Australia & Pacifics

17 October 2022; MEMO: The Australian government has seemingly walked back on its decision to recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, four years after its initial announcement that it would move its embassy to the city.

In a report by the Guardian newspaper, it was revealed that Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) deleted two sentences from its website within the past few days which proclaimed the move, indicating a decision to quietly cancel it.

WELLINGTON, Oct 17 (NNN-XINHUA) – New Zealand recorded 14,311 new community cases of COVID-19, and 34 more deaths from the pandemic over the past week, the country’s Ministry of Health said today.

On average, new cases per day reached 2,041 in the last week. The country has seen the number of daily cases going down steadily from over 10,000 cases nationwide, in early July.

With the fresh cases, New Zealand has recorded 1,814,890 confirmed cases of and 2,065 COVID-19-related deaths, since the pandemic hit the country in early 2020, the ministry said.

SYDNEY, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Amazement is the right word to use when describing China's development achievements in the past ten years, Kiribati President and Foreign Minister Taneti Maamau said.

The chapter ahead would add color and excitement to the great story of the Chinese people and the country, Maamau said in a recent written interview with Xinhua.

Maamau recalled his first trip to China as "an eye-opener" to see the high living standards of the Chinese people. "This is a great achievement" testifying to the country's "people-centered development vision," he said.

CANBERRA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has been deployed to aid in the response to catastrophic flooding in the country's second most populated state.

Prime Minister (PM) Anthony Albanese on Sunday toured flood-affected areas in Victoria.

Hundreds of homes in the region have been impacted by floods following heavy rains, with waters expected to continue rising.

SYDNEY, Oct 14 (NNN-AAP) – Residents of multiple communities, in the Australian state of Victoria, received evacuation warnings today, due to flood emergencies.

Currently, there are more than 90 warnings issued across the state, including over 10 evacuation orders. Residents in some regions along rivers or creeks, are warned to avoid the riverine flood and move to higher ground immediately.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Some 477 pilot whales have died after stranding themselves on two remote New Zealand beaches over recent days, officials say.

None of the stranded whales could be refloated and all either died naturally or were euthanized in a “heartbreaking” loss, said Daren Grover, the general manager of Project Jonah, a nonprofit group which helps rescue whales.

The whales beached themselves on the Chatham Islands, which are home to about 600 people and located about 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of New Zealand’s main islands.

11 October 2022; MEMO: Sixteen Australian women who will be repatriated from camps in northeast Syria will be detained immediately on arrival in Australia.

The women and 42 children, who will also return to Australia, are wives and children of former Islamic State members and have been kept in camps since March 2019.

According to the WSWS, some of the women will appear in court, others will be charged with terrorism-related offences.

SYDNEY, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- With three months to spare, annual rainfall in Australia's Sydney already reached its highest level of 2,199.8 mm as of 3:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, since the Observatory Hill weather station began recording in 1858.

According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), the city's previous record was set in 1950, when a total deluge of 2,194 mm poured down for the whole year.

Canberra, Oct 4 (AP) Australia's central bank on Tuesday boosted its benchmark interest rate for a sixth consecutive month to a nine-year high of 2.6 per cent.

The Reserve Bank of Australia's increase of a quarter percentage point to the cash rate was smaller than those at recent monthly meetings.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s government released details Tuesday of a proposed corruption watchdog that was an important promise in its recent election campaign.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said he would introduce legislation to create the National Anti-Corruption Commission to Parliament on Wednesday.

The center-left Labor Party promised that creating the watchdog would be a priority before it came to power at elections in May.