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MARCH 10 (GMT) – MARCH 11 (AEST), 2020

AUSTRALIAUKNORTH AMERICA

Trump seeks tax relief

President Donald Trump says his administration will ask Congress to pass payroll tax relief and other quick measures as a public health and economic maelstrom brought on by the coronavirus drew closer to him personally. Intending to calm the fears of financial markets over the impact of the epidemic, Trump told reporters that he is seeking “very substantial relief” to the payroll tax.

Democrats see Michigan as test

Michigan could redefine a Democratic primary that has become a showdown between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. But many voters are already looking ahead to November and whether Trump can again win in the state that perhaps more than any other catapulted him into the White House in 2016. For Sanders, the stakes could hardly be higher.

Virus a ‘hydra-headed challenge’

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is appealing to Australians’ patriotism to guide the nation through the spread of the deadly coronavirus as his government prepares to jettison its planned surplus. But the prime minister has also reassured Australians his government won’t look at further cuts to essential services such as schools, hospitals and the NDIS as it deals with the economic impact of the health crisis.

Sick Brits may have to stay home

Britons with “minor” cold, flu or fever symptoms could soon to be asked to stay at home in self-isolation in a bid to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, while new government advice has warned against all but essential travel to Italy. England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty pointed to tighter measures aimed at protecting the public, particularly the vulnerable and elderly, which could be implemented in the next 10 to 14 days.

NHS warns of disinformation

Official NHS guidance is to be displayed at the top of internet search results as part of measures to stop the spread of disinformation around Covid-19. It comes as the NHS warned of the spread of misleading information around the coronavirus outbreak. The health service has highlighted a fake account it had suspended from Twitter after it posed as a hospital and posted inaccurate information about coronavirus cases.

Data shows panic-buy priorities

New Zealanders have been stocking up on rubber gloves and pasta as the Covid-19 coronavirus continues to spread. While Australians are scrapping over toilet paper, figures show New Zealanders are also stocking up on cleaning products, canned goods and baking ingredients. New Zealand’s first case of coronavirus was confirmed just 11 days ago, on February 28. In the days since, supermarkets felt the rush as shoppers cleared the shelves.

NEW ZEALANDUKNORTH AMERICA

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES FROM FRANK NEWS

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MARCH 10 (GMT) – MARCH 11 (AEST), 2020

AUSTRALIAEUROPEREST OF THE WORLD

Kim hails artillery marksmanship

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has supervised his second live-fire artillery exercise in a week, according to state media, as the country continues to expand its military capabilities. The report by Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency came a day after South Korea’s military detected the launches of three short-range projectiles off the North’s eastern coast.

Xi visits virus outbreak epicenter

President Xi Jinping has visited China’s virus epicenter for the first time since cases of a then-unidentified respiratory illness emerged in the city of Wuhan in December. The visit came as people gradually began to return to work in other parts of China while the virus spreads to most of the world, seriously impacting travel, markets and the global economy.

School closures ‘will be the norm’

The Australian government is weighing its response after Italy declared a country-wide travel ban for its 60 million-strong population due to the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 3800 people worldwide. “This is obviously a very significant development,” federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said. “It just reflects the uncertainty and the seriousness of the spread of the coronavirus.”

Italy in nationwide lockdown

Italy has extended coronavirus travel restrictions previously limited to the country’s north to the whole country, with soldiers and police enforcing bans. Some 9172 people have been infected with Covid-19 in Italy, with 463 deaths, and there is a growing sense that the numbers will only worsen. “We’re only at the beginning,” said Dr Massimo Galli, head of infectious disease at Sacco Hospital in Milan.

Irish premier issues warning

Irish premier Leo Varadkar has warned that more than half of the population in the Republic of Ireland could contract Covid-19, as the government unveiled a 430 million euro financial aid package to tackle the health crisis. It comes as the government cancelled all St Patrick’s Day parades, including in Dublin, across the country. More cases of Covid-19 in the Republic were confirmed, bringing the total number to 24.

Farmer in dispute over well

A Taranaki farmer says if the government wants to plug an ‘orphaned’ oil well on his property it can pay for the work itself or stay off his land. A report obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act outlines plans to plug the country’s 36 most at-risk ‘orphaned wells’ – but also spells out that the government accepts no legal liability for the wells or the cost of their remediation.

NEW ZEALANDEUROPEREST OF THE WORLD

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES FROM FRANK NEWS

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MARCH 10 (GMT) – MARCH 11 (AEST), 2020

NORTH AMERICA

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden at a campaign rally at

Renaissance High School in Detroit, Michigan. - AP

Democrat candidates see Michigan as testMichigan could redefine a Democratic primary that has become a showdown between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. But many voters are already looking ahead to November and whether Trump can again win in the state that perhaps more than any other catapulted him into the White House in 2016.

For Sanders, the stakes could hardly be higher. He defeated Hillary Clinton in Michigan in 2016, emboldening his argument that he could win with a diverse coalition that drew well from young voters, working-class whites and African Americans. But it is the kind of victory he has not been able to replicate this time, and if he does not, any chances at the Democratic nomination may be greatly diminished.

Biden has been emphasizing the Obama administration’s bailout of the auto industry, which provided an economic lifeline for GM and Chrysler and federal loans for Ford, likely saving thousands of jobs. He is also counting on continued strong support among African American voters.

How Michigan votes will also be clarifying for November. Some see Sanders’ sweeping promises to cancel student debt and provide health care for all potentially energizing young voters but not older ones wary of his democratic socialist ideology. Centrist and safe, Biden could do exactly the opposite, though.

“There’s not a lot of energy, not enough energy, I would say, even for the primary,” said Michigan state Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, whose district includes a large swath of northwest Detroit. She said the Democratic Party continues to use the same playbook of waiting until the last minute to do intensive community outreach – which crippled it in 2016.

Trump, meanwhile, has visited Michigan several times as president and points to a strong national economy as proof he kept his kept his promises to restore the state’s lost jobs. ■

President Donald Trump. - AP

NORTH AMERICA

Trump looking for ‘substantial’ tax reliefPresident Donald Trump says his administration will ask Congress to pass payroll tax relief and other quick measures as a public health and economic maelstrom brought on by the coronavirus drew closer to him personally.

Intending to calm the fears of financial markets over the impact of the epidemic, Trump told reporters that he is seeking “very substantial relief” to the payroll tax. Trump also said he was seeking help for hourly-wage workers to ensure they’re “not going to miss a paycheck” and “don’t get penalized for something that’s not their fault.”

He stepped forward with the contours of an initiative after markets dropped sharply and as the outbreak spread. Several Trump confidants in Congress disclosed they were isolating themselves after potential exposure to the virus; one traveled with the president from Florida on Air Force One on Monday.

Trump said he would hold a press conference to outline the proposals, saying they would be “discussing a possible payroll tax cut or relief, substantial relief, very substantial relief, that’s big, that’s a big number. We’re also going to be talking about hourly wage earners getting help so that they can be in a position where they’re not going to ever miss a paycheck.”

The White House asserted it was conducting “business as usual.” But the day’s business was anything but normal. Lawmakers pressed for details on how the Capitol could be made secure, handshakes on the Hill were discouraged and a Pentagon meeting was broken into sub-groups to minimize the number of people in the same room.

The president dove into handshakes with supporters earlier in the day, when arriving to headline a fundraiser in Longwood, Florida, that raised approximately $4 million for his reelection campaign and the Republican Party. He ignored shouted questions about the sinking stock market as he boarded Air Force One for the flight back to Washington. ■

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MARCH 10 (GMT) – MARCH 11 (AEST), 2020

UK

- AP

NHS warns of virus disinformationOfficial NHS guidance is to be displayed at the top of internet search results as part of measures to stop the spread of disinformation around Covid-19.

It comes as the NHS warned of the spread of misleading information around the coronavirus outbreak.

The health service has highlighted a fake account it had suspended from Twitter after it posed as a hospital and posted inaccurate information about coronavirus cases.

The account, claiming to be a hospital in Andover, Hampshire, falsely posted that it had received a number of patients with coronavirus-like symptoms before it was suspended by Twitter.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust declined to comment on the account but the NHS said it was continuing to work with Twitter to remove false accounts and other misleading information.

In response and as part of a new range of features for internet platforms, the health service said it had worked with Google, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram on ways to help promote “good advice” when people were searching online for information.

Sir Simon Stevens, NHS chief executive, said: “Ensuring the public has easy access to accurate NHS advice, however they search for it, not only will support people to take the right action but will also help the country’s response to coronavirus.

“The NHS has already been battling coronavirus fake news, from working to take down false Twitter accounts to speaking out against misleading treatments being promoted by homeopaths online.

“It’s right that social media platforms and search engines take any action so they can help ensure the public are directed to NHS advice first.”

He thanked NHS staff for “caring for patients, testing thousands of worried people and taking calls from thousands more”. ■

Prime Minister Boris Johnson. - AP

UK

Sick Brittons could be told to stay homeBritons with “minor” cold, flu or fever symptoms could soon to be asked to stay at home in self-isolation in a bid to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, while new government advice has warned against all but essential travel to Italy.

England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty pointed to tighter measures aimed at protecting the public, particularly the vulnerable and elderly, which could be implemented in the next 10 to 14 days.

It came as the government tightened travel restrictions on coronavirus-stricken Italy following the announcement that Italian authorities were to extend quarantine measures to the whole country.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) amended its advice to warn against all but essential travel to the country, while the number of dead in Italy rose to 463.

A total of 319 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the UK, up from 273 at the same point the previous day, and five people have died in British hospitals.

The latest patient, who died at St Helier Hospital in Carshalton, south London, was in their seventies and was unwell with a number of significant and long-term health conditions.

During a Downing Street press conference, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters the UK will almost certainly move to the delay phase of tackling coronavirus.

Prof Whitty said the balance would tip so that more and more people would suffer coronavirus rather than regular seasonal flu or other respiratory infections.

He added: “We are expecting the numbers to increase initially quite slowly but really quite fast after a while and we have to catch it before the upswing begins.

Johnson said that although the UK currently remains in the contain phase of the response, “extensive preparations” are being made for a move to the delay phase – which seeks to put off the peak of the outbreak until summer. ■

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MARCH 10 (GMT) – MARCH 11 (AEST), 2020

NEW ZEALAND

Shelves of toilet paper were emptied at this supermarket after news of the first New

Zealand case of the Covid-19 coronavirus. - RNZ

Data shows virus panic-buy prioritiesNew Zealanders have been stocking up on rubber gloves and pasta as the Covid-19 coronavirus continues to spread.

While Australians are scrapping over toilet paper, figures show New Zealanders are also stocking up on cleaning products, canned goods and baking ingredients.

New Zealand’s first case of coronavirus was confirmed just 11 days ago, on February 28. In the days since, supermarkets felt the rush as shoppers cleared the shelves.

Market research company IRI has released figures for the week ending March 1 which showed a 14 per cent increase for the week on the year before.

Managing director Craig Irwin said in the three days from the confirmation of the first case, sales increased $38 million more than the same week last year.

“It’s in the obvious categories that you would have expected, right – so, toilet paper, water, even dietary supplements,” he said.

“Some of those categories are up 20, even 50 per cent.“This at the moment is the fifth biggest week of the year and

the only other weeks that beat it are the four weeks around Christmas and there’s no other reason that this should be up that high other than the impact of of the panic buying.”

The increase in confirmed coronavirus cases was likely to cause the trend to continue for the next few weeks, he said.

Research Company Nielsen’s data showed a similar pattern. Executive director of retail Lance Dobson said health and hygiene, staple foods, and household emergency products were the top picks – with a massive 95 per cent increase in rubber gloves sales.

“It’s products like hand wash, it’s antiseptic liquid, household cleaning products, disinfectant,” Dobson said.

“We also saw quite a big spike in rubber gloves for shelf stable foods. ■

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. - AAP

AUSTRALIA

Morrison: Coronavirus a ‘hydra-headed challenge’Prime Minister Scott Morrison is appealing to Australians’ patriotism to guide the nation through the spread of the deadly coronavirus as his government prepares to jettison its planned surplus.

But the prime minister has also reassured Australians his government won’t look at further cuts to essential services such as schools, hospitals and the NDIS as it deals with the economic impact of the health crisis.

His government is putting the final touches on a stimulus package, expected to be worth as much as $10 billion.

In a speech to business leaders, Morrison outlined seven principles guiding that economic response.

He says it must be proportionate, timely and scalable, targeted to specific issues, aligned with other areas of policy including the RBA’s actions, use existing delivery mechanisms such as Centrelink payments, temporary, and lift productivity.

The coronavirus is a “new, complex, hydra-headed and rapidly evolving challenge”, he said.

“Whatever you thought 2020 was going to be about, think again.”

“We now have one goal together this year: to protect the health, the wellbeing and livelihoods of Australians through this global crisis, and to ensure that when the recovery comes, and it will, we are well-positioned to bounce back strongly on the other side.”

It is important to remember the problem is only a temporal one, not structural, and learn the lessons of the global financial crisis, he said.

“The measures must be temporary and accompanied by a fiscal exit strategy. They cannot be baked into the bottom line for years to come, keeping the budget under water.”

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the government is no longer focused on its promised surplus.

“Our package will have an immediate impact across the economy, it will be targeted, it will be responsible and measured,” he said. ■

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MARCH 10 (GMT) – MARCH 11 (AEST), 2020

REST OF THE WORLD

Chinese President Xi Jingping wears a mask at a virus centre in Beijing, China. - AP

Xi visits coronavirus outbreak epicenterPresident Xi Jinping has visited China’s virus epicenter for the first time since cases of a then-unidentified respiratory illness emerged in the city of Wuhan in December.

The visit came as people gradually began to return to work in other parts of China while the virus spreads to most of the world, seriously impacting travel, markets and the global economy. Following China’s example, the Italian government tightened a quarantine and imposed travel restrictions around much of the country.

The disease’s spread in China cast scrutiny on Xi’s leadership, as he was conspicuously absent from the public eye during the early days of the crisis. Initial failures to react quickly were pegged on municipal and provincial-level officials who have since been replaced.

State media reported Xi arrived in the morning in Wuhan, which has been under lockdown along with several nearby cities since late January in a disease-containment measure. The city has the bulk of the country’s more than 80,000 confirmed cases, and authorities sent thousands of medical workers and built several prefabricated isolation wards to deal with its mass of COVID-19 patients.

Xi will inspect the epidemic prevention and control work and visit medical workers, community volunteers, patients and others on the front lines, state media said. Amid questions about Xi’s involvement, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had visited Wuhan in late January.

While China still has the majority of the world’s cases, its proportion is shrinking as the epidemic expands, especially in Europe and the Middle East. The battle to halt the coronavirus has brought sweeping new restrictions, with Italy expanding a travel ban to the entire country, Israel ordering all visitors quarantined just weeks before Passover and Easter, and Spain closing all schools in and around its capital. ■

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects a military drill at an undisclosed location in

North Korea. - AP

REST OF THE WORLD

Kim hails artillery marksmanshipNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un has supervised his second live-fire artillery exercise in a week, according to state media, as the country continues to expand its military capabilities.

The report by Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency came a day after South Korea’s military detected the launches of three short-range projectiles off the North’s eastern coast.

KCNA said Kim showed great satisfaction as his front-line artillery units demonstrated “excellent marksmanship” during the exercise that tested their abilities to execute quick counterattacks.

Pyongyang’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper published photos of rockets blasting out of multiple-rocket launchers and striking what appeared to be an island target.

Kim, wearing a black fur hat and carrying binoculars, watched from a trench, alongside a military officer who, unlike Kim, wore a black facemask in an apparent reflection of the country’s campaign against the new coronavirus.

The KCNA said Kim vowed to build his artillery force into the “world’s strongest arms of service everyone is afraid of” but did not mention any direct comments toward the United States or rival South Korea.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectiles fired from the eastern coastal town of Sondok flew as far as 200 kilometers (125 miles) at a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (30 miles) before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

Kim also oversaw artillery exercises on February 28 and March 2 as the country resumed weapons tests for the first time since November, a lull that some experts say could have been caused by the country’s toughened preventive measures to fend off COVID-19.

North Korea has not publicly confirmed a single case of the illness, but its state media have reported that thousands of people have been quarantined as part of strict prevention measures. ■

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MARCH 10 (GMT) – MARCH 11 (AEST), 2020

EUROPE

Irish premier Leo Varadkar. - AP

Irish premier issues stark virus warningIrish premier Leo Varadkar has warned that more than half of the population in the Republic of Ireland could contract Covid-19, as the government unveiled a 430 million euro financial aid package to tackle the health crisis.

It comes as the government cancelled all St Patrick’s Day parades, including in Dublin, across the country.

More cases of Covid-19 in the Republic were confirmed, bringing the total number to 24.

They included females from the west and south of the country in close contact with cases and a female healthcare worker from the south in close contact with a patient.

At a press briefing in Dublin on Monday on the spread of Covid-19, Varadkar said: “What we have seen from other countries and what we have seen from what is available at the moment, is that we could we could easily have 50 or 60 per cent of our population contracting Covid-19.

“For the vast majority of the population this will be a mild illness and may even by asymptomatic. However, there will be a significant part of the population who will require critical care.”

He added: “A per centage that we don’t honestly know yet – it could be one per cent or three per cent – mortality.

“We just don’t know that with any degree of certainty. It is not the kind of thing we have seen in a very long time.”

Varadkar said he thinks the Irish health system “will cope as best as possible”, but would struggle if the virus were to spread rapidly.

He added: “This won’t be an ordinary situation If you consider the numbers of people who could become very ill even if the health service was twice the size it is now we will struggle.”

He said 430 million euro will be allocated to provide additional staff and capacity in the health service to deal with the virus. ■

Police officers and soldiers check passengers leaving from Milan main train station, Italy.

- AP

EUROPE

Italy extends lockdown to cover entire countryItaly has extended coronavirus travel restrictions previously limited to the country’s north to the whole country, with soldiers and police enforcing bans.

Some 9172 people have been infected with Covid-19 in Italy, with 463 deaths, and there is a growing sense that the numbers will only worsen.

“We’re only at the beginning,” said Dr Massimo Galli, head of infectious disease at Sacco Hospital in Milan, where people at the city’s main railway station were required to sign forms certifying the necessity of their travel.

However, the Italian government assured its citizens that supermarkets will remain open and stocked after panic buying erupted after the broadened anti-virus measures were announced nationwide, sparking overnight runs on 24-hour markets.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s office issued a clarifying statement after he signed the new decree late on Monday (Italian time), stressing that movement outside homes for “normal necessities” such as grocery shopping will be allowed, as well as for work or health reasons.

The statement said runs on supermarkets were contrary to the intent of the new decree which aims to prevent Italians from congregating.

Outbreaks have worsened in France, Spain and Germany, and fear is growing in the United States, where more than 750 people are infected and even some top political leaders were quarantined.

The World Health Organisation said people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while severe cases may last three to six weeks.

Italy’s far-reaching restrictions are set to last until April 3 and violators risked up to three months in jail or fines of 206 euros ($US234). Schools and universities remain closed and pubs, eateries and cafes are to close at dusk.

“Our habits must be changed, changed now,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said. ■

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MARCH 10 (GMT) – MARCH 11 (AEST), 2020

Farmer in dispute over ‘orphan’ wellA Taranaki farmer says if the government wants to plug an ‘orphaned’ oil well on his property it can pay for the work itself or stay off his land.

A report obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act outlines plans to plug the country’s 36 most at-risk ‘orphaned wells’ – but also spells out that the government accepts no legal liability for the wells or the cost of their remediation.

Fred Marshall’s family have farmed on State Highway 3 near Inglewood for several generations.

In 1907, they allowed the Inglewood Oil Bore Prospecting Company to search for the black gold on the property.

But now more than 100 years later, the Norfolk Road Bore it put down has been identified as an ‘orphaned well’ – meaning it has been abandoned, has no current permit holder, and has outstanding plugging and decommissioning commitments.

By law responsibility for that work lies with the current land owner – a fact Marshall was not thrilled about.

“I ride the motorbike over it probably. The cows graze over it. It’s just someone’s making a business out of it, isn’t it? Someone’s got a job to do and they’re doing it well and getting someone else to pay for it,” he said.

Marshall said he did not feel the bore was his to deal with.“I think it is ridiculous fiddling around with it to start with.

Leave it alone. And certainly not me. I’m not paying for it.”The 82 year old said 20 years ago he had his own experience

of a rig being on the farm – not one that he wanted to repeat.“We had to let them in I think as I believe at the time. I don’t

think we had any powers to stop them, did we? I don’t know.“And they said ‘we’ll be good to you’ and all the rest of it. And

they were all right to a point.“They made a mess and they left a mess behind, but we

sowed it down and we’ve got it back now and they’ve gone out the gate and I don’t want them back, thank you very much.”

More than 100 orphaned wells have been identified out of the 960 onshore wells drilled across New Zealand. ■

NEW ZEALAND

Taranaki farmer Fred Marshall standing over where once a oil and gas well was on his

property. - RNZ / Robin Martin

School closures ‘will become the norm’The Australian government is weighing its response after Italy declared a country-wide travel ban for its 60 million-strong population due to the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 3800 people worldwide.

“This is obviously a very significant development,” federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said.

“It just reflects the uncertainty and the seriousness of the spread of the coronavirus.”

Italy declared the expanded travel ban more than a month ahead of the busy Easter holiday season when millions of international and domestic tourists usually flock to Rome and other major cities like Venice and Florence.

The federal government continues to advise travellers to Italy to “exercise a high degree of caution” and cautions they will be subject to health screening upon their return.

Meanwhile, temporary school closures are likely to become the norm across Australia as the nation also tries to batten down the hatches.

Three schools in NSW and Victoria will be shut after three students tested positive to COVID-19.

“School closures, I think, will become the norm as we go ahead, but we are doing everything we can to keep our children safe,” Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan said.

The minister was asked why schools were being closed for a day or two, while people with or suspected of having the virus are being told to self-isolate for two weeks.

“The schools have been closed for a day so they can be thoroughly cleaned,” he replied.

“That is the best medical advice that we’re being given at the moment. Now, if that changes and it says that schools need to close for longer, then schools will close for longer.”

The school closed include Carey Baptist Grammar School in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Kew, St Patrick’s Marist College in Dundas in western Sydney and Willoughby Girls High School on Sydney’s north shore. ■

- PA

AUSTRALIA