Australia & Pacifics

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The U.S. deputy secretary of state said Monday the prime minister of the Solomon Islands “missed an important opportunity” by failing to attend a memorial service to mark the anniversary of a key World War II battle, amid concerns the South Pacific island nation is building closer ties with China.

Wendy Sherman and U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy were among dignitaries who attended a dawn service near the capital Honiara on Sunday to commemorate the Battle of Guadalcanal.

SYDNEY, Aug 3 (NNN-AAP) – Australia’s long stretch of wet and windy weather, showed little signs of easing today, with the punishing conditions continuing throughout much of the nation’s southern regions.

In the Western Australian capital of Perth, departure flights were grounded last night, following a triple storm front, causing power blackouts at the airport and about 35,000 other properties.

Huge surf has already caused erosion along the state’s beaches, which have been hit with waves reaching heights of 10 metres.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A new bill was introduced in the Australian Parliament on Monday seeking to lift a 25-year ban on doctor-assisted suicide in two territories.

Australia’s sparsely populated Northern Territory in 1995 became the first place in the world to legalize voluntary euthanasia. But the landmark law was overturned by the Australian Parliament two years later after four terminally ill people had been legally helped to die, leaving the Northern Territory one of last parts of Australia where doctor-assisted suicide remains banned.

CANBERRA, Jul 29 (NNN-AAP) – Australia reported its highest COVID-19 daily death toll in recent months, as the country continues to battle against the wave of Omicron sub-variant infections in winter.

There were 157 new COVID-19 deaths reported across Australia today, including 107 in Victoria and 22 in New South Wales.

The spike takes Australia’s total COVID-19 death toll to over 11,600, of which almost 10,000 have occurred in 2022.

SYDNEY (AP) — U.S. officials say they have little fear that China would attack Nancy Pelosi’s plane if she flies to Taiwan. But the U.S. House speaker would be entering one of the world’s hottest spots, where a mishap, misstep or misunderstanding could endanger her safety. So the Pentagon is developing plans for any contingency.

CANBERRA, Jul 26 (NNN-AAP) – The number of Australians in hospital with coronavirus has reached the highest number, since the start of the pandemic.

According to data from the Department of Health, there were 5,433 COVID-19 cases in hospital yesterday, up from 5,001 a week earlier.

It marks a new high point for COVID-19 hospitalisations, beating the previous record of 5,390 in Jan.

It comes as Australia’s winter wave of COVID-19 infections is expected to peak in the coming weeks, increasing pressure on the hospital system.

SYDNEY, July 25 (Reuters) - The number of Australians admitted to hospitals with COVID-19 hit a record of about 5,450 on Monday, official data showed, as the spread of highly contagious new Omicron sub-variants strains the healthcare system nationwide.

WELLINGTON, Jul 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) – New Zealand reported 7,746 new community cases of COVID-19 today, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

The seven-day rolling average of COVID-19 community cases in New Zealand now sits at 8,703. The Ministry also reported 759 current hospitalisations, including 19 cases in ICU or HDU, and 22 deaths of COVID-19 today.

In addition, there were 353 new cases that have recently travelled overseas, according to the ministry.

WELLINGTON, July 22 (Reuters) - New Zealanders are dying from COVID-19 at record rates as the country battles a new wave of the Omicron strain that is particularly affecting the older population.

Deaths from the virus reached 151 in the seven days to July 16, compared with 115 in the worst week of the previous wave, in March, according to Health Ministry data. In the latest 24 hours, 26 people died from COVID, all aged over 60, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

SYDNEY, July 21 (Reuters) - Australia reported one of its highest daily death tolls from the novel coronavirus on Thursday while hospital admissions hovered near record levels, as authorities struggle to get ahead of highly contagious Omicron variants.

The BA.4/5 variants are good at evading immune protection from vaccination or prior infection and have been driving a surge of new infections globally.