Today's News - Tuesday 28 April 2020
Today's News - Tuesday 28 April 2020
Australia News
In an extremely unusual move, National Australia Bank has reported its results to the ASX almost a fortnight early as it seeks an extra $3.5 billion of investment from shareholders.
Key points:
- NAB has reported a 51pc fall in profit for the half year to March 31, to $1.3 billion
- The bank is seeking an extra $3.5 billion from shareholders to shore up its position against potential COVID-19-related losses
- NAB is also slashing its dividend to shareholders by 64pc to 30 cents per share to strengthen its financial position
Accent Group will close 28 stores over the next six months after it was unable to come to a lease agreement with one of its landlords. Accent, which owns Athlete's Foot, Platypus and Hype DC, will reopen its more than 500 stores across Australia and New Zealand in the next two weeks but is also trying to renegotiate leases so rent is calculated as a portion of sales.
The Berejiklian government is considering a $500 million property spending spree, snapping up unsold apartments and fast-tracking construction as part of its coronavirus economic recovery plan. A paper prepared by the government’s Land and Housing Corporation says a ‘‘housing-focused stimulus package’’ would accelerate development and boost employment across NSW. The paper recommends a three-stage approach, which would include $160 million for ‘‘shovel-ready projects’’ that could see the construction of 300 social housing dwellings.
While the Queensland Government may have given non-essential shopping the green light, a number of retailers are approaching opening this weekend with caution.
Key points:
- Non-essential shopping can go ahead from Saturday
- Smaller retailers are worried customers won't show
- Many more Queenslanders are now shopping online
Global tech giant Amazon may not be able to protect Australian Government data held in its Australian servers — including data gathered by the COVID-19 tracing app released on Sunday — from US subpoenas, according to legal experts and crossbenchers.
Key points:
- Data from the Government's new COVIDSafe tracing app may be currently obtainable by US law enforcement via the CLOUD Act
- While COVIDSafe data will remain in Australia, it is held by US-based company Amazon, which can be legally compelled to provide that data to US law enforcement
- Amazon was awarded the contract for the COVIDSafe app data storage over several Australian-based cloud services
NSW Transport boss flags potential shake-up of Sydney infrastructure plans. The state’s top transport bureaucrat is flagging a shift in major project investment to Sydney's west if the COVID-19 pandemic leads to population growth slowing down in other areas of the city.
Insurance won't cover landlords who cut rent for tenants left jobless in coronavirus pandemic. The REIQ says thousands of property investors are caught out.
Zoos, wildlife parks and aquariums struggling to cover costs like feeding their animals during the coronavirus shutdown will get access to a $95 million Federal Government support package to help get them through the crisis.
Key points:
- Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said it was crucial that zoos and aquariums survived the crisis to help the tourism industry recover once restrictions were lifted
- More than 100 exhibiting zoos, wildlife parks and aquariums could apply for a share of $94.6 million to help pay for costs such as food, veterinary bills and power and water needed for animal enclosures
- With many visitors coming from overseas, there are fears the industry could take years to recover
Opening schools amid the coronavirus pandemic was a focus of debate on Monday night's Q+A, with one high school teacher accusing federal politicians of double standards and treating educators as "expendable".
Key points:
- Teachers are concerned about whether it is safe to work during the pandemic
- One teacher said federal politicians were acting as if they were more important than teachers
- A school principal said educators needed more assurance their health was not at risk
Retail Drinks Australia has announced restrictions in place on alcohol purchases, enforced last month due to panic buying fears, have been lifted.
One of Australia’s biggest telcos is the target of a class-action lawsuit after allegedly revealing information it shouldn’t have from 50,000 customers.
A man is facing a $5k fine after he allegedly coughed in the face of a security guard this morning at a Wollongong Centrelink office.
Mostafa Dib, 37, was among a group of men arrested in Dubai in 2017 during one of the largest crackdowns on organised crime in Australia. A key player of a failed plot to smuggle almost 800kg of MDMA into Australia has been sentenced to a minimum 12 years in prison.
Citizens of Pacific Island nations who are stuck in Australia due to COVID-19 border closures are begging their governments to get them back home.
Key points:
- Australia has urged international visitors without financial support to return home
- However Vanuatu and several other Pacific Island nations have closed their borders
- Stranded citizens are now running out of funds, and there are no repatriation flights planned
World News
The White House has released guidelines for reopening businesses as it seeks to regain its footing by shifting focus to the economy.
A union for call centre workers in the Philippines claims skeleton crews are sleeping in the office in potentially unsafe conditions to help Australian customers, despite the risk of the coronavirus.
Key points:
- Staff have allegedly been sleeping in the office at call centres that handle customer service work for Telstra and Optus in the Philippines
- Telstra has instructed company Teleperformance to remove all workers on its accounts from on-site accommodation
- Optus has set up worksites that allow for greater social distancing and provided hotel accommodation for some staff
New York will go deeper into shutdown as more than 100km of the Big Apple’s city streets are marked for closure to traffic.
More than two months after the first case of COVID-19 appeared in a small town outside Milan, Italy is preparing a staged end to Europe's longest coronavirus lockdown.
Key points:
- Some export-oriented businesses will reopen as soon as this week
- Bars and restaurants will reopen in June, while schools will stay shut until September
- Movement between regions will remain suspended
South Korea's Government has dismissed rumours that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is in a fragile condition, as speculation about his health intensifies amid the North's silence on his whereabouts.
Key points:
- Kim Jong-un is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea
- Rumours are rife that he is in ill health, which could impact global efforts to denuclearise
- Satellite imagery has showed a train believed to belong to him at one of his compounds on the east coast
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-28/kim-jong-un-health-rumours-south-korea-intelligence/12191504
Tens of thousands of people are detained in camps and prisons across north-east Syria, a region where many have been displaced by civil war, the Islamic State (IS) group's rise and a recent military offensive by Turkey.
Key points:
- Detainees live in crowded conditions with poor sanitation and healthcare
- There are 67 women and children with Australian links trapped in the camps
- A counter-terrorism expert says repatriating the women and children could be the best option
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-28/coronavirus-fears-in-syrian-detention-camps/12188686
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, back at work after recovering from COVID-19, says the country has reached the point of "maximum risk" in the coronavirus outbreak, arguing that lifting the nationwide lockdown too soon would allow a second spike of infections.
Key points:
- Boris Johnson has recovered from COVID-19, after testing positive a month ago
- The UK is one of the worst-hit nations on earth with more than 20,000 deaths
- Mr Johnson's Government faced criticism over its reluctance to quickly implement a lockdown
The Formula 1 hopes to start its delayed 2020 season in July despite the first 10 races being cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Key points:
- A definitive schedule for the Formula 1 season will be available soon, its CEO says
- France's Grand Prix was cancelled, while no spectators will be allowed to attend the British GP
- The Formula 1 season opener in Melbourne was cancelled last-minute due to coronavirus
Covid-19 Update
- New Zealand has moved from level four to level three restrictions, opening some non-essential businesses, and resuming some healthcare and education activities.
- Hearings in the US extradition case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will not go ahead next month as scheduled due to the coronavirus lockdown preventing lawyers from attending court, a British judge decided on Monday.
- Britain is examining whether there is a link between COVID-19 and an inflammatory disease which severely affects children, a health official has said. "We have become aware in the last few days of reports of severe illness in children which might be a Kawasaki-like disease," Stephen Powis, national medical director for England, said, referring to a rare syndrome which causes inflammation of blood vessels.
- Also in the UK, Britain's Government said on Monday it will give a member of the public the chance to ask ministers, scientific and medical officers a question at its daily briefing on the fight against coronavirus.
- Sports apparel and shoe company Adidas saw its earnings fall sharply in the first quarter as the virus outbreak closed 70 per cent of its global store base.
- MPs from France's ruling party accused their own Government of withdrawing a vote on a planned coronavirus tracing app, saying they had been robbed of a chance to raise privacy concerns.
- A Yemeni port official, known only as Saleh, is the sole confirmed case of coronavirus in the country.
- Russia overtook China in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday when its tally climbed above 87,000, as pressure rose on the Government to consider easing lockdown restrictions for businesses to help shore up the rattled economy.
- Another resident has died at a Newmarch House nursing home in western Sydney, the seventh to pass away at the facility after being diagnosed with COVID-19. The death brings the national toll to 84 (7.47AM).
- The head of NSW’s busiest COVID-19 testing lab says rising numbers of people will return undefined coronavirus results as the testing blitz picks up cases that shed the virus weeks ago.
In the Markets
- ASX futures up 6 points or 0.1% to 5314
- AUD +1.4% to 64.59 US cents
- On Wall St: Dow +1.5% S&P 500 +1.5% Nasdaq +1.1%
- In Europe: Stoxx 50 +2.6% FTSE +1.6% CAC +2.6% DAX +3.1%
- Spot gold -1% to $US1712.33 an ounce at 2.23pm New York time
- Brent crude -8.8% to $US19.56 a barrel
- US oil -24.2% to $US12.84 a barrel
Michael Tran
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