Morning mail: virus spreads among Iran MPs, Super Tuesday under way, US slashes rates
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Version 0 of 1. Wednesday: about 8% of the Iranian parliament’s MPs have tested positive for the coronavirus. Plus, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden go head to head Good morning, this is James Murray bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 4 March. Top stories About 8% of the Iranian parliament’s MPs have tested positive for the coronavirus, officials have said, as the country announced plans to mobilise 300,000 soldiers and volunteers against the deadliest outbreak of the epidemic outside China. In Australia, six more people were diagnosed with the virus in New South Wales after arriving on flights from Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Iran. Coronavirus is having a devastating effect on Australian tourism, with industry chiefs warning hotels “face ruin” if the outbreak continues to limit visitor numbers. The Reserve Bank cut interest rates on Monday, saying the disease was having a significant effect on the economy. Scott Morrison is now under pressure to release his stimulus package early to protect the businesses most impacted by the virus. Voting is under way in the US on Super Tuesday, the most important day in the Democratic presidential primary contest. Results from 14 states will clarify who out of Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders leads the race to face Trump for the presidency. The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders heads into the contest with a narrow lead in the delegate count, but Joe Biden is emboldened by endorsements from two of his former moderate rivals – Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg – who both dropped out of the race in recent days and voiced their support for the former vice president. This will be the first test for the billionaire former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, who skipped the early voting states and poured millions of dollars into a campaign that has focused on Super Tuesday. The bushfires in NSW likely killed about 5,000 koalas, and conservation groups are calling for an emergency endangered species declaration. In the past 20 years, koala numbers are thought to have declined by two-thirds. “It’s a spectacular loss in terms of conservation criteria and meets endangered listing almost immediately,” said Dr Stephen Philips, principal research scientist and koala ecologist at the environmental consultancy Biolink. He added that climate change reports suggested conditions would get worse for koalas, with continued stress on the eucalypts they rely on for food, as well as increasing risks from bushfires. Without action, extinction was a real possibility: “They won’t be able to get their numbers up before the next fire event.” Australia Government minister Stuart Robert failed to declare ongoing links to a Gold Coast bowls club that he previously handed a $9,725 novelty cheque to in the lead-up to the election. The NDIS and government services minister filmed himself handing over the giant cheque to the Paradise Point bowls club in his electorate of Fadden in February and distributed the video on social media. Aboriginal people living on Northern Territory’s Groote archipelago were left ‘‘sick, angry, hungry and forgotten” after a power outage that lasted for three days. The lack of power meant people had no access to food, fuel or phones, and they were given no support from emergency services. Services Australia has accidentally released the personal information of a disability support pensioner amid a growing number of privacy breaches with the agency. Services Australia’s last annual report showed there was a 43% jump in substantiated privacy incidents. Scott Morrison has finally admitted he asked the Trump administration to invite the Hillsong pastor Brian Houston to a state dinner at the White House. The prime minister has refused for months to answer questions from journalists and Labor, describing the story as “gossip”. The world The US Federal Reserve has slashed interest rates in an emergency move to protect the world’s largest economy from the coronavirus outbreak, ramping up the global response as the disease spreads. The EU has praised Greece for acting as a “shield” in deterring migrants, despite questions from the UN about breaches of international refugee law. The move comes after Turkey’s foreign minister said – without providing evidence – that Greek soldiers killed three migrants attempting to enter the country. The world’s biggest meat company, JBS, and its rival, Marfrig, have been linked to a brutal massacre in the Amazon. On 19 April 2017, nine men who were squatting on land considered valuable for resources were murdered in what became known as the “Colniza massacre”. A New Zealand study has shown that the kea, the world’s only alpine parrot, appear to use probabilities when making decisions. “The kea shows intelligence that is comparable to a human or chimpanzee,” said research co-author Amalia Bastos. Recommended reads Fear about the coronavirus is normal, but we shouldn’t let the fear control us, writes Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz: “We all really want to be able to do something to keep ourselves from getting sick. Buying 15 tubs of hand sanitiser feels like a buffer against the darkness, even if you’d really be just as well off getting a normal bar of soap. So amid the scary stories, it’s worth remembering that, while we may not have control over everything, there are evidence-based things you can do to help yourself.” The sad closure of the Australian Associated Press is a blow to democracy, writes the director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism, Margaret Simons. In her opinion piece Simons argues the decline in public interest journalism has reached a critical stage. Outside of the world of investigative journalism, news wire services like the AAP provided the kind of “routine, reliable” reporting required to ensure power is held to account. “When investigative journalism causes the calling of a royal commission, it is AAP that reports the hearings, and makes sure we know the facts that emerge.” Listen Five years ago the death of a healthy, talented boxer during a match sparked Guardian Australia journalist Stephanie Convery to find out why a preventable death like this happened. In this episode of Full Story we examine why concussions are still not taken seriously enough in sport. Full Story is Guardian Australia’s news podcast, released every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app. Sport The IOC is adamant the Tokyo Olympics will go ahead despite the risk posed by the coronavirus. Speculation of a delay had mounted when Japan’s Olympic minister, Seiko Hashimoto, had said the Games could be moved to the end of the year. Ellyse Perry is ruled out of the Women’s Twenty20 World Cup after sustaining a serious hamstring injury. The weather forecast provided further bad news, with rain forecast for the Australian team’s semi-final against either South Africa or India. If the game is a washout, Australia will be eliminated by default as they finished runner up in their pool. Rugby league has an innate ability to make life more difficult. No code knows how to align the gun with its own foot more accurately and shoot. Yet that is what the NRL has done with its decision to introduce the captain’s challenge, writes Nick Tedeschi. Media roundup The Australian reports that 40 medical staff from Ryde hospital have been ordered to quarantine themselves and “health authorities are struggling to track potential coronavirus victims amid fears that an infected doctor now under quarantine may have spread Covid-19 to his patients”. The Sydney Morning Herald reports “a landmark finding that there is ‘good evidence’ toxic firefighting chemicals could potentially cause harmful health effects including cancer”. And the Australian Financial Review reports that “Australian shares are set to open lower as global investors appeared uncertain about whether falling interest rates were a proper response to the coronavirus outbreak or a sign of more troubled times ahead”. Coming up The GDP figures for the December quarter are out later today. Vigils for Hannah Clarke, the Brisbane woman murdered by her husband, will be held around the country. 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