Australia

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and extended visas for Hong Kong residents in response to China’s imposition of a tough national security law on the semi-autonomous territory, the prime minister said Thursday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a range of visas that will be extended from two to five years and offers of pathways to permanent residency visas. It is not clear how many Hong Kongers are expected to get the extensions.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia has been among the world’s most successful countries in containing its coronavirus outbreak — with one exception.

The southeastern state of Victoria had some of the nation’s toughest pandemic measures and was among the most reluctant to lift its restrictions when the worst of its outbreak seemed to have passed.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The border between Australia’s two most populous states will close from Tuesday for an indefinite period as authorities scramble to contain an outbreak of the coronavirus in the city of Melbourne.

The decision announced on Monday marks the first time the border between Victoria and New South Wales has been shut in 100 years. Officials last blocked movement between the two states in 1919 during the Spanish flu pandemic.

(Reuters) - Thousands gathered in Sydney and other Australian cities over the weekend in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and an increased focus of the mistreatment of indigenous people.

A month since Australia’s first such rallies, the crowds were smaller amid health warnings about the spread of the coronavirus, as infections grow in the state of Victoria, home to Melbourne, the second-largest city.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Authorities will lock down more than 300,000 people in suburbs north of Melbourne for a month from late on Wednesday to contain the risk of infection after two weeks of double-digit rises in new coronavirus cases in Australia’s second most populous state.

Australia has fared better than many countries in the pandemic, with around 7,920 cases, 104 deaths and fewer than 400 active cases, but the recent jump has stoked fears of a second wave of COVID-19, echoing concerns expressed in other countries.

Melbourne, Jun 29 (AP/PTI) Health authorities are using what they describe as a world-first saliva test for coronavirus in Australia's second-largest city where the disease is spreading at an alarming rate.

Officials say 49 people tested positive to COVID-19 in Melbourne on Sunday and only four cases were detected elsewhere in Australia.

CANBERRA, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister (PM) Scott Morrison has declared that Australia's response to the coronavirus crisis remains "on track" despite a spike in cases.

The National Cabinet, which is comprised of Morrison and state and territory leaders, on Friday agreed to continue easing Australia's coronavirus restrictions despite an uptick in cases in Victoria.

Sydney, Jun 25 (AP/PTI) Australian health workers will go door-to-door testing more than 100,000 residents in a coronavirus hot spot in suburban Melbourne that is threatening to undo the nation's success in battling the virus.

Victoria state on Thursday reported 33 new cases, the highest daily number in more than two months.

CANBERRA, June 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) – A start-up announced, it will hold flying car races in the South Australian outback before the end of 2020.

Airspeeder, which is based in South Australia and London, developed flying cars that use drone technology to hover and manoeuvre.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Airspeeder co-founder, Matthew Pearson, said that, 2020 was a significant year for the industry, with the company set to host full-scale flying car races in the SA outback.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — “A sophisticated state-based cyber actor” was targeting Australia in an escalating cyber campaign that is threatening all levels of government, businesses, essential services and critical infrastructure, the prime minister said Friday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison would not name the state, amid inevitable speculation that the cyberattacks were part of Australia’s increasingly hostile rift with China.