Australia

Australian parliament passes media reforms

Australia's parliament passed a law on Thursday to make Alphabet Inc's Google and Facebook Inc pay media companies for content on their platforms in reforms that countries such as Britain…

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Australia COVID-19 cases trend lower, Qantas pushes back international flights

Australia on Thursday continued its downward trend of COVID-19 cases, stoking hopes of a faster return to normal, while Qantas Airways pushed back international travel plans by four months as…

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Some Australian states ease curbs after weeks of no COVID cases

Two Australian states will loosen restrictions on dancing at indoor venues and ease other curbs from Friday after several weeks of no COVID-19 cases. In New South Wales (NSW), 30…

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Facebook to restore Australian news pages after tweaks to media laws

Facebook will restore Australian news pages after Canberra offered amendments to a proposed law designed to force tech giants to pay for media content displayed on their platforms, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on…

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Quarantine-free travel resumes from New Zealand to Australia

Quarantine-free travel from New Zealand to Australia has resumed ahead of a downgraded alert level expected in Auckland today. Australia reopened the one-way travel bubble this morning following a cluster…

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Australia begins mass COVID-19 vaccination programme

Australia on Monday began its mass COVID-19 vaccine programme with frontline healthcare staff and senior citizens getting the first doses as the country looked set to report no local cases…

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Australia takes “massive step” toward normal

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday, calling the start of the nation's vaccination programme a "massive step" that will enable it…

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Medvedev beats Tsitsipas, meets Djokovic in Australian Open final

Russia's Daniil Medvedev will seek to earn his first Grand Slam title when he meets Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open men’s singles final after he overcame Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas…

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Facebook news goes dark in Australia as content spat escalates

Australians woke to empty news feeds on their Facebook Inc pages on Thursday after the social media giant blocked all media content in a surprise and dramatic escalation of a…

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Australian PM promises probe after rape allegation

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison apologised on Tuesday to a woman who alleged she was raped in the country's parliament by an unnamed colleague, and promised a thorough investigation into…

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COVID-19 vaccines touch down in Australia, New Zealand, inoculations to start

SYDNEY, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Australia and New Zealand have received their first COVID-19 vaccine deliveries and will begin rolling out inoculations in the coming week, while populous cities of…

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Djokovic advances, Osaka, Williams win thrillers; Thiem crashes out

Sydney (dpa) - Title holder Novak Djokovic showed little sign of injury as he advanced into the Australian Open quarter-finals with his 300th win at the majors while last year's finalist Dominic Thiem…

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Medvedev, Rublev make history for Russia, Barty also progresses

Sydney (dpa) - Russia has three men in a grand slam fourth round for the first time after Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev won in contrasting style on Saturday at the Australian Open…

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Australia to introduce landmark Google, Facebook legislation to parliament next week

Australia will introduce landmark legislation to force Alphabet's Google and Facebook to pay publishers and broadcasters for content next week, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Friday. Australia is on course…

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Melbourne enters new lockdown

Australia’s second-most populous city will enter a five-day snap coronavirus lockdown, authorities said on Friday, barring spectators from the Australian Open tennis tournament. A fresh COVID-19 cluster linked to a…

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New COVID cluster in Australia’s Melbourne expands to 10 cases

Health authorities in Australia's Victoria state ramped up contact tracing and prepared for more mass testing of residents in Melbourne after a new COVID-19 cluster linked to a quarantine hotel…

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New Zealand, Australia on tsunami watch after strong South Pacific quake

WELLINGTON: A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the South Pacific region on Thursday, triggering tsunami warnings and calls for residents to avoid beaches and shore areas. The European Mediterranean Seismological Center…

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Dominant Williams and Djokovic into third round of Australian Open

Sydney (dpa) - Serena Williams's chase for a record-equalling 24th grand slam continued on Wednesday after she steamrolled past Serbia's Nina Stojanovic into the third round of the Australian Open, while two-time defending…

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U.S., Australia discuss China and Myanmar in first leaders call, White House says

CANBERRA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison discussed how they can work together to deal with China and a recent military coup…

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Photo Story: Mural depicting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison as Captain Cook, Australia

A view of a mural depicting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison as Captain Cook by artist Scott Marsh in Newtown, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 26 January 2021. Australia Day…

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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: 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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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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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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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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Australian GP will be postponed, says F1 team owner Stroll

LONDON (Reuters) - The Australian Grand Prix will be postponed to the back end of the Formula One season with Bahrain replacing it as the opening race in March, Aston…

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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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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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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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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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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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