Australia

New Zealand’s prime minister has assigned a top military leader to oversee the nation’s border checks after two women who had flown from London were released from quarantine before being tested for coronavirus. Jacinda Ardern called the blunder an “unacceptable failure” and said: “It should never have happened and it …

Britain and Australia need each other more than ever at this time of acute global tension, the Australian high commissioner said as the two sides launch trade talks. The UK is also kicking off trade negotiations with New Zealand on Wednesday in a new era for British diplomacy outside the …

An Australian man has been sentenced to death in China, authorities said on Saturday, a development that could further escalate tensions between the two countries. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing consular assistance to the man, without identifying him. Australian and Chinese media have identified …

A city in New Zealand has taken down its statue of a former British naval officer, becoming the latest country to reassess elements of its colonial past amid the Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the globe. Authorities in the city of Hamilton removed a bronze statue of Captain John Fane …

New Zealand said on Monday it had no active cases of COVID-19 for the first time since the novel coronavirus arrived in the country, setting it on course to eliminate the disease, lift social distancing restrictions and open up its economy. The Pacific island nation is among only a handful …

A 60-year-old surfer was attacked and killed by a 3-meter (10-foot) great white shark off the coast of northern New South Wales state on Sunday, officials said. The man received a bite to the back of his thigh and was brought to the shore by other surfers who had fought …

Tens of thousands of Australians defied government calls to stay at home Saturday by spilling onto the streets for Black Lives Matter protests in major towns and cities across the country. Marchers in Sydney, Melbourne and elsewhere rejected arguments from law enforcement and conservative leaders that mass protests could fuel …

An Australian Federal Police-led investigation has smashed open a domestic online network of alleged child sex offenders, who are accused of abusing and exploiting Australian children and recording the horrific crimes to share with others. Nine men across three states – New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia – have …

Australia is set for its first recession in 29 years as the country feels the impact of the virus pandemic. Official figures show that the economy shrank by 0.3% in the first three months of the year, amid bushfires and the early stages of the outbreak. Economists expect data for …

Mining giant Rio Tinto has apologised for blowing up 46,000-year-old Aboriginal caves in Western Australia dating back to the last Ice Age. The Juukan Gorge caves, in the Pilbara region, were destroyed last Sunday as Rio Tinto expanded an iron ore project agreed with the authorities. Many prehistoric artefacts have …

At least 12 people have been injured after a car crashed into a Muslim clothing shop in Sydney on Thursday afternoon. Local emergency services said 11 pedestrians and the male driver had been treated at the scene of Hijab House in Greenacre, on the corner of Waterloo and Boronia roads. …

Police in Western Australia has shot dead a man after several people were stabbed at a shopping center in the Pilbara region. Five people were injured in the attack at the South Hedland Square center – two of them are in a serious condition. Witnesses told local media they saw …

More than two million Australians have downloaded an app to trace contacts of COVID-19 patients hours after its release, the government said on Monday, as states set out plans to expand testing for the infection. Prime minister Scott Morrison has said more testing and widespread use of the CovidSafe phone …

New Zealanders will be able to go fishing, surfing, hunting, and hiking this week for the first time in more than a month as the country begins to ease its way out of a strict lockdown. Around 400,000 people will return to work after the country shifts its alert level …

Australia sought support for an international probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in calls with U.S. President Donald Trump and major powers, but France and Britain said now was the time to fight the virus and not apportion blame. Australia’s push for an independent review of the origins …

Australia’s highest court acquitted former Vatican treasurer George Pell on Tuesday of sexually assaulting two teenaged choirboys in the 1990s, freeing the 78-year-old cardinal after 404 days in jail. The Vatican welcomed the decision and praised Pell for having “waited for the truth to be ascertained”. In a statement, it …

Australia’s top court says it will hand down its judgment next week on the appeal made by Cardinal George Pell, who is convicted of child sex abuse. On Thursday, the country’s High Court said in a statement that it would rule on the ex-Vatican treasurer’s appeal “at 10 a.m. local …

A man accused of deadly attacks on mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch a year ago has pleaded guilty to 51 charges of murder. Brenton Tarrant, 29, also admitted the attempted murder of another 40 people, and one terrorism charge. He had previously denied the charges and was …

Sunbathers, surfers, and tourists were banned from Bondi Beach on Saturday in efforts to contain the coronavirus, which has now infected more than 1,000 people in Australia. Lifeguards emptied the sands of daytrippers and police taped off entrances to the beach in Sydney, before closing several more of the city’s …

China has for the first time reported no new locally transmitted cases of the new coronavirus at its epicenter since the country started recording infections in January. China’s National Health Commission announced on Thursday that there had been no new infections in the country’s central city of Wuhan, in Hubei …