Nobody was watching Ahmed Hafnaoui in lane eight of the Olympic pool. All eyes were on the Tunisian teenager at the finish. Hafnaoui was the stunning winner of the 400-meter freestyle at the Tokyo Games on Sunday, beating a field of faster and older swimmers. The 18-year-old finished in 3 minutes, 43.26 seconds, punctuating his […]
After years of climate-worsened damage to its vibrant corals, Australia’s vast Great Barrier Reef could this week be added to UNESCO’s list of endangered World Heritage sites. Along with six other sites globally that are grappling with issues like ecological damage, overdevelopment, overtourism or security concerns, the reef’s fate is being considered at a meeting […]
Brisbane elected host city of 2032 Olympics by IOC – People gather in Brisbane following a vote announcement by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Brisbane’s 2032 Summer Olympics bid. The Brisbane Games will be the third in Australia, following Melbourne 1956 and Sydney 2000. The 2024 Olympics are in Paris and the 2028 edition […]
Scientists have used CRISPR gene-editing technology to successfully block the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in infected human cells, according to research released Tuesday that could pave the way for Covid-19 treatments. Writing in the journal Nature Communications, researchers in Australia said the tool was effective against viral transmissions in lab tests, adding that they […]
By Renju Jose SYDNEY (Reuters) -Downtown Sydney and the city’s eastern suburbs, which include Bondi Beach, will go into a one week lockdown from midnight Friday as authorities struggle to contain a spike in the highly contagious Delta COVID-19 virus variant in the city. The Australian Medical Association (AMA), which represents doctors, said the move […]
From Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to the city of Budapest and the watery wonderland that is Venice, several beauty spots risk losing their treasured UN World Heritage status because of environmental damage, excess development or overtourism. In a draft report released ahead of a key meeting next month, the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization […]
What a difference a year makes in international diplomacy. A year ago, then-US President Donald Trump was obliged to abandon his plans for a G7 summit at the presidential retreat of Camp David outside Washington. Various excuses were advanced by participants, including the inadvisability of travelling across the world in the midst of a pandemic. […]
A gigantic dinosaur discovered in Australia’s outback has been identified as a new species and recognised as one of the largest to ever roam the Earth, according to palaeontologists. The Australotitan cooperensis, part of the titanosaur family that lived about 100 million years ago, has finally been named and described 15 years after its bones […]
An American subsidiary of Brazilian meat processor JBS told the US government that it has received a ransom demand in a cyberattack it believes originated in Russia, forcing some plants to cut production. JBS received the demand from “a criminal organization likely based in Russia” following the attack that has affected its operations in Australia […]
By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian blogger Yang Hengjun, facing trial in Beijing on espionage charges that he denies, asked the judge to exclude evidence obtained in interrogations where he says he was tortured, according to a message conveyed to family and friends. In his first comments since Thursday’s court hearing, which was closed to […]
Two ancient sandstone artifacts believed to have been stolen from Thailand during the Vietnam War are set to return from the United States Friday night, officials say. The temple support beams with their exquisite carvings of the Hindu deities Indra and Yama date back to the late 10th or 11th century and had been on […]
Defying election results and court rulings, Samoa’s veteran leader Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi is determined to cling to power, convinced only divine intervention can end his 22-year rule of the Pacific island nation. Malielegaoi is not accustomed to losing — until recently the 76-year-old’s authority was virtually absolute in a devoutly Christian nation of 220,000 where […]
Australian Prime Minister Question Time in Canberra – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison arrives to attend House of Representatives Question Time at Parliament House. Australia will close its embassy in Kabul this week as the country’s troops prepare to leave in line with the international withdrawal from Afghanistan, Canberra said Tuesday. – Lukas Coch/AAP/dpa Australia […]
Sean Paul kicks off his #TemperatureChallenge on TikTok as his classic hit went viral. It’s quite understandable why TikTok challenges have grown in popularity since the arrival of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Social distancing coupled with tight curfews has seemingly resulted in a resurfacing of just about everything, from old songs to dance moves. It […]
A French court on Monday dismissed a complaint from an elderly French-Vietnamese woman against a group of multinationals, including Monsanto, over the harm caused by the US use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. The court in the Paris suburb of Evry ruled that it did not have the jurisdiction to judge a case […]
[Testo di "El Sendero" ft. Mishel Domenssain"] [Ritornello: Mishel Domenssain] Camina, guerrero, camina Por el sendero del dolor Y la alegria Camina, guerrero, camina Por el sendero del dolor Y la alegria Camina (Camina) [Strofa 1: Caparezza] Faccio un passo nella selva Senza briglie e senza sella Vado incontro alla mia libertà Già da come […]
By Colin Packham CANBERRA (Reuters) – An Australian court ordered mining magnate Clive Palmer to pay A$1.5 million ($1.2 million) in damages to Universal Music on Friday for breaching the copyright of Twisted Sister’s 1984 hit song “We’re Not Gonna Take It” in political advertising. The Federal Court heard that Palmer had refused to pay […]
By Sarah Mills LONDON (Reuters) – From Antarctica to Australia, a British composer has captured sounds of nature around the world and put them together in a seven-hour body of work released to mark Earth Day on Thursday. Ted White began collecting the recordings that range from caimans in the Amazon river to storms off […]
India will lock down its capital New Delhi for a week from Monday night to try and control a raging coronavirus outbreak, as the hard-hit United States passed a hopeful milestone of giving at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose to half its adults. There was good news from Australia and New Zealand as well as […]
By Lidia Kelly MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia is no hurry to reopen its international borders and risk the country’s nearly coronavirus-free lifestyle, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday. Australia closed its borders to all non-citizens and non-residents in March 2020 and has been permitting only limited international arrivals in recent months, mainly its citizens […]
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australians were celebrating Easter Sunday in a relatively unrestricted manner as the country reported no new locally acquired coronavirus cases. Queensland, the epicentre of a recent, small COVID-19 community outbreak, has had only one infection in the past three days. The state has the tightest restrictions on public gatherings. Elsewhere, Australians flocked […]
Jem Jenkins Jones was stuck at home in Wales for much of the past year amid pandemic lockdowns but managed to fulfill a promise to her 10-year-old daughter to see the northern lights from Iceland and South Africa’s game reserves — in virtual reality. “She was amazed,” she said, calling the VR travel experiences “a […]
By Renju Jose SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australians hit by devastating floodwaters began returning to their homes on Thursday as skies cleared and authorities accelerated clean-up efforts, though fresh evacuation orders were issued in some areas where water levels were still rising. Relentless rains for five straight days – the worst downpour in more than half a […]
By Renju Jose and Jonathan Barrett SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian authorities issued fresh flood evacuation orders for parts of the east coast on Wednesday, and warned that water levels would keep rising in some areas, even as Sydney woke up to clear skies for the first time in several days. Wild weather systems have drenched […]
By Jonathan Barrett and Renju Jose SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian authorities issued fresh flood warnings and evacuation orders on Tuesday as torrential rains again pummelled several parts of the country, sweeping away homes, roads and livestock in the worst downpour in more than half a century. The national weather agency has posted severe weather warnings […]
Leaked videos of staff from Australia’s conservative government performing sex acts in parliament, including one man masturbating over a female MP’s desk, left Scott Morrison’s administration facing yet another sex scandal Tuesday. The prime minister — already under pressure for his handling of allegations including that a female government adviser was raped by a colleague […]
Children who are 10 and younger produce more antibodies in response to coronavirus infection than adolescents and adults, a study showed Monday. The authors of the paper, which appeared in JAMA Network Open, said the finding helped illuminate why children are less susceptible to severe Covid-19 than adults — though this is still an area […]
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin praised India’s growing ties with “like-minded partners” as he held talks in New Delhi Saturday dominated by shared alarm about China. India is a vital US partner in the Asia-Pacific region as Washington seeks to take on Beijing, and Austin’s two-day trip is New Delhi’s first face-to-face meeting with President Joe […]
China could invade Taiwan within the next six years, as Beijing accelerates its moves to supplant American military power in Asia, a top US commander said Tuesday. Democratic and self-ruled Taiwan lives under constant threat of invasion by authoritarian China, whose leaders view the island as part of their territory and which they have vowed […]
A powerful magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck Friday in the ocean off New Zealand, prompting thousands of people to evacuate and triggering tsunami warnings across the South Pacific. The quake was the largest in a series of tremors that hit the region over several hours, including two earlier quakes that registered magnitude 7.4 and magnitude 7.3. […]