Damaging winds and torrential rains from Alfred continue to wreak havoc across Australia’s Queensland region. Ex-tropical cyclone Alfred: More than 250,000 homes without power in Australia Gusts and torrential rain have caused widespread power outages and triggered flash floods in parts of Australia’s east coast, with one person killed and a dozen soldiers wounded. After days hovering off the coast as a Category 2 tropical cyclone and battering a 400km (250-mile) stretch of coastline, Alfred significantly weakened on Sunday, but still left significant disturbance along its path. Some 316,540 people were without power as of Sunday in Queensland’s southeast, where the Gold Coast city was the worst-hit area, energy distributor Energex said in a statement. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday that the “situation in Queensland and northern New South Wales remains very serious due to flash flooding and heavy winds”. “Heavy rainfall, damaging wind gusts, and coastal surf impacts are expected to continue over coming days,” Albanese said in Canberra. Suburbs across Brisbane have already been inundated by floodwaters today, caused by heavy rainfall overnight, rapid river level rises and elevated sea levels associated with Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. #9News STREAM HERE: https://t.co/mzkmCL0m8e pic.twitter.com/jcElfr8C3n — 9News Queensland (@9NewsQueensland) March 9, 2025 In Queensland’s Hervey Bay, more than 230mm (9 inches) of rain was recorded in just six hours on Sunday morning, according to State Premier David Crisafulli. “We’ve seen that culminate in reports of flash flooding in homes and in businesses,” Crisafulli was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. News.com.au reported that emergency services in Hervey Bay have carried out multiple rescues “in one of its worst weather emergencies on record” in the area. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said heavy rainfall that could cause flash flooding was developing on Sunday and could affect Brisbane as well as the Queensland regional centres of Ipswich, Sunshine Coast and Gympie. Damaging winds with gusts of about 90km/h (60mph) were also possible in the state, the bureau said on its website. Brisbane airport reopened on Sunday but posted on X that “ongoing weather may affect the schedule”. Queensland will decide later on Sunday whether about 1,000 state schools, closed due to the bad weather, will reopen on Monday. The neighbouring state of New South Wales (NSW) has confirmed all public schools that were closed on Friday due to Alfred will remain closed again on Monday. On Saturday, one man died in a flood in northern NSW. Meanwhile, 13 Australian Defence Force soldiers en route to help residents in NSW’s city of Lismore were injured in a road collision, officials said. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, two of the soldiers remain in serious condition. Alfred is the first cyclone to cross the east Australian coast near the Queensland state capital of Brisbane since 1974. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

The Cross River State All Progressives Congress have unanimously endorsed the state governor, Bassey Otu and his deputy, Peter Odey, as the party’s sole candidates for the 2027 gubernatorial election. This was made known on Monday during a press briefing with journalists at the party’s secretariat in Calabar. The State Chairman, Alphonsus Eba, emphasised the duo’s leadership qualities, loyalty, and governance track record, affirming that “nobody changes a winning team.” Eba also called on all members and support groups to mobilize for grassroots outreach while reaffirming its stance against unauthorised legal actions in its name. Addressing concerns over political inclusivity, APC leadership maintained that other positions remain open for contest, except for the governorship and deputy governorship seats. “It’s almost one year and ten months in office. I have come to show that we made the best choice. They say that one good time deserves another. It’s why we have decided to start, and to make it known, that in front of the Peregrino Government House of Cross River States, the State Working Committee of the party, and the State Executive Committee of the party, met today, and have come and resolved, that Senator Prince Bassi Edet Otu, is our sole candidate for the Governorship election of 2027. “It was a joint ticket that they had, with His Excellency, the present acting Governor, Rt Hon Peter Odey, a young man whom we have found so much loyalty, we have seen so much intellect, we have seen so much support base to the Governor. “In the politics of Cross River State, we want to use this opportunity to make it widely known that anybody who aspires to run for any office apart from the office of the Governor and Deputy Governor of the State, those who are already sitting, they have the right to aspire,” he stated. He added, “Nobody changes a winning team, and we know that the Governor is a man who is filled with wisdom. It is therefore the decision of this party that these two best pairs, by the special grace of God, will fly the flag of our party in 2027. “All party members, support groups, are therefore commissioned to freely go into the field, and to continue the evangelical mission that will now take them to the field. Nobody speaks to the converted. We need to do more work, with our brothers and sisters in the opposition, to join hands with us. He praised Otu and his deputy for their alignment with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, asserting “it was a necessary step to prevent conflict escalation.”

Trump’s 25 percent tariff could ‘level the playing field’ for Chinese brands insulated from the US market, analyst say. China’s automakers could be among the surprising beneficiaries of United States President Donald Trump’s trade war as a 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles and auto parts takes effect on Thursday, analysts say. The White House has argued the tariff is necessary to protect the US auto industry and strengthen the country’s industrial base and supply chains. The US last year imported $475bn worth of auto parts, engines and vehicles, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, primarily from Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Germany and Canada. China’s presence in the US auto industry has been limited since Trump launched his first trade war in 2018 and imposed tariffs on $380bn worth of Chinese goods. Chinese-made “light vehicles” – cars, vans, and motorcycles – represented only 0.4 percent of light vehicle sales in the US in 2024, according to JATO Dynamics, an automotive market research firm. This limited presence is largely due to low brand recognition in the US for Chinese automakers and a 100 percent tariff imposed last year by former US President Joe Biden. Starting in 2027, the US will also ban the sale of any Chinese-made “connected vehicle” hardware or software on alleged national security grounds. These systems, commonly found in EVs, allow vehicles to exchange data via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or satellite. Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, said Chinese automakers are less immediately affected by the US tariffs than their global competitors, which could give them a long-term advantage. “With European, Japanese and South Korean brands financially burdened by the US market, Chinese brands now have weakened competitors. The cost of doing business in the US will hurt every automaker in that market, but Chinese automakers don’t rely on the US for significant revenue,” Fiorani told Al Jazeera. Chinese automakers could also benefit as their competitors face higher costs due to the tariffs, potentially making them more cost competitive in other markets, Fiorani said. The benefits will be most apparent in the EV market, according to experts, even as they remain locked out of the US. China dominates both EV manufacturing and battery production, and last year its EV powerhouse BYD surpassed Elon Musk’s Tesla in annual global revenue thanks to strong domestic sales. China is also home to six of the world’s top 10 EV battery manufacturers. While Trump’s tariffs are expected to have a limited impact on Tesla, which relies less on foreign parts, experts say they will harm would-be competitors to BYD like South Korea’s Hyundai, Japan’s Nissan, and Germany’s BMW and Mercedes. Tu Le, the founder and managing director of Sino Auto Insights, said Trump’s tariff policies and push to onshore manufacturing in the US could make American brands less competitive in the long term, ultimately benefitting China. “The reality is, if things continue as they are for the US auto industry, it could be uncompetitive in four years. Instead of investing in clean energy or charging infrastructure, they are focusing on bringing factories back to the United States,” Lu told Al Jazeera. However, Chinese auto parts suppliers could suffer greater fallout from the tariffs than automakers due to their higher exposure to the US market, according to Nick Marro, principal economist for Asia at the Economist Intelligence Unit. “Chinese carmakers don’t sell much in the US, especially due to high tariffs on electric vehicles, which Chinese brands tend to dominate. However, Chinese auto part manufacturers have historically seen the US as a major market,” Marro told Al Jazeera. “If disruptions occur, it would likely affect the intermediate components part of the supply chain, which could have cascading effects on the final assembly of US vehicles.” A significant question surrounding Trump’s auto tariffs is how they will affect Chinese and other foreign manufacturers that have relocated to Mexico to take advantage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and proximity to the US border. Following Trump’s 2018 trade war with Beijing, many Chinese manufacturers moved operations to Southeast Asia and later Mexico to avoid tariffs. As a result, Mexico’s trade with the US has surged, surpassing China to become the US’s top trading partner in 2023. In 2024, Mexico supplied more than 40 percent of US auto parts, but many originated from Chinese factories that established operations there over the past eight years. While the Mexican and Canadian auto industries will receive some exemptions from Trump’s 25 percent tariffs thanks to the USMCA, the EIU’s Marro said that Mexico City is expected to reassess its Chinese manufacturing base as it tries to negotiate down additional tariffs. During his presidential campaign last year, Trump incorrectly claimed that Mexico allowed Chinese automakers to build factories to ship finished vehicles to the US without paying taxes. The issue remains a point of contention, particularly after Trump’s return to the White House in January. The Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, reported last month that Mexico’s Ministry of Commerce had been delaying approving a BYD manufacturing facility due to concerns smart car technology could make it across the US border. Tu Le from Sino Auto Insights said some Chinese companies might seek permission to set up manufacturing in the US. “I think there is going to be a huge opportunity for Chinese automakers to negotiate a way to build in the United States. I think the Trump administration might see that there is investment happening in the EU,” he said. Such a development would follow similar moves by other Asian carmakers, such as South Korea’s Hyundai, which recently announced a $21bn investment in the US ahead of the tariff deadline. Ilaria Marzocco, a senior fellow specialising in Chinese business and economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said prospects for Chinese automakers remain uncertain due to current restrictions on “connected vehicles” imposed by the Bureau of Industry and Security in January. “I think many people are speculating about a deal where Chinese automakers invest in the US. But aside from the politics, which are challenging, the current connected vehicle restrictions would make it very difficult,” Marzocco told Al Jazeera. Follow Al Jazeera English:...