Tag: Australia

Cyclone Debbie makes landfall in Australia: meteorologists

AYR, Australia (AFP) — Cyclone Debbie made landfall in northeast Australia Tuesday, with lashing rain and howling winds battering the area as local towns went into lockdown. The category four storm — on a scale of five — began crossing the Queensland state coast, packing destructive wind gusts of up to 270 kph (167 miles) near its wide core, the Bureau of Meteorology said.  

Residents prepare as Cyclone Debbie bears down on Australia

QUEENSLAND, Australia (Reuters) –Residents of the town of Airlie Beach in north Queensland, Australia, began filling sand bags on Monday (March 27) in preparation for Cyclone Debbie, forecast to make landfall early the next day. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said the storm will strengthen to a Category Four, with winds forecast to reach up to 300 km per hour (185 mph). State Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warned it would be the most powerful storm to […]

Captain Cook 250-year-old waistcoat referred at auction for $575,000 AUD

SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) — A waistcoat owned by the British explorer credited with discovering Australia has been referred at an auction for $575,000 AUD ($438,380 USD) in Sydney on Sunday (March 26), not reaching the estimate of $800,000 ($609,920 USD) to $1.1 million ($838,640 USD). The 250-year-old cream silk waistcoat apparently worn by Captain James Cook is a rare auction piece according to Julian Aalders of Aalders Auctions. “This is a once in a lifetime […]

South China Sea installations ‘primarily’ civilian: Li

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — China is not militarizing the disputed South China Sea, the country’s premier insisted in Australia on Friday, claiming defence equipment Beijing has installed on artificial islands is “primarily” for civilian use. The sea is a source of growing regional tension, with Beijing insisting it has sovereignty over virtually all the resource-rich waters, which are also claimed in part by a handful of other countries, and deemed international waters by most of […]

China’s Li in Australia trade talks amid Trump fears

CANBERRA, Australia (AFP) — Australia urged China Thursday to press ahead with economic reforms as Premier Li Keqiang began a trade-focused visit amid growing fears of a US slide towards protectionism. China is Australia’s largest trade partner and its economic importance has grown in the Donald Trump era after the US president ripped into Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in a decorum-breaking phone call, fraying relations. Turnbull said he hoped China and Australia could sign […]

Spider venom may offer hope to stroke victims: scientists

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A protein in the venom of potentially deadly funnel web spiders could minimize the effects of brain damage after a stroke, researchers in Australia said on Tuesday. Strokes claim six million lives worldwide each year, and five million survivors are left with a permanent disability. Scientists from the University of Queensland and Monash University said spider venom was always a good place to look for proteins to help in medical treatments […]

Emergency crew kept busy as wild weather continues in New South Wales

https://youtu.be/BFspJNleCOQ   By Ana Divina Watson EBC Australia Bureau NEW South Wales, Australia  (Eagle News) – New South Wales  continued to be battered by wild weather. The rain that started on Sunday persisted during the week, varying in intensity. By Wednesday, the water increased in the northern part of the state. A number of people had to be rescued after driving through flood waters. In the Illawarra and the south coast of NSW, residents woke […]

Australian foreign minister opposes military buildup in South China Sea during Manila visit

  (Reuters) — Australia will oppose any military build-up in the South China Sea, its foreign minister said on Thursday (March 16). Julie Bishop told a forum in Manila that Australia was concerned about the growing tensions in the region and urged all claimant countries to resolve the issues peacefully. “Australia opposes the scale of reclamation and reconstruction that has occurred, and we certainly do not support militarization by any party of the islands and […]

Climate change drives thirsty koalas to special water stations

SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) — Thirty kilometers (18.6 miles) south of the outback New South Wales town center of Gunnedah, semi-retired farmer Robert Frend is hoping to save an Australian icon, the koala, from dying of thirst. The marsupials are known to get their water from chewing on eucalyptus leaves. But in 2009, 25 per cent of the koala population in Gunnedah – the self-proclaimed “koala capital of the world” was lost due to a heatwave. […]

Headphone batteries explode during flight to Australia

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A woman suffered burns to her face and hands after her headphones caught fire during a flight to Australia, officials said Wednesday as they warned about the dangers of battery-operated devices on planes. The passenger was listening to music on her own battery-operated headphones as she dozed on the flight from Beijing to Melbourne on February 19 when there was a loud explosion. “As I went to turn around I felt […]

Australia sees second year of Barrier Reef bleaching

by Glenda KWEK Agence France Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is experiencing an unprecedented second straight year of mass coral bleaching, scientists said Friday, warning many species would struggle to fully recover. The 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) reef suffered its most severe bleaching on record last year due to warming sea temperatures during March and April. Bleaching is once again occurring, the government’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said after an aerial […]