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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s most populous state New South Wales said on Friday it would end hotel quarantine for vaccinated international travelers as the government accelerates the wind back of pandemic restrictions.
SYDNEY (AP) — One of New Zealand’s best-known businessmen Ron Brierley was sentenced in a Sydney court on Thursday to 14 months in prison for possessing thousands of child sex abuse images.
The 84-year-old former corporate raider had pleaded guilty to the charges in New South Wales state District Court in April, but was released on bail until his sentencing.
SYDNEY (AP) — The men's Australian Open golf tournament and Australian Women's Open scheduled for next year have been canceled because of COVID-19-related travel and quarantine restrictions.
“The decision has not been made lightly but we believe it to be the right outcome under the current circumstances," Golf Australia chief executive James Sutherland said in a statement released Thursday.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku, who last year published his best-selling memoir, “The Happiest Man on Earth,” has died in Sydney, a Jewish community leader said. He was 101.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Sydney hairdressers, gyms, cafés and bars reopened to fully vaccinated customers on Monday for the first time in more than 100 days after Australia’s largest city achieved a vaccination benchmark.
SYDNEY (AP) — Soccer authorities in Australia have urged players to make formal complaints in any cases of sexual abuse or misconduct after one of the country’s leading international goal scorers alleged she’d been groomed and harassed by senior players early in her career.
SYDNEY (AP) — Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston will plead not guilty to illegally concealing alleged child abuse by his father, his lawyer told a court on Tuesday.
Houston did not appear at Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court when his charge was mentioned before a registrar for the first time.
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Father and son got it done for the Penrith Panthers.
Ivan Cleary won a National Rugby League grand final for the first time after two previous defeats as a coach and his son Nathan was named the man-of-the match as the Panthers beat the South Sydney Rabbitohs, co-owned by actor Russell Crowe, 14-12 in the championship match at Brisbane.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The leader of Australia’s most populous state quit Friday after an anti-corruption watchdog revealed it was investigating her over a secret relationship with a former lawmaker.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — China gave significantly less aid to Pacific island nations in recent years despite Beijing’s diplomatic efforts to increase its influence in the region, according to a Sydney-based think tank.
SYDNEY (AP) — Personal trainers have turned a waterfront park into an outdoor gym to get around Sydney’s pandemic lockdown restrictions.
Gymgoers work out among onlookers walking their dogs in this picturesque open-air setting in suburban Rushcutters Bay, sometimes under portable pergolas if rain is threatening.
PERTH, Australia (AP) — It can seem like Australia’s west coast has almost entirely avoided COVID-19.
A mask-free nightlife is thriving and huge crowds are turning out for sporting events, including 53,000 rugby fans who crammed into a Perth stadium to watch New Zealand’s All Blacks defeat Australia’s Wallabies on a recent sunny Sunday.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s highest court on Wednesday made a landmark ruling that media outlets are “publishers” of allegedly defamatory comments posted by third parties on their official Facebook pages.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A 3-year-old boy who spent three nights lost in rugged Australian woodland was playing with toys at his family home on Tuesday, as relatives and rescuers celebrated the happy ending to a desperately difficult search.
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets rose Tuesday as investors watched for decisions from central banks in Europe and elsewhere about when they might start to wind down economic stimulus.
Shares advanced in Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong, which are the bulk of Asia's market capitalization.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A 3-year-old boy wearing a sweat shirt and diapers was found sitting in a creek and cupping water in his hands to drink on Monday, three days after he was lost in rugged Australian woodland.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Qantas Group posted a 2.35 billion Australia dollar ($1.7 billion) pandemic-related annual loss on Thursday and forecast Australia will reopen to international travel in December.
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has reported 2,155 new coronavirus cases, nearly matching a record daily increase set earlier this month amid an alarming spread of infections.
With Wednesday's report, the country has tallied more than 1,000 new cases for 50 consecutive days, including a record 2,221 on Aug.
SYDNEY (AP) — A lockdown in Australia's largest city was extended through September and tougher measures to curb the coronavirus's delta variant were imposed Friday, including a curfew and a mask mandate outdoors.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian state leader warned Friday that Melbourne may be losing control of a COVID-19 delta variant outbreak that began in Sydney and has also spread to the New Zealand capital.
TOKYO — Much of Japan kicked in its government “state of emergency” to curb COVID-19 infections Friday, as well as a less stringent “quasi-emergency,” although worries remained about their effectiveness.
SINGAPORE (AP) — Asian stock markets retreated Thursday after U.S. central bank policymakers made no firm decision on when to unwind their support measures for the economy.
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia’s most populous state reported a record 633 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday as concerns grew about the delta variant's spread beyond Sydney.
The previous record in New South Wales, which includes Sydney, was 466 on Saturday.
SYDNEY (AP) — With our long journey to reach Australia behind us, and 14 days isolated in a hotel ahead of us, the police officer on our bus tried to inject some humor: “If you’re looking to save some money on the hotel,” he joked, “this is your last chance to hook up and share a room."
SYDNEY — Poland has sent one million COVID-19 vaccines to Sydney where the delta variant continues to spread, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday.
The first of the Pfizer vaccines left Warsaw via the United Arab Emirates and will arrive in Sydney over Sunday night, Morrison said.
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s capital Canberra will remain locked down until there are no more COVID-19 infections in the city, a government leader said on Friday.
The Australian Capital Territory, which comprises Canberra and two villages, locked down for a week after a man tested positive on Thursday.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s second-largest city, Melbourne, extended its lockdown Wednesday in a bid to stamp out an outbreak of COVID-19, while authorities in Sydney said they were considering easing restrictions for vaccinated residents despite the delta variant continuing to spread.
SYDNEY — Australia’s most populous state is reporting a new daily high of 356 coronavirus infections.
The New South Wales government also reported four more COVID-19 deaths Tuesday. The death toll since the latest outbreak was detected in Sydney in mid-June is now 32.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s second-largest city, Melbourne, went into a sixth lockdown on Thursday, with a state government leader blaming the nation’s slow COVID-19 vaccination rollout.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The founder of the Sydney-based global Hillsong Church, Brian Houston, has been charged with concealing child sex offenses, police said Thursday.
Detectives served Houston’s lawyers on Thursday with a notice for him to appear in a Sydney court on Oct.
SYDNEY — Australia’s most populous state is reporting the worst day of its outbreak of the coronavirus delta variant, with a record 262 new local infections and five deaths from COVID-19.
New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said Thursday that four of the dead had not been vaccinated and that one had received a single dose of AstraZeneca in late May.
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower on Tuesday as jitters about the fast spread of the coronavirus's delta variant dented enthusiasm about strong corporate profits.
BRISBANE, Australia — A lockdown of Australia’s third-largest city Brisbane was extended until Sunday because of a growing COVID-19 outbreak.
Brisbane and several surrounding municipalities in Queensland state were due to end a three-day lockdown on Tuesday.
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia’s largest city Sydney will remain in lockdown for another month.
The New South Wales state government announced that the lockdown of the city of 5 million would last at least until Aug.
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets declined Wednesday after Wall Street pulled back from a record as investors awaited a Federal Reserve report for signs of when U.S. stimulus might be withdrawn.
Investors also were uncertain how much farther China will go with a regulatory crackdown that set off a slide in its internet share prices.
SYDNEY (AP) — Thousands of people took to the streets of Sydney and other Australian cities on Saturday to protest lockdown restrictions amid another surge in cases, and police made several arrests after crowds broke through barriers and threw plastic bottles and plants.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A few years ago, a Sydney scientist noticed a sulfur-crested cockatoo opening his trash bin. Not every resident would be thrilled, but ornithologist Richard Major was impressed by the ingenuity.
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher Thursday for a second day as optimism about an economic recovery appeared to outweigh concern over rising coronavirus cases and inflation.
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — How about this for an Olympic-scale list of world cities: Athens, Beijing, London, Rio, Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles and, wait for it, Brisbane.
Since the Summer Games were last hosted in Australia, at Sydney in 2000, and when they’ll return Down Under in 2032, the Olympics have been held in some of the world’s most famous cities.
TOKYO (AP) — Brisbane was picked Wednesday to host the 2032 Olympics, the inevitable winner of a one-city race steered by the IOC to avoid rival bids.
The Games will go back to Australia 32 years after the popular 2000 Sydney Olympics.