel to regional Victoria without a valid reason.

Meanwhile, Premier Daniel Andrews faces fresh questions over claims from the state’s former top cop that his office “set up” the deal to use private security guards in its botched hotel quarantine scheme.

Text correspondence between then-Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw was shown at Victoria’s hotel quarantine inquiry.

The exchange revealed the Department of Premier and Cabinet may have played a role in the fateful decision to use private security guards.

In his written statement, Ashton wasn’t sure whose idea it was to use private security guards but said it was not his. ■

Premier Daniel Andrews. - AAP

AUSTRALIA

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