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SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australians voted Saturday to oust Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government, ending a decade of conservative rule, media projections showed. Labor leader Anthony Albanese is on track to win more seats than the ruling coalition, national broadcaster ABC and other media said, with half of the ballots counted. It was not yet clear if Labor would need allies to secure a majority. ABC projections indicated Labor had so far secured 72 […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who has overseen her country’s world-leading response to the coronavirus pandemic, has tested positive for Covid-19, her office announced Saturday. Ardern’s symptoms are moderate and she will isolate at home for seven days, the government said in a statement. She has already been in isolation since last Sunday, when her partner Clarke Gayford tested positive, and was due to resume her parliamentary duties […]
HONIARA, Solomon Islands (AFP) — The Solomon Islands’ prime minister dismissed criticism of a new maritime investment deal with China on Wednesday, saying there was nothing “sinister” in the draft agreement. The new agreement, a copy of which has been leaked to the media, comes after a controversial security pact was signed last month. The pact sparked alarm in Australia and the United States, which feared it could lead to Beijing securing a military foothold […]
A 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck Tuesday in the Bismarck Sea about 200 kilometres (120 miles) off Papua New Guinea’s coast, the US Geological Survey said. A preliminary USGS assessment said there was a “low likelihood of casualties and damage from the quake”, which had an estimated depth of 10 kilometres. There were no tsunami warnings. Papua New Guinea sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, which is a hotspot for seismic activity due to […]
by Kelly MACNAMARA Food is fundamental to the efforts to tackle climate change, according to a scientist who has spent decades tracing the interactions between global warming and what we eat. Cynthia Rosenzweig, head of the Climate Impacts Group at NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, was Thursday awarded the prestigious World Food Prize for her research. That includes stark warnings about the potential effect climate change will have on food. Her comments to AFP […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — China is “very likely” to put troops in the Solomon Islands after signing a contentious security deal with the Pacific nation, Australia’s home affairs minister said Wednesday. The deal was announced by Beijing last Tuesday, just weeks after a draft version leaked on social media and sparked concern it could open the door to a Chinese military presence in the South Pacific. Asked how realistic it was that China would […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Crowds of Australians and New Zealanders joined Anzac Day services at dawn on Monday to honor their armed forces as the countries’ leaders pointed to new global threats and the war in Ukraine. With Covid-19 restrictions of the past two years eased, large numbers of people gathered just before the sun rose to observe solemn ceremonies, many held at beaches and war memorials in towns and cities across the two countries. […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Monday voiced alarm over a potential security deal between China and the Solomon Islands, as top US diplomats headed to the South Pacific to curb Beijing’s inroads. Kurt Campbell and Daniel Kritenbrink, the top officials on Asia at the National Security Council and State Department respectively, will lead the delegation traveling this week to the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. A leaked draft of […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Heavy rain triggered evacuation orders in Sydney on Thursday, as swollen rivers threatened homes and flooded roads in the latest wild weather to lash Australia’s east. Residents in several suburbs of Sydney’s south and southwest were told to leave for safety as fast-flowing rivers rose. “We have seen exceptionally sharp, short bursts of rain that have created significant flash flooding events around parts of the Illawarra,” New South Wales State Emergency […]
NOUMEA, France (AFP) — A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck east of the French territory of New Caledonia on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, triggering tsunami warnings for some Pacific islands that officials later said were no longer in effect. The USGS said the tremor struck at 4.44 pm local time (0544 GMT) at a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), 279 kilometres (173 miles) southeast of Tadine, New Caledonia. It initially gave the magnitude […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Thousands of people across eastern Australia have been told to leave their homes as storms bear down on cities and towns still recovering from record deadly flooding just weeks ago. Multiple evacuation orders were issued for the town of Lismore, which was devastated last month when record-high 14.3-meter (47 feet) floodwaters engulfed homes, swept away cars, and stranded locals on the roofs of their homes. Hundreds of people had to be […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia is offering a fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccines to over 65s from next month, federal health authorities announced Friday, as a new Omicron strain races through the population. The top advisory group on vaccines approved the fourth shot for vulnerable groups: those aged over 65, indigenous people over 50, people who are immunocompromised and care home residents. In the past six weeks, other countries, including France, Germany and Sweden […]
