Tag Archives: Australia

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday announced an 18-month ban on Australians traveling abroad will be lifted from next month, easing one of the toughest COVID-19 restrictions imposed globally. Reopening the international border for citizens and permanent residents will be linked to the establishment of home quarantine in Australia’s …

Australian police have launched an investigation into an incident allegedly involving heavy-handed policing after video footage of a violent confrontation in Melbourne was widely shared on social media this week. The 12-second clip, which began circulating Wednesday night, shows an unidentified man talking to a group of Victoria Police officers …

Teaching assistant Georgina was settling into a new life in the shipbuilding town of Cherbourg with her Australian husband when Canberra revealed it was scrapping the $40 billion submarine order that he had been sent to France to work on. Ten months after the couple arrived in France, Georgina was …

US President Joe Biden will host a first in-person summit of leaders of the “Quad” countries – Australia, India, Japan, and the United States – which have been seeking to enhance cooperation to push back against alleged China’s growing assertiveness. The summit will be held at the White House on …

Indonesia and Australia agreed to deepen security ties during a ministerial meeting on Thursday, with discussions underway towards enabling joint military training in Australia and participation in its defence academies. Agreements were signed over counter-terrorism, defence and cybersecurity, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said, plus another agreement on support for …

India, the United States, Australia, and Japan, which form a security grouping commonly known as the Quad, have kicked off the 25th edition of joint naval drills off the coast of the Pacific island of Guam. According to Press TV, the navies of the four countries will hold the latest …

More than 250 people have been arrested in Australia after police in Melbourne and Sydney clashed with thousands of demonstrators protesting against Covid lockdowns. In Melbourne, a crowd of about 4,000 mostly unmasked protesters let off flares, yelled and blasted music in the central city. A total of 218 people …

Australia flew 26 people out of Afghanistan in its first rescue flight, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday, after Australian troops arrived to help with the evacuation from Kabul airport that has been secured by U.S. and British colleagues. Australia said on Monday it would send 250 military personnel …

Australia’s biggest city of Sydney recorded its deadliest day of the COVID-19 pandemic on Monday as troops and police set up roadblocks to limit the movement of people, while Melbourne faced a nightly curfew and a further two weeks of lockdown. Sydney, which is in its eighth week of lockdown, …

Australia’s second-biggest city Melbourne will stay locked down for a second week after reporting 20 new COVID-19 cases as it struggles to stamp out infections caused by the highly infectious Delta variant of the pandemic. Melbourne had been due to exit the lockdown on Thursday, the sixth for its five …

Australian officials warned Sydney residents on Friday to brace for a surge in COVID-19 cases after the country’s largest city logged record infections for the second straight day despite a weeks-long lockdown to stamp out an outbreak of Delta variant. “Just based on the trend in the last few days …

Australia says it will provide a reparation fund of 380 million Australian dollars ($280 million) for some members of its indigenous population who were forcibly removed from their families as children. Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison made the announcement during a speech to parliament about the so-called “Stolen Generation” on …

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 …

Qantas Airways Ltd is temporarily idling about 2,500 employees without pay for at least two months in a bid to cope with fresh COVID-19 restrictions in Australia slashing domestic travel demand. The decision will directly impact domestic pilots, cabin crew, and airport workers, mostly in New South Wales, the airline …

A blaze at a massive Tesla battery site in Australia that started three days ago was brought under control on Monday, firefighters said. Emergency services were first called to the Victoria Big Battery project — built by French renewable energy firm Neoen using Tesla batteries — on Friday morning. A …

Extroverted men who put their self-interests above others are most likely to ignore COVID-19 regulations, a new study published on Thursday found.

The Great Barrier Reef will not be added to a list of World Heritage Sites that are “in danger” after a UN panel on Friday agreed to defer a vote until 2022 amid intensive lobbying by Australia. A United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) committee last month recommended …

Thousands take to the streets of the Australian city to protest against lockdown restrictions amid a surge in cases. Thousands of anti-lockdown activists marched through major Australian cities on Saturday, following an extension of Covid-19 restrictions. Multiple people were arrested and dozens charged with offenses after brawls broke out. Protesters …

The World Heritage Committee was set to consider Friday whether to add the Great Barrier Reef to UNESCO’s list of endangered sites, after high-level lobbying from Australia to prevent the move. The United Nations cultural agency recommended in June that the reef’s World Heritage status be downgraded because of its …

Brisbane was picked Wednesday to host the 2032 Olympics, the inevitable winner of a one-city race steered by the IOC to avoid rival bids. The Games will go back to Australia 32 years after the popular 2000 Sydney Olympics. Melbourne was hosted in 1956. “We know what it takes to …