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SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Rain fell across parts of bushfire-ravaged eastern Australia on Thursday and more wet weather was forecast, giving some relief following months of catastrophic blazes fuelled by climate change. The fires, unprecedented for Australia in terms of duration and intensity, have claimed 28 lives and killed an estimated billion animals. Sustained hot weather and only very rare periods of light rain in the affected areas have deepened the crisis. So authorities had […]
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — The world’s tallest tower, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, lit up Wednesday night in solidarity with Australia where devastating fires are still burning. The bushfires have consumed about 10 million hectares (100,000 square kilometers), leaving at least 28 people dead and destroying more than 2,000 homes since September. The skyscraper, which is 828 meters (2,717 feet) high, lit up with the statement “We can all help” and the hashtag MatesHelpMates […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Helicopter-borne marksmen killed more than 5,000 camels in a five-day cull of feral herds that were threatening indigenous communities in drought-stricken areas of southern Australia, officials said Tuesday. Aboriginal leaders in South Australia state said extremely large herds of the non-native camels had been driven towards rural communities by drought and extreme heat, threatening scarce food and drinking water, damaging infrastructure, and creating a dangerous hazard for drivers. The cull in […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – Siemens boss announced Sunday that the German conglomerate has decided to remain involved in a controversial Adani Carmichael coal mining project in Australia, despite massive environmental criticism as the country faces unprecedented bushfires. The contract for some 18 million euros ($20 million) calls for Siemens to supply rail infrastructure for the Carmichael mine in Queensland, near the Great Barrier Reef. “We have just finished our special meeting…. We have evaluated all […]
by Andrew BEATTY Agence France-Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Exhausted firefighters said they had finally brought Australia’s largest “megablaze” under control Monday, as wet weather promised to deliver much-needed respite for countryside ravaged by bushfires. New South Wales firefighters said they finally had the upper hand in the fight against the vast Gospers Mountain fire on Sydney’s northwestern outskirts, which has been burning out of control for almost three months. Visiting the area on Monday, […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — Thousands of people have signed a petition for koalas to be introduced to New Zealand to escape Australia’s devastating bush fires, but the proposal has been given the thumbs down by officials. A group calling itself the Koala Relocation Society said koalas were “functionally extinct in Australia” but could thrive in New Zealand which has nearly 30,000 hectares planted in eucalypts. There have been estimates of up to a billion […]
by Glenda KWEK GLENMORE PARK, Australia (AFP) — When volunteer Sarah Price found a baby kangaroo frightened but miraculously alive in the pouch of its dying mother surrounded by the embers of Australia’s bushfires, it seemed fitting to name him Chance. The furry pair had survived flames that have ripped through much of southeastern Australia, but the mother’s organs later collapsed from acute stress — making her one among the more than one billion animals […]
by Glenda KWEK BATLOW, Australia Steve Bellchambers is digging pits to bury the carcasses of livestock killed by bushfires which swept through his farm in Batlow, New South Wales. He is one of several dozen residents who remained in the southeastern Australian town to protect his animals as authorities urged everyone to leave last week, calling the place “undefendable”. Bellchambers lost his home and many of his animals — some he was forced to shoot […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Bushfires flared in southern Australia on Thursday as a heatwave expected to bring renewed misery set in, and officials warned some areas are “just at the beginning” of the devastating crisis. Soldiers went door-to-door advising residents to leave the South Australian town of Parndana on Kangaroo Island after a large blaze bore down on the area, with temperatures there soaring to 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit). In neighboring Victoria state, […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Nine Australian NBA stars have partnered with the league and the National Basketball Players Association Foundation to donate $750,000 towards relief and recovery efforts for Australia’s bushfire disaster, the NBA said Tuesday. “We are heartbroken over the devastation these fires are causing all across our homeland,” the players said in a joint statement. “Our thoughts are with our families, friends and all of the people of Australia. We hope […]
by Holly ROBERTSON Agence France Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australian officials issued fresh evacuation warnings Wednesday ahead of a forecast spike in the intensity of out-of-control bushfires that have devastated vast swathes of countryside and sent smoke clouds as far away as Brazil. Residents of Victoria state’s fire-ravaged east were urged to leave before another heatwave raises the bushfire danger Friday, while in South Australia state authorities began relocating people from a small […]
by Holly ROBERTSON Agence France Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Snipers took to helicopters in Australia on Wednesday to begin a mass cull of up to 10,000 camels as drought drives big herds of the feral animals to search for water closer to remote towns, endangering indigenous communities. Local officials in South Australia state said “extremely large” herds have been encroaching on rural communities — threatening scarce food and drinking water, damaging infrastructure, and […]
