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Tropical Cyclone Alfred on track to hit Australia’s east coast

(NYT) — Australia’s east coast is bracing for impact as Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which had been expected to remain offshore, now appears set to make landfall later this week. Damaging winds, dangerous surf and widespread flooding are expected for parts of Queensland and northern New South Wales.

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The sudden shift in Alfred’s path has caught forecasters by surprise. Initially predicted to continue southward, the storm is now expected to make a sharp turn westward Tuesday due to a high-pressure system to the south, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology. As a result, the cyclone is now on course to strike the densely populated areas between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast on Thursday.

In response, the bureau has issued a tropical cyclone warning from Double Island Point in Queensland to just north of Grafton, New South Wales, an area that includes Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Byron Bayand Ballina.

US small businesses cut jobs in February, Intuit data show

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The smallest U.S. businesses shed jobs in February and average revenue fell, a sign of pressure in one vulnerable sector of the economy that preceded the Trump administration’s announcement of sweeping new import taxes that could make the outlook even cloudier.

An index developed by software firm Intuit, which provides payroll and other business software to companies, estimated that employment at firms with one to nine workers fell by around 125,000 over the month, to 12.5 million, a nearly full percentage point decline.

While spanning industries, the drop was proportionately largest in leisure and hospitality, where employment fell by around 21,000, or nearly 1.3%.

Leisure and hospitality is particularly sensitive to consumer discretionary spending, and the decline is a possible sign of economic strain developing among households.

Average inflation-adjusted revenue fell nearly $51,000, or -0.79%, according to the latest Intuit data, derived from analysis of 440,000 firms that use the company’s payroll software.

Measles cases in Texas rise to 159, state health department says

(Reuters) — Measles cases in Texas increased from 146 to 159 on Tuesday, a week after an unvaccinated child died of the disease in one of the largest outbreaks that U.S. has seen in the past decade.

Gaines county, the center of the outbreak, reported 107 cases compared to 98 cases last week and in this period, the state’s health department said hospitalizations rose to 22 from 20.

“Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in the outbreak area and the surrounding communities,” the department said.

An unvaccinated child died of measles on February 26, the first in the U.S. since 2015. The child had no known underlying conditions, the health department said on Tuesday.

The child’s death and the rising hospitalizations in Texas have put U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s vaccine views to the test.

Public health experts have said the Trump administration should be encouraging vaccination at the national level. Kennedy has said the government is providing resources, including vaccines, to tackle the outbreak.