Tag: Australia

Australian PM Albanese visits China as relations emerge from deep freeze

SYDNEY, Nov 3, 2023 (AFP) – Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flies to China on Saturday for a landmark visit, a sign that icy relations have thawed with the trading giant and strategic rival. His four-day trip to Beijing and Shanghai is the first by an Australian leader in seven years and is widely seen as recognition that relations are on a surer footing after a diplomatic breakdown that hit billions of dollars in trade. […]

Australian police arrest woman suspected of poisoning family with mushrooms

By Sharon MARRIS SYDNEY, Nov 2, 2023 (AFP) – Australian police on Thursday arrested the woman at the centre of a mushroom meal mystery that left three people dead and a local preacher fighting for his life. The arrest of Erin Patterson, 49, is the latest twist in a saga that has gripped the nation and thrust the spotlight on the small rural town of Leongatha, 110 kilometres (70 miles) southeast of Melbourne. Detective Inspector […]

Australian towns endure night of ‘shocking’ bushfires

SYDNEY, Nov 1, 2023 (AFP) – Helicopters buzzed over bushfire-scarred swathes of eastern Australia on Wednesday, assessing the damage left by “shocking” blazes that raged overnight. Water bombing aircraft swooped on fires smouldering in Queensland and New South Wales (NSW), while fire crews raced to dig containment lines as conditions eased on Wednesday morning. Firefighters toiled through the night to repel bushfires on the border between the two states, while more than 50 houses have […]

Microsoft announces $3.2 billion investment in Australia

Microsoft announced Tuesday a Aus$5 billion (US$3.2 billion) investment in Australia focused on cloud computing and artificial intelligence, saying it would boost the country’s economy and cyber defences. Details of the deal were outlined by bosses at the US tech giant and by Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who is on a four-day official visit to the United States. It represents Microsoft’s largest investment in Australia in its 40-year history in the country, the company […]

Australians fete Sydney Opera House’s 50th anniversary

SYDNEY, Oct 20, 2023 (AFP) – Australians on Friday celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House, lighting up the sails of a harbourside “masterpiece” that has become an international icon. Fifty years to the day since Queen Elizabeth II opened the world’s most recognised concert hall — visited by about 11 million people a year — the Opera House will draw crowds with a nighttime laser show. Besides the party, the Opera House […]

Floods threaten 130 homes in eastern Australia, just 48 hours after bushfires

SYDNEY, Oct 4, 2023 (AFP) – Emergency services warned people to flee floods threatening more than 130 homes in eastern Australia Thursday — in a region swept by bushfires just 48 hours earlier. Heavy rains had swollen the McAllister River in the eastern state of Victoria, threatening rural homes, said David Baker, deputy chief of the state’s emergency service. “We estimate up to around 130 properties may be impacted by this event, hence why we […]

Early start to Australia’s bushfire season sparks ‘horror’ warning

SYDNEY, Oct 4, 2023 (AFP) – Warm winds fanned multiple blazes on Wednesday in an unusually early start to Australia’s annual fire season, prompting a state leader to warn of a “horror” summer of bushfires ahead. Firefighters said they had been fighting 18 out-of-control bushfires in the morning in the eastern state of New South Wales, some in the Bega Valley region of the state’s southeastern coast. At least three homes were lost in the […]

Australian pilots call on Qantas chairman to resign

SYDNEY, Sept 25, 2023 (AFP) – Qantas pilots called Tuesday on the Australian carrier’s chairman Richard Goyder to resign for presiding over “woeful decisions” that have battered morale and the airline’s reputation. The call comes after former chief executive Alan Joyce took early retirement on September 5 as Qantas battled criticism over high prices, mass ground staff layoffs and allegations it sold thousands of tickets for already-cancelled flights. “Richard Goyder has overseen one of the […]

Australia’s firefighters face worst season in years

SYDNEY, Sept 22, 2023 (AFP) – Volunteer firefighters are scorching Australia’s forest undergrowth, reducing fuel for what is expected to be the fiercest fire season since the monster “Black Summer” blazes. Deadly wildfires have devastated forests in Canada, Greece, Hawaii and elsewhere around the world this year but unlike many other countries, Australia heavily relies on a 190,000-strong volunteer cohort to battle the flames. Their courage was on display during the “Black Summer” fires of […]

Rupert Murdoch hands leadership of media empire to son Lachlan

NEW YORK, Sept 21, 2023 (AFP) – Rupert Murdoch will step down as chairman of his media empire, a conservative behemoth that helped shape politics around the world, and hand control to his son Lachlan, Fox Corp. and News Corp. announced Thursday. The Australian-born 92-year-old, who built a global entertainment and news juggernaut that shaped events from Brexit to the rise of Donald Trump, will shift into an emeritus status at both companies in mid-November, […]

Australia warns of worse fires, heat as El Nino kicks in

Australia’s weather bureau confirmed on Tuesday that an El Nino weather pattern is under way, bringing hot and dry conditions that risk a severe wildfire season and drought. The announcement, which follows similar confirmations from other weather agencies, came as the country bakes in unseasonal heat, with the weather agency warning of more to come. Government forecaster Karl Braganza said elevated surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean could impact the country until early next year. […]

Australia sending delegation to China to ‘stabilise’ ties

SYDNEY, Sept 2, 2023 (AFP) – Australia will send a delegation of industry, government, academic, media and arts representatives to Beijing for a dialogue with their Chinese counterparts next week to stabilise its relationship with China, Canberra’s foreign ministry said Saturday. Trade, investment, people-to-people links as well as regional and international security are among the issues up for discussion in next Thursday’s talks, Foreign Minster Penny Wong’s office said. The high-level dialogue had been held […]