Page 22 - Australia

16K sheep, cattle stuck on board export ship after Red Sea turn-back

The animals have been on the vessel since January 5 Government and industry officials say they are in good health but animal welfare advocates have branded their plight torture

India sends $1 million emergency relief assistance to Papua New Guinea

The relief consignment worth $1 million was airlifted to the capital of West New Britain, Kimbe, from the Papua New Guinea capital, Port Moresby, for distribution within the West New Britain province

Climate change: World's forests are doing much better than we think

The destruction of tropical forests gets so much (justified) attention that we're at risk of missing how much progress we're making in cooler climates.

Indian community in Australia mourns victims of quadruple beach drowning

The Indian community in Australia is mourning the tragic death of four compatriots, including three women, who drowned at an unpatrolled beach in Phillip Island this week. Jagjeet Singh Anand, a 23-year-old male nurse, Suhani Anand and Kirti Bedi, 20-year-old nursing students, and Reema Sondhi, 43, died in the tragic incident on Wednesday. They were part of a group of about 10 people who were enjoying a day out at Phillip Island, near Melbourne in Victoria. A close relative, who was too devastated to speak at length, said Sondhi was visiting her family in Australia and had arrived there two weeks earlier, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Sondhi was the daughter-in-law of industrialist Om Sondhi from Phagwara in India's Punjab state. Reema's husband Sanjeev too was part of the group but he survived. Jagjeet Singh Anand, a Melbourne-based nurse, was a permanent resident in Australia while Suhani Anand and Bedi were on student visas. The three younger victims were all residents of

Support to Pacific nations with policing shouldn't alarm Australia: China

China's ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, sought to reassure on Wednesday that China's increased involvement in the Pacific, particularly in policing efforts, should not be a cause of alarm for Australia. Xiao, speaking at his first news conference of the year in Canberra on Wednesday, maintained that Australia should not harbour anxiety about China's intentions in the region. Pacific Islands countries is an area where China and Australia can cooperate and can contribute together instead of asking them to choose between the two," Xiao said. What China has been doing is to help them to for their social stability, economic development and for bilateral trade relations." Concerns of China's encroachment in the South Pacific had escalated last year when the Solomon Islands signed a security pact with China, raising fears of a military buildup in the region. We're not seeking military strategies, we're not seeking military purposes, and there's no need for any so-called anxiety on the

From the US to France: Here's how the world is celebrating Ram temple

From the United States to France and Australia, festivities to mark the historic occasion have been arranged all across the world

State-owned KABIL signs $24 mn lithium exploration deal in Argentina

The deal, signed with an Argentinian state-run enterprise, gives KABIL exploration and developmental rights for commercial production

Hundreds evacuated, 38 rescued from floods in Australia after heavy storms

Hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate their homes on Monday after flooding inundated parts of Victoria state, as wild weather continues to batter Australia's southeast. The issue was ordered for badly hit areas in the small towns of Seymour and Yea, about 70 miles north of Melbourne. Authorities told residents and tourists to leave immediately as floodwaters rose to dangerous levels. Multiple flood and thunderstorm warnings were in place across Victoria with the deluge filling streets with water. Authorities rescued 38 people from flooding and almost 1,000 calls were made for help, Victoria State of Emergency Services said. Rainfall in the northeast of Victoria was expected to reach more than 200 millimeters (7.88 inches). Authorities warned that flooding above the floor level of a single-story house was likely, and access to key roads would be difficult. The area is popular with vacationers. If you live in a flood-prone area, please make the necessary plans. Especially peop

Exports to Australia see upward trend, owing to duty concessions under ECTA

Government officials said that there has been an uptick in exports of products, where duty concessions have been given under the trade deal

Wild weather in Australian states of Queensland, Victoria leaves 9 dead

At least nine people have died in wild weather in the Australian eastern states of Queensland and Victoria, officials said on Wednesday. Three men were killed after a boat with 11 people aboard capsized in rough weather in Moreton Bay off the south Queensland coast on Tuesday, police said. Ambulances took the eight survivors to hospital in stable conditions. A 59-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree at the Queensland city of Gold Coast on Monday night. The body of a 9-year-old girl was found on Tuesday in the neighbouring city of Brisbane hours after she disappeared in a flooded stormwater drain. The bodies of a 40-year-old woman and a 46-year-old woman were found in the Mary River in the Queensland town of Gympie. They were among three women swept into the flooded river through a stormwayter drain on Tuesday. Another 46-year-old woman managed to save herself. Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll blamed extraordinarily difficult weather for the tragedies. It ha

Australia to send military personnel to protect cargo shipping in Red Sea

Australia will send 11 military personnel to support a US-led mission to protect cargo shipping in the Red Sea, but it will not send a warship or plane, the defense minister said Thursday. Defense Minister Richard Marles said Australia's military needs to keep focused on the Pacific region. The United States announced this week that several nations are creating a force to protect commercial shipping from attack by drones and ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. Marles said 11 military personnel will be sent in January to Operation Prosperity Guardian's headquarters in Bahrain, where five Australians are already posted. We won't be sending a ship or a plane, he told Sky News television. That said, we will be almost tripling our contribution to the combined maritime force. We need to be really clear around our strategic focus, and our strategic focus is our region: the northeast Indian Ocean, the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Pacific, Marles ...

IPL's hidden sticky wicket

The big bucks disguise structural fault lines

More than 300 rescued from floodwaters in northeast Australia: Officials

More than 300 people were rescued overnight from floodwaters in northeast Australia, with dozens of residents clinging to roofs, officials said on Monday. Cairns Airport was closed on Monday due to flooding and authorities were concerned that the city of 160,000 people will lose drinking water. While rain was easing in Cairns, severe weather warnings were in place in nearby Port Douglas, Daintree, Cooktown, Wujal Wujal and Hope Vale, with more rain forecast. Queensland state Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll described the flooding as absolutely devastating. Last night, we had an extraordinarily challenging, challenging evening, rescuing some 300 people, Carroll told reporters. There were no deaths or serious injuries, she said. All 300 residents would be evacuated by helicopter from the Aboriginal community of Wujal Wujal, where nine adults and a 7-year-old child spent hours overnight on a hospital roof, officials said. A Category 2 tropical cyclone passed close by Wujal Wuja

Tropical cyclone Jasper weakens while still lashing northeastern Australia

The first tropical cyclone to hit Australia in the current season weakened to a low pressure system but continued to lash the northeast coast Thursday with flooding rain and left almost 40,000 homes and businesses without power. Cyclone Jasper crossed the Queensland state coast late Wednesday as a category 2 storm on a five-tier scale that whipped the sparsely populated region with winds of up to 140 kph (87 mph). The cyclone crossed near the Aboriginal community of Wujal Wujal, 110 kilometers (68 miles) north of the city of Cairns, though many of its 300 residents evacuated before Jasper struck. Katrina Hewitt, who operates tourist accommodation at Wujal Wujal and did not evacuate, said the community was largely unscathed except for damaged trees. It looks amazing. No flooding, no breakages of buildings, Hewitt said. It was a big waiting game. We just didn't know what was going to happen, she said. Hewitt expected Wujal Wujal would be isolated for days by fallen trees blocking .

Australia has 'anxieties' over Canada, US charges of Indian links

Against the backdrop of the US' allegations of an Indian link to a failed assassination plot and Canada's charges relating to the killing of a Sikh separatist, Australia on Wednesday said it has "anxieties" over the matters but asserted that New Delhi and Canberra are capable of managing "differences" and "sensitive" issues. Australian High Commissioner Philip Green said the two sides discuss these issues "sensitively and carefully behind closed doors". At an interactive session, hosted by the Asia Society Policy Institute, the newly-appointed envoy said Australia's engagement with India on these issues is less as a "Five-Eyes" partner and more as a friend of India. The Five Eyes (FVEY) is an intelligence-sharing alliance comprising Australia, the US, Canada, New Zealand and the UK. "Australia's engagement with India on this issue is less as a Five-Eyes partner and more as a friend of India and a country that is respectful of India with which we have a mature relationship," Green .

Cyclone Jasper expected to intensify before it crosses Australian coast

Powerful winds began uprooting trees on the northeast Australian coast on Wednesday as Tropical Cyclone Jasper gathered strength while approaching the area. Jasper is forecast to intensify from a category 1 to category 2 storm on a 5-tier scale before it becomes the first cyclone of the current season to cross the Australian coast late on Wednesday, Queensland state Deputy Premier Steven Miles said. The cyclone is expected to cross the Queensland coast somewhere along a sparsely populated 200-kilometer (124-mile) stretch from the city of Cairns north to Hope Vale, an Aboriginal community of 1,000. Jasper is expected to lash the coast with winds of up to 140 kph (87 mph) as it crosses from the Coral Sea. This is a serious event and it has been some time since this part of the coast has seen a cyclone of this intensity, Miles told reporters in the state capital Brisbane. More than 90 people had left their homes for evacuation centres by Wednesday, Police Deputy Commissioner Shane ...

Australia tightens visa norms for international students, skilled workers

New measures to reduce intakes include higher scores on English proficiency tests and increased scrutiny on second visa applications to form extended stays

Australia's new migration policy unlikely to have adverse impact on Indians

Australia is undertaking futuristic reforms to its existing migration system with a greater scrutiny of antecedents of applicants but it will not have an adverse impact on the flow of Indian students and professionals into the country, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. In its new migration strategy, the Australian government outlined a vision with a policy roadmap containing several key "actions" and over 25 new policy commitments and areas for future reform. The people cited above said the new migration strategy will include greater scrutiny of English language proficiency. This migration strategy was unveiled on Monday following extensive consultation with key stakeholders with an aim to fix the existing immigration system. The broad aim of the overall strategy is to cut the annual immigration intake to around 2,50,000 in line with the number maintained during the pre-Covid time. According to reports, over 5,00,000 people came to Australia this year. The people ci

Australia plans to halve migrant intake, impose tougher tests for students

Australia on Monday said it would slash the annual migrant intake from a record high of 510,000 by 50 per cent within two years by imposing tougher tests on overseas students and turning away workers with low skills. The move could affect Indian students who are planning to go to Australia for higher studies. The Indian-born group recorded the largest increase in population in the country since 2012, according to a recent report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The new migration strategy will demand students pass a stronger English-language test and will require them to prove they are genuine students before they enter the country while making it harder for them to stay if they do not find jobs that help fix the nation's skills shortages, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Australia's net migration will be halved within two years in a dramatic move to slash the annual intake from a record high of 510,000 by imposing tougher tests on overseas students and turning away workers

Australian govt to announce its strategy for slowing immigration next week

"The new strategy we'll announce will bring immigration back to sustainable levels," he told reporters Saturday in Sydney