Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
by Maddison Connaughton © Agence France-Presse Sydney, AUSTRALIA (AFP) — Anthony Albanese, Australia’s 31st prime minister, was rushed to hospital a year ago, after a four-wheel-drive slammed into his car. “I thought that was it,” he told a local radio station of the accident. At the time, his Labor Party trailed the country’s ruling conservative government in opinion polls, struggling to cut through during the Covid-19 pandemic. But the near-death experience changed his life, […]
CANBERRA, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s new centre-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took office Monday a few hours before flying out to attend an international summit in Tokyo. Albanese, who says Australia is willing to engage with the world on climate change, will join a summit Tuesday with the US, Japanese and Indian leaders, known as the Quad. The 59-year-old new prime minister was sworn in at a brief ceremony in Government House, Canberra. Other […]
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 […]
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday congratulated Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on his presumptive win in the presidential election. In a tweet, Morrison said he hopes the two nations’ relations would continue to flourish under the new Philippine leadership. I congratulate Ferdinand Marcos Jr @bongbongmarcos on being elected President of the Philippines at the national elections on 9 May. Following the 75th anniversary of Australia-Philippines relations last year, we look […]
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 […]
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 […]
MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Top drivers led by Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen welcomed the “very exciting” news Friday that Porsche and Audi could be lining up on the Formula One grid in 2026. Their Volkswagen parent group told AFP on Thursday that they were in the “final phase” of a study to assess the possibility. Seven-time world champion Hamilton said ahead of Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix that he “knew about it a long time […]
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 […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – The Australian coastal enclave of Byron Bay, best known for its celebrity residents and idyllic beaches, was inundated by floodwaters Wednesday as severe storms battered stretches of the country’s east. Torrential rain that began Monday proved unrelenting, with more than 250 millimetres (9.8 inches) falling in the area in 24 hours, forcing many shops in the Byron Bay town centre to close as roads were cut off by rising water levels. […]
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 […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is suffering a “mass bleaching event” as coral comes under heat stress from warmer seas, reef authorities said Friday. An aerial survey showed coral bleaching at multiple reefs, “confirming a mass bleaching event, the fourth since 2016,” said a report by the Reef Authority, which manages the world’s largest coral reef system. Coral suffered despite the cooling effect of the La Nina weather phenomenon which is currently […]
