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Thousands of firefighters across New South Wales and Queensland have had another long night battling dozens of fires, with conditions on Friday expected to worsen.

NSW was told to expect wind gusts of 80km/h and high temperatures, and Queensland will likely see temperatures about 12C above average over the next two days, surpassing 40C in the Lockyer Valley and Ipswich.

On Thursday night NSW crews responded to five emergency level fires, including the Currowan fire on the south coast, where a number of buildings were believed to have been destroyed.

By Friday morning the blazes had all been downgraded, with six fires in the state at watch and act levels. Less than half of the 97 active fires were under control.

I think the really difficult thing is the amount of fire people have seen since the beginning of August, how much fire weve had in the northern part of NSW well, weve just replicated that in the central part of the state as well as still having the north going so its quite extraordinary conditions, the Rural Fire Service deputy commissioner, Rob Rogers, told the ABC.

The 230,000-hectare Gospers Mountain blaze on Sydneys north-western outskirts was the first fire to reach emergency level on Thursday and, as the day dragged on, there were fears the fire would merge with the 6,000-hectare Three Mile blaze near Wisemans Ferry, which had spread quickly to Mangrove Mountain late on Thursday night.

Gary Flynn from the Wisemans Inn Hotel said the small town was dead quiet as bushfires burned across the Hawkesbury River. We are just copping all the smoke, he said on Thursday. We are just keeping an eye on things at the moment.

Earlier in the day three firefighters were airlifted from the Green Wattle Creek fireground after they sustained minor injuries battling the blaze.

On Friday morning Queensland Fire and Emergency Services issued a watch and act warning for a large fire near Millmerran west of Toowoomba, which had blackened almost 1,200 hectares and was raging in the Western Creek state forest near Cypress Gardens and Forest Ridge.

Emergency crews were on alert amid concern that properties have been lost to a fast-moving bushfire on the Darling Downs.

Queenslands south-east coast, Darling Downs and Granite Belt, and the Wide Bay and Burnett districts were under a severe fire conditions warning for Friday, with fire bans stretching up most of the states coastal and neighbouring regions.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicted showers and thunderstorms for the northern Wide Bay and Burnett area but warned the storms will potentially be severe and produce damaging wind gusts.

Almost the entire coastal area of NSW and much of the states north-east have a severe fire danger rating for Friday.

Total fire bans will be in place for the far south coast and the Monaro alpine, southern ranges, Illawarra-Shoalhaven, central ranges, greater Sydney, the greater Hunter, northern slopes and north-western regions.

Meanwhile, the longest period of air pollution on record in NSW is set to continue with the Bureau of Meteorology saying heavy smoke from the bushfires ringing Sydney will linger in the city basin until Saturday.

The smoke is being blown from large fires near Warragamba Dam and the Wollombi national park.

Read more from the original source:
Dozens of out-of-control bushfires burn across NSW as conditions expected to worsen - The Guardian

Amputee, model and body positivity advocate Jess Quinn has lashed out at ever-growing social media network TikTok for censoring disabled people because it deemed them "susceptible" to bullying.

The 27-year-old New Zealander, who lost her leg to cancer when she was nine years old, shared her message on Instagram on Thursday.

Accompanying a video of her dancing with her prosthesis and wearing a hoodie with the words "all bodies welcome here" was a stark message for the video-based social media network.

"I hear you have shadow banned videos by 'disabled, fat or LGBTQ+' users because theyre 'vulnerable to bullying if their videos reach a wide audience'," Quinn wrote.

Shadow banning is the practice by social media platforms of blocking users so it is not obvious to the user that they or their comments have been blocked.

"Well, on behalf of all of those people, the only bullying is your exclusion of people who you believe are 'vulnerable'," Quinn wrote.

"I thought Id add a little video to your app of my 'vulnerable' self, wearing a sweatshirt that says ALL BODIES WELCOME HERE, while removing one of my body parts."

More on 7NEWS.com.au

Her frustrations are due to an early edition of the app's terms and conditions, which restricted content from people "susceptible to bullying or harassment based on their physical or mental condition".

Though Quinn says this never affected her personally, she was distressed it could have.

In the video below, an explainer of what TikTok actually is

In response, TikTok has conceded it was "blunt and temporary".

"This was never designed to be a long-term solution, but rather a way to help manage a troubling trend," a spokeswoman told 7NEWS.com.au.

"While the intention was good, it became clear that the approach was wrong.

"We want TikTok to be a space where users can safely and freely express themselves, and we have long since changed the policy in favour of more nuanced anti-bullying policies and in-app protections."

A blog post on the social network's website says the user is in control of who is able to respond to their content, with blocking and reporting features available.

Quinn said the overarching goal for people with disabilities was just to be treated like anyone else.

"I thank you for your attempt at being considerate to us 'vulnerable' people but quite frankly we just want to be treated like everyone else," she wrote.

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TikTok accused by amputee model of deciding who is 'vulnerable to bullying' - 7NEWS.com.au

The Facebook logo is displayed during the F8 Facebook Developers conference on April 30, 2019 in San Jose, California.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Imagine $225 billion of Facebook's $565 billion market cap was gone. That's how much HSBC Global Strategies said is threatened by the social media giant's dance with regulators.

The firm initiated coverage of Facebook with a reduce rating, recommending investors sell the stock. HSBC said regulatory overhang isequivalent to 38.5% of Facebook's current valuation.

"Although it has taken time for policy makers and regulators to ready their ideas, it should now be clear they have well-advanced plans for intrusive interventions," said HSBC senior analyst Nicolas Cote-Colisson in a note to clients.

Facebook has drawn negative attention from politicians and regulators from the U.S. and all over the world. TheFederal Trade Commission,the the European Union have all announced investigations into Facebook, either on the tech giant's practices on digital competition or concerns about its digital currency Libra. Despite the regulatory overhang, shares of Facebook are up over 50% this year. But HSBC said its only a matter of time before the stock prices in the real threat of privacy, regulatory and antitrust risk.

"In a sense, Facebook's sheer pace of growth is becoming a risk factor in its own right, as it is likely to accelerate scrutiny and intervention," said Cote-Colisson.

The results of the regulatory crackdown, including fines and policy changes could cost Facebook almost 40% of its market value, the firm said.Trust-busting, anti-competitive fines, privacy fines, taxation, merger control and telecoms-type regulation all pose potential implications to valuation.

"For instance, the possibility of imposition of telecoms-type regulation to make it easy for users to move to competitors," saidCote-Colisson.

HSBC said due to the risk, growth will become more challenging, therefore consensus estimates are overly ambitious.

The average 12-month price target for Facebook on Wall Street is $238.28 per share, according to FactSet. HSBC lowered its 12-month price target for Facebook to $178 per share. Facebook's stock closed at $198.71 on Wednesday.

with reporting from CNBC's Michael Bloom.

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Nearly 40% of Facebook's valuation is on the line from regulatory risk, HSBC says - CNBC

FROM checking why you have a tickle in your throat to searching for why your eye is twitching - we're all guilty of googling our health symptoms.

However, for some people, they become completely consumed by health anxiety after excessively searching for a likely diagnosis.

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This has been dubbed "cyberchondria" - when you constantly surf the internet to self-diagnose real or imagined health problems.

And the condition is said to be costing the NHS millions in wasted appointments.

Here, associate professor Jill Newby and psychology lecturer Eoin McElroy from the University of Leicester write for The Conversation about what cyberchondria really is and what to do if you have it...

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The term cyberchondria describes the anxiety we experience as a result of excessive web searches about symptoms or diseases.

Its not an official diagnosis, but is an obvious play on the word hypochondria, now known as health anxiety. Its obsessional worrying about health, online.

Some argue cyberchondria is simply a modern form of health anxiety.

But studies show even people who dont normally worry about their health can see their concerns spiral after conducting an initial web search.

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Cyberchondria is when searching is:

If this sounds like you, theres help.

We tested whether an online treatment program helped reduce cyberchondria in 41 people with severe health anxiety.

We compared how well it worked compared with a control group of 41 people who learned about general (not health-related) anxiety and stress management online.

The online treatment is based on cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), which involves learning more helpful ways of thinking and behaving.

Participants completed six online CBT modules over 12 weeks, and had phone support from a psychologist.

Are you a hypochondriac?

TheNHSlists hypochondria as "health anxiety".

According to the health organisation, it is commonly listed as having the following symptoms:

Anxiety itself can cause symptoms like headaches or a racing heartbeat, and you may mistake these for signs of illness.

The treatment explained how excessive web searching can become a problem, how to search about health effectively, and practical tools to prevent and stop it (see a summary of those tips below).

We found the online treatment was more effective at reducing cyberchondria than the control group.

It helped reduce the frequency of online searches, how upsetting the searching was, and improved participants ability to control their searching.

Importantly, these behavioural changes were linked to improvements in health anxiety.

Although we dont know whether the program simply reduced or completely eliminated cyberchondria, these findings show if youre feeling anxious about your health, you can use our practical strategies to reduce anxiety-provoking and excessive online searching about health.

Here are our top tips from the treatment program:

1. Be aware of your searching

Dont just search on auto-pilot.

Take note of when, where, how often, and what you are searching about.

Keep track of this for several days so you can spot the warning signs and high-risk times for when youre more likely to get stuck in excessive searching.

Then you can make a plan to do other things at those times.

2. Understand how web searches work

Web search algorithms are mysterious beasts.

But top search results are not necessarily the most likely explanation for your symptoms.

Top search results are often click-bait the rare, but fascinating and horrific stories about illness we cant help clicking on (not the boring stuff)

3. Be smart about how you search

Limit yourself to websites with reliable, high quality, balanced information such as government-run websites and/or those written by medical professionals.

Stay away from blogs, forums, testimonials or social media.

4. Challenge your thoughts by thinking of alternative explanations for your symptoms

For example, even though you think your eye twitch might be motor neuron disease, what about a much more likely explanation, such as staring at the computer screen too much.

5. Use other strategies to cut down, and prevent you from searching

Focus on scheduling these activities at your high-risk times.

These can be absorbing activities that take your focus and can distract you; or you can use relaxation strategies to calm your mind and body.

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6. Surf the urge

Rather than searching straight away when you feel the urge to search about your symptoms, put it off for a bit, and see how the urge to search reduces over time.

And if those dont help, consult a doctor or psychologist.

View original post here:
Do you have cyberchondria? The 4 signs your health anxiety is getting out of control - The Sun

A father in the Philippines holds his child, who was immunized for measles. Jason Beaubien/NPR hide caption

A father in the Philippines holds his child, who was immunized for measles.

After decades of progress against one of the most contagious human viruses, the world is seeing measles stage a slow, steady comeback.

The World Health Organization and the CDC say in a new report that there were nearly 10 million cases of measles last year, with outbreaks on every continent.

An estimated 140,000 people died from measles in 2018, WHO says, up from an all-time low of 90,000 in 2016.

And so far 2019 has been even worse.

Don't see the graphic above? Click here.

In Samoa a measles outbreak has shut down that nation's schools indefinitely. Government offices in the Pacific island nation have been closed for the last two days as part of a national immunization drive. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, measles has claimed more than 5,000 lives since January as many people as have died in that country's ongoing Ebola outbreak.

"In 2018 there's been an increase in both the cases and the deaths that have occurred from measles. In other words, we're backsliding," says Kate O'Brien, WHO's top executive on immunization, speaking in a video statement accompanying the new report.

"The reason we're having increases in cases and deaths of measles has to do fundamentally with people not getting vaccinated."

There are various reasons for the drop-off. O'Brien denounces misinformation about vaccines that's gained traction on some social media networks. In other places the health systems are so poor that vaccines simply don't reach the kids who need them.

To halt a measles outbreak in any given community, health officials say they need to get 95% of the population immunized against the virus.

Xavier Crespin, UNICEF's chief of health in the Democratic Republic of Congo, says only 50% of Congolese kids have had measles shots through routine childhood checkups. When measles outbreaks flare up, Crespin says, armed conflicts in parts of the country make it extremely difficult to respond.

"Because of the security issue, we cannot go everywhere we need to go," Crespin says from the capital Kinshasa. "There are some hot spot measles areas but it is very difficult for local teams to move toward these areas and to vaccinate children."

Most measles deaths are among children under age 5. Kids tend to get more complications than adults if they contract the disease. A common cause of death is when children who catch measles go on to develop pneumonia.

And because measles is so contagious the virus can live in the air for two hours after someone who is sick coughs or sneezes --it's one of the first diseases to make a comeback when health systems start to break down. "Measles is the canary in the coal mine," says Robert Linkins, head of the Accelerated Disease Control and Surveillance Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He says the current resurgence of measles reveals problems in basic health-care delivery systems.

"[Measles] indicates that there are problems in a community with other vaccine preventable disease coverage," he says. "And in many respects, it's a signal that we've got to pay more attention to where measles is occurring."

And currently that is all around the world.

See the article here:
Measles Cases Around The World Show A Sharp Spike In Past Two Years : Goats and Soda - NPR