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JULY 23 (GMT) – JULY 24 (AEST), 2020

AUSTRALIAWORLDUSA

California infections surpass NY

A record one-day total of newly confirmed coronavirus cases gave California more than 415,000 since the pandemic began, sending it past New York for the most in the country, data shows.

Push to extend holiday season

The Government has been urged by MPs to do more to promote an extension of the UK’s summer holiday season to boost the struggling tourism industry. A report by the Commons’ Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee found that capacity constraints caused by social distancing requirements have made “smoothing out demand more important than ever”.

Net debt to hit record high

Australia’s net debt will soar to a record $677.1 billion this financial year as the nation grapples with the coronavirus recession. Net debt was estimated to be $488.2 billion or 24.6 per cent of GDP at the end of 2019-20, rising to 35.7 per cent in 2020-21.

Olympics hit 1-year-to-go mark

The Tokyo Olympics have hit the one-year-to-go mark — again. But few are in a mood to celebrate. Tokyo observed the original date a year ago. That was before the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the Olympics and pushed back the opening to July 23, 2021. Fireworks cascaded over Tokyo Bay back then, and local celebrities unveiled the medals in a highly choreographed show.

Funding plea to avert crisis

With an uptick in new cases of COVID-19 in Canada sparking concerns about a second wave of the illness, advocates for seniors in long-term care say more federal support must start flowing immediately to ensure elders do not again become the primary casualties.

Fisherman capture giant squid

Marine experts hope a rarely seen squid fished up near Whakaari/ White Island will provide new clues about the recently recognised species. The 60kg squid was caught at a depth of 1000m off the island about five weeks ago by a fishing boat.

NEW ZEALANDCANADAUK

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES FROM FRANK NEWS

FULL STORIES START ON PAGE 3

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JULY 23 (GMT) – JULY 24 (AEST), 2020

AUSTRALIAEUROPEWORLD

China launch Mars mission

China has launched its most ambitious Mars mission yet in a bold attempt to join the United States in successfully landing a spacecraft on the red planet. The Tianwen-1 was launched on a Long March-5 carrier rocket from a launch site on Hainan Island.

Funding boost for nursing homes

Fearing another grim wave of nursing home deaths as COVID-19 cases rebound, President Donald Trump announced his administration will provide $5 billion to help facilities counter the virus.

Aged care riddled with clusters

More aged care centres in Victoria have become hives for coronavirus outbreaks with three further deaths linked to the sector. Three of the latest five deaths in the state are connected to aged care – a woman in her 70s and two men in their 80s and 90s.

Residents flee wildfire in Greece

More than 250 firefighters are struggling to contain a large wildfire fanned by strong winds that is raging through forests, forcing the evacuation of six settlements in southern Greece.

Boys saved from apartment fall

Two young brothers have been saved from an apartment fire in the southeastern French city of Grenoble when they dropped about 10 meters (33 feet) from a window and were caught by people below.

Kiwis called to help track whales

Scientists are asking for the public’s help in tracking Tohorā or southern right whales as they return to New Zealand waters. After being hunted to the brink of extinction by the early 20th Century, their numbers are increasing.

NEW ZEALANDEUROPEUSA

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES FROM FRANK NEWS

FULL STORIES START ON PAGE 6

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UK

People enjoying the outdoor bars during sunny weather on Brighton Beach. - PA

Push to extend holiday seasonThe Government has been urged by MPs to do more to promote an extension of the UK’s summer holiday season to boost the struggling tourism industry.

A report by the Commons’ Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee found that capacity constraints caused by social distancing requirements have made “smoothing out demand more important than ever”.

It stated that reducing the seasonality of the tourism sector is vital both this year and in 2021.

This is because many businesses will need to earn as much money as possible in the coming months to survive, and a number of bookings have been deferred until next year.

The committee called on the Government to launch a “national campaign” to restore consumer confidence in the domestic holiday market.

If this is done quickly, there is “still time to boost the end of the summer plus the autumn and 2021 market”, according to the report.

“Such a campaign will be hugely beneficial in assisting the tourism industry in clawing back some of the business it has lost during the lockdown period and will help to fill the hole left by the sharp decrease in international visitors to the UK.”

The committee also found that more needs to be done to help seasonal workers who missed out on the Government’s furlough scheme due to not being paid or reported to HM Revenue and Customs by the cut-off date of March 19.

Its report stated: “Seasonal workers in the tourism industry are falling between the cracks in the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

“We recommend that DCMS (the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) works with the tourism sector and HM Treasury to review the measures in place to support tourism businesses and seasonal workers to ensure they fully meet the needs of the sector.” ■

Two women and a child wait to take a Coronavirus test at a mobile testing site at the

Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science. - AP

USA

California infections surpass NYA record one-day total of newly confirmed coronavirus cases gave California more than 415,000 since the pandemic began, sending it past New York for the most in the country, data shows.

California’s cases have climbed rapidly in the last month, punctuated by the 12,807 recorded over a 24-hour period, while New York’s have fallen to less than 1000 per day. California’s overall total is about 6000 more than New York’s, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

The surge of cases in California came after much of its economy was reopened in May and early June following nearly three months under the nation’s first statewide stay-at-home order that forced most businesses to close and restricted where people could go.

Statewide, hospitalizations have nearly doubled in the past month to more than 7100 patients. Coronavirus patients in intensive care have risen 71 per cent over the same time frame to more than 2000 patients.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and health officials have blamed the increase on people – many of them younger adults – gathering with friends and family and not wearing masks or maintaining social distancing.

At the end of June, Newsom began reimposing shutdowns. Bars and inside dining are again forbidden statewide and tougher restrictions – including bans on indoor religious services and in-person instruction at schools and closures of indoor malls and gyms – have been imposed on virtually every large county and some small ones where the outbreak is most severe.

Officials say it’s still too soon to know if the new restrictions will adequately slow the spread of the virus.

Meantime, the lure of sunny skies has beckoned families and friends to gather for barbecues and pool parties despite pleas from public health officials to stay home. ■

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CANADA

Flowers are shown outside Maison Herron, a long term care home in the Montreal suburb

of Dorval. - CP

Funding plea to avert second-wave crisisWith an uptick in new cases of COVID-19 in Canada sparking concerns about a second wave of the illness, advocates for seniors in long-term care say more federal support must start flowing immediately to ensure elders do not again become the primary casualties.

The Canadian Association for Long Term Care says the sector has long fallen through the cracks and that this lack of support helped create conditions that led to widespread COVID-19 outbreaks and deaths in nursing homes across Canada.

Now that the pandemic has laid bare the fragility of the long-term care system, association chair Jodi Hall says the Liberals have to dedicate more infrastructure dollars to nursing homes.

“Historically, the federal government has failed to support this sector … It is imperative they help the sector by providing access to existing federal infrastructure dollars,” she said.

Long-term care homes were uniquely vulnerable to COVID-19, combining an already-sick patient base with a new coronavirus, to which nobody has immunity. Nursing homes in Canada are often older and feature shared bedrooms, bathrooms and dining rooms, which made containing COVID-19 a challenge in the early days of the pandemic when little was known of its ability to spread through asymptomatic people, Hall noted.

Ottawa could alleviate these pressures in the future by allowing nursing homes to access funds through the national housing strategy, she said. Homes could also be placed at the top of the list of “shovel-ready” projects likely to get federal and provincial stimulus dollars as part of economic recovery efforts.

“These are simple and readily available solutions that could have been and can still be implemented quickly to support provinces and operators in modernizing long-term care homes.”

Earlier this month, the Royal Society of Canada released a scathing report on the state of long-term care in Canada, accusing the country of failing in its duty to protect vulnerable elders. ■

A countdown calendar shows 356 days to the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. - AP

WORLD

Olympics hit 1-year-to-go mark - againThe Tokyo Olympics have hit the one-year-to-go mark — again. But few are in a mood to celebrate.

Tokyo observed the original date a year ago. That was before the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the Olympics and pushed back the opening to July 23, 2021. Fireworks cascaded over Tokyo Bay back then, and local celebrities unveiled the medals in a highly choreographed show.

There’s none of that this time.Organizers produced a 15-minute, no-fans event inside the

new national stadium; screening a video to promote next year’s opening. They also teased the presence of the Olympic flame, which arrived in Japan in March and had been hidden away ever since.

The low-key event on a rainy day captures the local mood.A poll a few days ago from Japanese news agency Kyodo

repeated the results of recent surveys: Japanese are skeptical the games should go ahead, and doubtful they will. The poll showed 23.9% favored holding the Olympics, 36.4% said the Olympics should be postponed again, and 33.7% said it should be canceled.

Organizers and the International Olympic Committee have ruled out another postponement. The Tokyo Games would be canceled this time if they can’t be held.

“I don’t think that people have a sense of anticipation in a happy way to celebrate a one-year-to-go event,” Yoshiro Mori, the president of the organizing committee, said last week.

In an interview with Japanese broadcaster NHK, Mori was blunt. He was asked: “If this kind of situation (with COVID-19) continues, is it possible to hold the games?”

“If current situation continues, we couldn’t,” he replied, though he said he was optimistic about a vaccine and confident the pandemic would recede.

Tokyo is staking its hopes on “simplification.” Organizers have come up with roughly “200 items” that may be simplified, downsized, or cut out. The rigor is driven by soaring costs and the risk of the Olympics becoming a petri dish. ■

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NEW ZEALAND

The taningia genus 60kg squid that was caught near Whakaari/ White Island was taken to

Massey University for dissection. - RNZ / Dan Cook

Fisherman capture rare giant squidMarine experts hope a rarely seen squid fished up near Whakaari/ White Island will provide new clues about the recently recognised species.

The 60kg squid was caught at a depth of 1000m off the island about five weeks ago by a fishing boat.

AUT associate professor and squid lab leader Kat Bolstad said it was an exciting chance to learn more about the taningia genus, which was only recognised as a species about two years ago.

“For hundreds of years, we thought that this group of animals only had one species worldwide. Now it’s got three and this is one of the new ones,” she said.

“It’s got some pretty cool features. It’s got the largest light organs in the animal kingdoms. The arms have got cat-like claws, about 200 of them on the whole animal, and of course, it’s just very big and that’s always very exciting.”

A group of marine experts gathered for the dissection at Massey University in Albany, where the female specimen was found to have eggs inside.

“The squid was probably coming to the end of it’s lifecycle. Squids breed once at the end of their lifespan and then they die,” Bolstad said.

The scientists were also hopeful to find some stomach contents.

“Only two sets of stomach contents have been reported for this genus, so if she’s got food on board we would love to know what she’s been eating,” Bolstad said.

The University of Waikato has donated the squid to the Auckland Museum, where some distinctive parts – such as the ‘beak’ – will be kept to help scientists identify and differentiate species in the future.

Auckland Museum collection manager Rebecca Bray said it was a bit like unwrapping a present.

“It’s a really rare species. It’s wonderful to have found it but also that it’s been donated to the museum for research, and that we can share it with researchers around the world.” ■

- AAP

AUSTRALIA

Virus drives net debt to record highAustralia’s net debt will soar to a record $677.1 billion this financial year as the nation grapples with the coronavirus recession.

Net debt was estimated to be $488.2 billion or 24.6 per cent of GDP at the end of 2019-20, rising to 35.7 per cent in 2020-21.

“Despite our increased debt levels, they remain lower than what many comparable nations went into this crisis with,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said.

Asked about paying back debt, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said government spending was crucial to navigating the crisis.

“Are you suggesting we shouldn’t have provided the support we did to boost the health system, to protect jobs, to protect livelihoods?” he said.

“In the circumstances, what was the alternative?”The government has spent $164.1 billion on coronavirus

support measures including wage subsidies and increased unemployment payments for millions of Australians.

Cormann said job creation would lead to stronger economic growth through higher revenue and lower welfare payments

“The way to get on top of this debt is by growing the economy more strongly and creating more opportunity for Australians to get ahead.”

He said Australia’s debt level as a share to GDP was still lower than many other countries before the crisis.

Frydenberg said paying back the debt would take years.“We’re not putting a date on it because we want to grow the

economy,” the treasurer said.“The pathway to growing the economy is through skills

programs, infrastructure investment and tax reform.” ■

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USA

Judie Shape, who has tested positive for the coronavirus, waves to her daughter, Lori

Spencer, and her son-in-law Michael Spencer. - AP

Trump boosts funds for nursing homesFearing another grim wave of nursing home deaths as COVID-19 cases rebound, President Donald Trump announced his administration will provide $5 billion to help facilities counter the virus.

The move follows Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s recent unveiling of a family caregiver plan that aims to greatly expand and subsidize alternatives to institutional care for frail older adults.

“I want to send a message of support and hope to every senior citizen,” Trump said at the White House. “The light is starting to shine and we will get there very quickly.”

The $5 billion is part of a package, including efforts to facilitate ongoing testing of nursing home staff, providing states a weekly list of facilities with increased COVID-19 cases, and offering additional training and support for the homes. Nursing homes in hotspots will get priority for the new funds.

Advocates and industry have been pressing the administration and Congress for weeks to provide more financial assistance and support for nursing homes. An earlier White House recommendation to test all residents and staff has had mixed results. Nursing homes already have received $4.9 billion from pandemic relief funds approved by Congress.

The American Health Care Association, an industry group, welcomed the White House announcement but said more aid is needed for nursing homes as well as other long-term care facilities.

Experts have testified to Congress that once the coronavirus is spreading within a community, it’s just a matter of time before it enters nursing homes. Staffers can be the unwitting carriers.

Once inside, the virus encounters ideal conditions to propagate among medically frail residents living in close quarters. States like Florida and Arizona now seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases are trying to head off a repeat of high numbers of nursing home deaths earlier in states like New Jersey and Massachusetts. ■

A Long March-5 rocket is seen at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China’s

Hainan Province. - AP

WORLD

China launch Mars missionChina has launched its most ambitious Mars mission yet in a bold attempt to join the United States in successfully landing a spacecraft on the red planet.

The Tianwen-1 was launched on a Long March-5 carrier rocket from a launch site on Hainan Island.

It marked the second flight to Mars this week, after a United Arab Emirates orbiter blasted off on a rocket from Japan on Monday. And the US is aiming to launch Perseverance, its most sophisticated Mars rover ever, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, next week.

China’s tandem spacecraft – with both an orbiter and a rover – will take seven months to reach Mars, like the others. If all goes well, Tianwen-1 will look for underground water, if it’s present.

This isn’t China’s first attempt at Mars. In 2011, a Chinese orbiter accompanying a Russian mission was lost when the spacecraft failed to get out of Earth’s orbit after launching from Kazakhstan, eventually burning up in the atmosphere.

This time, China is going at it alone. It also is fast-tracking, launching an orbiter and rover on the same mission instead of stringing them out.

China’s secretive space program has developed rapidly in recent decades. Yang Liwei became the first Chinese astronaut in 2003, and last year, Chang’e-4 became the first spacecraft from any country to land on the far side of the moon.

Conquering Mars would put China in an elite club.“There is a whole lot of prestige riding on this,” said Dean

Cheng, an expert on Chinese aerospace programs at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.

Landing on Mars is notoriously difficult. Only the US has successfully landed a spacecraft on Martian soil, doing it eight times since 1976. NASA’s InSight and Curiosity rovers still operate today. Six other spacecraft are exploring Mars from orbit: three American, two European and one from India. ■

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EUROPE

In this grab taken from video, a boy hangs from a window as flames engulfed an

apartment as onlookers below prepare to catch him, in Grenoble, France. - AP

Boys saved from burning apartment fallTwo young brothers have been saved from an apartment fire in the southeastern French city of Grenoble when they dropped about 10 meters (33 feet) from a window and were caught by people below.

The two, aged 10 and three, were unharmed by the fall but might have suffered from smoke inhalation, French media reported.

Video of the dramatic rescue showed the younger brother being dropped from at least three stories up as black smoke billowed from the window and flames engulfed an adjacent balcony. As onlookers screamed, the older brother then hung from the window and let himself fall into the arms of those below.

The boys were hospitalized along with 17 residents of the building, the media reports said. Four of the people who caught the boys also were taken to the hospital to check if any bones were fractured when they caught the boys.

Athoumani Walid, a 25-year-old student who suffered a broken wrist from helping catch the children, said he heard screams and went out to investigate after seeing the fire from his nearby apartment and rushed to help along with four or five other people.

“We didn’t know what to do,” Walid said. “We wanted to break the door but it wasn’t possible.”

They then went outside and shouted for the boys to jump into their arms.

Although he initially feared for the boys, “when they jumped, fear disappeared,” Walid said. “What mattered was to catch” them, he added.

Walid said he hopes the rescue will change perceptions of the Villeneuve neighborhood, which has a large immigrant population.

“We are told it’s a ‘sensitive’ neighborhood,” Walid said, “but yesterday we showed we are here for each other, and we save each other.” ■

Fire burns near the village of Galataki as authorities evacuate the place near Corinth,

Greece. - AP

EUROPE

Residents flee wildfire in GreeceMore than 250 firefighters are struggling to contain a large wildfire fanned by strong winds that is raging through forests, forcing the evacuation of six settlements in southern Greece.

State TV said more than 4000 people were evacuated. No injuries were reported, and the extent of any property damage was not immediately clear.

The Fire Brigade said 10 water-dropping helicopters and seven planes were deployed to assist with the ground operation in an area inland from the seaside settlement of Kechries near the town of Corinth in the Peloponnese region, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Athens.

But the aircraft were forced to cease flying after nightfall.Three villages, three smaller settlements and a summer

camp were evacuated as a precaution. Firefighters were dispatched to the scene from other parts of Greece, and local volunteers as well as heavy machinery provided by the army and regional authorities were helping in the effort.

Firefighters also battled smaller blazes near ancient Olympia, the western Peloponnese birthplace of the sporting competition that inspired the Olympic Games, near Petalidi further south and on the southern island of Crete. The blazes at Ancient Olympia and on Crete were under partial control, the Fire Brigade said.

Wildfires are common during Greece’s hot, arid summers. Massive blazes in 2007 killed about 80 people in southern and central Greece.

The Fire Brigade said evening that a total 57 forest fires broke out in 24 hours, most of which were quickly extinguished. ■

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Kiwis called on to help track whalesScientists are asking for the public’s help in tracking Tohorā or southern right whales as they return to New Zealand waters.

After being hunted to the brink of extinction by the early 20th Century, their numbers are increasing.

Southern right whales are some of the largest creatures in New Zealand waters – but their lives and movements are still largely a mystery.

Auckland University researcher Emma Carroll, who’s leading this project to track Tohorā during their winter migration, said the data will help future conservation efforts.

“Every pair of eyes and every photo counts. What you are able to see on the ocean and send to DOC will really contribute. We really need the citizens and the citizens’ science here,” she said.

The team from Auckland University has teamed up with marine conservation charity Live Ocean.

Chief executive Sally Paterson said they’re encouraging people to send in their photographs of whales – but she cautions against getting too close.

“People out on the water need to be whale wise, we share the space with our whales, so there are some really common sense or basic things like keeping 50 metres away, or 200 metres if a whale is with a calf and keeping a no wake speed of 300 metres.”

By 1920, Tohorā numbers had fallen to fewer than 40.The international ban on commercial hunting in 1986, and

establishment of a marine sanctuary in the Auckland Islands in 1993 has allowed the southern right whale population to recover.

Paterson said the latest Department of Conservation (DOC) estimate from 2009 put the total population at about 2000. ■

NEW ZEALAND

A mother and calf southern right whale photographed at the Auckland Islands breeding

grounds. - RNZ

Aged care riddled with virus clustersMore aged care centres in Victoria have become hives for coronavirus outbreaks with three further deaths linked to the sector.

Three of the latest five deaths in the state are connected to aged care – a woman in her 70s and two men in their 80s and 90s.

Victoria’s COVID-19 death toll hit 49 on Thursday with the national total now at 133.

The latest deaths follow two men aged in their 90s, linked to aged care settings, confirmed dead on Wednesday.

A day earlier, two female residents of aged care facilities hit by coronavirus outbreaks were confirmed dead.

Among 45 outbreaks of across Victorian aged care facilities, 383 staff and residents have tested positive.

The outbreak at St Basil’s Homes for the Aged in Fawkner has grown to 69 cases among staff and residents, while 54 people at Estia Health have contracted the disease.

A new cluster has also emerged at Kirkbrae Presbyterian Homes in Kilsyth, with two staff and one resident testing positive.

Nine residents at Embracia Moonee Valley contracted the virus, three of whom have died, and at least six staff also tested positive, general manager Damien Lippiatt said.

A staff member told the organisation they had the virus on July 9, four days after working their last shift while asymptomatic.

The centre has been in lockdown since July 9, with hundreds of staff and residents tested and a third round of results due this week.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said where the virus was detected in aged care centres, there was an immediate process to ensure all staff and residents were tested.

“This is a daily, hourly, watching and action process. Masks are being provided to every aged care facility that needs them,” he said. ■

- AAP

AUSTRALIA