Australia & Pacifics

MELBOURNE, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The coronavirus pandemic has weakened China's power in the Indo-Pacific, and the region's deepening security uncertainties present a "significant" risk of war, the Lowy Institute said in a report on Sunday.

U.S. allies in the region and key balancing powers such as India have never been more dependent on American capacity and willingness to sustain a military and strategic counterweight in response to China's rise, said the Sydney-based foreign policy think tank.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia would set a more ambitious target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by the end of the decade if the government changes hands in elections early next year, the opposition leader said on Friday.

Center-left Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese set climate policy as a battle line at elections expected to be held between March and May.

SYDNEY/JAKARTA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - China told Indonesia to stop drilling for oil and natural gas in maritime territory that both countries regard as their own during a months-long standoff in the South China Sea earlier this year, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The unprecedented demand, which has not previously been reported, elevated tensions over natural resources between the two countries in a volatile area of global strategic and economic importance.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Solomon Islands police found three bodies in a burned-out building and arrested more than 100 people in this week’s violence sparked by concerns about the Pacific nation’s increasing links with China.

Australian media reported the bodies were recovered late Friday after riots and protests subsided. No other details were given.

Authorities imposed a curfew in the capital Honiara, after a 36-hour lockdown ordered by the embattled Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare ended Friday.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare on Friday blamed foreign interference over his government’s decision to switch alliances from Taiwan to Beijing for anti-government protests, arson and looting that have ravaged the capital Honiara in recent days.

But critics also blamed the unrest on complaints of a lack of government services and accountability, corruption and foreign workers taking locals job.

SYDNEY, Nov 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) – This weekend Aussies across the country are expected to crowd stores, both in person and online, for one of Australia’s largest and most anticipated shopping holidays, Black Friday.

Data from Australia’s largest commercial bank, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), showed that Aussies spent more than ever over the four-day holiday in both 2019 and 2020.

Retail and consumer expert from CBA, Jerry Macey, said, the 2021 event would likely be no different.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia announced Thursday it is sending police, troops and diplomats to the Solomon Islands to help after anti-government demonstrators defied lockdown orders and took to the streets for a second day in violent protests.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the deployment includes a detachment of 23 federal police officers and up to 50 more to provide security at critical infrastructure sites, as well as 43 defense force personnel, a patrol boat and at least five diplomats.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand will reopen its borders to the world over the coming months, the government announced Wednesday, allowing for the return of displaced residents from January and tourists from April.

The South Pacific nation imposed harsh border restrictions when the pandemic began, effectively banning tourists and requiring returning residents to spend two weeks in a quarantine hotel run by the military.

At times, demand for quarantine beds has far outstripped supply, causing some displaced residents to wait months for available slots.

SYDNEY, Nov 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Night-sky gazers in Australia are, weather permitting, in for a visual treat this evening, with the longest partial eclipse of the Moon in almost 600 years.

The rare celestial sight will be caused by the Earth casting a shadow, which will shroud more than 97 percent of the full Moon’s face.

Lunar eclipses can usually be observed somewhere on Earth about twice a year. Normally the Moon’s orbit is either above or below the Earth’s shadow, but during an eclipse the full Moon travels through the shadow.

SYDNEY/COPENHAGEN, Nov 18 (Reuters) - A Chinese professor at the University of Copenhagen conducted genetic research with the Chinese military without disclosing the connection, the university told Reuters, in the latest example of how China's pursuit of military-civilian technology is tapping into Western academia in the strategically sensitive area of biotechnology.

The professor, Guojie Zhang, is also employed by Shenzhen-based genomics giant BGI Group, which funds dozens of researchers at the university and has its European headquarters on the university's campus.