Australia & Pacifics

SUVA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) on Friday reaffirmed the importance of science and data to guide Japan's decision on the discharge of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater.

"On the matter of the planned release by the government of Japan on the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS)-treated water, forum leaders reaffirmed the importance of science and data to guide political decisions on the proposed discharge," outgoing PIF Chair and Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said after the conclusion of the PIF special leaders' meeting.

WELLINGTON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand will hold an inquiry to investigate forestry slash and land use causing woody debris and sediment-related damage in Gisborne and Wairoa, after Cyclone Gabrielle lashed the North Island and killed 11 people over the past week.

The two-month inquiry will help address the impacts of weather events such as cyclones Hale and Gabrielle and earlier events, according to the inquiry panel on Thursday.

SYDNEY, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Sydney Airport on Tuesday released a monthly report on its traffic performance, saying that a total of 3,120,000 passengers passed through the airport in January, which marked a 78.8 percent recovery compared to the pre-COVID-19 level.

According to the report, domestic passenger traffic totaled 1,887,000, representing an 82.4 percent recovery compared to January 2019, while 1,233,000 international travelers passed through the airport, registering a 73.9 percent recovery.

SYDNEY, Feb 19 (NNN-AAP) – Severe thunderstorms rolled into Australia’s most populated city, Sydney, yesterday afternoon, bringing about damaging lightning and gusts that disrupted the daily life of local residents.

From 11:00 a.m. local time, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) began updating severe thunderstorm warnings, roughly every 20 minutes, alerting people to the fast-moving storm cells, that could cause damaging winds, large hail and heavy rainfall.

SYDNEY (AP) — Quentin Delapierre steered the French team to three straight wins in gusty, shifting winds Saturday to take a six-point lead over Jimmy Spithill’s U.S. team before the weather conditions deteriorated on Day 1 of the Australia Sail Grand Prix.

CANBERRA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- An emergency warning has been issued and a school was evacuated over a bushfire burning in South Australia (SA) on Thursday, local official said.

The Country Fire Service (CFS) on Thursday afternoon declared a grass fire near the city of Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula poses a threat to lives and homes.

People in the area have been urged to take shelter immediately in a solid building and a primary school has been evacuated.

"It is too late to leave as the roads will not be safe," the emergency message said.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The New Zealand government declared a national state of emergency Tuesday after Cyclone Gabrielle battered the country’s north in what officials described as the nation’s most severe weather event in years.

A firefighter was missing and another was rescued with critical injuries after they were caught in a landslide overnight near the country’s largest city, Auckland, authorities said.

Auckland was swamped two weeks ago by a record-breaking storm that killed four people.

CANBERRA, Feb 13 (NNN-AAP) – Australian immigration minister, Andrew Giles, announced today that, the government is delivering on its election commitment, to providing a permanent visa pathway, for some temporary visa holders.

Giles fulfilled the Labour government’s election pledge, inviting about 19,000 refugees on two kinds of temporary visas, who arrived in Australia by boat before 2013, to apply for permanent residency.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Fifteen years after the Australian Parliament’s historic apology to its Indigenous people for past wrongs, the government on Monday announced 424 million Australian dollars ($293 million) in new funding to improve the lives of Australia’s original inhabitants.

In 2008, a newly elected center-left Labor Party government apologized to the Indigenous population for “laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.”

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Defense Department will remove surveillance cameras made by Chinese Communist Party-linked companies from its buildings, the government said Thursday after the U.S. and Britain made similar moves.

The Australian newspaper reported Thursday that at least 913 cameras, intercoms, electronic entry systems and video recorders developed and manufactured by Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua are in Australian government and agency offices, including the Defense Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.