Australia

CANBERRA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- A majority of Australians believe Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was wrong to snub a United Nations (UN) climate summit.

A survey of 1,097 people, published by the Guardian Australia on Wednesday, found that about 70 percent of respondents believe Morrison should have joined fellow world leaders at a UN climate summit in New York.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne attended the summit in Morrison's place.

Washington, Oct 1 (AFP) Donald Trump asked Australia to "assist" in discrediting a Russia investigation that has clouded his presidency, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison admitting Tuesday that he agreed to help.

An Australian government spokesperson confirmed Trump asked Morrison to investigate issues raised in Robert Mueller's probe -- which concluded that Russia tried to swing the 2016 election in the Republican's favour.

SYDNEY, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- A number of hospitals in the Australian State of Victoria have been infiltrated by "sophisticated cyber criminals," forcing the cancelation of elected surgeries and the shutdown of computer services, the authorities said on Tuesday.

Targeting the Gippsland Health Alliance and the South West Alliance of Rural Health, the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet said in a statement "The cyber incident, which was uncovered on Monday, has blocked access to several systems by the infiltration of ransomware, including financial management."

Refugees from different cultural backgrounds are staging weekly protests outside David Coleman’s  office in Revesby to demand an end of their sufferings. David Coleman is a Member of Parliament (MP) for Bank and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs.

CANBERRA, Sept 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, announced a new support package, which will deliver nearly 100 million Australian dollars (67.6 million U.S. dollars) in drought relief funding.

Morrison visited regions hit by the drought in Queensland. The package includes about 51 million Australian dollars (34.5 million U.S. dollars) to simplify and extend the Farm Household Allowance (FHA), a form of welfare for drought-affected farmers.

CANBERRA, Sept 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Vapour from flavoured e-cigarettes can cause lung cells to die, an Australian study has found.

The study, published by the University of Adelaide and the Royal Adelaide Hospital recently, examined the toxicity of three different brands of liquid for e-cigarettes.

It found that even brands that do not contain nicotine can cause otherwise healthy airway epithelial cells to die. The vapour can also prevent the immune system from burying dead cells.

An Indian has been fined for driving scooter with an adult passenger without helmet and an extra child squeezed between the adults.

NSW Police was notified of a scooter rider who was carrying two passengers. Police stopped the driver on Thursday in Wentworth Street, The Ponds, and 67 year old male rider, his 6 year old grandson and his 59 year old wife were questioned by Police.

SYDNEY/BANGKOK (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of students were taking to the streets across Asia and Europe on Friday for a global strike demanding world leaders gathering at a U.N. climate summit adopt urgent measures to avert an environmental catastrophe.

The protests kicked off in the Pacific islands - some of the nations most threatened by rising sea levels - and Australia, where social media posts showed huge demonstrations around the country, from the big coastal cities of Melbourne and Sydney to outback towns such as Alice Springs.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Thousands of protesters gathered Friday at rallies around Australia as a day of worldwide demonstrations calling for action to guard against climate change began ahead a U.N. summit in New York.

Some of the first rallies in what is being billed as a “global climate strike” kicked off in Australia’s largest city, Sydney, and the national capital, Canberra. Australian demonstrators called for their nation, which is the world’s largest exporter of coal and liquid natural gas, to take more drastic action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

SYDNEY, Sept 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) – A Jetstar passenger plane, travelling between Australia and Indonesia, was forced to turn back halfway on Wednesday, after the pilot noticed a crack in the cockpit windshield.

The plane was supposed to travel from Sydney to Denpasar Airport in Bali, but was diverted to Melbourne, where the airline’s engineering hub is located.