Australia

SYDNEY, Aug 30 (NNN-AAP) – All three people, on board a light plane, that crashed yesterday, in Australia’s north-eastern state of Queensland, were killed, according to the state police.

The light plane crashed in the bushland near Fernvale, west of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, police authorities said.

“Preliminary information indicates the aircraft departed Dalby at 10.00 a.m. local time (GMT 0000), and was due to land at Archerfield at 2.00 p.m. (GMT 0400). Authorities began searching for the aircraft when it failed to arrive,” the police said in a statement.

SYDNEY, Aug 30 (Reuters) - The Solomon Islands has suspended entry into its waters for foreign navy ships pending adoption of a new process for approval of port visits, the prime minister's office said on Tuesday, in a bid to better police its exclusive economic zones.

The suspension of entry followed incidents last week when a U.S. Coast Guard vessel, the Oliver Henry, and a Royal Navy vessel, HMS Spey, were unable to make port calls because the government did not respond to requests to refuel and provision.

SYDNEY, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Australia's state of New South Wales (NSW) will invest more than 120 million Australian dollars (about 83 million U.S. dollars) in biosecurity measures to help combat animal diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and lumpy skin disease.

The state government announced on Monday that the investment will deliver 65 million Australian dollars (about 45 million U.S. dollars) for the development of mRNA synthetic vaccines for both the FMD and lumpy skin disease.

SYDNEY, Aug 17 (NNN-AAP) – The record-breaking downpours and flash floods that plagued Australia’s eastern states in recent years are predicted to return, largely due to another La Nina weather event.

The nation’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), issued a warning yesterday that, there was a 70 percent chance of the destructive La Nina striking between Sept and Nov, with heavy rainfalls continuing into the summer months of Dec to Feb.

SYDNEY, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Australia's former prime minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday he decided to be secretly sworn in to five key ministries during the coronavirus pandemic because he felt responsibility for the nation was his alone.

Morrison, who stepped down as leader of the Liberal Party after losing a general election in May, addressed a news conference to answer a barrage of criticism from the Labor government and his own party over the unprecedented assumption of powers.

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Ellia Green realized as a young child -- long before becoming an Olympic champion -- that a person’s identity and a gender assigned at birth can be very different things.

Now, about 20 years later, one of the stars of Australia’s gold medal-winning women’s rugby sevens team at the 2016 Olympics has transitioned to male.

SYDNEY, Aug 3 (NNN-AAP) – Australia’s long stretch of wet and windy weather, showed little signs of easing today, with the punishing conditions continuing throughout much of the nation’s southern regions.

In the Western Australian capital of Perth, departure flights were grounded last night, following a triple storm front, causing power blackouts at the airport and about 35,000 other properties.

Huge surf has already caused erosion along the state’s beaches, which have been hit with waves reaching heights of 10 metres.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A new bill was introduced in the Australian Parliament on Monday seeking to lift a 25-year ban on doctor-assisted suicide in two territories.

Australia’s sparsely populated Northern Territory in 1995 became the first place in the world to legalize voluntary euthanasia. But the landmark law was overturned by the Australian Parliament two years later after four terminally ill people had been legally helped to die, leaving the Northern Territory one of last parts of Australia where doctor-assisted suicide remains banned.

CANBERRA, Jul 29 (NNN-AAP) – Australia reported its highest COVID-19 daily death toll in recent months, as the country continues to battle against the wave of Omicron sub-variant infections in winter.

There were 157 new COVID-19 deaths reported across Australia today, including 107 in Victoria and 22 in New South Wales.

The spike takes Australia’s total COVID-19 death toll to over 11,600, of which almost 10,000 have occurred in 2022.

SYDNEY (AP) — U.S. officials say they have little fear that China would attack Nancy Pelosi’s plane if she flies to Taiwan. But the U.S. House speaker would be entering one of the world’s hottest spots, where a mishap, misstep or misunderstanding could endanger her safety. So the Pentagon is developing plans for any contingency.