Author: roymorgansocial

New study an eye-opener on how coronavirus is spreading and how little we know

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Original article by Tom Frieden
CNN.com – Page: Online : 9-Feb-20

A study published in the medical journal ‘JAMA’ confirms that like coronaviruses in the past, the Wuhan coronavirus appears to be spreading in hospitals. The study reported that 41 per cent of the first 138 patients who were diagnosed with the latest coronavirus in one Wuhan hospital appeared to have been infected in that hospital. It reveals the need for better protection of health care workers and others who care for the sick, while more needs to be known about how widely the virus is circulating, the proportion of those infected who are seriously ill, and whether the epidemic has peaked.

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News Corp profit falls as company hit by sluggish Australian economy

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 7-Feb-20

News Corporation has released its financial results for the three months to December, reporting a profit of $US103 million ($153.1 million). This compares to a profit of $US119 million in the prior year period, while revenue was down six per cent to $US2.48 billion, with the Rupert Murdoch-controlled company blaming the torpid Australian economy for the decline. Revenue for news and information services fell $16 million, with the Australian market down nine per cent. Subscriber numbers for Foxtel, which includes streaming services Foxtel Now and Kayo, declined from 3.065 million at the end of the September quarter to 2.95 million at the end of the December quarter.

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NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOXTEL NOW, KAYO SPORTS

Home from Hubei, evacuees set up camp

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Original article by Paige Taylor, Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 2 : 10-Feb-20

The global death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 813, surpassing the 774 casualties of the SARS outbreak of 2002-03. More than 37,000 people worldwide have been diagnosed with the respiratory illness, including 15 in Australia. Meanwhile, a chartered Qantas flight has evacuated another 266 Australian citizens and permanent residents from Wuhan. They will be placed in quarantine at a former mining workers’ camp near Darwin for 14 days, as the Christmas Island facility has reached capacity.

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QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

AMP wins Chinese approval for life sale

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 10-Feb-20

The China Banking & Insurance Regulatory Commission is understood to have given its approval for AMP’s $2.5 billion divestment of AMP Life to Resolution Life. However, the transaction still has a number of hurdles to overcome, including approval from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board. Hamish Carlisle from Merlon Capital Partner says that if Chinese regulators have approved the transaction then this should be disclosed to the Australian sharemarket

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CHINA BANKING AND INSURANCE REGULATORY COMMISSION, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AMP LIFE LIMITED, RESOLUTION LIFE GROUP LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, MERLON CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD

‘Too good to be true’: ATO warns on parking perks

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 7-Feb-20

The Australian Taxation Office has previously issued changes to fringe benefits tax rules for staff car parks, with the new ruling due to come into effect as from 1 April 2020. The new ruling will impact on suburban employers, with the rule changes resulting from legal rulings involving Qantas and Virgin and their employees. Commenting on the latest update to the ATO’s new rules, which related to the valuation of staff car parks, EY employment tax partner Paul Ellis said it was important that employers use reputable valuers.

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AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, ERNST AND YOUNG

Campuses may lose $2bn in fees

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Original article by Tim Dodd, Heidi Han
The Australian – Page: 7 : 7-Feb-20

The federal government’s travel ban has prevented nearly 100,000 Chinese university students from arriving in Australia for the start of the academic year. S&P Global says the universities’ operating margins will be hit if the travel restrictions are not lifted in the next few weeks. The firm estimates that the travel ban could cost universities up to $2bn in fees, and notes that the broader economy will also be impacted. Some universities will offer online courses for the first several weeks of the semester.

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S&P GLOBAL INCORPORATED

Facebook’s secrecy putting kids at risk

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 2 : 7-Feb-20

Child protection groups have urged Facebook not to proceed with end-to-end encryption across Messenger and its other platforms. The groups state that introducing such encryption will lead to "more serious and sustained sexual abuse", and that Facebook should only proceed with the encryption if it adopts measures to scan for child abuse images and consents to share data with governments and child safety experts. Sonya Ryan, the CEO of the Carly Ryan Foundation, has described the potential impact of Facebook’s end-to-end encryption plans as "frightening".

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FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, CARLY RYAN FOUNDATION

Unions lean on ALP over super choice bill

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 7-Feb-20

The union movement is urging Labor to vote against proposed legislation that would ban enterprise agreements from stating that workers must join a union-backed superannuation fund. Labor senator Tony Sheldon recently warned the party’s caucus against voting for the bill, while ACTU assistant secretary Scott Connolly says the proposed legislation would have a major impact on industry funds such as UniSuper.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, UNISUPER LIMITED

Joyce warns PM: Nats to cross floor

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Original article by Dennis Shanahan, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 7-Feb-20

The National Party remains divided in the wake of Barnaby Joyce’s failed bid to oust party leader Michael McCormack. Joyce and two other Nationals MPs have threatened to vote against Coalition bills after opponents of McCormack missed out on portfolios in a cabinet reshuffle. The rebel Nationals are in a position to block Coalition legislation, given that the government has a majority of just two seats in the lower house. Joyce has also criticised a proposal to change the party’s rules governing leadership spills.

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NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Over 15.6 million Australians read magazines in print or online

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Feb-20

Roy Morgan has released the Australian Magazine Readership report for the 12 months to December 2019. A total of 15,644,000 Australians aged 14+ (75.1%) now read magazines in print or online, down 0.6 per cent from a year ago. Readership of print magazines was almost 13.1 million Australians aged 14+ (62.8 per cent), down 3.8% from a year ago. The free ‘Coles Magazine’ remains the most widely-read print magazine, with a readership of 4,573,000 (down 4.8%), while ‘Better Homes & Gardens’ remains the most widely-read paid magazine with a print readership of 1,698,000 million (up 8.4 per cent). Meanwhile, Taste.com.au remains the best-read magazine title across print and digital formats, with a total cross-platform audience of more than 3.1 million (down 2.6 per cent). These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey of 50,422 Australians aged 14+ in the 12 months to December 2019.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED