An Australian archaeologist and two Papua New Guinea researchers held for a week by 20 armed men in a remote part of the Pacific Island nation were released on Sunday, while their captors remain at large, a local official told Reuters. Professor Bryce Barker and doctoral student Teppsy Beni from …
Read More »Australia records one of its youngest COVID-19 deaths as Sydney outbreak grows
Australia’s New South Wales reported one of the country’s youngest deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, as daily infections lingered near a 16-month high despite the lockdown of five million people in state capital Sydney entering its sixth week. The unnamed man in his 20s, who had no underlying health issues …
Read More »Sydney isolated as COVID-19 clusters build; NZ tightens curbs in capital
Australia’s largest city of Sydney re-introduced “soft touch” COVID-19 curbs on Wednesday to contain a widening outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant, mandating masks in offices while neighboring states closed their borders. ———————————————————————————- Summary Workplace masks mandatory, home visits limited to five people Neighbouring states close borders Wellington alert …
Read More »Australian city wakes to another lockdown as more state borders close
Australia’s second-most populous city began a six-week lockdown on Thursday following a spike in new coronavirus cases, as states around the country tightened internal borders to prevent a second wave sweeping the country. Australia has avoided the high casualty numbers of other countries to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed …
Read More »Five die as light plane crashes in northern Australia
A light plane crashed in heavy monsoon rains on the northeastern tip of Australia on Wednesday, killing all five people on board, police said. The chartered flight, carrying four government workers and the pilot, had twice tried to land near Lockhart River, on Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula. “The plane approached …
Read More »VIDEO: Storms lash some bushfires-hit areas in Australia
Parts of Australia’s east coast were hit by severe storms on Saturday, dousing some of the bushfires that have devastated the region for months but causing road closures and flash flooding. Fears of smoke from the fires disrupting the Australian Open tennis receded in Melbourne, where the main tournament was …
Read More »Australia will not host US missiles, PM.
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the United States has not requested to deploy intermediate-range missiles in his country, stressing that such a request will be met with rejection. “It’s not been asked to us, not being considered, not been put to us. I think I can rule a line …
Read More »Strange objects found in 4.7-meter crocodile’s stomach
The owner of an Australian crocodile farm has told of his shock after finding a surgical plate in the stomach of a 4.7-meter (15-foot) reptile. The saltwater crocodile, named M.J., died in June at the Koorana Crocodile Farm near Rockhampton, Queensland, in the country’s northeast. The orthopedic plate was discovered …
Read More »Death sentence for the Great Barrier Reef: Australia approves controversial coal mine.
One of India’s richest men just got the green light to start building a new coal mine in Australia despite fierce opposition from climate change campaigners. The Adani Group, owned by billionaire Gautam Adani, said in a statement it would begin construction of the Carmichael mine in Queensland after receiving …
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