Australia & Pacifics

HONG KONG, Apr 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) – An earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.3, jolted 132 km west of Panguna, Papua New Guinea, on Saturday (today), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quake, which occurred at 0253 GMT, was initially determined to be at 6.5105 degrees south latitude, and 154.3008 degrees east longitude, with a depth of 16.9 km.

21 April 2020; AFP: Cash-strapped Virgin Australia collapsed Tuesday, making it the largest carrier yet to buckle under the strain of the coronavirus pandemic, which has ravaged the global airline industry.

In an announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Virgin said it planned to keep operating flights despite handing the keys to administrators.

SYDNEY, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) —Virgin Australia has confirmed it has entered voluntary administration – making it Australia’s first big corporate casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.

The country’s second-largest carrier cut almost all flights last month following wide-spread travel bans.

It was already struggling with a long-term A$5bn debt.

The airline is now seeking new buyers and investors, after failing to get a loan from Australia’s government.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — While most countries are working on ways to contain the coronavirus, New Zealand has set itself a much more ambitious goal: eliminating it altogether.

And experts believe the country could pull it off.

The virus “doesn’t have superpowers,” said Helen Petousis-Harris, a vaccine expert at the University of Auckland. “Once transmission is stopped, it’s gone.”

SUVA, Apr 20 (NNN-PINA) – Fiji reported its 18th confirmed case of COVID-19, after a 51-year-old woman tested positive for the virus today.

Fijian Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, said that, the woman, who is from Ba, one of the provinces in the western side of Fiji’s main island of Viti Levu, arrived in Fiji from the United States on Mar 22.

She was cleared after a 14-day self quarantine on Apr 4, but later developed signs of COVID-19 and was subsequently tested again. Contact tracing continued for her since she had been in Fiji for a month.

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand will next week ease some of the world’s strictest lockdown measures taken to tackle the novel coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday, after a month of tight restrictions slowed the spread of the disease.

The Pacific nation of 5 million introduced its highest, level 4 lockdown measures in late March, shutting down offices, schools and all non-essential services including bars, restaurants, cafes and playgrounds.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Global digital platforms Google and Facebook will be forced to pay for news content in Australia, the government said Monday, as the coronavirus pandemic causes a collapse in advertising revenue.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission would release in late July draft rules for the platforms to pay fair compensation for the journalistic content siphoned from news media.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia on Sunday added to growing pressure on China over its handling of the novel coronavirus, questioning its transparency and demanding an international investigation into the origins of the virus and how it spread.

The coronavirus is believed to have emerged in a market selling wildlife in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. It has spread around the world infecting some 2.3 million people and killing nearly 160,000 of them, according to Reuters calculations.

SYDNEY, Apr 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) – An inquiry into Australia’s recent deadly bush-fire, officially began on Thursday (today), with an online ceremonial meeting.

The fires of 2019-20, which became known as “Black Summer,” left around 33 people dead, over 3,000 homes destroyed, as well as, widespread devastation of local wildlife and habitat.

Chair of the inquiry, retired defence force chief, Mark Binskin, said, the purpose of the hearings was not to point fingers or apportion blame, but to deliver practical solutions to better handle disasters in the future.

15 April 2020; AFP: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Wednesday she will take a 20 percent pay cut in a symbolic act of solidarity with people struggling financially during the coronavirus pandemic.

Ardern said her personal salary, those of her fellow ministers and of top public servants would be slashed by a fifth for six months.

The move will see Ardern's annual pay fall from around NZ$470,000 (US$285,000) to NZ$376,000, costing her about NZ$47,000 over the six-month period.