Qantas to cut 6,000 jobs, slash costs as part of coronavirus recovery plan

Qantas says it will cut 6,000 jobs and continue to stand down 15,000 employees as part of its recovery plan from the COVID pandemic.

Qantas says it will cut at least 6,000 jobs across all parts of the business and continue to stand down 15,000 employees as part of its plan to recover from the impact of the COVID pandemic.

Australia's flag carrier also said it will ground at least 100 aircraft for up to 12 months and reduce $15 billion in costs over the next three years.

Qantas is currently operating around domestic capacity to 15 per cent of pre-coronavirus levels following an easing in coronavirus-related social and travel restrictions that had resulted in the airline standing down two-thirds of its 30,000-member workforce in March.

The majority of staff stood down are associated with the airline’s international services.

CEO Alan Joyce estimates close to $600 million will be spent on redundancies.

“We have to position ourselves for several years where revenues will be much lower. And that means becoming a smaller airline in the short term,” Mr Joyce said.

“This is something that weighs heavily on all of us. But the collapse of billions of dollars in revenue leaves us little choice if we are to save as many jobs as possible, long term.”

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/qantas-to-cut-6-000-jobs-slash-costs-as-part-of-coronavirus-recovery-plan

UN Chief Warns Israel West Bank Annexation Would Be 'Most Serious Violation of International Law'

Guterres and Mideast envoy urge Israel to abandon plan to annex parts of the West Bank, as EU members of Security Council warn of diplomatic 'consequences'

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Nickolay Mladenov, the UN special envoy for the Middle East, called on Israel on Wednesday to abandon its plans to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank, warning that it threatened the prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. A joint statement by several EU current and incoming members of the UN Security Council also said that annexation would have diplomatic consequences and would not be recognized by them.

"If implemented, annexation would constitute a most serious violation of international law, grievously harm the prospect of a two-state solution and undercut the possibilities of a renewal of negotiations," Guterres told the UN Security Council. "I call on the Israeli government to abandon its annexation plans," Guterres said.

The joint statement from the current and incoming EU members of the council – Germany, Belgium France, Estonia, Ireland, the U.K., and Norway – stated that annexation "would have consequences for our close relationship with Israel and would not be recognized by us."

Mladenov meanwhile warned that annexation "will send one message and one message alone – bilateral negotiations cannot achieve a just peace. We cannot allow this to happen. No good can come out of the breakdown of dialogue and communications. Diplomacy must be given a chance."

He added that annexation "could dramatically alter local dynamics, triggering instability among the occupied Palestinian territory. This conflict has been marked by periods of extreme violence, but never before has the risk of escalation been accompanied by a political horizon so distant, an economic situation so fragile and a region so volatile."

James Cleverly, the U.K.'s minister of state for the Middle East and North Africa in the Foreign Office, told the Security Council that "annexation cannot go unanswered."

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft told the council: "I understand that many of you have concerns with this issue of the potential extension of Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank. At the same time, we ask that you also hold the Palestinian leadership accountable for acts they are responsible for."

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/un-chief-mideast-envoy-urge-israel-to-drop-west-bank-annexation-plan-1.8945045

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/un-chief-mideast-envoy-urge-israel-to-drop-west-bank-annexation-plan-1.8945045

Australia's coronavirus death toll rises after 'reclassification' as Sydney school closes due to positive test

The number of coronavirus fatalities in NSW has climbed to 51, after an 85-year-old man's cause of death was reclassified to be due to COVID-19.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said the man died on April 27 at the Opal Bankstown aged-care facility.

"The clinical treating doctor diagnosed COVID as contributing, so in accordance with the national guidelines, we've included that as a death and that has been updated," Dr Chant said.

It means Australia's coronavirus death toll is now 104.

Meanwhile, a school on Sydney's lower north shore has been closed for cleaning after a Year 2 student tested positive to coronavirus.

NSW Health said the student was from Lane Cove West Public School, and last night told parents to keep their children home while contact tracing could take place.

Dr Chant said was believed the child, 7, may have caught the virus through community transmission.

Coronavirus update: Follow all the latest news in our daily wrap.

"It does highlight that we have evidence of local transmission of COVID-19, albeit at very low levels," she said.

"We are searching for the source of that infection but … this virus can circulate in the community where it is hard to track down those chains of transmission."

Dr Chant said the child developed symptoms on Saturday but authorities closed the school as a precaution.

It is the fourth COVID-19 case at a school in Sydney in the past month, and comes amid dwindling NSW community transmission of the virus.

NSW Education Department deputy secretary Murat Dizdar said: "We're working with NSW Health today and Lane Cove West public school to identify the close contacts of this particular student."

"NSW Health will be making contact with those particular individuals and their families and provide them with the appropriate advice."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-25/sydney-school-closes-year-2-student-tests-positive-coronavirus/12390466

Engel’s Defeat in N.Y. Should Spur Netanyahu to Rethink Annexation – but It Won’t

Strategic importance of U.S.-Israeli ties mandates postponement of any final decision on the Palestinian territories until the presidential elections in November

Throughout his 30-plus years in Congress, Eliot Lance Engel has been one of Israel’s staunchest supporters on Capitol Hill. He supported Labor government policies, as in the Oslo Accords, as well as positions held by Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli right, including opposition to the Iran nuclear deal and support for Donald Trump’s transfer of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

Engel is liberal on most domestic issues but fiercely hawkish on foreign affairs, particularly on policies that advance Israel’s national security interests. He is considered a classic AIPAC-type congressman, one of a dwindling group of old guard Democrats who have helped maintain a semblance of bipartisan support for Israel in an era of political polarization and Democratic radicalization.

Results of the Democratic primary held in New York’s 16th Congressional elections held on Tuesday indicate that the veteran Jewish Representative has been defeated by his surging upstart rival Jamaal Bowman.

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-engel-s-likely-n-y-defeat-should-spur-netanyahu-to-rethink-annexation-but-it-won-t-1.8945012