Oceania

Qantas to bring forward restart of international flights to November

Qantas Airways Ltd said on Friday it would restart some international flights a month earlier than planned after the Australian government said fully vaccinated Australians could enter and leave the…

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Australia’s NSW state premier resigns after corruption watchdog launches probe

The premier of Australia's most populous state New South Wales (NSW), Gladys Berejiklian, resigned on Friday after a corruption watchdog said it was investigating whether she was involved in conduct…

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EU postpones trade talks with Australia amid submarine deal fallout

Australia's Minister for Trade Dan Tehan said on Friday talks with the European Union over a trade deal have been postponed, as a row over Canberra's decision to cancel a…

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UPDATED: Australia to lift COVID-19 travel curbs for residents from November, PM says

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday announced an 18-month ban on Australians travelling abroad will be lifted from next month, easing one of the toughest COVID-19 restrictions imposed globally.…

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Australia’s federal govt to cut COVID-19 income support

Australia's federal government will wind down emergency funding for people who lost work during COVID-19 shutdowns as vaccination rates increase across the country, putting pressure on state and territory leaders…

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New Zealand’s COVID cases jump as its battles Delta variant

New Zealand's daily coronavirus cases jumped to their highest level in weeks on Wednesday, a setback to the South Pacific nation's battle to eliminate the highly infectious Delta variant from…

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CNN denies Australians access to its Facebook pages, cites defamation risk

CNN said it is preventing Australians from accessing its Facebook Inc pages after a court ruled that publishers can be liable for defamation in public comment sections and the social…

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Sydney’s COVID-19 lockdown to end sooner for the vaccinated

Australian authorities announced plans on Monday to gradually reopen locked-down Sydney, unveiling a two-tiered system that will give citizens inoculated for COVID-19 more freedoms than their unvaccinated neighbours for several…

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New Zealand to pilot home isolation for some vaccinated travellers

New Zealand is to begin allowing small numbers of vaccinated travellers to isolate at home instead of in state-run quarantine facilities as part of a phased approach to re-opening its…

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Australians find silver lining in lockdowns as wealth booms

Australians are finding a silver lining to lockdowns as super-cheap credit lifts the value of homes and shares to record highs, a windfall of wealth that gives consumers the means…

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Australia’s Victoria state logs record infections

Australia's Victoria state notched up a daily record of 847 locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and one death, government figures showed on Saturday as health officials warned the public to…

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Australia hits vaccine milestone as Melbourne cases hover near record levels

SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - More than half of Australia's adult population were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Friday, authorities said, as they step up inoculations in hopes of…

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Melbourne anti-lockdown protests fizzle out as daily cases hit pandemic high

Melbourne's streets were largely quiet on Thursday after three days of anti-lockdown protests, with hundreds of police officers on patrol in the city to prevent another rally as COVID-19 cases…

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New Zealand increases fines for COVID-19 rule breakers

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand on Friday announced higher fines of up to NZ$12,000 ($8,400) for individuals breaching coronavirus restrictions amid concerns that the current outbreak may spread beyond Auckland…

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Australia has lost one-third of its koalas in the past three years

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia has lost about 30% of its koalas over the past three years, hit by drought, bushfires and developers cutting down trees, the Australian Koala Foundation said,…

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UPDATE – Magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes near Melbourne, tremors rattle southeast Australia

SYDNEY/MELBOURNE, Sept 22 (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck near Melbourne on Wednesday, Geoscience Australia said, one of the country's biggest quakes on record, causing damage to buildings in…

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Australian PM departs for Quad meeting amid French submarine deal fallout

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday departed for Washington to meet with leaders of the Quad grouping amid criticism over his government's decision to abandon a $40 billion submarine…

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Sydney COVID-19 cases fall as curbs ease in virus hotspots

Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state on Monday reported its lowest rise in daily COVID-19 cases in more than three weeks as some lockdown restrictions were eased in Sydney, the…

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New Zealand eases COVID-19 curbs slightly in biggest city

New Zealand eased coronavirus curbs slightly in its largest city of Auckland on Monday, as the government expressed confidence that there was no widespread regional transmission of the Delta variant.…

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Australia’s two largest states trial facial recognition software to police pandemic rules

Australia's two most populous states are trialling facial recognition software that lets police check people are home during COVID-19 quarantine, expanding trials that have sparked controversy to the vast majority…

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New Zealand sees small increase in daily COVID-19 cases over weekend

New Zealand reported 24 new locally acquired coronavirus cases on Sunday, up from 20 on Saturday, showing an upturn after several days of lower numbers, as the country's largest city…

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Australia reports 1,607 COVID-19 cases as states learn to live with virus

Australia reported 1,607 new coronavirus cases on Sunday as states and territories gradually shift from trying to eliminate outbreaks to living with the virus. Victoria, home to about a quarter…

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Earthquake of magnitude 5.6 strikes Papua New Guinea

An earthquake of magnitude 5.6 struck Papua New Guinea on Sunday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said. The quake was at a depth of 40 km (24.85 miles), the…

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Australia says it regrets France’s ambassador recall decision

Sept 18 (Reuters) - Australia said on Saturday it regrets France's decision to recall its ambassador to Canberra over a security deal made with the U.S. and the UK, but…

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Photo Story: The Swell Sculpture Festival at Currumbin Beach

People walk past the sculpture by artist Danger Dave titled 'Damien Hirst looking for sharks' at the Swell Sculpture Festival at Currumbin Beach on the Gold Coast, Australia. The Swell…

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New Zealand, Australia travel bubble suspended for longer amid Delta outbreaks

New Zealand suspended quarantine-free travel with Australia for a further 8 weeks on Friday, extending a halt in the so-called travel bubble between both countries, as they deal with fresh…

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Virgin Australia to require COVID-19 vaccinations for staff

SYDNEY, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Virgin Australia said on Thursday it will require all its staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19, in line with domestic rival Qantas Airways Ltd and…

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Air New Zealand studying how to add low-emissions planes to fleet

Sept 16 (Reuters) - Air New Zealand Ltd said on Thursday it was studying how it could use low-carbon technologies like electric, hybrid or hydrogen powered planes to dramatically reduce…

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NZ says Australia’s new nuclear submarines must stay out of its waters

WELLINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday that Australia's new nuclear-powered submarines would not be allowed in its territorial waters under a long…

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Australia COVID-19 cases rise but vaccination surge gives hope

SYDNEY, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Australia's Victoria state reported its biggest one-day rise in COVID-19 cases of the year on Thursday as a surge in vaccinations nationwide raised hope for…

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UPDATED: Australia to build eight nuclear-powered submarines under new Indo-Pacific security pact

Australia will build eight nuclear-powered submarines under a new Indo-Pacific security partnership with the United States and Britain that analysts say will likely rile China, which will see the pact…

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Cyber crime spreads in Australia as COVID-19 pushes more people online

Australia reported on Wednesday a 13% jump in cyber crime in the past year, with about one incident in four targeting critical infrastructure and services as working from home during…

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Sydney nightly curfew to end as COVID-19 vaccinations hit fresh milestone

A curfew imposed on more than two million people in the 12 Sydney suburbs hardest hit by the spread of the coronavirus Delta variant will end on Wednesday night, authorities…

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New Zealand PM Ardern extends lockdown in Auckland to September 21

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's largest city Auckland will remain in lockdown to beat the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.…

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Australia’s Queensland state warns of possible COVID-19 lockdown

CANBERRA, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Australia's third most populous state said on Saturday it may order a snap lockdown after a cluster of COVID-19 cases, as the country posted a…

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Australia’s daily COVID-19 cases near 2,000 as Delta gains ground

Australia's COVID-19 daily cases topped 1,900 for the first time in the pandemic on Friday as an outbreak fuelled by the highly infectious Delta variant continued to gain ground in…

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Sydney pubs to open in mid-Oct as end of COVID lockdown looms – with cases set to rise

Sydney's cafes, restaurants and pubs are set to reopen in the second half of October after months of strict COVID-19 lockdown, even as the Prime Minister warned higher case numbers…

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Australian media outlets liable for Facebook comments, court finds

Australia's biggest news publishers including Rupert Murdoch's the Australian are responsible for comments that readers post on their corporate Facebook pages, the High Court ruled on Wednesday. The court dismissed…

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New Zealand marks downward trend in new COVID-19 cases

New Zealand reported a further fall in locally acquired COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, as the largely coronavirus-free nation looks to eradicate an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant. New…

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Australia’s NSW reports rise in COVID-19 cases; vaccinations accelerate

Three-quarters of people over the age of 16 in Australia's New South Wales (NSW) have now had at least their first vaccination dose, the state reported on Wednesday, along with…

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Vaccination rates surge in Sydney’s hard-hit suburbs as cases dip

COVID-19 daily infections in Sydney fell for a third straight day on Tuesday but still lingered near record levels as the outbreak spurred a spike in vaccination rates in the hard-hit western suburbs of…

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New Zealand’s Ardern promises new counter-terrorism laws by end of month

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday a legal loophole that allowed an Islamic State-inspired militant who carried out a supermarket attack to remain free would be closed…

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New Zealand lifts virus curbs, says Delta elimination in sight

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday said nationwide coronavirus curbs would be lifted, bar in the biggest city of Auckland, as the country gets on top of an…

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Photo Story: Australian boy, 3, rescued after four days lost in bush

Missing three-year-old Anthony is carried from an ambulance before being transported to hospital after being found on his family's property near Putty, southwest of Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia,…

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Sydney COVID-19 cases may hit peak next week as Australia steps up vaccine rollout

Authorities in Australia's New South Wales, the epicentre of the country's biggest coronavirus outbreak, said on Monday daily infections were expected to peak next week, as they look to speed…

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U.N. urges Australia to speed up efforts to drop coal

Australia's government should increase its efforts to phase out coal or else climate change will dramatically damage the country's economy, Selwin Hart, the United Nations special adviser on climate change,…

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Australia reports 1,684 new COVID-19 cases but planning a merry Christmas

Australia reported 1,684 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday as authorities race ahead with vaccinations in a bid to end lockdowns on the populous southeast coast in the hope…

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Surfer dies in shark attack off Australian beach

A surfer died on Sunday after being bitten by a shark off a surfing beach on Australia's east coast, paramedics said. The incident took place off the Emerald Beach, some…

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Three of seven New Zealand attack victims are in critical condition – PM

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Saturday that a total seven people were wounded in an attack by an Islamist militant in an Auckland shopping…

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New Zealand sees success in curbing Delta outbreak as new cases plunge

New Zealand reported 28 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, a big drop compared to the last few days, as authorities said the country was breaking the chain of transmission…

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Australian PM flags quicker reopening after COVID-19 vaccine swap with Britain

Australia has secured 4 million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines in a swap deal with Britain, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, as he looks to convince states and…

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UPDATED: Police in New Zealand kill “extremist” who stabbed six in supermarket

New Zealand police on Friday shot and killed a knife-wielding "extremist" who was known to authorities, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, after he stabbed and wounded at least six people…

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Australia looks to clear way for offshore wind farms

Australia's conservative government introduced legislation on Thursday that could help clear the way for offshore wind farms to go ahead in a country considered to have massive offshore renewable energy…

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Australia’s Commonwealth Bank taken to court over oil and gas financing policies

A Commonwealth Bank investor has sued the lender, demanding to see internal documents on its decisions to finance fossil fuel projects to ensure it has complied with its own environmental…

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New Zealand says fall in COVID-19 cases shows Delta lockdown working

New Zealand reported a drop in new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, which authorities said was a sign that a nationwide lockdown was helping to limit spread of the infectious Delta…

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Australian doctors warn of risks to hospitals once COVID-19 curbs ease

Australian doctors on Thursday warned the country's hospitals are not ready to cope with the government's reopening plans, even with higher vaccination rates, as some states prepare to move from…

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New Zealanders venture out as COVID-19 curbs eased in most regions

New Zealanders on Wednesday visited beaches and queued for takeaway food as tough lockdown measures enforced to beat an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus were…

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