International

* Australia has 1,098 cases of coronavirus, 7 deaths * Total stimulus so far at about 10% of annual GDP * NSW, Victoria to shut down non-essential activities * PM says more stimulus to come Australia's government will spend additional A$66.4 billion ($38.50 billion) as part of a second stimulus package to shelter the economy from the financial impact of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday, as states moved to impose major lockdowns. The new stimulus will go to individuals in need and small and medium-sized businesses. Those businesses produce about a third of the country's annual economic output and employ more than 40% of the workforce, according to government statistics. ‘We will be focusing on those in the front line, those who will be feeling the first blows of the economic impact of the coronavirus,’ Morrison said in Canberra on Sunday. ‘There will be more packages and more support.’ The package, which dwarfs the A$17.6 billion ($10.20 billion) in initial measures announced last week, came with a pledge by the government to enforce social distancing rules after many Australians appeared to disregard health warnings and flocked to pubs and beaches amid a warm autumn spell. After an initial relatively slow spread, the number of coronavirus infections in Australia has been rising quickly in recent days, climbing to 1,098 confirmed cases as of Sunday morning with seven recorded deaths linked to COVID-19. Morrison said that the government would help underwrite loans to small and medium-sized businesses and boost unemployment benefits as companies are forced to lay off staff. Jobseekers will get extra money and people in financial stress will also be able access up to A$10,000 tax-free of their pension funds for this and next year, while some not-for-profits and small businesses will have access to cash grants to keep staff employed. Together with more than A$100 billion announced earlier in emergency banking measures to prevent a credit freeze and the initial stimulus package, Australia has now announced financial measures equalling about 10% of the country's annual gross domestic product, the government said. ‘The degree of stimulus released in such a short period of time highlights the scale of the looming demand shock (due to both containment measures, as well as business and consumer confidence),’ economists at the National Australia Bank said in a note. ‘Some industries have effectively suffered instant downturns, with some already in recession.’ While mineral-rich Australia has enjoyed a near 30-year stellar economic run and passed through the global financial crisis without falling into recession, economists are now forecasting a sharp pull-back in spending. ‘It is impossible to stop a recession because people are staying at home and are not spending, but this minimises the collateral damage where lots of companies go bust and the recession ends up being a lot deeper,’ AMP Chief Economist Shane Oliver told Reuters. One of Australia's largest employers, Qantas Airways , last week said it would put 20,000 employees on leave as the virus has devastated the airline industry with scores of countries closing their borders. DRACONIAN MEASURES Morrison said on Sunday states and territories would start considering ‘draconian’ measures to enforce social distancing in a policy that will be discussed by the conservative government later on Sunday. The governments of Australia's of New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria, where more than half of Australians live, said they will impose major lockdowns next week closing restaurants and many shops. ‘Tonight I will be informing the national cabinet that NSW will proceed to a more comprehensive shutdown of non-essential services,’ NSW Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian said. ‘This will take place over the next 48 hours.’ South Australia and Western Australia on Sunday followed similar action in the Northern Territory and Tasmania last week, saying they will close their borders to restrict movement of people. The Australian Football League (AFL), which has been reluctant to suspend its games, said on Sunday the 2020 top flight Australian rules season will pause until the end of May. While Australia and neighbouring New Zealand have implemented widespread measures to limit the spread of the virus, most schools remain open and the policies are generally less stringent than those imposed in parts of Europe and North America which have suffered higher rates of infection and are in lockdown.

Airlines worldwide face an unprecedented existential threat as the coronavirus shuts down global travel, leaving governments with controversial and costly decisions about which carriers to bail out. A toxic mix of fear, crippling travel bans and investor panic have pummelled the sector, with demand collapsing and carriers cutting flight capacity by up to 90 percent. One troubled airline, Britain's Flybe, has already gone to the wall and market analysts believe many more could follow. "By the end of May 2020, most airlines in the world will be bankrupt," market intelligence firm CAPA has warned. Even before US President Donald Trump effectively barred trans-Atlantic travel, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated the crisis would cost the industry $113 billion, or nearly 20 percent of its revenue this year. The true figure now looks like being much higher. Brendan Sobie, an independent aviation analyst based in Singapore, said the global situation was "unprecedented". "You can compare it to things like SARS or the global financial crisis, but I think it goes beyond that. No one really knows how long it will last and what the full impact will be." Airlines are now sprinting to slash costs and bolster company war chests where possible -- laying off staff, cutting routes, renegotiating deals with suppliers and flying smaller, cheaper-to-run planes. Australian carrier Qantas has cut international flight capacity by 90 percent and domestic routes by 60 percent. Similarly, British Airways is slashing capacity by 75 percent. Meanwhile, Dutch national airline KLM plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs, the CEO of Delta Air Lines has seen his salary cut to zero, and Lufthansa suspended dividends. In an internal memo, Malaysia Airlines admitted the company was already in a "critical situation" and urged staff to take voluntary unpaid leave. "Many airlines are now at risk of going bankrupt and Malaysia Airlines is no different," chief financial officer Boo Hui Yee wrote. Against this bleak backdrop, previously hushed whispers about government bailouts have become panicked screams for help. British airlines are said to have asked the government for more than $9 billion in support. Trade group Airlines for America has called for a $50 billion bailout, more than triple the aid provided after the 9/11 attacks. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the sector would come "top of the list" for relief. But such substantial government help could prove deeply unpopular. Many taxpayers are still bitter about Wall Street bailouts during the 2008 global financial crisis and a perceived "heads I win, tails you lose" corporate culture. "The biggest US airlines spent 96 percent of free cash flow over the last decade to buy back shares of their own stock in order to boost executive bonuses and please wealthy investors," complained former US labour secretary Robert Reich. "Now, they expect taxpayers to bail them out to the tune of $50 billion. It's the same old story." Airlines are already under the spotlight over their carbon emissions and sustainability. And after years of shrinking legroom and charging for blankets, they frequently rank among consumers' most hated companies. With major western economies heading for recession, governments may also struggle to triage requests for assistance. "Airlines might be at the top of the list for directed fiscal help, but virtually every global industry is facing pressure without a government bailout," said Stephen Innes, a strategist at AxiCorp. These companies are normally considered a vital strategic asset, underpinning tourism, trade, business contacts and large manufacturers such as Boeing, Airbus or Rolls-Royce. In countries like Australia or South Africa -- which has repeatedly bailed out South African Airways -- flagship carriers are also seen as national champions, promoting the country in the world. Repeated calls for rules to be loosened to encourage transborder mergers have been rebuffed on the grounds that foreign firms should not own such sensitive assets. Airlines and airports are also large employers, accounting for around four million jobs worldwide and many tens of millions more in associated industries. Staff have already taken a hit with reduced hours and the threat of job cuts. One Cathay Dragon flight attendant based in Hong Kong, who asked not to be named, told AFP he had not been on duty since February 6 and faced another couple of weeks off at the very least. He has lost 60 to 70 percent of his normal monthly income and is relying on savings, in one of the world's most expensive cities. For consumers, there could be big changes in store when the coronavirus restrictions lift. For the brave, there are some deals to be had for now, but in the longer term "airfares may rise as airlines try to recoup losses", according to Endau Analytics analyst Shukor Yusof. A rash of market consolidation and mergers could reduce competition and put upward pressure on prices.

The state of Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) yesterday announced a state of emergency to deal with the spread of the new coronavirus in Australia.  Victoria, the country’s second-most populated state with Melbourne as its capital, and the territory surrounding the country’s capital Canberra announced the measure after two more elderly people died overnight of Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the emergency powers “have never been used before.” “That gives you, I hope, a really clear sense about the unprecedented nature of this public health emergency, this really significant challenge,” Andrews said. The state of emergency in Victoria will last at least four weeks starting from midday on Monday. It means authorised officers in Victoria can quarantine places and people, detain them, restrict movement and prevent entry to premises to protect the public. Overnight, state health authorities confirmed two more people died in New South Wales, the jurisdiction with most cases of Covid-19.  A 77-year-old woman who had recently arrived in Sydney died on Friday in a Sydney hospital. A 90-year-old woman residing in an aged-care home died a day later. Both tested positive to the new coronavirus. Australia has more than 300 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with five deaths, including the two reported overnight. The Australian federal government on Sunday announced that all people travelling to the country must abide by a compulsory 14-day self-isolation at home or in their hotel. State police will enforce the rule and breaching the order could land the offender a fine of up to A$20,000 Australian (US $12,350), depending on state jurisdictions.

Australia will impose 14-day self-isolation on international travellers arriving from midnight Sunday and ban cruise ships from foreign ports for 30 days, mirroring restrictions in nearby New Zealand aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the new measures after a meeting with a newly formed national cabinet, dubbed the coronavirus ‘war cabinet’. The strict measures were designed to slow the spread of the global pandemic across Australia and help the country "flatten the peak” of the virus, Morrison told a news conference. "To help stay ahead of this curve, we will impose a universal precautionary self-isolation requirement on all international arrivals to Australia and that is effective from midnight tonight," he said. "Further the Australian government will also ban cruise ships from foreign ports from arriving at Australian ports for an initial 30 days." The new border restrictions come as Australia recorded more than 250 cases of coronavirus and three deaths. As of mid-March, COVID-19, the deadly respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, has infected 156,00 people globally and killed more than 5,800. Australia has already imposed bans for travellers from Italy, South Korea, Iran and China, countries with high infection rates. The bans mean foreign nationals who have been in any of the four nations will not be allowed into Australia for 14 days from the time they left those countries. Australian citizens and permanent residents travelling from those countries will still be able to enter Australia but must self-isolate for a fortnight after returning home. Australia has advised against non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday, but this is yet to apply to schools and universities. Morrison on Sunday urged people to practice "social distancing", such as keeping a metre (three feet) apart and not to shake hands, in order to reduce transmissions. He said the rate of community transmission had started to increase and that social distancing would help limit demand on the healthcare systems, which would mean better treatment for elderly and those in remote and vulnerable communities. "Slowing the spread will free up beds,” he said, "That's what happens when you get this right and we've seen other countries going down this path." Neighbouring New Zealand on Saturday said it would require incoming travellers, including its own citizens, to self-isolate for two weeks and banned cruise ships.. The Australian government is yet to restrict the operation of schools, but earlier on Sunday the Health Minister Greg Hunt did not rule out such a measure in the coming months. The new phase of restrictions come as the Australian government launches a multi-million-dollar advertising campaign focused on good hygiene, and the formation of a Coronavirus Business Liaison Unit to address the economic fallout. 

Australia's biggest supermarket on Wednesday announced a limit on toilet paper purchases after the global spread of coronavirus sparked a spate of panic buying Down Under. Woolworths said the restriction of four packs of toilet paper per person would apply "to ensure more customers have access to the products". Hand sanitisers will also be sold from behind the service counter and restricted to two per person. "It will help shore up stock levels as suppliers ramp up local production and deliveries in response to higher-than-usual demand," the company said in a statement. Despite government assurances, there has been a run on some items at Australian supermarkets, with images on social media purportedly showing shelves stripped of goods and shoppers piling trolleys high with toilet paper. Police had to be called to a Sydney supermarket at lunchtime Wednesday when a knife was drawn in a toilet paper aisle. New South Wales Police confirmed officers went to the western Sydney supermarket but said there were no arrests and no injuries. It is believed a knife was raised in the air by a startled hearing- and speech-impaired customer during a heated exchange over toilet rolls. Retailers have also experienced shortages of masks and hand sanitisers sparked by fears over the deadly coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more than 90,000 people and killed more than 3,100. The vast majority of cases have been in China, but South Korea, Italy and Iran have also emerged as hotspots. Australia has reported 43 confirmed cases of the virus, including one death. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he had spoken to the country's two major supermarket chains -- Woolworths and its rival Coles -- about their response to panic buying. "I can understand why people may be concerned, and go to supermarkets, and do those sorts of things. But the advice is that's not necessary," he told 2GB Radio on Wednesday.

* China's PMI suffers sharpest contraction on record * Japan, South Korea factory activities also slump * Weak outcome puts pressure on policymakers for global response Asia's factories took a beating in February from the coronavirus outbreak with activity in China shrinking at a record pace, surveys showed on Monday, raising the prospect of a co-ordinated policy response by central banks to prevent a global recession. China's factory activity suffered the sharpest contraction on record in February, the Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed, underlining the crippling effects of tough travel curbs and public health measures taken to contain the outbreak. That followed the Chinese government's similarly dire PMI release on the weekend, which also showed a record pace of decline. The slump in the world's second-largest economy dealt a severe blow to factories across Asia, including those in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, offering the clearest evidence yet of the epidemic's damaging effects on global growth and businesses. Fears the virus would wreak havoc on the global economy sent financial markets into a tailspin last week and raised expectations of co-ordinated monetary policy action by central banks to mitigate the fallout. Trillions of dollars were wiped off equity markets, with world shares posting their biggest weekly decline since the depths of the 2008 financial crisis. "The slump in manufacturing activity looks to have had a significant impact on trade," Capital Economics wrote in a research note on the Caixin PMI. "The PMIs also point to a major hit to employment, the effects of which will take longer to reverse. And with the jump in virus cases overseas, there is a growing risk of a protracted downturn in foreign demand." Investors now await PMI readings out of major euro zone economies due later in the day, which are also expected to point to declining activity. Japan's PMI showed its factory activity was hit by the sharpest contraction in nearly four years in February, reinforcing expectations the economy may have slipped into recession. Separate data showed Japanese firms cut spending on plant and equipment in the quarter to December, casting doubt on the Bank of Japan's view that robust domestic demand will make up for some of the weakness in exports. "Near-term prospects for Japan's industrial sector appear very bleak," said Joe Hayes, economist at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey. South Korea's factory activity also shrank faster in February, as export orders contracted at the quickest pace in over six years in a shattering blow to production. Activity in Vietnam and Taiwan, two key economies in the global technology supply chain, slipped into contraction from growth the month earlier. Among Asian economies less reliant on global trade, growth in India's factory sector eased slightly from a near eight-year high in January while Indonesia's factory sector returned to growth. The dismal readings have bolstered speculation global policymakers will launch a co-ordinated response to contain damage to the world economy. Those expectations helped stocks recoup some of their heavy losses on Monday. BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Monday joined U.S. counterpart Jerome Powell in pledging to take necessary steps to stabilise markets jolted by the virus. In Australia, financial regulators held an emergency meeting to discuss the economic impact of the outbreak, two sources told Reuters, as markets moved to price in a central bank rate cut as early as this week. China, for its part, has injected large amounts of liquidity to shore up market confidence. The country's central bank - the People's Bank of China (PBOC) - has also told banks to help firms struggling with repayments by extending loans and not penalise them if they are late with payments. "A rate cut only helps a little bit, by easing debt service costs. But it does little if anything to solve the bigger problems of cash flow interruption," said Rob Carnell, Asia- Pacific chief economist at ING in Singapore. "This is where the BoJ's special loans...and the PBOC's suggested easing of banks' response to late or delinquent loans is closer to what is needed." As well as capping long-term borrowing costs at around zero, the BOJ has several loan programmes in place to incentivise commercial banks to boost lending. 

* Financial futures now pricing in 25 bp RBA cut on Tuesday * Many bank economists also pricing in a 25 bp cut * Australia has 29 confirmed coronavirus cases  Australia's financial regulators scheduled an emergency call on Monday to discuss the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as the country looks to reduce the risk of recession. The conference call, involving the country's prudential regulator, markets watchdog and central bank, comes as markets now expect the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to cut its cash rate as early as Tuesday at its scheduled monthly review. The epidemic in China - Australia's No.1 trading partner - is having an outsized impact Down Under with a travel ban hitting the tourism and education sectors and having spillover effects on overall spending. There are now 33 confirmed cases in Australia after the country reported its first community transmission of the coronavirus on Monday. Worryingly, the nation's chief medical officer warned on Monday it was no longer possible to completely prevent people with the coronavirus from entering the country. If the RBA eases policy, as expected, it will become the first central bank in the developed world to respond to the coronavirus, with the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan also standing ready to act. "In time of apparent crisis, the RBA will want to feel ahead not behind the curve," Betashares chief economist David Bassanese said in a note. "Indeed, Australia now faces its greatest risk of recession since the global financial crisis, with private demand already weak, and with much less fiscal and monetary firepower to respond." It is unclear if the regulators will release a joint statement after their crisis meeting. Australian financial futures are now almost fully pricing in a quarter point cut to the cash rate to 0.5% from an all-time low of 0.75%. Last week, futures implied a one-in-five chance of such a move. Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg reiterated on Monday his government's fiscal response to the coronavirus will be "responsible, considered and targeted". Frydenberg said he expects the A$2 trillion ($1.3 trillion) economy to further extend its 29 years of recession-free growth, despite a run of sub-par economic data since the middle of 2018. Economists reckon a stronger fiscal response is needed to support economic growth. "Lower interest rates can help cash flows, lower the exchange rate and potentially boost confidence, but easier fiscal policy will also be required, particularly when both the household sector and business investment are already weak," said NAB chief economist Alan Oster. Data due Wednesday is expected to show the economy expanded at a below-trend pace of 2% last quarter, although growth in the current quarter could turn negative. Oster is one of a number of economists, including those from Westpac, UBS and Goldman Sachs, who on Monday changed their forecasts to predict a 25-basis-point cut at Tuesday's meeting. The decision will be released at 0330 GMT. Representatives for the RBA and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority declined to comment. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

* 78-year-old man dies in Perth hospital -health official * Widow also confirmed case, in stable condition * Australia confirmed cases up to 26 A former passenger on the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined off Japan for coronavirus died in a hospital in Perth early on Sunday, a health official said, becoming Australia's first death from the virus. The 78-year-old man had been in quarantine since being evacuated from the cruise ship off Yokohama, one of more than 150 Australians taken off the vessel. "Our condolences are with his family and unfortunately he's the first death we've had from coronavirus in Australia," Andrew Robertson, the chief health officer of Western Australia state, told journalists. The man's widow also caught the virus, but is in stable condition, the health official said. Australia's tally of virus infections rose by one to 26 on Sunday, the latest government figures showed. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a tweet that he was saddened to hear of the man's passing and the government would continue to do what it could to protect Australians from coronavirus. "We are monitoring and responding to the information we are receiving every day," Morrison tweeted. "We are not immune, but we are as prepared as any country can be and we will get through this." On Saturday, Australia said it would deny entry to all foreigners travelling from Iran because of the spreading virus in the Islamic republic. There have been more than 85,000 virus infections worldwide, the majority in China, the World Health Organization said. Outside China, it has spread to 53 countries, with more than 6,000 cases and 86 deaths. 

Families, firefighters and politicians gathered in a solemn public ceremony in Sydney yesterday to honour the 25 people killed in recent bushfires that tore through the country’s most populous state.  The bushfires, which lasted from September until torrential rains hit earlier this month, killed 33 people and a billion native animals nationally and destroyed 2,500 homes and a wilderness area the size of South Korea. The damage was most devastating in New South Wales state. Among the 25 people killed there were 19 civilians, three local volunteer firefighters and three US firefighters.  Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who thanked those who fought the blazes and honoured those who died, spoke of “children kissing the coffins of their fathers” and “mothers who should have never had to bury their children”. He told the public, gathered around lit candles, of “a summer where the dark sky turned black and sunsets only signalled another night of terror, where the fire crashed on our beaches from the bush that surrounded them”. Morrison has drawn public anger for his refusal to directly link the bushfires to climate change, insisting removing flammable vegetation is “just as important, if not more”. His management of the fires also came under criticism over the unusually prolonged summer wildfire season, when he was forced into a rare public apology for taking a holiday to Hawaii.  Last week, he said Australia would conduct a wide-ranging inquiry into the causes of the fires. NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons, who played a very public role during the crisis, said the season will be remembered as one of the most challenging, in which the loss of life was enormous. “Each one of those is a story of grief, of profound loss, and great sadness, of lives cut short, and of families being changed forever,” Fitzsimmons said. Six pairs of boots were placed to symbolise the lives of the three Australian volunteers and the three US firefighters who died in NSW.

Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has claimed "very top" level Malaysian officials believed vanished Flight MH370 was deliberately downed by the captain in a mass murder-suicide. The Malaysia Airlines jet vanished on March 8, 2014 carrying 239 people -- mostly from China -- en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. No sign of the plane was found in a 120,000-square kilometre Indian Ocean search zone and the Australian-led search, the largest in aviation history, was suspended in January 2017. A US exploration firm launched a private hunt in 2018 but it ended after several months of scouring the seabed without success. The disappearance of the plane has long been the subject of a host of theories -- ranging from the credible to outlandish -- including that veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah had gone rogue. In an excerpt from a Sky News documentary airing Wednesday, Abbott claims he was told within a week of it vanishing that Malaysia believed the captain had intentionally downed the jet. "My very clear understanding from the very top levels of the Malaysian government is that from very, very early on here, they thought it was murder-suicide by the pilot," he said. "I'm not going to say who said what to whom but let me reiterate, I want to be absolutely crystal clear, it was understood at the highest levels that this was almost certainly murder-suicide by the pilot -- mass murder-suicide by the pilot." Zaharie's family and friends have long strongly rejected such claims as baseless. Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the former head of Malaysia's civil aviation regulator, criticised Abbott's remarks and said there was not sufficient proof to support the idea. "It is only a theory," Azharuddin, who led the regulator when Flight MH370 disappeared, told AFP. "You do this speculation and it will hurt the next of kin. The family of the pilot will also feel very bad because you are making an accusation without any proof." In 2016, Malaysian officials revealed the pilot had plotted a path over the Indian Ocean on a home flight simulator but stressed this did not prove he deliberately crashed the plane. A final report into the tragedy released in 2018 pointed to failings by air traffic control and said the course of the plane was changed manually. But they failed to come up with any firm conclusions, leaving relatives angry and disappointed. Six passengers were Australian, including four from Queensland state, where Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk this week suggested authorities may pursue an inquest into their deaths.

Australia will evacuate more than 200 of its citizens onboard a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship being held under quarantine in the Japanese port of Yokohama, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday. Morrison said the passengers will depart on Wednesday and will be taken to Australia's tropical north, where they will be required to be quarantined for another 14 days. The Diamond Princess, cruise ship, owned by Carnival Corp , has been quarantined since arriving in Yokohama on Feb. 3, after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong before it travelled to Japan was diagnosed with the virus. "For those more than 200 Australians who will be returning to Australia, we are going to have to require a further 14-day quarantine period to be put in place on their return to Darwin," Morrison told reporters in Melbourne. Morrison also said space on the Qantas Airways plane will be provided for an unspecified number of New Zealand citizens on the cruise ship. Those passengers will be transferred to New Zealand when they arrive in Darwin, Morrison said. On Sunday, the United States evacuated about 400 citizens from the Diamond Princess, while Canada, Italy, South Korea and Hong Kong have also announced plans to repatriate passengers.

Millions of dollars were raised and tens of thousands of people rocked out on Sunday at Sydney's largest stadium for a star-studded bush fire relief concert. Some 75,000 people attended the Fire Fight Australia concert at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, a 10-hour massive show of support for the bush fire-ravaged communities. It was also broadcast live on television across the country. The benefit concert raised 9.5 million dollars (6.3 million US dollars), the organisers said. British rock band Queen with American headliner Adam Lambert reprised their iconic 1985 Live Aid set for the concert. They were joined by other global acts like Alice Cooper and kd lang, as well as local stars like 5 Seconds of Summer, Tina Arena, and many more. Rural Fire Service told dpa they had received more than 1,000 free tickets to the concert for their volunteer firefighters. All profits from the tickets are going to the state fire services, the Red Cross, and a wildlife charity, organisers said. The concert was hosted by Celeste Barber, an Australian comedian who last month raised 51 million dollars for firefighters via her Facebook campaign. She thanked firefighters and took a shot at the conservative federal government for mishandling the bush fire crisis. ‘As Aussies, we band together because we have to look after each other - because it turns out people at the top don't,’ she told the crowd. Since September, more than 12 million hectares of land burned in the Australian bush fires, which killed at least 33 people. Recent rains have helped doused most of the blazes.

Torrential rain across Australia's east could extinguish all remaining bushfires in the country's most populous state by the end of the week, authorities said on Tuesday, raising hopes a deadly national crisis is almost over. Australia has been battling hundreds of blazes since September in an unusually prolonged summer wildfire season that was fuelled by three years of drought, which experts have attributed to climate change. Heavy rain and storms have in recent days swept across New South Wales (NSW) state, which bore the brunt of a crisis that engulfed several states and territories at its peak. The downpour has already doused two of the biggest and longest running blazes and NSW officials are hopeful that more rain forecast for this week will extinguish the remaining 24 fires, four of which are burning ‘uncontrolled’. ‘All going well, all will be contained and we're hopeful to get to a stage where we can call them out,’ the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) said in an emailed statement. The current situation is a far cry from the height of the crisis in early January when NSW firefighters were battling almost 150 fires that produced a firefront about 6,000 kilometres (3,700 miles) long. Blazes across the country have razed nearly 12 million hectares (29.7 million acres) of tinder-dry bushland, killing 33 people and an estimated 1 billion native animals, since September. The fires destroyed thousands of homes and prompted mass evacuations of both locals and tourists under apocalyptic-like red skies during Australia's peak summer holiday period. Hawkesbury City Mayor Barry Calvert said the dousing of the massive Gospers Mountain fire this week was a huge relief. ‘We've been living with this fire for four months,’ he told Reuters by telephone. ‘We could never relax. For several weeks, we all had our bags packed ready to evacuate as the fire would move quickly in different directions depending on how the wind changed.’ ‘The smoke would also get you down, we were desperate for some clean air.’ WELCOME SURPRISE The welcome rainfall has come as something of an early surprise. The Bureau of Meteorology in January said rains sufficient enough to extinguish the fires was unlikely until at least March. In neighbouring Victoria state, firefighters were battling around 20 blazes on Tuesday - down from a peak of 60. Heavy rain was also forecast in Victoria for coming days, although officials expect it to dampen, rather than extinguish, many of the fires. ‘The lower end rainfall totals won't put out fires, they will allow them to be contained or controlled by firefighters in the near future,’ Victorian State Response Controller Tim Wiebusch told reporters in Melbourne. In Queensland state, which also received heavy rainfalls, just one fire remains ablaze, while nine fires are alight in South Australia south. The rainfall has, however, proved to be a double-edged sword. Nearly 60,000 households across NSW remained without electricity on Tuesday as flash flooding bought down powerlines and trees.

Torrential rain pummelled parts of eastern Australia on Sunday for the fourth day, while severe tropical cyclone Damien has weakened in the country's north-west. New South Wales saw heavy rain, damaging winds, abnormally high tides, damaging surf and severe flash and river floods in many parts of the state, the Bureau of Meteorology said Sunday. Bush fires have wreaked havoc in New South Wales since September. The state had also suffered severe drought for the past two years. ‘It's wet out there!’ the weather bureau said on Twitter, adding the heaviest rainfall was in Linden in western Sydney, which saw 112 millimetres of rain in the five hours to 2 pm (0300 GMT) Sunday. The mid-north coast received 250 mm of rain in 24 hours, while 150 mm fell across the Blue Mountains and Central Coast region. The weather bureau said large sea waves with the largest recorded height of almost 14 metres were occurring off Sydney. Flash flood warnings were issued for more than a dozen places. At least 80,000 homes are without power due to the severe storms, according to two utility companies - Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy. Some roads have been swept away in floods, Australian broadcaster ABC said, while part of the major Great Western Highway was closed for several hours due to a fallen tree. The State Emergency Service has responded to more than 3,300 requests for assistance since Wednesday when the rains started, Commissioner Carlene York told reporters in Sydney on Sunday. One family in a car isolated by floodwaters was rescued by the Rural Fire Service helicopter, she said. The heavy rainfall has helped firefighters by dousing bush fires that have been raging for months, including the Currowan Fire in the Shoalhaven after which burned 499,621 hectares and destroyed 312 homes. On Sunday evening, there were still 38 bush fires burning in NSW. Meanwhile, Cyclone Damien, which hit Western Australia's northern coastal Dampier-Karathha region on Saturday evening as a category three storm, weakened to category one as it moved inland. The cyclone had brought ‘very heavy rainfall’ and destructive gale-force winds with gusts of 205 kilometres per hour. It is expected to weaken below cyclone intensity later Sunday, the bureau said, adding Damien is the most significant cyclone to impact the region since 1989.  Heavy rain, in excess of 200 millimetres on Monday and Tuesday is likely, the weather bureau warned, adding it could also cause flooding in the Pilbara and Gascoyne mining regions.    

A tropical cyclone expected to hit Western Australia on Saturday was forecast to bring ferocious winds and a potentially dangerous storm tide, while much of the bushfire-battered east coast faced flood warnings due to torrential rains. Severe tropical cyclone Damien was expected to make landfall on the west coast near Port Hedland, the world's largest iron ore port, on Saturday afternoon. The ports had been cleared of vessels ahead its arrival. At 1 p.m. AWST (0500 GMT), Damien was a Category 3 storm, expecting to bring winds with gusts up to 220 kilometres per hour (134 miles per hour) near its centre when crossing the coast later on Saturday, the Bureau of Meteorology in Western Australia said. Residents of some coastal areas were urged to seek shelter. ‘Residents between Dampier and Whim Creek, including Dampier and Karratha, are warned of the potential of a very dangerous storm tide as the cyclone centre crosses the coast,’ the agency said on its website. ‘Tides are likely to rise significantly above the normal high tide mark with damaging waves and very dangerous flooding.’ Sparsely populated Western Australia was also facing several severe fire warnings with hot temperatures expected in most of the state. After months of destructive wildfires that have razed millions of hectares of land, Australia has been hit in recent weeks by wild weather that has brought heavy downpours, hail storms and heat waves. New South Wales, an east coast state where nearly a third of Australia's population lives, saw some areas drenched by the heaviest rainfall in almost 20 years by Saturday, with severe weather and flash flood warnings. ‘Potentially we haven't seen anything like this since the late 1990s,’ Bureau of Meteorology acting New South Wales manager Jane Golding said at a news conference. There were still more than 40 active fires in New South Wales on Saturday, half of them yet to be contained, but fire services said the downpours, which are expected to continue into next week, may dampen them.

* More than 200 Australians arrive in Christmas Island * 239 evacuees test negative to virus * Evacuees to be quarantined for 14 days on remote island * New Zealand flight to arrive in Auckland on Wednesday  A total of 239 Australians evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan have been cleared of the coronavirus, with two remaining facing only a "minimal" chance that they have the virus, Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Tuesday. The 241 evacuees, who arrived on the Australian-run Christmas Island off Australia's northwest coast on Tuesday, will remain quarantined for 14 days, the maximum incubation period for the virus. "All travellers, I'm advised, have been examined, and there are no cases of confirmed coronavirus," Hunt told reporters in Canberra. "Fourteen were looked at more closely to ensure they were in an acceptable condition and they have now all been cleared of the virus. A further two are being tested as a precaution." Australia has asked for permission for a second evacuation flight out of Wuhan in Hubei province, the epicentre of the coronavirus which has been in lockdown. There were 600 Australians registered in Hubei last week. An evacuation flight chartered by Air New Zealand Ltd is scheduled to leave Wuhan late on Tuesday, with 70 New Zealanders and 50 Australian citizens and permanent residents onboard. The Australians will be transferred from Auckland to Christmas Island. The newly identified coronoavirus which first appeared in Wuhan in December has killed 425 people in China, one in Hong Kong and one in the Philippines. The total number of infections in China rose by 3,235 to 20,438 on Tuesday, and there were at least 151 cases in 23 other countries and regions. Australia on Saturday followed the United States in barring entry to all foreign nationals travelling from mainland China and raised its travel warning for China to the highest level, advising people against visiting the country at all. The move has left many Chinese students at Australian universities unable to enter the country just as the university year is about to start. Many Australian universities are financially heavily reliant on Chinese students. "We are very concerned about the interests of the Chinese students who will not be able to come Australia," , Charge d'Affaires at the Chinese embassy, Wang Xining, told reporters in Canberra. "We are in touch with the universities and also with the education ministry to sort out a proper solution for these students."

Australian environmentalists say hundreds of koalas have been killed at a bluegum logging plantation in the state of Victoria, sparking an investigation by officials. "Hundreds of koalas were found dead and injured by locals in the area who tipped us off yesterday," Anthony Amis, a koala researcher for environmental group Friends of the Earth Australia, said on Sunday.  "They found koalas bulldozed. Our local sources told us they could smell rotting koalas. It's a massacre," Amis told dpa, adding the incident occurred during logging activities at a timber property near Portland in south-west Victoria over the past few months. Local Portland resident Helen Oakley, who was one of the first ones to raise the alarm, posted a video to Facebook on Friday, saying she had seen the marsupials lying dead at the site. "Mothers killed and their little babies. Australia should be ashamed of this," she said.  "Bluegum trees were logged by a company called Midway until November and then handed over to a local landowner. During the clearing of logging debris, they must have bulldozed the koalas," Amis said.  About two dozen animals had to be euthanized, said Victoria's department of environment, which is conducting an investigation. "If this is found to be due to deliberate human action, we expect the Conservator Regular to act swiftly against those responsible," the department said on Sunday.  In a statement, Midway said they rejected the "disturbing allegations" about harming koalas and said they had left "an appropriate number of 'habitat trees' for the existing koala population." The koalas were uninjured and in good health, but since the company left, the remaining trees seem to have been cleared, the firm said. The deaths at the plantation come after tens of thousands of koalas were killed in the bush fires that have burned more than 12 million hectares of land in Australia, including dozens of koala habitats. The fires have put the iconic animals at risk of being listed as "endangered."  Unlike in New South Wales and Queensland, koalas are not a threatened species in Victoria. In fact, in some areas, there are too many koalas, giving rise to issues like not enough food. Amis said the whole region - about 170,000 hectares of bluegum plantation established in the 1990s - was one of the most important koala habitats due to its specific healthy gene pool and also has one of the highest concentration of koalas in the state.  In Victoria, killing, harassing or disturbing wildlife can lead to a penalty of up to 8,000 dollars (5,350 US dollars) and an additional fine of more than 800 dollars per head of wildlife.

A drunk driver slammed his pickup truck into a group of children in Sydney, killing two sisters, their brother and a cousin and seriously injuring three others, police alleged on Sunday. The 29-year-old driver was charged with manslaughter and high-range drink driving following the incident late Saturday in the Oatlands suburb of western Sydney. The children were on a footpath when the four-wheel drive jumped the curb and rammed into them, police alleged. Three girls aged 8 to 12 and a 13-year-old boy died at the scene and two other girls and a boy were injured and taken to hospital, where they were in a stable condition Sunday, police said. The dead included two sisters and their brother, three of the six children of Daniel and Leila Abdallah. "Yesterday I lost three of my children. I had a cousin, Bridget, she lost her daughter as well," Daniel Abdallah told reporters Sunday morning. "I'm numb, probably that's how I feel at the moment," he said. "All I just want to say is, please, drivers be careful. These kids were just walking innocently, enjoying each others' company and this morning I woke up, I have lost three kids." A makeshift memorial was later put up where the accident occurred, with people coming to place flowers, teddy bears and candles as well as pay their respects. The driver, whose name has not been released, was due in court Sunday facing 20 charges.

Firefighters kept wild blazes fuelled by strong winds and soaring temperatures from reaching suburban areas of Australia’s capital, Canberra, using airdrops of fire retardant to create a 2.5km (1.55-mile) long defensive line late yesterday. Three drops of the pink retardant created the line along the bottom of a mountain south of Canberra, authorities said, with further drops planned for today. Fire crews had so far been able to save all structures in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), home to Canberra, authorities said. “This has been a good firefighting day for us, in terms of protecting our cultural assets and critical infrastructure,” ACT Emergency Services Agency Commissioner Georgeina  Whelan said. “Our intent tonight is to undertake backburning operations to consolidate those  containment lines.” There were fears earlier in the day that the blaze could reach Canberra’s southern suburbs, threatening homes and lives as they did in 2003 when fires destroyed almost 500 houses and claimed four lives. Skies along the Monaro Highway in the ACT turned orange-red on Saturday as an uncontrolled blaze ballooned to more than 50,000 hectares (123,500 acres) in size. A major highway was closed and authorities issued warnings for some residents that it was too late to evacuate, before conditions started to ease late in the day. The territory declared a state of emergency on Friday in anticipation of the hot and windy conditions that are expected to last through the weekend. Australia’s devastating and prolonged bushfire season has killed 33 people and an estimated 1bn native animals since September. About 2,500 homes have been destroyed and more than 11.7mn hectares (2.8mn acres) of tinder-dry bushland have been razed. A second major uncontrolled fire was burning slightly further south in the Snowy Monaro region of New South Wales state yesterday, the same alpine area where an air tanker crashed on January 22 after dropping fire retardant, killing three American firefighters. Temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in parts of NSW and the ACT yesterday, prompting widespread warnings for people to be alert to the potential fire danger. Some fires were generating their own weather patterns, including thunderstorms, in Australia’s southeast, authorities said. Around 20 fires were burning in Victoria state, with one at emergency level. Away from the firegrounds, intense rainfall was forecast, with authorities warning of potential “dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding.” “When it comes to the weather, it’s really the tale of two states,” Victoria Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia will deny entry to all foreign nationals travelling from mainland China from Saturday due to the increasing threat from the coronavirus epimedic. Morrison also announced that Australia was raising its travel guidance for China to the highest level, advising people against visiting the country at all. "We're in fact operating with an abundance of caution in these circumstances," Morrison told reporters in Sydney. "So Australians can go about their daily lives with confidence." The new incoming travel ban includes anybody who has been in China from Feb. 1, whether they have travelled directly from the country or through another port. It extends an existing ban on travel from the province of Hubei, the centre of the epidemic, to the entire country. Australian citizens and permanent residents returning home are exempt from the ban but are required to isolate themselves for 14 days after their arrival. Australian authorities have identified 10 coronavirus cases in Australia, but no deaths. The Australian travel restrictions came just hours after the United States announced border curbs on foreign nationals who have been in China amid fears that the virus could spread further overseas. Around two dozen countries have reported confirmed cases of the virus, but the vast majority of those infected remain in China, where the number of deaths stood at 259 on Saturday. Qantas Airways and Air New Zealand both said on Saturday they were suspending direct flights to mainland China. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the government continued to work with Qantas to arrange flights to evacuate some Australian nationals from Hubei, as other countries have done. Asked if he expected any political fallout from the decision to close Australia's borders, Morrison said his "first responsibility is Australians and Australia's national interests." "Obviously, we appreciate the challenges that the Chinese government are facing at the moment with this very serious issue, and we do thank them for the engagement we have had."