Australia

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia will ask the World Trade Organization to intervene in its dispute with China over barley and expects other nations to become involved in the case, Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said on Wednesday.

China effectively ended imports of Australian barley in May by putting tariffs of more than 80% on the crop, accusing Australia of breaching WTO rules by subsidizing barley production and selling the grain in China at below production costs.

Birmingham said Australia would formally ask the WTO to intervene on Wednesday.

SYDNEY, Dec 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) – A severe weather system, lashing parts of Australia’s east coast, prompted over 850 calls for help across the weekend, as heavy rain and winds caused flooding and other damage.

Warning remained in place today, for north New South Wales (NSW) state and south-east Queensland state.

A NSW State Emergency Service (SES) spokesperson, said, crews conducted five flood rescues over the weekend and responded to 853 calls for help, involving property damage, fallen trees and branches and assistance with flood protection.

SYDNEY, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Australian State of Queensland will reopen its borders to New Zealand from Saturday, helping to reunite families in time for Christmas.

New Zealanders will not be required to undergo a two-week hotel quarantine when they arrive in Queensland as is the case for all other international arrivals.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Friday the decision was made possible by New Zealand recording 28 days of zero community transmission.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Friday that his government won’t rush approval of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine because he wants people to have confidence in the product

His comments come as Australian researchers said they were abandoning their own potential vaccine because it produced false positive results to HIV tests.

Morrison said Australia was in a different position to Britain, which has given emergency approval to the Pfizer roll out, and the United States, where a government advisory panel has endorsed the Pfizer vaccine.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police arrested on Wednesday an 18-year man who had allegedly expressed interest in committing a mass causality attack, motivated by right-wing ideology.

Police said they expect to lay charges on Wednesday against the unidentified man from Albury, a small town 553 km (344 miles) southwest of Sydney.

“The male we’ve arrested has an extremely right-wing ideology and is focused on neo-Nazi, white supremacist and anti-Semitic material,” Australian Federal Police Assistant Commission Scott Lee told reporters in Sydney.

CANBERRA, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Australian Governor-General David Hurley has told new members of the defense force that it is their duty to rebuild public trust following the Afghan war crimes inquiry.

Hurley, who served as Chief of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) between 2011 and 2014 and as governor-general since 2019, told graduates of the ADF Academy on Sunday evening that they will need to "reassure and reaffirm" the relationship with the Australian public.

Melbourne, Dec 8 (PTI) Brenton Tarrant, the Australian-born attacker who killed 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, travelled extensively around the world, including India where he spent nearly three months, before moving to New Zealand to carry out the country's worst massacre in 2019, according to a detailed report into the shootings released on Tuesday.

Canberra, Dec 8 (AP-PTI) Australia's government will reveal legislation in Parliament on Wednesday that would make Facebook and Google pay for journalism.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Tuesday that the legislation to create the News Media Bargaining Code will be scrutinized by a parliamentary committee following its introduction and before lawmakers vote on it next year.

This is a huge reform, Frydenberg told reporters. This is a world first. And the world is watching what happens here in Australia.

Sydney, Dec 7 (PTI) The series pocketed and their confidence restored, India would eye nothing less than a clean sweep when they take on an Australian side significantly weakened by injury blows, in the third and final T20 International here on Tuesday.

Skipper Virat Kohli and his main protagonist of the white-ball leg, Hardik Pandya, will feel a sense of deja vu given that the script has panned out exactly like 2016 when the team got walloped in the ODIs but came back strongly to rout the Aussies 3-0 in the T20 International series.

Sydney, Dec 4 (PTI) Players taking part in the upcoming Big Bash League will not have the mini bar at their disposal in hotel rooms with Cricket Australia aiming to minimise interaction between staff and cricketers to reduce the risk of any COVID-19 infections.

A "BBL Hub" will be created at the hotels for all stakeholders of the league to minimise exposure to the outside world during the league starting December 10.