Australia

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The suspected white supremacist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers last year, a massacre that prompted a global campaign to stamp out online hate, arrived in Christchurch on Sunday ahead of sentencing hearings.

Brenton Tarrant disembarked a New Zealand air force plane at Christchurch Airport on Sunday afternoon, wearing a protective vest and helmet and escorted by armed officers, before being directed into the back of a white van, television footage showed.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A Chinese mining company in Papua New Guinea claims to have immunized employees against COVID-19 in an apparent vaccination trial, a newspaper reported on Friday.

The South Pacific island nation’s Health Minister Papua Jelta Wong said his department was investigating the claim by Ramu NiCo Management (MCC) Ltd., The Australian reported.

National Pandemic Response Controller David Manning banned COVID-19 vaccine testing or trials in Papua New Guinea on Thursday and later noted the National Department of Health had not approved any trials.

SYDNEY, Aug 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australia’s national airline, Qantas, reported a 2.8-billion-U.S. dollar revenue hit, for the second half of the 2020 financial year, today, due to the crippling effects of COVID-19.

In a statement to shareholders, the company posted an 89-million-U.S. dollar before tax profit, for the 12 months ending June 30, 2020, down 91 percent on the year before.

During the first half of the financial year, before the pandemic grounded global travel to a halt, Qantas recorded a 553.8-million-U.S. dollar profit before tax.

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — An Australian survey shows a higher proportion of younger Olympians would be prepared to use games venues or medal podiums as a platform for demonstrations.

The International Olympic Committee’s Rule 50.2, which forbids demonstrations or political, religious or racial propaganda in games venues, has come under increasing scrutiny as the global Black Lives Matter movement has gained momentum.

CANBERRA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Australia's coronavirus death toll has surpassed 350 on the nation's deadliest day of the pandemic.

Authorities on Wednesday confirmed 21 new deaths from COVID-19 in Australia, all of which were in Victoria, taking the national death toll to 352 and Victoria's to 267.

Australia has now recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic on four consecutive days and surpassed the previous highest daily number of 19.

SYDNEY, Aug 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The Australian state of Victoria again recorded it’s deadliest day of the COVID-19 pandemic today, with a further 19 deaths, as the number of new infections dropped to 322.

Victoria is at the centre of Australia’s current fight with COVID-19, recording 228 of the country’s total 313 fatalities.

The latest victims were primarily elderly, with 14 of the deaths linked to outbreaks at aged care homes.

CANBERRA, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Incumbent Scott Morrison has extended his lead as Australia's preferred Prime Minister (PM) despite a spike in coronavirus cases.

The latest Newspoll, which was conducted for and published by The Australian, found that 60 percent of voters chose Morrison as their preferred PM compared to 25 percent for Anthony Albanese, the leader of the Opposition Labor Party.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A bright side for plant nurseries of Melbourne’s first pandemic stay-at-home order was that many householders took the time to garden. But the latest lockdown in Australia’s second-largest city is far tougher.

More than 250,000 people were thrown out of work on Thursday. Those whose jobs are deemed essential need government-issued permits to travel the near-empty streets of a virtual ghost town to get to their jobs.

Melbourne, Aug 2 (AP/PTI) The premier of Australia's hard-hit Victoria state has declared a disaster among sweeping new coronavirus restrictions across Melbourne and elsewhere from Sunday night.

An evening curfew will be implemented across Melbourne from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Premier Daniel Andrews says the state of disaster proclamation gave police greater power.

Sydney, Jul 28 (AP/PTI) Police arrested a leader of an anti-racism protest and shut down the demonstration before it started Tuesday after courts ruled the gathering in downtown Sydney was illegal due to the pandemic threat.

Organiser Paddy Gibson was among a number of people arrested in a park known as The Domain before the rally was due to start at noon. Two police officers were photographed leading a defiant Gibson away.