Iran's death toll from the outbreak of the new coronavirus increased by 63 in the past 24 hours to 6091,Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said in a statement on state TV on Friday.

The total number of diagnosed cases of the new coronavirus in the Islamic Republic,one of the Middle Eastern countries hardest hit by the outbreak,has reached 95,646,including 2899 in critical condition,he added.

Reuters

The Sydney Morning Heraldphotographers continue to capture Sydney's mood as eastern suburb beaches reopen,lockdown rules in NSW ease and people adjust to self-isolation a month away from winter.

Spain's coronavirus death toll rose to 24,824 on Friday as 281 more people died from causes related to the disease overnight,the health ministry said.

The number of new coronavirus cases diagnosed in the country rose to a total 215,216 on Friday from 213,435 the day before,the ministry said on its website.

The previous day's death toll was 268.

The founder of the Russian Communist Party,Vladimir Ilich Lenin,is credited with the saying that"the capitalists will sell us the rope with which to hang them". Or,updating for contemporary Australia,the Chinese Communist Party might say that"the capitalists will sell us the iron ore with which we shackle them".

Australia has arrived at its moment of truth. It is now presented with the explicit choice between sovereignty and money. It arrived this week when the Chinese Communist Party publicly threatened Australia with trade boycotts for proposing an international inquiry into the global pandemic.

It's business as usual for Beijing to preach mutual respect and non-interference while intimidating countries to get its way.

"The economic coercion looks pretty standard,comparable to what China has done in South East Asia and Europe,"observes an expert on the subject,Zack Cooper of the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

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