International

Australia recorded no new daily coronavirus community infections on Sunday for the first time in nearly five months, health officials said, paving the way for further easing of social distancing restrictions. The state of Victoria, a coronavirus hot spot which accounts for more than 90% of Australia's 907 coronavirus-related deaths, saw zero new daily infections and no deaths for the second consecutive day. With no fresh cases of Covid-19 recorded in the rest of the country, Australia saw its first day of no transmissions since June 9, Health Minister Greg Hunt said. "Thank you to all of our amazing health & public health workers & above all else the Australian people," Hunt said on his Twitter account. Swift and stringent measures combined with community compliance have been credited for reigning in the pandemic before it strained the public health system in Australia. Queensland voters kept on Saturday the incumbent Labor Party for a third term, showing support for keeping the state's internal borders closed - which has put the local authorities at odds with the federal government. Victoria last week ended most of its 111-day lockdown restrictions - some of the world's toughest and longest - with a recent Ipsos poll commissioned by The Age newspaper and Nine News showing Victorians backed the state's handling of the pandemic. Victoria Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton hinted on Sunday that the state may see more of its public movement restrictions eased in the coming days but urged further compliance. "What allowances come ... will absolutely be informed by what this week looks like," Sutton said at a televised press conference. "To see 50,000 cases a day in France, to see Belgium sending patients outside the country because they're so overwhelmed - that's what we might have faced if we hadn't been able to get on top of it." Australia has reported just over 27,500 cases since the pandemic started due to it quickly closing its international borders and imposing social distancing restrictions and widespread testing and tracing. Australia on Friday warned its citizens not to travel to the United States, its key ally, due to the risk of protest violence and coronavirus. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday reported 9,024,298 cases of new coronavirus, an increase of 99,750 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 1,009 to 229,109. 

Australia's second-biggest city will this week exit its coronavirus lockdown following nearly four months under onerous restrictions, authorities announced Monday, after no new daily cases or deaths were recorded. Stay-at-home orders for Melbourne's five million residents will be lifted from midnight Tuesday into Wednesday while restaurants, beauty salons and retail stores will be permitted to throw open their doors. Melbourne and the surrounding Victoria state recorded the first 24-hour period without any new Covid-19 cases since June 8 -- before security bungles at quarantine hotels housing returned international travellers sparked a major outbreak in July. Announcing the much-anticipated relaxing of restrictions, Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews' voice cracked as he declared it an "emotional day". "This has been a very difficult year. And Victorians have given a lot and I'm proud of every single one of them," he told reporters in Melbourne. Asked if ale-loving Victorians could now "get on the beers", Andrews said he "might go a little higher up the shelf". Jubilant social media users declared the return to zero cases and deaths "Donut Day", with the hashtag trending as Twitter users posted selfies with the sweet treats in celebration. Melbourne in the summer became the epicentre of the country's second coronavirus wave, with new daily cases rising above 700 in August when the rest of Australia was already rolling back restrictions. Some curbs were already lifted last week, allowing haircuts and golf games to return, but further easing planned for Sunday was delayed by 24 hours to assess thousands of test results after a small outbreak in the city's north. Andrews said all the tests had returned negative. "It was worth waiting to be absolutely confident to be sure that our team had their arms around those positive cases and fundamental control of the outbreak -- and that is exactly what these numbers show us," he said. Pressure had been mounting for weeks on state authorities to allow the city more freedoms, with a litany of rules remaining in place as they took a cautious approach to reopening despite the falling number of cases. The rest of Victoria state is already enjoying fewer restrictions, with gyms set to reopen and outdoor live music to resume from Tuesday. Restrictions on travel between Melbourne and regional Victoria will be lifted from November 8, with a 25-kilometre travel radius for city residents also set to be removed the same day. The state remains cut off from the rest of Australia, where regional authorities have largely taken a hyper-vigilant response to Covid-19 such as maintaining internal border restrictions. Those measures have attracted criticism from some quarters. On Sunday, conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison took a partisan swipe at Andrews' centre-left government, claiming Victoria's restrictions had caused "1,000 job losses per day". Overall, Australia has been relatively successful in containing the spread of the coronavirus, with about 27,500 cases and 905 deaths in a population of 25 million. The country also maintains strict controls on its international borders to prevent transmission of the virus from overseas, which has left tens of thousands of its own citizens stranded abroad. Authorities now hope to remove internal travel restrictions, bring more Australians home from overseas, and create "travel bubbles" with other countries that have curbed the virus -- all while continuing to maintain low case numbers.

A 59-year-old man is in critical condition after a shark attacked him on Sunday at Australia's Great Barrier Reef, near the north Queensland city of Townsville, rescuers said. Paramedics airlifted the man from Britomart Reef to Townsville Hospital where he is being treated for critical wounds. The man had been spearfishing near the reef before being attacked at about noon, media reported. "There was obviously evidence of a very significant shark bite to the patient's upper thigh, pelvic region," said David Humphreys, a doctor with LifeFlight Australia. "He remained in a critical condition after our interventions and he's now undergoing emergency surgery here in the hospital." According to the Taronga Conservation Society Australia, there have been seven fatal unprovoked shark attacks in Australia this year, two of them in Queensland. Australia ranked behind only the United States in the number of unprovoked shark encounters with humans in 2019, according to the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File.

Australia will slightly lift the cap on the number of citizens and permanent residents allowed to return each week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, as local Covid-19 cases slow to single digits. Australia has since July capped the number of locals allowed to return home each week in an attempt to reduce the threat of spreading Covid-19. Australia’s second Covid-19 outbreak started after people returning from overseas in Victoria state spread the virus to hotel workers while undergoing a mandatory 14-day quarantine, who in turn passed the virus in the community. Morrison said the current cap will rise to 5,865 people in November, an increase of 290, after Western Australia and Queensland states said they would accommodate more locals. The increase comes amid heightened pressure on Morrison's government to help some 26,000 Australians that registered their intention to come home. ‘The most effective way to get Australians home is to increase these caps,’ Morrison told reporters in Canberra. Many, however, have struggled to secure a plane ticket and raise the several thousand dollars needed to pay for hotel quarantine when they arrive back in Australia. Looking to offer more support, Morrison's government earlier this month struck a deal with the Northern Territory government to allow up to 500 people each fortnight to return. These are outside the weekly cap, with the first plane landing on Friday. The increase in the number of Australians allowed to return home comes as the country's second most populous state - the epicentre of the country's Covid-19 outbreak - on Friday reported that active coronavirus cases have fallen to a four-month low. Victoria state, which recorded just one new infection in the past 24 hours, said there are now 100 active cases - the lowest since June 19. ‘This is a good number. This is a very clear sign that the strategy is working,’ Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters in Melbourne. The active infections are a relief to state authorities amid heightened fears of a fresh cluster after a case in a school in Melbourne's northern suburbs prompted authorities to order 800 people to self-isolate. Australia has recorded just over 27,400 Covid-19 infections, far fewer than many other developed countries. Victoria accounts for more than 90% of the 905 deaths nationally.

A lucky echidna puggle, or baby spiny anteater, that survived an attack by birds and fell from a tree is taking its first steps as zoo keepers in Australia hand-feed the young mammal. Members of the public brought the young echidna to the Taronga Zoo in Sydney last month after it fell 4m from a tree onto their balcony, somehow escaping becoming supper for the winner of a clash between a raven and a magpie. "He was lost from his mum and the story is that some people were just sitting on their balcony one nice afternoon and they heard this thud and they looked down and they saw this little guy on the balcony," said Taronga Zoo Senior Keeper Sarah Male. "And they've looked up into the tree and seen a raven and a magpie there." After recovering from scratches and peck marks, the puggle - grey, sharp-nosed and easily held in the palm of one hand - has put on weight and started to develop fur, Male said. "While the puggle is improving every day, it is still very young and in the wild would still be dependent on mum, so will require ongoing care for the next few months," she said in an emailed statement. "I’ve hand-raised lots of animals throughout the years at Taronga but such a young echidna puggle is a new experience." The echidna will remain at the Taronga Zoo Wildlife Hospital until it grows spines and can feed itself. The zoo said it hasn't made plans for the animal beyond that. Echidnas and platypuses are the only two species belonging to the monotreme order of egg-laying mammals. Their young are known as puggles. 

Australian officials were evacuating workers from a Kuwaiti-flagged livestock ship docked off the country's west coast on Tuesday after at least half the 52 crew tested positive for Covid-19. The cluster of cases is the fourth outbreak detected onboard a ship arriving at a Western Australia port over the last month, in a state that has otherwise been free of the coronavirus for weeks. ‘It is becoming clear that ships arriving with Covid-19 on board is one of the weakest links and the biggest risk to our way of life in Western Australia,’ state Premier Mark McGowan told reporters in Perth. The workers, from various countries, were taken from the Al Messilah ship directly into hotel quarantine, leaving just a skeleton staff on board the ship, officials said. The ship, which belongs to Kuwaiti livestock exporter Al Mawashi, arrived in Perth last week, carrying a crew aged between 20 and 62. The state government did not provide details of its previous travel. Al Mawashi and parent company Kuwait Livestock Transport and Trading did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment. The West Australian government said 24 of the crew had tested positive since the ship arrived in Australia last week. The remainder have been tested and are awaiting results. Two Australian crew members left the ship before the outbreak was detected, but had since tested negative, officials said. As an export dependent state, it would be costly for officials to shut Western Australia's borders despite the outbreaks on vessels arriving to pick up supplies of commodities such as iron ore and wheat. MELBOURNE OUTBREAK EASES Meanwhile, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said he may accelerate the easing of social distancing restrictions after the state reporting just one new Covid-19 case on Tuesday. Case numbers were down from four on Monday, extending a run of single-digit daily increases to almost a week, and are well down from a peak of more than 700 cases in a single day in early August. Andrews said it was not immediately clear if the case reported on Monday was still an active infection, saying the person had tested positive earlier and may be shedding the virus. ‘This could potentially be a day of zero and it's been a long time since we had a day of zero,’ said Andrews. Melbourne's roughly 5 million residents were granted some more freedom to move about on Monday after a months-long lockdown, with time limits on exercising outdoors removed and allowed travel limits extended to 25 kilometres (15 miles) of their homes. However, public gatherings remain tightly limited and retailers and restaurants must operate only on take-away or delivery orders, with Nov. 1 set for the next major step to lift restrictions. ‘I think we're well placed to reach the point on the weekend where we can talk more and possibly bring forward some of those changes,’ said Andrews. Australia has recorded just over 27,300 Covid-19 infections far fewer than many other developed countries. Victoria accounts for more than 90% of the 905 deaths nationally.

The virus that causes Covid-19 can survive on banknotes, glass and stainless steel for up to 28 days, much longer than the flu virus, Australian researchers said Tuesday, highlighting the need for frequent cleaning and handwashing. Findings from the study by Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, appear to show that Virus that causes Covid-19 lasted longer in cooler temperatures and on smooth surfaces than on porous material like cotton in a very controlled environment the virus remained infectious for longer than other studies have found. CSIRO researchers found that at 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit), the SARS-CoV-2 virus remained infectious for 28 days on smooth surfaces such as plastic banknotes and the glass found on mobile phone screens. The study was published in Virology Journal. By comparison, the influenza A virus has been found to survive on surfaces for 17 days. "It really reinforces the importance of washing hands and sanitising where possible and certainly wiping down surfaces that may be in contact with the virus," said the study's lead researcher, Shane Riddell. The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the study built on previous experimental studies used to draw up its existing guidance on handwashing and disinfection of surfaces. "The persistent detection of SARS-CoV-2... in the experimental conditions from this study is not unexpected and informs our understanding of virus survivability," April Baller, a WHO infection prevention and control expert, said in an emailed response to Reuters, adding that this would not change WHO recommendations at this time. Paul Digard, a virology specialist at Britain's Edinburgh University Roslin Institute, said it was significant that the researchers had measured infectious virus, not just detectable bits of virus, but added that it was also key to remember that the infectivity decays over time. "So the amount of virus surviving at 28 days is very low and is therefore likely to be much less likely to infect someone than the higher amounts present when the virus is freshly deposited," he said in an emailed comment. The study involved drying virus in an artificial mucus on a range of surfaces at concentrations similar to samples from Covid-19 patients and then recovering the virus over a month. Experiments done at 20, 30 and 40 degrees Celsius showed the virus survived longer at cooler temperatures, longer on smooth surfaces than on complex surfaces such as cotton and longer on paper banknotes than on plastic banknotes. All the experiments were done in the dark to remove the impact of ultraviolet light because research has shown that direct sunlight can kill the virus. "So in the real world, results would likely be shorter than what we were able to show," Riddell told Reuters. Researchers said, given that proteins and fats in body fluids can also sharply increase virus survival times, their study may help to explain the apparent persistence and spread of the virus in cool environments such as meat-packing plants.

Australia is in talks with Japan, South Korea, Singapore and South Pacific nations on reopening travel as coronavirus infections ease, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday. Australia shut its borders in March to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus and is looking to revive tourism to help pull the country out of its first recession in nearly three decades. While Australia has managed to contain the outbreak better than others, it is facing a second wave in the state of Victoria, where Melbourne remains under a tight lockdown. But infections there have been falling since early August. Morrison said he had spoken to his counterparts in Japan, South Korea and some Pacific nations, while Foreign Minister Marise Payne had held talks in Singapore this week on resuming travel. There are a number of countries that have performed well on the health front, and Australia and those countries are one of a handful of countries that have had the same level of success,” Morrison said at a televised media conference. “But we have to go cautiously on this - very, very cautiously. Covid-19 hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s still there. And it is no less aggressive today than it was six months ago.” The country reported 19 new cases on Sunday, twelve of them in Victoria. It reported one fatality, taking the total Covid-19 death toll to 898.New Zealanders will be able to travel to some Australian states from Friday without quarantining, including to New South Wales, Canberra and the Northern Territory. Moves to ease a hard lockdown in Victoria state have stalled. The state government had been set to allow all shops in Melbourne to reopen, outdoor dining to resume, and free movement from Oct. 19 if the two-week average of new cases fell below 5. State premier Daniel Andrews said on Sunday it was nearly impossible to reach that target by next week, with the two-week average at 9.3, but added some restrictions would be lifted. “They will not be as big steps as we hoped but they will be significant, and they will allow us to move more freely,” Andrews said.

Australia reported its second straight day without any Covid-19 deaths on Friday, the longest stretch without any fatalities from the virus in three months. Australian states and territories reported 16 cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, down from 28 on Thursday, and no deaths for two days, the first time Australia has gone 48 hours without a Covid-19 death since July 11. The results cement optimism that Australia has contained a second wave of Covid-19 infections. The country’s second most populous state Victoria, the epicentre of Australia’s Covid-19 outbreak, said they now have less than 200 active infections. “These are the results that come from a really determined effort to defeat this second wave,” Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters in Melbourne. Australia has reported more than 27,000 coronavirus infections and about 900 deaths - far fewer than many other developed countries.

The world's sea floor is littered with an estimated 14 million tonnes of microplastics, broken down from the masses of rubbish entering the oceans every year, according to Australia's national science agency. The quantity of the tiny pollutants was 25 times greater than previous localised studies had shown, the agency said, calling it the first global estimate of sea-floor microplastics. Researchers at the agency, known as CSIRO, used a robotic submarine to collect samples from sites up to 3,000 metres deep, off the South Australian coast. "Our research found that the deep ocean is a sink for microplastics," principal research scientist Denise Hardesty said. "We were surprised to observe high microplastic loads in such a remote location." The scientists, who published their findings in peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Marine Science, said areas with more floating rubbish generally had more microplastic fragments on the sea floor. "Plastic pollution that ends up in the ocean deteriorates and breaks down, ending up as microplastics," study lead Justine Barrett said. "The results show microplastics are indeed sinking to the ocean floor." Hardesty called for urgent action to find solutions to marine plastic pollution, which affects ecosystems, wildlife and human health. "Government, industry and the community need to work together to significantly reduce the amount of litter we see along our beaches and in our oceans," she said.

Tasmanian devils have been released into the wild on Australia’s mainland 3,000 years after the feisty marsupials went extinct there, in what conservationists described yesterday as a “historic” step. Aussie Ark, along with a coalition of other conservation groups, revealed yesterday that they had released 26 of the carnivorous mammals into a 400-hectare sanctuary at Barrington Tops, about 3.5 hours north of Sydney. Tim Faulkner, president of Aussie Ark, said the “historic” releases in July and September were the first steps in a project akin to the successful move to return wolves to Yellowstone National Park in the United States in the 1990s. After 16 years of work, including the establishment of mainland Australia’s largest Tasmanian devil breeding programme, Faulkner said it was “incredible and surreal” to have reached the goal. “It’s the stuff dreams are made of,” he said. “Our biggest native mainland predator is the tiger quoll — and they’re just over a kilo — so to be bringing back something of this enormity is huge.” Tasmanian devils, which weigh up to eight kilograms and have a black or brown coat, typically prey on other native animals or scavenge carcasses. According to government environmental authorities, devils are not dangerous to humans or livestock but will defend themselves if attacked and can cause serious injury. The animals — known for their extremely loud growl, powerful jaws and ferocity when confronting rivals over food or mates — are classified as endangered after a contagious facial tumour disease ravaged the remaining population on the Australian island state of Tasmania. It is estimated that fewer than 25,000 Tasmanian devils still live in the wild, down from as many as 150,000 before the mysterious, fatal disease first struck in the mid-1990s. On Australia’s mainland, they are believed to have been wiped out by packs of dingoes — wild dogs native to the vast continent — an estimated 3,000 years ago. Faulkner said it was hoped the project would create an “insurance population” against the face-tumour disease, which has so far proved untreatable, and help restore the native environment. “Devils present one of the only natural solutions to the control of fox and the cat, and the fox and cat are responsible for nearly all of our 40 mammal extinctions (in Australia),” he added. “So there’s more than the devil at stake here.” Aussie Ark selected the reintroduced devils for their breeding suitability, placing them in the sprawling, fenced area in the hopes of warding off threats to their survival including feral pests, noxious weeds and cars. “We’ve put young, healthy devils in, we put them in now which gives them the best part of six months to settle, find their territory (and) prepare for breeding” which usually occurs in February, Faulkner said. Another 40 are set to be released over the next two years into the sanctuary, which is on land bought by Aussie Ark for its habitat suitability, high number of herbivores and location near a national park. “The land initially was selected because it’s just like a slice of Tasmania,” Faulkner said. He said he was confident that close monitoring as the Tasmanian devils make the “massive transition” back to the wild — where they have no supplied food, water or shelter for the first time in their lives — would ensure the programme’s early success. As part of the “ambitious” rewilding scheme, Aussie Ark plans to eventually introduce more of the animals to unfenced areas, where they will contend with a much greater range of new threats including the country’s notorious bushfires.

Australia’s city of Melbourne, its hotspot in the second wave of coronavirus infections, is on track to return to near normal by Christmas, strengthening hopes for major summer sporting events to go ahead amid a general economic revival. Southeastern Victoria state recorded a single digit rise in new cases for the first time in three months today, with the lifting of some of the toughest curbs its capital of Melbourne, such as a night-time curfew, Premier Daniel Andrews said. “That is a very, very significant set of numbers. We are well ahead of schedule,” Andrews told a daily news conference, anticipating a move to “Covid normal”, with most curbs eased. However, he urged people to stick to strict social distancing rules, despite the rigours of an eight-week-old lockdown to limit the second wave. “If people don’t do the right thing in the final few weeks of the lockdown, or if they lie about where they’ve been, there’s no Covid-normal Christmas,” he said. Stringent rules in Australia’s second most populous state have proved divisive, with some provoking criticism from businesses, protest groups and even federal authorities. Victoria announced changes to its “triggers” to determine further easing after announcing an immediate end to nightly curfews and possible advancement of the next round of such easing by a week, to Oct. 19. The latest relaxation allowed 127,000 people to return to work on Monday, at manufacturing and food processing industries among others, offering a boost to the hard-hit economy. But Melbourne retained strict curbs on where people can go and ordered a fine of nearly A$5,000 ($3,527) for those flouting limits on gatherings to two households in an outside space. Victoria reported just five new virus cases and three deaths in the past 24 hours, down from a daily tally that topped 700 in early August. The most populous state of New South Wales reported on Monday its second consecutive day without a virus case in more than three months, as did the northeastern state of Queensland. Andrews said the downward trend in new infections bodes well for summer sporting events, such as the annual Boxing Day cricket test match and the Australian Open tennis tournament. “What I can say, though, is, if we all stay the course and we continue to see these numbers down, that it becomes more possible to have a crowd of some size,” Andrews said.

An overnight curfew in Australia's second-largest city will be lifted this week, officials said Sunday, even as the global coronavirus toll inched towards one million dead. Despite the number of infections worldwide passing 32 million -- with the US state of New York reporting a fresh spike -- more than 10,000 anti-lockdown protesters demonstrated in central London ahead of the re-imposition of restrictions there. In more positive news, residents of the Chinese city of Wuhan -- where the virus emerged last year -- reported a hesitant return to normalcy, while the French Open got underway at Roland Garros in Paris. In Australia, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said Melbourne residents would be free from Monday to leave their homes for work, exercise, shop for essentials, or provide care after active cases in the state fell below 400 for the first time since June 30. The relaxation of the curfew, imposed August 2, comes after 16 new infections and two deaths were reported Sunday. People will still be confined to within five kilometres of their homes, and fines for breaching other restrictions will be increased to almost Aus$5,000 ($3,515). Andrews said several other restrictions, including on religious services and childcare centres, will also be lifted. It was a different story in the UK, now battling to contain a mounting second wave, as thousands marched in London on Saturday against coronavirus restrictions. At least 10 people were arrested as police moved in with batons to disperse more than 10,000 protesters gathered in Trafalgar Square. This week Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government imposed a ban on gatherings of more than six people and ordered pubs and restaurants to close at 10 pm in a bid to slow the spread of the virus, which has claimed 42,000 lives in the country so far -- making it the worst-affected nation in Europe. In New York state -- once the epicentre of the US outbreak -- new infections rose for the first time since June to above 1,000 a day, local officials said. In India, meanwhile, infections closed in on six million on Sunday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on people to keep wearing face masks in public. "They are potent tools to save the life of every citizen," he said. Health ministry figures showed that the total number of cases had risen to 5,992,532. India is expected to take over the United States -- which has reported more than seven million cases so far -- as the worst-hit country in the next few weeks. In Paris, a limited number of spectators will watch live tennis for the first time in months as the French Open starts -- four months later than scheduled. It will be an eerily unfamiliar tournament as a resurgence of the virus means only 1,000 spectators will be allowed into the grounds each day. For residents of Wuhan, where the coronavirus first emerged late last year, life is already back to normal. There have been 50,340 confirmed cases and 3,869 deaths in Wuhan, according to the official figures -- the majority of mainland China's toll -- but no new infections since May. Families are once again packing amusement parks, and shopping streets were full over the weekend -- although residents remained cautious. "The people have experienced tragedy and deeply know that a happy life is not easy to come by," said a woman named Wang.

A lone whale was rescued from among hundreds of carcasses Sunday, taking to 110 the number of creatures that survived a mass stranding in southern Australia. The country's largest-ever mass stranding saw around 470 pilot whales become stuck in a remote harbour on Tasmania's rugged western seaboard last week, sparking a major effort to save the animals. It was "absolutely remarkable" another whale was found alive six days after the pod was first discovered, a Tasmania environment department spokeswoman told AFP, adding that it had been taken back out to sea. More than 100 rescuers toiled for days in chilly waters, but many volunteers and conservationists have now packed up as efforts turned to disposing of the remaining carcasses. "There has been a tremendous team effort and this combined commitment has allowed us to get as many whales as we can back out to sea," Parks and Wildlife Service manager Rob Buck said of the "complex rescue". With more than 300 carcasses spread across a 10-kilometre area, authorities shifted their focus Sunday to a mass sea burial. Boats have begun towing the dead whales into the open ocean, where they will be released over several days. Authorities have warned that more whales could be found in the area, with some animals likely to become beached for a second time. The causes of mass strandings remain unknown, but some experts have suggested the pod may have gone off track after feeding close to the shoreline or by following one or two whales that strayed.

TikTok has told an Australian government committee that it will allow government officials to review its algorithm and test its source code, as it seeks to overcome distrust surrounding the video-streaming app operator's China ownership. TikTok's owner ByteDance has reached a deal with Oracle Corp and Walmart Inc that it hopes will end US plans to ban TikTok in the United States on security grounds. It said the deal will see the creation of a standalone US firm, TikTok Global, that does not involve any transfer of technology, though Oracle will be able to inspect TikTok source code. TikTok's Australian executives appeared in Canberra on Friday before the Select Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media, where they said the computer instructions that guide the content presented to TikTok users would be made more widely available for inspection. "(It will be) available in a public setting for regulators, governments, commercial entities to come in and to test our code", Global Chief Security Officer Roland Cloutier said via video link. In its written submission to the committee, TikTok said qualified government personnel could review its algorithm and test its source code at a transparency and accountability centre in Los Angeles in the United States and another to be built in Washington, or through virtual tours of the centres. During questioning, Cloutier also said TikTok's source code was not the same as the source code used for ByteDance's Chinese version Douyin. Under its deal, ByteDance has said it will establish a US subsidiary of which it will own 80%. Oracle and WalMart, however, said majority ownership of TikTok Global would be in American hands, complying with an Aug. 14 executive order by US President Donald Trump that ByteDance relinquish ownership of TikTok within 90 days. TikTok's Australia General Manager Lee Hunter said the "deal is ongoing" and he did not have knowledge of the discussions. TikTok was registered as a business in Australia last year, and two of three directors of the Australian company are senior executives of ByteDance. 

After days wading through chilly waters, surrounded by the pained cries of hundreds of stranded whales on Australia's south coast, rescuers faced the grim task Friday of disposing of the carcasses. In "one hell of an effort", a crew of around 100 conservationists and skilled volunteers saved 94 of the 470 animals stranded on Tasmania's rugged western seaboard -- Australia's largest-ever mass stranding, Tasmanian environment department marine biologist Kris Carlyon told media. "With this one, we are dealing with something unique, we haven't dealt with a stranding of this type before," Carlyon said, adding the offshore rescue of such a large number was particularly unusual. Tasmania Parks and Wildlife lowered its estimate of the death toll from 380 to 350 on Friday, and rescuers remained hopeful they could save up to 20 more of the creatures. But the focus was shifting to how to dispose of the carcasses as quickly as possible over fears the decomposing corpses could damage the environment in Macquarie Harbour, drift into the paths of boats or attract sharks. Several methods were being trialled for moving the dead whales -- including towing them out to sea before cutting them loose to sink in deeper water. "They're hard moments, when there's so much to go and it just feels defeating, it feels never-ending," Wildcare volunteer Josh Gourlay told AFP. "When you see what it looked like before and what it is now and you think -- actually... we've done really well." With rescuers braving relentless rains, strong winds and cold waters for hours daily to try and save the struggling animals, he admitted the effort had taken its toll on him. "You almost need a whale's thick skin to be out there as well." - 'We can't save them all' - Pilot whales -- which can grow up to six metres long and weigh a tonne -- are known to be highly social. Some animals have resisted rescue or tried to return to their family after being freed, becoming beached for a second time. The causes of mass strandings remain unknown despite scientists studying the phenomenon for decades. Despite some restrandings, there were hopes the surviving whales would recover from the stressful event, Carlyon said. "Ideally, they will regroup, they will reform those bonds, and they'll get on with things." Gourlay and his fiancee, Corey Young, said crews were still positive despite the physical and emotional burden of the rescue. "Hearing the crying, that is probably the most distressing part," he said, adding that the anguished noises from calves separated from their mothers were hard to shake. But Young said the teams, mostly made up of people accustomed to helping animals in tragic circumstances, were rallying around each other. "We can't save them all, that's for sure... you've got to be positive."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is on course for a historic election win next month, an opinion poll showed yesterday, as New Zealanders cheered her success in containing the novel coronavirus. The 1News-Colmar Brunton poll showed support for Ardern’s Labour Party was at 48%, down five percentage points from the last poll in July, but still enough to give it a majority in parliament. The government imposed a second coronavirus lockdown in the biggest city Auckland in mid-August. The results mean Labour would get 62 of the 120 parliament seats and would be able to govern alone, which would be a first since the country adopted a German-style mixed member proportional (MMP) system in 1994. Ardern became the country’s youngest leader in more than 150 years in 2017 after the kingmaker nationalist New Zealand First Party agreed to form a government with her Labour Party, ending the National Party’s decade in power. Support for the opposition National Party fell one percentage point to 31%, under newly elected leader Judith Collins, the poll showed. “Every day we will be out there earning every vote. I take no vote for granted,” Ardern said in a television debate with Collins. It was the first of four debates planned between the two women ahead of the election, which was delayed by a month because of the coronavirus pandemic. Ardern said the government would still pursue a “stamp it out regime” for the coronavirus as it was the best way to open up the economy. New Zealand’s economy fell into its deepest recession on record in the second quarter. All recent polls have pointed to a comfortable victory for Ardern’s Labour Party, governing in a coalition with the Greens and New Zealand First, which is campaigning on its record of bringing the coronavirus under control and containing community transmission. The Pacific island nation was Covid-free for 102 days until a second wave hit Auckland last month. Ardern, 40, also holds huge global appeal due to her response to last year’s attack by a White supremacist on two mosques, a fatal volcanic eruption and her success with the Covid-19 outbreak. But Collins, a former lawyer known as “Crusher Collins”, wants voters to think instead about the lacklustre economy, and what she calls Ardern’s broken promises to fix a housing crisis, tackle poverty and bring in tax reforms. In the 90-minute debate Collins, 61, described the election as the most important in a generation, and promised she would cut taxes immediately, spend billions on infrastructure, build more homes and manage Covid-19 quarantine facilities better. “We’re the people who get stuff done,” said Collins. Ardern’s popularity as preferred prime minister was steady at 54%, while Collins dropped to 18%. The polls also showed the Green Party got 6% support while the ACT New Zealand surprised with 7% support. But populist New Zealand First Party, dropped to 2%, which means it could be booted out of parliament unless it wins an electorate seat.

Rescuers raced to save nearly 200 whales stuck in a remote Australian harbour yesterday, hoping to minimise the death toll of a mass stranding which had already killed 90. Officials said at least 25 of the mammals had been freed so far. A large pod of long-finned pilot whales is currently stuck on a sandbar in Macquarie Harbour, on Tasmania’s rugged and sparsely populated west coast, scientists said. Images from the scene showed a shallow body of water, thick with scores of the large slick-black creatures manoeuvring for space, and rescuers wading in as they worked to refloat the whales in deeper passages. About 60 people — including volunteers and local fish-farm workers — are involved in the rescue attempt. Government marine biologist Kris Carlyon said “about a third” of the 270 animals were dead by late Monday, and that rescuing survivors would be a challenging task likely to take several days. But there were hopes yesterday that efforts were already paying off, with at least 25 rescued and escorted to open ocean by boats, according to the official leading the operation. “We have now freed a small number successfully that appear to have stayed out at sea, and are now scaling up that approach,” Parks and Wildlife Service manager Nic Deka said. Though mass whale strandings occur relatively often in Tasmania, such a large group has not been seen in the area for more than a decade. The animals are only accessible by boat, limiting the number of rescuers who can reach them. They are battling chilly and rainy conditions as well as the harbour’s unusual tides, which are dictated by barometric pressure. “In terms of mass whale strandings in Tasmania, this is up there with the trickiest,” Carlyon told reporters in the nearby town of Strahan. However, Carlyon said many of the partially submerged whales should be able to survive for the several days it would take his team to complete the task, in part due to the inclement weather. “It’s pretty ugly for people on the ground but as far as the whales go its ideal — it’s keeping them wet, it’s keeping them cool,” he said. Carlyon said rescuers would still have to “triage” the whales, prioritising the healthiest and most accessible. Most of a 30-strong group of whales on a nearby beach were found dead Monday, though two were saved and released. About 60 others on the sandbar are also believed to have since died and Carlyon said it was “inevitable that we’ve lost more”, but a detailed assessment using infrared cameras from the air was planned for today. Once the whales are returned to deeper water, Carlyon said, the biggest challenge is herding the social creatures out of the sandbar-riddled harbour — and hoping they don’t swim back to the remaining pod. Scientists said it was unclear what caused the latest stranding, but Carlyon suggested the pod may have gone off track after feeding close to the shoreline or by following one or two whales that strayed. Karen Stockin, an expert in marine mammals at New Zealand’s Massey University, said Tasmania was a “particular hotspot” for pilot whale strandings in large pods. “It seems to be a notorious whale trap...you do tend to get these mass stranding events there,” she said. Stockin said that while pilot whales were typically more resilient than other whale species, rescuers faced a race against the clock as the mammals can overheat, their muscles deteriorate and their organs become crushed outside their natural environment. “Time is never your friend,” she said. “So without doubt, the more expedited rescue missions are, the more likely there is an increased (chance) of survival.” Mike Double, the head of the Tasmania-based Australian Marine Mammal Centre, said it was “tragic” that such a massive pod had become stranded, but other whales had previously been saved from the same location. “The state team responsible for responding are extremely experienced and they’ll be absolutely working incredibly hard to get the best possible outcome,” he said.

At least twenty-five whales have died and scientists are trying to rescue 250 more that are stranded in a remote bay on the Australian island of Tasmania, officials said yesterday. Tasmania’s environment department said the whales had become stuck on a sandbar in Macquarie Harbour, on the island’s rugged and sparsely populated west coast. Nic Deka, who is managing the incident response, said two large pods were stranded on sandbars a few hundred metres apart inside the harbour. “They are in water but it’s very difficult to see how many of those whales are deceased or what condition they’re in,” he told reporters in the nearby town of Strahan. They are believed to be pilot whales but the environment department is yet to confirm the species. Police are on site and marine experts are assessing the situation ahead of plans to launch a rescue mission early today morning. “In terms of the tides, when we start making an effort tomorrow it will be with an outgoing tide, so that’ll be in our favour, but obviously tides go up and come down so we’ll be aiming to make the most of the windows that we have,” Deka said. Mass whale strandings occur relatively often in Tasmania, but the large numbers involved present a daunting rescue prospect. Authorities may call on a network of local volunteers to assist but have cordoned off the area to the general public. The latest stranding comes as a humpback whale that was stuck in a tropical river in Australia’s north finally returned to the ocean after more than two weeks. Public broadcaster ABC reported the creature, which spent 17 days in the crocodile-infested waters of Kakadu National Park, has been spotted in open seas off Darwin. Scientists had been weighing options for guiding the humpback to safety after it became the first known whale to travel up the muddy river, but were relieved when it returned to sea on its own.

Finance ministers and central bank governors from 10-member ASEAN nations and China, Japan and South Korea pledged today to use “all available policy tools” to sustain recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, they said in a joint statement early today. In the statement, issued after their annual meeting via teleconference, the financial leaders also said they would carefully calibrate appropriate timing to exit pandemic measures to avoid a “cliff effect” and safeguard growth, they said.