Australia

The Australian state of Western Australia is experiencing the "heaviest flooding in its history". That said, the regional minister responsible for emergency services is Stephen Dawson. More than 200 people have already been evacuated. The flooding in Kimberley, a sparsely populated region of Western Australia the size of the US state of California, results from heavy rain from Ellie, a former cyclone. "The water is everywhere," said Dawson. Fitzroy Crossing, home to about 1,300 people, is among the hardest-hit towns. Food is delivered to affected residents by air. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who visited the region on Monday, has promised quick financial aid. "We know the bill will be huge, and my government is determined – in conjunction with the Western Australia...

For the first time in decades, a swimmer in the sea off Sydney has been killed by a shark. The attack took place Wednesday afternoon, local time, in a popular bay in the southeastern suburb of Little Bay. The local police confirmed this on Wednesday.   Police in the state of New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital, opened an investigation Wednesday afternoon into a "fatal shark attack" on a beach east of Sydney. The victim suffered "catastrophic injuries," a spokesman for the emergency services said. Human remains, and a lot of blood is said to have been found in the sea. Little Bay Beach was closed to the public as officers continued their search. An investigation will be launched to clarify the circumstances of the death. Earlier in the Australian summer day, a bull shar...

Australia is delaying the planned reopening of its borders to international students and other people on visas due to concerns about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.   The borders are expected to reopen on Wednesday. The reopening has been postponed to December 15. This is because Australia wants to collect enough information about the new variant in those two extra weeks to estimate the risk better. The first cases of the Omicron variant have already been identified in Australia.

Vaccinated foreign travellers will fly to Sydney in Australia next month without having to be quarantined upon arrival. In addition, the state of New South Wales announced on Friday that it would reopen its international borders, although they remain closed in the rest of the country.   To date, only Australians or permanent residents of Australia can enter the country, subject to a 14-day quarantine obligation. But New South Wales, which recently came out of lockdown and where more than 70 percent of the eligible population has been vaccinated, has now taken the lead in changing the rules. From 1 November, foreigners will be able to fly to Sydney Airport to demonstrate that they have been vaccinated and present a negative corona test before boarding. In that case, they will be exe...

Authorities in the Australian state of New South Wales extended the lockdown in the capital Sydney for another month on Wednesday.   The lockdown of the past five weeks turned out not to be enough to contain an outbreak of the contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus. The lockdown was initially supposed to end on Friday, but the restrictions are now in place until August 28, State Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney. Last Saturday, thousands of people in Sydney protested against the corona measures, and there were clashes with the police. However, the huge majority of protesters were not wearing face masks. A total of 177 new locally acquired infections were discovered in New South Wales on Tuesday, compared to 172 the day before.

Australia Ravaged by Sandstorms and Hail Balls. Australia is preparing for heavy thunderstorms, including in many areas affected by the massive forest fires. There is a risk of flooding in some places.   The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) issued a 'warning of heavy thunderstorms' on Monday and warned of strong winds, hail and heavy rainfall in large parts of New South Wales, southern Queensland and many areas in Victoria. Last week rain fell in three states affected by the massive forest fires, which brought some relief to the exhausted firefighters who have been fighting the fire since September. But in Queensland, many highways were closed and people had to be evacuated during the weekend due to flooding. Canberra, the capital of the country, had to deal with wind and a ...

Australian Prime Minister Apologises for being on Vacation during Forest Fires. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison returns from vacation early after criticism from the home front.   Parts of the country have been struggling with fierce forest fires for weeks, which are difficult to control. Two volunteer firefighters were killed yesterday. There is little understanding that Morrison was on vacation in Hawaii in silence just now. The prime minister has already apologised. Two days earlier than planned, Australian Prime Minister Morrison packs his bags in his vacation home in Hawaii. His intention was to spend a week with his family, but the forest fires in his home country decided otherwise. While the size of the fires did not diminish in recent days and the temperatures onl...

In Gospers Mountain to the north-west of the Australian city of Sydney, a massive fire rages over an area of nearly 300,000 hectares.   This is an area the size of the province of Groningen. The enormous fire was created by the amalgamation of several smaller fires. The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reports that throughout the state of New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital, there are about 100 wildfires. About 2,100 people fight the fires, 1,600 of whom are firemen. The health authorities in New South Wales report that about 11,400 people have asked for medical help in the past week for breathing problems, among other things. Nature reserves in Australia are particularly prone to fire due to the persistent drought. Since October, forest fires have claimed six lives. ...