Australia
Sydney lockdown extended by four weeks as virus outbreak grows
People living in hotspots have been urged not to leave their neighbourhoods, but those living alone will be allowed to create a "singles bubble" with another...
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New Zealand border closure puts Rugby Championship in doubt
New Zealand has suspended its quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia for at least eight weeks on Friday in response to the latter's escalating coronavirus outbreak.
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Barrier Reef outlook poor despite coral 'recovery': scientists
The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) said the corals were currently in a "recovery window" after a reprieve that followed a decade of harmful heat stress and cyclones. But such opportunities were becoming rarer due to the impact of climate change, the government agency, which has monitored the reef for 35 years, said in its annual report released Monday.
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Australia deports UK's Katie Hopkins over virus breach
The far-right British commentator had flown into Sydney to appear on a reality television show when she posted a video on Instagram talking about answering the door naked and maskless to workers delivering meals to her hotel room.
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Melbourne returns to lockdown as Australia scrambles to curb outbreak
More than 12 million Australians are now under stay-at-home orders after Melbourne residents began their first day of a snap lockdown, joining Sydneysiders already deep into weeks-long restrictions.
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Australia records first death in Sydney virus outbreak
Sydney is now in its third week of lockdown, but the number of new cases continues to grow among a population that is overwhelmingly unvaccinated.
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Australians trapped in vaccine 'Hunger Games' says top official
Just seven percent of Australia's roughly 25 million residents have been fully vaccinated, one of the lowest proportions for any developed nation.
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Australia COVID measures to have 'profound' long-term impact
The decision to slam shut its borders at the start of the pandemic, combined with lower fertility rates, mean slow population growth that will weigh on the economy, according to the 2021 Intergenerational Report.
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Australia struggles to quash persistent coronavirus outbreaks
The outbreak is thought to have started when a man who works as a driver for international flight crews contracted the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus, which was first identified in India.
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Raids worldwide as police reveal vast hack of criminal encrypted phones
Dubbed "Operation Trojan Shield", forces in 16 countries monitored as members of the mafia, Asian crime syndicates and outlaw motorcycle gangs discussed drug deals, money laundering and even gangland hits.
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Virus lockdown in Australia's second-largest city extended by a week
Five million Melbourne residents were due to exit a seven-day lockdown just before midnight Thursday, but were ordered to remain at home because of concerns about the spread of the virus.
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Thousands to get Covid tested after Melbourne stadium alert
The AFL said thousands of fans who sat near the positive case were now required to self-isolate until they received a negative test, while health officials were reviewing CCTV to determine if others had also been impacted.
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Australian 'killed intruder and lived with body for 15 years'
A coronial inquest heard that Sydney man Bruce Roberts shot intruder Shane Snellman during an attempted home robbery in 2002 and kept the body in his house, public broadcaster ABC reported.
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Experts warn shuttered Australia is becoming a 'hermit nation'
Last March, Australia took the unprecedented step of closing its borders to foreign visitors and banning its globetrotting citizens from leaving.
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Australia aims to vaccinate all adults by year's end
It remains one of the few places where there is no widespread community transmission and daily life is relatively normal.
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Australia begins vaccinating athletes ahead of Tokyo Olympics
While Australia has been one of the world's most successful countries in containing the spread of coronavirus, it has fallen far behind the government's own schedule for inoculations.
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China suspends economic accord with Australia
Relations between the two sides have collapsed into acrimony after Canberra called for an independent probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic and banned telecoms giant Huawei from building Australia's 5G network.
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Cyclone Seroja causes 'widespread damage' in Australia towns
The storm, which devastated parts of Indonesia and East Timor last week, brought lashing rain and winds of up to 170 kilometres per hour (105 mph) to areas officials said had not seen a tropical cyclone in "decades".
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Australia says politicians no longer exempt from sexual harassment rules
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his government would overhaul the country's sexual discrimination laws to make members of parliament, judges and public servants accountable for harassing colleagues in the workplace.
