Oceania

Photo Story: Temperatures to reach 40 degrees Celcius in parts of Sydney

A general view of Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, 26 January 2021. Temperatures in parts of Sydney are set to hit 40 degrees Celcius on Australia Day, with respite unlikely…

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Photo Story: Invasion Day rally in Melbourne

People take part in an Invasion Day rally in Melbourne, Australia, on 26 January 2021. Australia Day marks the anniversary of the 1788 raising of the British flag at Sydney…

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China, NZ ink trade deal as Beijing calls for reduced global barriers

China and New Zealand signed a deal that upgrades their existing free trade pact on Tuesday, giving exports from the Pacific nation greater access to the world's second-largest economy. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern…

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Photo Story: Bushfire in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia

A view of a burnt roadside at an area off of Nicholls Road in Scott Creek where emergency services are trying to control a fire that originated in Cherry Gardens…

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New Zealand confirms first COVID-19 case in months, sparking Australia travel halt – Update

WELLINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - New Zealand on Monday confirmed its first case of COVID-19 in the community in months in a 56-year-old woman, but said close contacts of the…

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Australia has eye on vaccination drive even though coronavirus under control

MELBOURNE, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Australia recorded no new local coronavirus cases on Sunday, maintaining a recent run of success in keeping the virus at bay, but nevertheless is keen…

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Australia’s Victoria state records 16 days with no community COVID; nationwide no local cases for 5 days

Australia’s second most populous state of Victoria eased social gathering restrictions on Friday after recording 16 days without any new coronavirus infections in the community, doubling the number of people…

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Google says it will shut search engine in Australia if forced to pay for news

Alphabet Inc's Google said on Friday it would block its search engine in Australia if the government proceeds with a new code that would force it and Facebook Inc to…

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Australia records fourth day of zero coronavirus cases

Australia recorded a fourth day of zero coronavirus cases on Thursday, prompting the chief of the country's most populous state to call for a special travel "bubble" with Pacific island…

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Australia unlikely to fully reopen borders in 2021

Australia may not fully reopen its international borders this year even if most of the population is vaccinated against coronavirus, the head of its health department said on Monday as…

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Australian scientists suggest delaying AstraZeneca vaccine deployment

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Some Australian scientists have proposed delaying mass inoculation using AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine with a view to considering a different shot instead. Questions surrounding the vaccine in Australia,…

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New Zealand to ask international travellers for negative virus test before flying in

(Reuters) - New Zealand will ask international travelers from most countries to show negative COVID-19 test results before boarding flights to the country as new contagious variants of COVID-19 spread…

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Residents flee, find shelter as bushfire nears South Australian town

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Residents of a small town in South Australia state were warned to seek shelter on Monday as firefighters were called in to battle a fast-moving grassfire. Locals…

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New Zealand central bank data system breached

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand said on Sunday that it was responding with urgency to a breach of one of its data systems. A third-party file-sharing service used by…

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Australia on high alert after overseas travellers bring new COVID-19 strains

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia's health officials said on Saturday they are on high alert after cases of highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus, discovered in Britain and South Africa,…

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Australia to require negative COVID-19 results for international travellers

Australia will require all international travellers to test negative for COVID-19 before boarding flights to the country, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, as it tightened travel rules to…

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Australia says COVID-19 vaccinations likely to begin February

Australia is on course to begin administering the first COVID-19 vaccines in February, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday, as the country moves to accelerate its inoculation programme as…

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Australia brings forward COVID-19 vaccine roll-out to early March

Australian health authorities are bringing forward the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines by two weeks to early March, even as recent outbreaks in the country's two largest cities appeared to stabilize.…

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Three Australian cities told to get COVID tests and isolate

Australia's most populous state New South Wales on Tuesday called on residents in three cities to be tested for COVID-19 and isolate, as concerns grew that a Sydney cluster may have spread to regional areas…

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New Zealand tightens border again amid fears over new Covid strain

New Zealand has further tightened border controls amid mounting anxiety about the new strain of coronavirus driving up infections overseas. Six cases of the new variant of the virus –…

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New South Wales reports zero COVID cases, urges thousands to get tested

Australia’s most populous state New South Wales (NSW) on Monday reported zero local coronavirus cases for the first time in nearly three weeks, as Sydney battled multiple outbreaks and authorities…

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Australia’s COVID-19 cases on the rise as masks made compulsory

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia's most-populous state of New South Wales (NSW) reported eight new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, while neighbouring Victoria's tally increased by three, as new measures to combat the…

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New Year brings in changes in Australian national anthem

Australia amended its national anthem to remove reference to the country being “young and free” amid calls to recognise that its Indigenous people are the oldest continued civilization in the…

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Australia’s NSW tightens restrictions as virus cluster expands

Australia's most populous state of New South Wales on Saturday made masks compulsory and imposed new restrictions as its coronavirus cluster expanded by seven, while neighbouring Victoria recorded 10 new…

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Photo Story: Crowd-free Sydney on New Year’s Eve celebrations

A composite image compares the crowd size at Sydney's Circular Quay on New Year's Eve of 31 December 2019 (L) and of 31 December 2020, in Sydney, New South Wales…

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Sydney told to watch its famous New Year’s Eve fireworks from home

MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Sydney, one of the world's first major cities to welcome each New Year with a public countdown featuring a fireworks display over its well-known Opera House, has banned…

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Rain, COVID-19 keep beachgoers away from Sydney’s Bondi Beach

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Poor weather and the COVID-19 pandemic kept beachgoers away on Friday from Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach, a traditional Christmas destination for thousands of people each year. With…

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Millions of Sydney residents asked to ‘limit’ Christmas festivities to fight COVID cluster

Millions of Sydney residents were asked to limit their mobility over the Christmas holidays, with some families in lockdown and festive gatherings limited to 10 visitors indoors, as officials try…

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Australia detects new UK strain

Australia said on Monday it had detected cases of the new virulent coronavirus strain identified in the United Kingdom, while Hong Kong said it would suspend Britain flights. Two travellers…

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Australia’s most populous state says COVID-19 cases at 3-day low

Australia's most populous state on Monday reported its lowest one-day rise in new COVID-19 cases in three days, stoking cautious optimism that authorities have contained an outbreak in Sydney's northern…

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Sydney isolated from rest of Australia as COVID outbreak grows

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Sydney was isolated from the rest of Australia on Sunday after all of the country's states and territories imposed travel restrictions on its residents as a coronavirus cluster…

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Christmas travel chaos, Australia imposes border curbs as Sydney virus cluster grows

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian states and territories on Friday begun imposing border restrictions after 28 COVID-19 cases were detected from a cluster on Sydney's northern beaches, with fears the number of…

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Kangaroos can learn to communicate with humans, researchers say

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Kangaroos can learn to communicate with humans similar to how domesticated dogs do, by using their gaze to "point" and ask for help, researchers said in a…

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Australia reports first local COVID-19 case in two weeks after airport worker tests positive

Australia’s most populous state on Wednesday reported its first coronavirus case in nearly two weeks after an airport worker tested positive prompting authorities to suggest international flight crews should also…

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Australia gets ready for floods

Just days after bushfires threatened an Australian World Heritage site, thousands were bracing for floods on the subtropical east coast on Sunday, with beaches closed and the authorities urging people…

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Australia says it will hit 2030 emissions target without counting old carbon credits

MELBOURNE/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia on Friday said it would achieve its 2030 carbon emissions pledge under the Paris climate agreement without counting carbon credits from overachieving on its previous climate targets, marking…

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The Blue Mountains World Heritage site has been downgraded, but it’s not too late to save it

Twenty years ago, UNESCO inscribed the greater Blue Mountains area on the World Heritage List for having “outstanding universal value”. If you’ve travelled to the Blue Mountains, with its rugged…

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New Zealand’s Ardern apologises as report into mosque attack faults focus on Islamist terror risks

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand security agencies were "almost exclusively" focused on the perceived threat of Islamist terrorism before a white supremacist gunman killed 51 Muslim worshippers last year, a…

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New Zealand’s Ardern vows accountability ahead of Christchurch attack report

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday vowed accountability for the families of last year's Christchurch mosque attack victims, ahead of the public release of a…

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Australia’s ‘black summer’ bushfires killed or harmed more than 60,000 koalas – WWF

SYDNEY (Reuters) - More than 60,000 koalas were killed, injured or displaced in Australian bushfires last summer, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has estimated, in what it called…

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Australian state eases restrictions for ‘COVID safe’ summer

MELBOURNE, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Australia's Victoria state eased COVID-19 restrictions on Sunday after the country's pandemic hotspot recorded 37 days without any new coronavirus infections, moving toward a "COVID-safe"…

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Australia’s Great Barrier Reef status lowered to critical and deteriorating

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The health of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the world's most extensive and spectacular coral reef ecosystem, is in a critical state and deteriorating as climate change warms…

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Photo Story: Unusual sculpture unveiled in Melbourne

General view of a large-scale sculpture of chimpanzee David Greybeard after it's unveiling in collaboration between Australian visual artist Lisa Roet and wildlife conservation organisation the Jane Goodall Institute Global,…

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Australia aims to complete review of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine by Jan 2021

Australia's pharmaceutical regulator said on Thursday it is on course to review Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine by January 2021, with the country sticking to a March timetable to start vaccinations. Britain…

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COVID-free for days, Australian state resumes singing, dancing, religious services

Australia's most populous state said that from Monday it would remove limits on the number of people at weddings, bars and religious services and end a ban on public venue…

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New Zealand declares climate emergency, promises carbon neutral govt by 2025

New Zealand promised its public sector would become carbon neutral by 2025 as it declared a climate emergency on Wednesday, a symbolic move that critics said needed to be backed…

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Fears of bushfires in Sydney as city swelters through hottest November night on record

Sydney has sweltered through its hottest November night since records began more than 160 years ago, as temperatures climbed to 40C in the city for a second consecutive day. The…

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Once Australia’s COVID-19 hotspot, Victoria goes 28 days without an infection

Australia's second-largest state, Victoria, once the country's COVID-19 hotspot, said on Friday it has gone 28 days without detecting any new infections, a benchmark widely cited as eliminating the virus…

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Photo Story: More stranded Australians repatriated

An Australian woman and her baby exit a bus as they arrive for mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine at the Pacific Hotel in Canberra, Australia, 26 November 2020. Around 150 Australians…

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New Zealand PM offers COVID-19 help to U.S. President-elect Biden

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday she offered President-elect Joe Biden assistance with tackling the rampant outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States. During the first talks…

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Photo Story: Flights between Victoria and New South Wales resume

Passengers disembark the first Qantas flight from Melbourne following the lifting of border restrictions at Sydney Airport, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 23 November 2020. Border restrictions were lifted between…

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Australia moves towards ‘normality’

Australia moved a step closer to normal life on Sunday, opening some internal borders and easing restrictions in regions affected by COVID-19, as the vast majority of the country has…

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Australia defence chief pledges changes after damning Afghanistan war-crimes report

Australia's top military official said on Sunday the country's defence force must 'own' a recent report on soldiers committing crimes in Afghanistan and pledged changes to ensure that atrocities do…

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South Australia orders six-day statewide lockdown against fresh virus outbreak

South Australia announced a six-day lockdown of the state on Wednesday to stamp out a fresh coronavirus outbreak that has now expanded to 22 cases, warning the strain of virus…

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Judge considers dismissing charges in Australian media trial over Pell conviction

An Australian judge on Tuesday adjourned a trial of Australian journalists and media to consider whether to dismiss charges they breached a court suppression order on reporting of ex-Vatican treasurer…

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Australia’s Qantas celebrates subdued 100th birthday

Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd, the world's third-oldest airline, on Monday marked its 100th birthday during its toughest year yet due to the coronavirus pandemic but is looking to the future…

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Australia’s economy on a ‘road to recovery’, says RBA’s Lowe

Australia's success in controlling the coronavirus has put the economy on a "road to recovery", the country's central bank governor said on Monday even as a new outbreak of COVID-19…

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