Australia

CANBERRA, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt has said there is "genuine cause for hope and optimism" that a coronavirus vaccine will be available in the first half of 2021.

Hunt said on Sunday that he was "quietly becoming more hopeful and more optimistic" about the potential for a vaccine.

His comments came after pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced that stage three trials of a candidate vaccine developed by the University of Oxford have resumed.

SYDNEY (AP) — A senior Australian government minister on Sunday warned foreign journalists working in the country they might come under the scrutiny of federal agencies if they provide a “slanted view” of Australian affairs.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton made the comments during a television interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp., referring to journalists reporting to “a particular community.”

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Large crowds of people rallied in Auckland on Saturday against the government’s social distancing restrictions imposed on the country’s largest city after an outbreak of the novel coronavirus last month.

Local television footage showed tightly packed crowds, with many people not wearing masks, with estimates of the attendance varying in reports between a thousand and a few thousand people.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIAL.SI) said on Thursday it would cut 4,300 positions, or around 20% of its staff, due to the debilitating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on demand in the largest job losses in its history.

The airline said after taking into account a recruitment freeze, natural attrition and voluntary departure schemes, the potential number of staff affected would be reduced to around 2,400 in Singapore and overseas.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia’s coronavirus hot spot state of Victoria on Sunday extended a hard lockdown in its capital Melbourne until Sept. 28, as the infection rate has declined more slowly than hoped.

“We cannot open up at this time. If we were to we would lose control very quickly,” State Premier Daniel Andrews told a televised media conference on Sunday.

The hard lockdown was ordered on Aug. 2 in response to a second wave of infections, that erupted in Melbourne.

Canberra; 03 Sep 2020 (UMMN):  A week after India's CAA figured in a NSW assembly motion, another Senator spoke about India's human rights record in the Federal Parliament on 3 September 2020.

Greens Senator Larissa Waters gave a speech on 3 Sep 2020 in the Australian parliament about global human rights abuses in which she raised human rights abuses in India, and harsh and discriminatory measures in Kashmir. Her speech can be read via the link below;

Melbourne, Sept 2 (AP/PTI) Australia's hot spot Victoria state on Wednesday extended its state of emergency for another six months as its weekly average of new coronavirus infections dipped.

The Victorian Parliament's upper chamber passed legislation by a 20-19 vote to extend the state of emergency, which enhances the government's powers to impose pandemic restrictions.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia does not know why Chinese authorities have detained Australian citizen and television anchor Cheng Lei, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said on Tuesday, adding to the mystery why the journalist has been taken into custody.

The Australian government confirmed on Monday evening that Cheng, a high-profile business anchor on Chinese state television, was detained two weeks ago.

SYDNEY, Aug 31 (Xinhua/APP): In the race to find a cure for COVID-19, Australian researchers have discovered that a compound originally designed to fight SARS can also stop COVID-19 growth in the laboratory.

Prof. David Komander, who co-leads a team from Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, told Xinhua on Monday that their focus on a particular protein in the virus makes their research different from other drug repurposing around the world.

Melbourne, Aug 31 (AP) Australia recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic on Monday as the government urged hot spot Victoria state to announce its plans to lift a lockdown on the country's second-largest city.

Victoria's health department reported 41 deaths from COVID-19 and 73 new infections in the latest 24-hour period.