Sydney suffers worst pandemic day as lockdown nears 6 weeks

SYDNEY— Sydney reported its worst day of the COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday with five deaths and a record rise in locally acquired infections as a weeks-long hard lockdown is struggling to contain the highly contagious Delta strain of the coronavirus.

Four of the five people that died were unvaccinated while one had one dose, New South Wales state health authorities said, as they implored residents to get inoculated as early as possible.

Authorities also announced a one-week lockdown from Thursday in the region surrounding the state's second-largest city of Newcastle, 140 kms north of Sydney, after six cases were reported there.

That will place an additional 615,000 people under lockdown, raising the total in New South Wales under strict stay-home restrictions to 6 million people out of 8 million in the state, or about a quarter of Australia's population.

The authorities suspect the outbreak began with a beach party near Newcastle after people traveled from Sydney, an apparent violation of the city's lockdown.

"Our strongest focus... is getting to the bottom of how the disease was transmitted and introduced into Newcastle," New South Wales Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant told reporters, as most cases were still being detected in Sydney, the state capital and Australia's largest city.

There were 259 new COVID-19 cases in Sydney, out of 262 in all of New South Wales, health authorities said, daily records for the city and the state, which reported a previous high of 239 on Sunday.

There have been more than 4,300 cases in New South Wales during the latest surge that began seven weeks ago after the first case of the Delta variant was detected in an unvaccinated, unmasked limousine driver who transported overseas airline crew.

'GET VACCINATED'

In the state of Queensland, whose capital Brisbane is under lockdown, another 16 COVID-19 cases were reported on Thursday, the same as the previous two days.

In the state of Victoria, officials are trying to trace three new cases without links to prior infections that were among eight reported on Thursday. The state reported zero cases for the first time in a month on Wednesday.

One of the three unlinked cases includes a teacher in a school in Melbourne, the state capital.

New South Wales health officials are imploring residents, especially people above 60, to get inoculated.

The five deaths in Sydney included three men in their 60s, one man in his 70s and a woman in her 80s, taking the total number of deaths in the latest outbreak in New South Wales to 21.

"Please now is the time to strongly consider getting vaccinated... I put out a plea to you - make an appointment. Get vaccinated," Chant said.

With around 35,200 COVID-19 cases and 932 deaths, Australia has avoided the high caseloads of other developed countries but its vaccination figures are among the lowest, with only 20% of its population over 16 fully vaccinated.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has tied the vaccination rate to easing lockdown restrictions on Aug. 28, setting a target of 6 million shots by the end of the month that would cover half the state's adult population. About 4 million doses have been given so far in New South Wales.

But the growing list of new venues where COVID-19-positive people have visited while infectious is tempering any optimism. About one-fifth of cases reported in New South Wales on Thursday were active in the community, in line with the trend over the last several days.

Victoria also provided an example of how active community cases are likely to cause more cases.

The state, which ended a lockdown only weeks ago, announced that the eight new cases are mostly linked to at least 3,000 close contacts. Authorities warned that would significantly rise, raising the prospect of more curbs.

"Given our understanding of the school community as well as the other exposure sites that are coming online, we would pretty quickly pass 5,000 to 10,000 primary and secondary close contacts within hours if not days," Victoria Health Minister Martin Foley said in Melbourne.

-reuters-

Bondi Beach to reopen for surfing as Australia virus cases slow

SYDNEY, Australia - Swimmers and surfers will return to Sydney's famed Bondi Beach next week, almost 6 weeks after it was closed due to a spike in coronavirus cases, officials announced Wednesday.

But the white sands will remain off-limits to sunbathers, joggers and families in an effort to maintain Australia's strict social distancing requirements.

Paula Masselos, mayor of Waverley, which takes in Bondi and surrounds, said locals could return to the ocean starting 28 April via two access points only.

"What these corridors will do is provide a safe access into the water for swim-and-go and surf-and-go only. So that is for exercise in the water," she told reporters in Sydney.

"The sand is closed: which means no running, no walking, no gathering, no bringing your kids down to play in the sand and have a paddle in the water."

Bondi and nearby beaches were closed in late March after photos circulated online showing mostly young beach-goers packed together on the sands in defiance of a ban on large outdoor gatherings.

The area was also designated a COVID-19 "hotspot" after more than 180 cases were detected among backpackers and residents, prompting health authorities to establish a pop-up testing clinic.

Masselos urged non-residents not to visit Bondi, saying the beach corridors would close if demand was too high.

"We want to make sure it operates within the social distancing and public health order rules," she said.

"And if people are not going to respect that and if the numbers are too great, regrettably we will have to close those."

Other Sydney beaches, including Coogee and Maroubra, reopened Monday to the sound of loudspeaker announcements warning swimmers to abide by social distancing rules.

Australia has recorded more than 6,600 cases of COVID-19, and 74 deaths from the virus.

Agence France-Presse

LOOK: Jinri Park gets married in Australia amid COVID-19

“I can’t wait till the virus dies down so I can wear my wedding dress and have my dad walk me down the aisle.”

This was what TV host and model Jinri Park wrote as she shared this Saturday that she and her non-showbiz partner had to settle for a low-key ceremony for now, until the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis ends.


On Instagram, she posted a photo of her and her partner, John, whom she had already married in a Korean wedding ceremony, sharing a kiss after marrying again at a church in Sydney, Australia. She added that only John’s family was present as their witnesses.

Park, a former “Pinoy Big Brother” housemate, was clad in a simple white dress, and she wrote in the caption that she is still very much looking forward to the day their planned church wedding with friends and family would push through.

“Today was our wedding day but due to the virus we decided to postpone it. We still went to the church to legally sign the registry and got married. The weather was perfect and we had John's family there to witness,” she told her fans, before reminding them to stay safe during this time of crisis.

Earlier this week, Park admitted that she felt “upset” over postponing their wedding because of all the stress she had to go through with planning it.

She did say that she understands the need for the measures against COVID-19, and told her fellow brides who had to move their weddings that “we now have a story to tell our grandchildren.”

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Australia declares emergency, warns coronavirus crisis could last 6 months

SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday declared a "human biosecurity emergency" and said the country's citizens should abandon all overseas travel because of the coronavirus epidemic that he warned could last at least 6 months.

The formal declaration gives the government the power to close off cities or regions, impose curfews and order people to quarantine, if deemed necessary to contain the spread of the virus.

The upgrade in official advice to an unprecedented "Level 4: Do not travel" to any country in the world, was accompanied by a ban on any non-essential indoor gatherings of more than 100 people.

"Life is changing in Australia, as it is changing all around the world," Morrison said during a televised news conference. "Life is going to continue to change, as we deal with the global coronavirus. This is a once in a hundred year type event."

Australia has recorded more than 500 coronavirus infections and 6 deaths, a relatively small number compared to other countries, but officials are growing increasingly concerned about the prospect of an exponential rise in cases.

New South Wales, the country's most populous state, reported its biggest 1-day surge in new cases on Wednesday, along with the country's latest death, an 86-year-old man who died in a Sydney hospital.

Morrison said the tighter ban on indoor social gatherings, down to 100 people from 500 people, did not include essential services like schools, public transport and shopping centers.

The Australian leader cited expert health guidance as the rationale for keeping schools open, a strategy that has been questioned by some experts. Several private schools have made the unilateral decision to close ahead of the upcoming Easter break.

Morrison reiterated the need for social distancing and good hand hygiene to curb the spread of the virus and announced restricted access to aged care homes.

Anybody who travels during a Level 4 ban is warned that the Australian government may not be able to assist if they get into trouble while abroad, according the government's official SmartTraveller website. It also recommends people already in a "do not travel" area consider leaving.

Shortly before Morrison's statement, the government unveiled a A$715 million ($430 million) aid package for airlines, including waivers on domestic air traffic control fees. Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd has suspended all international flights from March 30 to June 14, while Qantas Airways Ltd has cut its international capacity by 90 percent.

The widening restrictions on travel and domestic movement are expected to take a significant toll on Australia's tourism, retail and entertainment sectors.

Economists are predicting the country will slip into its first recession in nearly 3 decades in the first half of 2020, prompting a rapid jump in unemployment.

'IT'S UN-AUSTRALIAN'

The expectations have weighed on Australia's financial markets, with the local share market falling more than 6 percent on Wednesday. Earlier this week, the Australian share market posted its biggest 1-day loss since 1987.

Morrison has already flagged a stimulus package worth around A$17 billion and said on Wednesday the government was "considering quite extensive further economic measures" to dull the impact on the economy.

The Reserve Bank of Australia this week pumped liquidity into money markets and said it will make a monetary policy announce on Thursday at 0330 GMT.

However, while the epidemic is expected to crimp consumer spending in the long run, data from the official statistics agency released on Wednesday showed a 0.4 percent rise in retail sales in February as people bought up staples in preparation for shortages.

The country's major grocers, Coles Group Ltd and Woolworths Group Ltd, have increased sales restrictions in response to the panic buying on goods including toilet paper, milk, meat, flour, rice, hand sanitizer, eggs and frozen vegetables.

They have also introduced exclusive shopping sessions for the elderly and the disabled early in the day, when stores have been restocked.

Morrison issued blunt advice on Wednesday that the hoarding was unnecessary and counter-productive.

"Stop doing it. It’s ridiculous," he said. "It’s un-Australian, and it must stop."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Coronavirus could cost Australian universities 'billions'

SYDNEY - The coronavirus outbreak could deliver a painful multi-billion-dollar hit to Australian universities, as high-paying Chinese students are forced to defer their studies, economists warned Thursday.

Top universities stand to lose around US$2 billion (Aus$3 billion) in fees alone, according to preliminary estimates from analysts at Standard & Poor's.

Under open-ended travel restrictions imposed by the government in a bid to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, non-Australian citizens or permanent residents who have been in China since Feb. 1 are not allowed into Australia.

The virus's outbreak came in between Australia's academic years -- which begin in February -- and as many of the country's roughly 165,000 Chinese university students had returned home for the Lunar New Year.

"Our calculation is one of higher-education fee revenues only, and excludes the broader economic contribution from students to accommodation, tourism, and domestic consumption of goods and services," S&P said in a report.

Foreign students are a vital income stream for Australian universities and one that has grown exponentially in recent years.

Australia is now 1 of the top 3 destinations for foreign students worldwide.

Student representatives told AFP that many of those students have not been able to return in time to start this semester and fear missing the whole year because of the way courses are constructed.

Universities have offered to defer placements and reimburse tuition fees, but many are also trying to buy time.

The University of Sydney has extended the last date students have to be on campus to March 30 -- more than a month after classes were due to begin -- and is trying to arrange for remote teaching.

Australia's top universities are expected to be disproportionately hit, but they should be able to absorb the blow, at least temporarily.

"We believe they have some buffer in free cash, leverage, and operating margin ratios to absorb a temporary shock to revenues," S&P said. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'They told people not to come': Australia's bushfires ravage tourism industry

SYDNEY - Pillars of fire and smoke from bushfires are tarnishing Australia's reputation for pristine vistas abounding in wildlife and wreaking havoc on tourism, operators said, as authorities are forced to cancel concerts, close parks and evacuate towns.

The smoke has shrouded entire cities and driven air quality to unhealthy levels, with at least 10 people dying in the fires in the past week, while colonies of animals such as koalas and flying foxes have been destroyed.

"Seeing all the images of fires on television and social media is not going to help, it puts a dent in Australia's reputation as a safe tourist destination," said Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP Capital.

"It's come at a time when the economy was already fragile," he added, ranking tourism as Australia's fourth biggest export whose strength officials had been counting on to help offset a domestic reluctance to spend.

Bushfires burning for weeks near the world heritage site of the Blue Mountains west of Sydney in the southeastern state of New South Wales have driven away tourists.

As visitors take to social media to warn others to steer clear, the number of busloads of tourists each day has fallen to about 4 from 15 or 20, said Stacey Reynolds, a receptionist at the Blue Mountains Backpacker Hostel in Katoomba.

"They told people not to come in and it's affected everything, from restaurants to motels to backpackers to cafes," she added. "The streets are empty."

Although there is no published nationwide data on tourism since the fires took hold in late spring, Australia attracted 2.71 million holiday makers last summer, up 3.2 percent from the previous year, as many fled the northern hemisphere winter.

Hotels in the largest city of Sydney saw a fall of 10 percent in guest numbers in December, the Accommodation Association of Australia said.

"The fires and the smoke have had a real brand and reputational damage in Sydney," added its chief executive, Dean Long.

The train and cable network of Scenic World in the Blue Mountains had 50,000 fewer visitors in December, down 50 percent from last year, Chief Experience Officer Amanda Byrne said.

Scenic World was open, but the hotels around the area are having more cancellations than bookings, she said.

Government agency Tourism Australia, which released a new advertisement last month to lure Britons to beautiful beaches and stunning scenery, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The scorching temperatures and bushfires, which have also burnt vineyards in South Australia and warmed the usually cool island state of Tasmania, will hit the sector hard, said Judith Mair, who studies tourism, environment and consumer behavior.

"It will be in stages - immediately with evacuations, dislocations and cancellations, but also in the longer term, because tourists buy holidays based on the image of a destination and Australia's is being badly affected," said Mair, a professor at the University of Queensland Business School.

Hundreds of national parks in the southeastern states of New South Wales and Victoria, thronged by 100 million visitors a year, have closed.

With fires burning nearby, Christopher Warren, co-proprietor of a bed and breakfast in Kangaroo Valley in New South Wales, said he had to evacuate his guests.

"The worst-case scenario is that we would be hit by a fire and our business would be destroyed," said Warren, who saw the best case as a loss of income exceeding A$80,000 ($56,048), through the disruption of 3 of his busiest months.

Paul Mackie, who uses AirBnB to rent out an apartment on Sydney's Bondi Beach to British and European tourists in the peak summer holiday period was hit by last-minute cancellations.

"I had bookings for the whole of this period going for the next couple of months, but a lot have cancelled because they said they saw the news of the fires," Mackie added.

AirBnB declined to comment.

A Sydney airport spokesman said it did not have recent statistics on whether the fires were hitting arrival. A Qantas spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the wildfires had hurt bookings.

The fires have spotlighted Australia's environment policies, criticized most recently at a UN summit in Madrid, said Susanne Becken, a professor of sustainable tourism at Griffith University in Queensland.

"The government's response to the climate crisis does not bode well...and this is not good for tourism," Becken said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Ecstasy on the barbie: Australia seizes more than half a ton of drugs smuggled in barbecues

SYDNEY - Australian police have arrested two men for allegedly smuggling 645 kilograms (1,422 pounds) of ecstasy hidden inside hundreds of aluminium barbecues, the culmination of a six-month investigation spanning three countries.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Australian Border Force (ABF) said it had charged a 30-year-old man from Queensland and a 33-year-old Canadian national over their involvement in the criminal enterprise. At well over half a ton, the haul of MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, is the biggest shipment by weight seized in Australia this year.

The investigation remains ongoing and is expected to lead to further arrests, the ABF said. Police didn't disclose the names of the two men held, who each face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted.

The case began in July when police in the Cyprus Drug Law Enforcement Unit tipped off ABF counterparts about a potential large shipment of MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, in a container shipping from Limassol and bound for Sydney. The investigation also involved the United Kingdom National Crime Agency, the ABF said.

On searching the container, the police found 200 aluminium barbecues, many with false base plates concealing multiple packages of the drug.

Officers swapped the MDMA for an inert substance and delivered the barbecues to a warehouse in Sydney, where it sat for more than three months.

Starting in late October, the barbecues were gradually shipped to another warehouse, also in Sydney, where the Australian suspect began to prepare the drugs for distribution, the ABF said.

The Canadian suspect arrived in Sydney last week to visit the warehouse and was arrested in Brisbane on Monday.

"It will be alleged in court that he acted as a liaison for the criminal group responsible for importing the MDMA," the ABF said.

The Australian suspect was also arrested on Monday, while about A$300,000 ($204,000) in cash and 3.5 kg of cocaine were also seized.

The arrests come as the ABF invests heavily in new technologies allowing officers to see further into shipping containers than ever before, ABF Regional Commander for New South Wales, Danielle Yannopoulos, said in the statement.

"Just this year we've found illicit substances in professionally manufactured car parts, fridges, furniture, and even an excavator," she said. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Fears grow about Sydney after Australia fires merge into giant blaze

SYDNEY - Bushfires fanned by winds combined into a single giant blaze north of Sydney late on Friday, blanketing Australia's biggest city in hazardous smoke, causing weekend sports games to be cancelled and prompting calls for outdoor workers to stay home.

Wildfire has killed at least four people and destroyed more than 680 homes across eastern Australia since the start of November, months earlier than the usual summer bushfire season, with the authorities blaming an extended drought, strong wind and suspected arson.

Smoke and flying ash has lingered over Sydney for most of the past week, turning the daytime sky orange, obscuring visibility and prompting commuters to wear breathing masks. Satellite images spread on social media showed the smoke spreading across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand, 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) away.

"The massive #NSW fires are in some cases just too big to put out at the moment," wrote the Australian Bureau of Meteorology in a post on its official Twitter account.

Sydney is the capital city in New South Wales state.

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) said in a tweet that "a number of fires in the Hawkesbury, Hunter and Central Coast areas have now joined." The tweet included a map showing 10 separate fires connecting about 50 kilometers north of metropolitan Sydney.

The total area burnt by those fires was around 335,000 hectares, or 830,000 acres, the RFS added.

RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said authorities were particularly concerned the fires may spread east.

"They have the potential or are expected to spread further east, which unfortunately is getting into more populated areas, villages, communities, isolated rural areas, and other farming practices and businesses throughout the region," Fitzsimmons told reporters in Sydney.

About 500 homes in coastal communities around 350 kilometers south of Sydney had lost electricity to fire and repair workers were unable to start restoring power until the area was declared safe, energy provider Endeavour Energy said in a tweet. "Affected customers should consider alternative accommodation until their power is back."

Sporting body Cricket NSW urged clubs to consider cancelling weekend games due to poor air quality.

"We appreciate this may mean some finals are not played and players may be disappointed, however, the welfare of our cricket communities is our number one priority," Cricket NSW CEO Lee Germo said in a statement.

Australia's worst bushfires on record destroyed thousands of homes in Victoria state in February 2009, killing 173 people and injuring 414 more. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Sydney gasps for air as Australia bushfire smoke reaches record levels

MELBOURNE - The Australian state of New South Wales is gasping under the worst levels of air pollution recorded as smoke from widespread bushfires causes a spike in hospital visits and hazards including poor visibility for drivers.

Sydney, the country's most populous city, woke up to a thick haze, and blood red sun, for the fourth consecutive day on Friday, even as a cooler change brought some relief for firefighters battling scores of wildfires across the country's southeast.

The bushfires have pushed the harbor city into a rare appearance this week in the top 10 cities with the worst air pollution in the world. Having reached as high as No. 8, Sydney was sitting at No. 10 on the Air Visual global rankings on Friday morning, above Jakarta and Shenzhen, and just below Mumbai and Kolkata.

The crisis has put pressure on Prime Minister Scott Morrison, with critics saying he had not done enough to address the impact of climate change on Australia.

"The impacts of the ongoing drought and recent bushfires have led to some of the highest levels of air pollutants recorded in New South Wales since air quality monitoring began during the millennium drought," a spokeswoman for the state's Department of Planning, Industry and Environment said in an email.

Workers heading into the city and children going to school donned masks to deal with the hazardous air quality while 55 bush and grass fires still burned across the state after 2 weeks.

The smoke haze brought with it particulate pollution, which can be absorbed into the bloodstream, a danger that the NSW Health Ministry said had resulted in rising numbers of people showing up at hospital emergency departments.

In some areas of NSW and South Australia state, officials were advising motorists to take care while driving because of reduced visibility.

CLIMATE POLITICS

Bushfires are not unusual in Australia but the fire season has begun much earlier than usual, with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees C (104°F) well ahead of the start of the southern summer and high winds hitting a landscape that has been parched by 3 years of drought.

Bushfires have already left at least 4 people dead and destroyed more than 400 homes across 2 states since the start of November. Fires are still burning in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland states.

"We have a long way to go," Victoria Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said on Australian Broadcasting Corp television.

Morrison on Friday again rejected any links between the fires and his conservative government's policies, including support for the coal industry.

"The suggestion that Australia, by having some trade-off where we could have higher emissions reduction targets, which would destroy jobs in regional communities, if we did that, then we wouldn't be having these fires. That is just not true," Morrison told 3AW radio.

Morrison's conservative government has committed to the Paris Agreement to reduce its emissions by 26-28 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. Critics point out that current projections suggest it will not meet that target and have called on the government to put in place policies to address the shortfall.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Vienna is world's 'most liveable city' for second year: The Economist

VIENNA -- The Austrian capital Vienna has retained its ranking as the world's most liveable city, according to an annual report from the Economist.

Vienna once again came ahead of Melbourne -- which had held the top ranking for 7 years until losing it to Vienna in 2018 -- according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released Wednesday.

The top two were followed by Sydney, Osaka and Calgary.

Each year the EIU gives 140 cities scores out of 100 on a range of factors such as living standards, crime, transport infrastructure, access to education and healthcare, as well as political and economic stability.

Vienna -- known for its convenient public transport, refreshing Alpine tap water and varied cultural life -- scored 99.1 points out of 100, as it did last year.

"Western Europe and North America continue to be the most liveable regions in the world," the EIU said in a press release.

Europe claimed eight of the top 20 spots, with cities in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Canada making up the rest.

However, the City of Light, Paris, dropped 6 places to 25th due to the anti-government "yellow vest" protests -- images of which went around the world.

For the first time, the index noted the effects of climate change on liveability, with New Delhi and Cairo plunging in the rankings to 118th and 125th place respectively due to "poor air quality, undesirable average temperatures and inadequate water provision".

"We expect problems relating to climate change to put increasing pressure on liveability scores in the coming years and for the number of cities affected to grow," Agathe Demarais of the EIU said.

Improvements in liveability that had taken place in emerging markets' cities in recent years -- thanks to greater stability as well as better education and healthcare -- "are under serious threat from an increasingly adverse climate," she said.

London and New York rank 48th and 58th respectively as they continue to struggle under the perceptions of the risk of crime and terrorism and overstretched infrastructure.

The least liveable cities were Karachi, Tripoli, Dhaka, Lagos and, at the very bottom, Damascus.

Vienna also won top place in another survey, the annual quality of living index by human resources consulting firm Mercer, for the 10th time in a row in 2019.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Sydney's water supply falling at fastest rate on record due to drought

SYDNEY- Australia's biggest city Sydney is running down its water supply at the fastest rate on record with dams expected to fall below half maximum capacity due to the worst drought on record, the government said on Friday.

Warragamba Dam, the city's main water supply, was sitting at 51.4 percent capacity, down 17.8 percent in a year and little more than half its level just two years earlier. The amount of water flowing into the dam was just 10 percent of what it was a year ago, according to the New South Wales (NSW) state regulator WaterNSW.

The total water level in Sydney's 11 dams was 50.1 percent, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions in recent months.

"We have never seen this kind of inflows," said NSW Minister for Water, Property and Housing Melinda Pavey.

"Catchments that have been historically reliable ... are now facing a critical shortage of water," she added.

At the current rate of decline, discounting rainfall, Sydney dams would only have enough water reserves for another two years, according to figures provided by WaterNSW.

Pavey said "major (inland) cities... run the risk of running out of freshwater in the next 12 months." "That is the stark reality for our regional communities," she added.

Sydney has resorted to water-saving methods in recent months including enforced water restrictions, which limit the amount of water people are allowed to use outdoors.

In March, Sydney's desalination plant started working at full capacity to process seawater, with the aim to lift the city's water reserves to 70 percent. The state government said this week it plans to expand the plant.

In April, researcher Kantar Public surveyed 1,000 Sydney residents and found that despite the dry conditions and declining water supply, 47 percent of people did not realize there was a drought. 

soure: news.abs-cbn.com

Air Canada flight diverted to Hawaii after turbulence, minor injuries reported

MONTREAL, Canada—An Air Canada flight was diverted on Thursday to Hawaii after a sudden case of severe turbulence left 35 customers with minor injuries, the carrier said in a statement.

Flight AC33, carrying 269 passengers and 15 crew, was flying from Vancouver to Sydney, Australia, when the Boeing 777 aircraft "encountered unforecasted and sudden turbulence approximately 2 hours past Hawaii," the carrier said.

The plane was diverted to Honolulu and landed at 12:45 pm EST.

"As a precaution, medical personnel are on standby to examine passengers in Honolulu," the carrier said.

The carrier's initial reports were of 25 people with minor injuries.

A case of severe turbulence in June on a flight from Kosovo to France was captured on video, showing a flight attendant hitting the ceiling and another praying.

In another case, 29 people were injured after a Turkish Airlines flight encountered severe turbulence on its approach to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport in March.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

3 arrested over central Sydney 'terror plots'

SYDNEY -- Australian police on Tuesday arrested three men accused of links to the Islamic State group over an alleged plot to attack police stations, embassies and defense facilities in central Sydney.

The men -- aged 20, 23 and 30 -- were arrested in raids in the city's suburbs after their online activities raised suspicion.

Two of them will face charges of being members of a terrorist organization and of preparations to carry out terror attacks.

"We will say that they had a number of targets, including police stations, defense establishments, embassies and councils, courts and churches," Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Ian McCartney told reporters.

The plots were said to be in the "early stages", but included moves to import weapons and explosives to target facilities in the central business district.

The third man -- described as an "associate" -- will be charged with lesser offences.

New South Wales police assistant commissioner Mick Willing said the men "knew each other via social media" including WhatsApp and Telegram, and shared a "like-minded philosophy".

Late last year, Australia passed controversial laws allowing spy agencies and police to access encrypted communications from suspected criminals and terrorists.

Police said one of the suspects had come under the watch of authorities after returning from Lebanon last year, alleging he had made plans to go to Afghanistan to fight with the Islamic State.

Police said there was no further threat to the public.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Thousands stung in Australian jellyfish 'invasion'

SYDNEY - Highly venomous jellyfish have stung more than three thousand people on Australia's northeastern shores in just a few days, authorities said Monday, forcing the closure of several beaches.

The massive influx of Portuguese man o' war jellyfish, whose stings are notoriously painful, has been described as an "invasion" by local media in the state of Queensland.

Coastguard association Surf Life Saving said a "whopping" 3,595 people had suffered painful burns after encounters with the creatures, also known as bluebottles for their transparent bluish appearance.

At least four major beaches remained closed as the organisation warned that even more jellyfish were on their way.

"A wall of bluebottles is approaching #Rainbow beach. Lifesavers are closing the beach. Please stay out of the water," read one of several warnings from Surf Life Saving.

Bluebottle stings are a frequent occurrence and it is not uncommon to hear howls of pain from changing rooms along Australia's eastern beaches during the southern hemisphere's summer.

But the sheer number of people stung in the last few days has surprised authorities.

There are usually around 10,000 cases of bluebottle stings each year on the east coast of Australia, according to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

The extraordinary number of stings in the last few days has occurred as strong onshore winds have come in from the north-east, bringing the creatures into contact with swimmers.

The doctors' group describes the symptoms of a sting as an "immediate sharp pain and acute inflammatory skin reaction".

"The intense skin pain can last from minutes to many hours... The sting can also cause systemic signs such as nausea, vomiting and general feeling of malaise."

Treatment includes rinsing the wound with water at 45 degrees Celsius or using icepacks.

It is less straightforward to treat stings from the fearsome Irukandji variety of jellyfish, however.

Stings from these box jellyfish -- which can be smaller than a finger nail -- can cause acute muscular pain, violent vomiting, feelings of "impending doom", hair that stands on end, strokes, heart failure and death within minutes.

State-backed broadcaster ABC reported that the number of people taken to hospital with Irukandji stings in Queensland this season is already 20, double the normal yearly average.

arb/dm/kaf

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Sydney kicks off global 2019 parties with dazzling spectacle

Australia's largest city Sydney put on its biggest-ever fireworks display in a spectacular welcome to the New Year, kicking off a wave of celebrations for billions around the world.

A record amount of pyrotechnics as well as new fireworks effects and colors lit up the city's skyline for 12 minutes and dazzled the more than 1.5 million spectators who packed the harbor front and parks.

An earlier thunderstorm did not dampen the spirits of revelers who camped out at vantage points, some since the early hours of the morning.

To mark the international year of indigenous languages in 2019, the harbor also hosted a ceremony celebrating Aboriginal heritage that included animations projected onto the bridge's pylons.


- Around the world -


The party atmosphere will sweep across major cities in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas as the clock ticks past midnight.

A strong police presence has become a key element of the festivities, to protect crowds that could be targeted in terror and vehicle attacks.

Hong Kong: Glittering fireworks will be sent skyward from five barges floating in Victoria Harbour in a 10-minute display watched by 300,000 people on the shore.

Jakarta: Hundreds of couples will tie the knot in a free mass wedding, as those in the tsunami-hit Banten province, where affected towns were popular holiday destinations, have been told to cancel party plans to show respect for the victims.

Tokyo: Japanese will flock to temples to ring in the New Year, while US boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. took on local kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in a bout staged outside Tokyo.

Moscow: Concerts and light shows will be held across the city's parks and more than 1,000 ice rinks have been opened for merrymakers.

Paris: A fireworks display and sound and light show under the theme "fraternity" is set to go ahead on the Champs-Elysees despite plans for further "yellow vest" anti-government protests at the famed avenue.

Berlin: Music lovers will party at a concert at the Brandenburg Gate, but a popular German tradition of setting off fireworks to mark the occasion has been banned in some other cities over safety concerns.

London: Britain's capital will usher in the New Year by celebrating its relationship with Europe amid turmoil over the Brexit referendum vote to leave the EU, with the fireworks display at the London Eye to feature music from the continent's artists.

Edinburgh: The Scottish capital's traditional Hogmanay celebrations will also take on a pro-European theme ahead of the year in which Britain is due to exit the union.


- Looking ahead to 2019 -


As the world parties, many will also look forward to 2019 and wonder whether the turmoil witnessed during the previous year will spill over into the next.

The political wrangling in Westminster over Brexit was one of the key stories of this year, with a resolution yet to be reached ahead of the scheduled March 29 departure.

US President Donald Trump dominated headlines in 2018 as he ramped up his trade war with China, quit the Iran nuclear deal, moved the American embassy to Jerusalem and met his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un in Singapore for a historic summit.

North Korea's commitment to denuclearization will remain a major political and security issue into next year, as will Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's reassertion of control after Trump's shock military withdrawal announcement.

The war in Yemen, which started in 2014 and has already killed about 10,000 people and left some 20 million at risk of starvation, could take a crucial turn after a ceasefire went into effect in mid-December.

Numerous countries go to the polls in 2019, with key elections in India, Afghanistan, Indonesia, South Africa, Argentina and Australia.

Major sporting events on the calendar include the Rugby World Cup in Japan, the cricket one-day international World Cup in England and the athletics World Championships in Qatar.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Deposed Australian PM Turnbull quits parliament

SYDNEY- Deposed Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull officially resigned from parliament Friday, sparking a by-election for his Sydney seat that could threaten the government's slim one-seat majority.

Moderate Turnbull, 63, was ousted a week ago in a Liberal party coup driven by a hardline conservative faction and he indicated at the time he would not move to the backbench.

New Prime Minister Scott Morrison paid tribute to his "legacy of great achievement."

"Malcolm Turnbull's retirement draws to a close 14 years of committed service to the Australian people and his beloved electorate of Wentworth, culminating in his term as prime minister," he said.

"The Liberal Party thanks him for his commitment to our values and calm stewardship of our great institution, even in times of difficulty."

Turnbull was unseated after almost three years by a determined challenge from his own Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who himself lost out to a stealth campaign by Morrison, a Turnbull ally, in a party ballot.

His transition to civilian life should be smooth. Turnbull was one of Australia's wealthiest parliamentarians and he went to Canberra after previous stints as a journalist, banker, lawyer, and businessman.

His departure will trigger a by-election for his Sydney seat, potentially in early October, leaving Morrison in a precarious position with no majority for two sitting weeks of parliament.

The seat is traditionally a Liberal safe haven, although a backlash against the government's political infighting could make this less certain.

Several Liberal candidates have already emerged, including former Business Council of Australia executive director Andrew Bragg and Dave Sharma, who used to be ambassador to Israel.

The Greens and Labor are also expected to field candidates.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

2 children killed after car crashes in to Australian classroom

SYDNEY - Two eight-year-old boys were killed and another three children badly hurt after a car crashed into a classroom in Sydney on Tuesday, Australian police said.

A sports utility vehicle smashed through the wooden wall of the school in Sydney's west, where 24 primary-age children were in class with their teacher, police said in a statement.

Five children were rushed to hospital, including the two deceased boys. Three girls, two aged eight and another aged nine, were in a serious or stable condition in hospital. Another 16 children and their teacher were treated for minor injuries.

Local TV images showed the car punched through the wall and stopped completely inside the classroom, which is adorned with children's drawings and pictures.

"Obviously it was a scene of carnage," New South Wales state Ambulance Superintendent Stephanie Radnidge told reporters outside the school.

New South Wales Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said police were "not looking at this as an intentional act, it is a crash investigation."

Police said the driver was a 52-year-old woman who was not hurt but was taken to hospital for blood and urine tests as part of the crash investigation.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Tech billionaire buys Sydney mansion for record USD56-M

SYDNEY, Australia - Tech billionaire Scott Farquhar has bought a Sydney waterfront mansion for an Australian record Aus$75 million (US$56 million), a report said Monday, after the owners resisted selling the 1863-built home to developers.

Tech billionaire Scott Farquhar buys Sydney waterfront mansion built in 1863 for record US$56 million, report says https://t.co/bOdBrV9CyI pic.twitter.com/bNwIMnBJpN 

— AFP news agency (@AFP) May 1, 2017

 The co-founder of Australian software giant Atlassian, which floated in the United States in late 2015, snapped up the iconic "Elaine" from John Brehmer Fairfax, whose family formerly owned the Sydney Morning Herald.

The estate, which stretches down to a harbor beach in Sydney's prestigious Point Piper, had been in the Fairfax family since 1891 when it was bought for 2,100 pounds. It features horse stables, a tennis court and a ballroom.

Fairfax reportedly resisted larger offers from developers to subdivide the land.

"We're thrilled with the purchase and honoured to take over the Elaine estate in its entirety from the Fairfax family," Farquhar, 37, told Fairfax Media.

"It would have been a great loss to see this rare property sold to developers and carved up.

"When we heard of the plans, we just couldn't let this beautiful piece of Australian history be turned into a development site."

The price tag set a record for residential property in Australia, the Australian Financial Review said.

It topped the previous Aus$70 million in 2015 when mogul James Packer, who runs worldwide gambling empire Crown, sold his Sydney home to Australian-Chinese billionaire businessman Chau Chak Wing.

ddc/mp/mtp

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Asian fans snap up new iPhone but crowds smaller

SYDNEY/SHANGHAI - Apple Inc. fans from Sydney to Tokyo, the first to snap the new iPhone 7 off the shelves, cheered as they left stores on Friday brandishing their purchases, flanked by applauding sales staff.

But underneath the usual fanfare, and despite complaints that the larger size of the new phone and the new jet black colour were sold out, crowds were smaller than in past years.

Some 200 people were gathered in Sydney light drizzle for the privilege of being the first worldwide to hold an iPhone 7. Apple will launch in its key Asian market China later on Friday.

"It feels great to be the first in the world to have the iPhone 7. It was 100 percent worth it," said Marcus Barsoum, a 16-year-old "diehard Apple fan" who spent two nights camped outside the Sydney store.

Weary but elated, Barsoum charged in to the store at 8 a.m. to the cheers of Apple staff. He emerged with a matte black iPhone 7 although he had wanted a 7 plus in jet black.

Dale Adams, who works at J.P. Morgan in Sydney, arrived only 15 minutes before the store opened and was able to buy a 7 Plus, having ordered it online more than a week ago.

"I'm certainly not one of the hardcore Apple fans but I think the bigger capacity, better battery, better camera, that's enough to make the jump," he said.

Chatter about the launch on Chinese microblog Weibo has been far more muted than when the iPhone 6 debuted in 2014. An index of searches on Baidu Inc, China's equivalent of Google, shows the new phone lagging both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 5.

Sales in China will be the acid test for Apple's year ahead: the mega success of the iPhone 6 in China drove sales last year, while the slower-burn 6S contributed to Apple's first global revenue drop in over a decade earlier this year.

Stores open in China later on Friday, a holiday.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Australian schoolgirl faces charge of financing IS

SYDNEY, Australia - A 16-year-old schoolgirl was set to be charged Tuesday with raising money to support the Islamic State group, Australian police said, warning of a "trend of teenage children" involved in such activities.

The girl and a 20-year-old man were arrested in the western Sydney suburb of Guildford in the morning and were due to be charged during the day, New South Wales state police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn said.

"We will be alleging that they were involved in obtaining money to send offshore to assist the Islamic State in its activities," Burn told reporters in Sydney.

"The 16-year-old girl is not somebody who is well-known to us, however it is disturbing that we are continuing to see a trend of teenage children involved in activities that they should really not be involved in at all."

The pair were to face one charge each of getting funds to, from or for a terrorist organisation. The maximum penalty on conviction is 25 years in prison.

Burn would not say how much they allegedly collected, but added that a "number of people in this country" were raising money to finance terrorism and then send it offshore.

Federal Police Deputy Commissioner for national security, Michael Phelan, said the alleged fundraising was not linked to any plot of an attack in Australia and there was no immediate threat to the community.

Canberra has been increasingly concerned about home-grown extremism and raised the terror threat alert level to high in September 2014.

Authorities have conducted a series of counter-terrorism raids in several cities, while the government has passed new national security laws.

Since September 2014, 14 people have been charged under Appleby, a rolling operation investigating people suspected of being involved in domestic acts of terrorism, Australians fighting in Syria and Iraq and the funding of terrorist organisations, Phelan said.

Burn said police were working to identify "all those things that might have been involved in her getting to this position".

In December, five people including a 15-year-old boy were charged in Sydney over a terror plot targeting a government building.

And in October a civilian police employee was shot dead by a boy, also 15, outside police headquarters in western Sydney. The teenager was killed in an exchange of gunfire.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com