Follow South China Morning Post - Australasia, filter it, and define how you want to receive the news (via Email, RSS, Telegram, WhatsApp etc.) https://follow.it/scmp23 Tue, 18 Jan 2022 01:12:45 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxHVV1oDclSfoZs0ohxaO6Yr The body of a British woman who went missing after a tsunami swept Tonga has been found, her brother said on Monday.Brighton-born Angela Glover was washed away by a wave when she and her husband, James, who own the Happy Sailor Tattoo in Nuku’alofa, had gone to rescue their dogs.James managed to hold onto a tree, but Glover and their dogs were swept away, New Zealand state broadcaster TVNZ reported.Glover was the founder of the Tongan Animal Welfare Society, and had a “a deep love of dogs”, her…]]> Mon, 17 Jan 2022 17:04:44 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxHVV1oDclSfoZs0ohxaO6Yr https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxHtfBFDwHAXPcb1naedg1wr New Zealand is bracing for the arrival of Omicron, with the highly infectious Covid-19 variant expected to breach the nation’s closed border at any time.“We know that with Omicron it is a case of when, not if,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a news conference on Monday in Auckland. “We’re doing what we can, but I think it would be wrong for us to assume that those border measures will be sufficient. At some point, we will see Omicron in the community.”The government has delayed a phased…]]> Mon, 17 Jan 2022 07:01:15 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxHtfBFDwHAXPcb1naedg1wr https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxGMV-wdTioonMb1naedg1wr Australia and New Zealand dispatched surveillance flights on Monday to assess the damage in Tonga, isolated from the rest of the world due to the eruption of an underwater volcano that triggered a tsunami and blanketed the Pacific island with ash.Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison pledged to provide support for Tonga as early as possible but said the volcano ash had hampered relief efforts.“There’s been a lot of challenges there with the ash cloud and the disruption to communications and…]]> Mon, 17 Jan 2022 03:54:17 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxGMV-wdTioonMb1naedg1wr https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxGkPoPuy2KUFylmFkX7M1Jw Two women drowned on a beach in northern Peru due to “anomalous waves” registered after the volcanic eruption in Tonga, more than 10,000 kilometres away, local emergency services said on Sunday.The two women drowned on Saturday in Lambayeque.Peru’s government on Saturday closed 22 Pacific ports in the country’s north and centre due to the waves.Tonga uncontactable after suffering ‘significant’ volcano damageThe National Emergency Operations Centre said the unusually strong waves were “due to…]]> Sun, 16 Jan 2022 19:52:56 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxGkPoPuy2KUFylmFkX7M1Jw https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxElvQhmI6lSnJVjH6qdYdAk The massive underwater volcanic eruption in Tonga was so powerful it was recorded around the world and triggered a tsunami that flooded Pacific coastlines from Japan to the United States, scientists said on Sunday.Dramatic satellite images showed the long, rumbling eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano spew smoke and ash in the air, with a thunderous roar heard 10,000km (6,000 miles) away in Alaska.The US Geological Survey recorded Saturday’s eruption as equivalent to a 5.8…]]> Sun, 16 Jan 2022 04:04:22 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxElvQhmI6lSnJVjH6qdYdAk https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxEV14ruNJ9t6Xn9ye8UNv30 Japan’s Pacific coast was hit early Sunday by a tsunami following a massive underwater volcanic eruption in the South Pacific island country of Tonga the previous day, prompting the weather agency to issue a tsunami warning and advisories while urging residents to move to high ground.The Japan Meteorological Agency said a three-metre tsunami may hit some of Japan’s southwestern islands including Amami Island, and a 1.2-metre tsunami was observed in the city of Amami soon before Saturday…]]> Sat, 15 Jan 2022 19:54:45 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxEV14ruNJ9t6Xn9ye8UNv30 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxEvWpX7amXvGl1cWWor9YPv When Wang Ximing (not his real name), a recent Chinese graduate in nano materials and technology, started looking into universities to pursue postgraduate studies some time back, Japan was his top choice.But the 23-year-old, who asked to use a pseudonym for privacy reasons, is having serious second thoughts amid reports that Japanese institutions are now required to hand over to the government details of foreigners studying in “sensitive” science and technology subjects.These include areas such…]]> Sat, 15 Jan 2022 02:00:10 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxEvWpX7amXvGl1cWWor9YPv https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxGVrz5x7hUVQMb1naedg1wr Hong Kong premium meat importer Food Square Hong Kong is facing a two-week delay in getting some of its well-loved Australian meat into town.The business, which also has to stock up its new grocery outlet at Hong Kong’s food and shopping mecca, Central Market, says while cargoes of meat are trickling in, delays are mounting due to a labour shortage in the logistics supply chain down under as Covid-19 outbreaks – mostly Omicron – send workers into isolation.The delays could worsen if supply…]]> Fri, 14 Jan 2022 00:00:25 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxGVrz5x7hUVQMb1naedg1wr https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxHnJFyNENNojOzdsCmHakzH Australia on Thursday reported its biggest pandemic caseload with a runaway Omicron outbreak driving up hospitalisation rates as the surge put severe strain on supply chains forcing authorities to ease quarantine rules for more workers.After successfully containing the virus earlier in the pandemic, Australia has reported nearly a million cases over the last two weeks as people slowly get adjusted to living with the coronavirus amid fewer restrictions. Total infections detected since the…]]> Thu, 13 Jan 2022 04:50:46 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxHnJFyNENNojOzdsCmHakzH https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxFro7ZkFyeqvezdsCmHakzH Singapore is open to imposing a smoking ban on young adults along the lines of similarly strict rules proposed in New Zealand last month, underscoring its commitment to bolstering tobacco control.“It is an attractive proposal, in that it prevents young people from taking up smoking while not putting too many restriction on older smokers,” Singapore’s Ministry of Health said in a statement Tuesday. “Then, as the years go by, more cohorts are smoking free.”In a first such nationwide ban, New…]]> Wed, 12 Jan 2022 13:36:00 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxFro7ZkFyeqvezdsCmHakzH https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxFJlLzgJfTZXZVjH6qdYdAk Just a week ago, Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic had a clear plan. He had been given the green light by Victorian officials to enter Melbourne despite being unvaccinated and he was set to defend his Australian Open title.Instead, he found himself in a bureaucratic nightmare. First, his visa was revoked and he was held at the airport for eight hours incommunicado. Then, Djokovic, 34, was detained for a further five days.On Monday, his fortunes improved, with a federal judge overturning the…]]> Wed, 12 Jan 2022 07:18:11 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxFJlLzgJfTZXZVjH6qdYdAk https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxHml3Ux0bneW-zdsCmHakzH The percentage of positive Covid-19 tests have reached a record high in the Philippines, fuelling fears of a return to stricter curbs on movement and triggering a sell-off of stocks as hopes fade for a swift economic recovery.Positivity rates are rising across Asia, a warning sign as countries brace for the highly infectious Omicron variant to take hold after Delta ripped through the region last year.The positivity rate surged to 46 per cent in the Philippines on Monday – meaning more than two…]]> Wed, 12 Jan 2022 05:18:07 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxHml3Ux0bneW-zdsCmHakzH https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxGYbljfF791F5VjH6qdYdAk The Pacific may well be the part of the world most likely to see “strategic surprise”, the US Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said, in comments apparently referring to possible Chinese ambitions to establish Pacific-island bases.Campbell told Washington’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies on Monday that the United States has “enormous moral, strategic, historical interests” in the Pacific, but had not done enough to assist the region, unlike countries such as Australia and…]]> Tue, 11 Jan 2022 05:43:12 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxGYbljfF791F5VjH6qdYdAk https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxFM688U5f4yzZVjH6qdYdAk he last seven years have been the hottest on record globally “by a clear margin”, the European Union’s climate monitoring service reported Monday, as it raised the alarm over sharp increases in record concentrations of methane in the atmosphere.Countries around the world have been blasted by a relentless assault of weather disasters linked to global warming in recent years, including record-shattering wildfires across Australia and Siberia, a once-in-1000-years heatwave in North America and…]]> Mon, 10 Jan 2022 17:22:22 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxFM688U5f4yzZVjH6qdYdAk https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxE9L95thczIVyejEQ2Mq9rY US troops in Japan have stopped making non-essential visits off-base for two weeks from Monday, as local officials in areas hosting the forces link them with a sharp rise in coronavirus infections.The announcement came as the government imposed new virus restrictions in three regions, including Okinawa, that host major US bases or are near them. Many Japanese officials believe the recent Covid-19 clusters originated from infected American service members coming into contact with local residents…]]> Mon, 10 Jan 2022 12:13:28 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxE9L95thczIVyejEQ2Mq9rY https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxG4zhZDWMbui-zdsCmHakzH Australia’s Jetstar Group, which has offshoots in Singapore and Japan, and Vietnam’s VietJet have been listed among the world’s top 10 safest low-cost airlines by a safety and product review website.Australia-based AirlineRatings.com publishes an annual list highlighting the world’s safest airlines, focusing on factors such as accident and incident records, audits, ban lists from the European Union, fleet age, and Covid-19 protocols. Its top 10 were picked from 385 airlines that the website…]]> Mon, 10 Jan 2022 05:45:35 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxG4zhZDWMbui-zdsCmHakzH https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxEEjqykGt_LbOzdsCmHakzH Japan and the United States have agreed that US forces stationed in Japan will not leave their bases except for essential reasons in an effort to stem the spread of Covid-19, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Sunday.His comments came as areas hosting or close to US bases saw some of the biggest increases in infections on a per head of population basis, prompting Japan’s government to introduce restrictions for the first time in months in some localities. Regional governors have blamed…]]> Sun, 09 Jan 2022 06:15:51 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxEEjqykGt_LbOzdsCmHakzH https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxGu_uMTf1inq3n9ye8UNv30 A landmark treaty signed between Australia and Japan on Thursday could pave the way for other Western powers to establish an active presence around Asia and the Pacific, analysts say, while increased defence activities between the two nations could lighten the military burden that Washington has been carrying in the region.The two nations deepened their bilateral relationship after Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida signed the long-awaited…]]> Thu, 06 Jan 2022 14:25:04 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxGu_uMTf1inq3n9ye8UNv30 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxGMcq8fswAKLezdsCmHakzH Some Qantas pilots are making mistakes as they return from long breaks caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to an internal memo reported by Australian media on Wednesday.Among the errors listed in Qantas pilot reports: starting take-off with the parking brake on and misreading the altitude as airspeed, said a report by The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne’s Age.It also cited switches in cockpit panels being in the wrong position, and crew looking back at an event and “not realising…]]> Wed, 05 Jan 2022 06:14:21 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxGMcq8fswAKLezdsCmHakzH https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxF6dI6JiDV-wKCY3L745TL_ Australia’s Covid-19 cases touched a fresh pandemic high on Tuesday amid an Omicron surge in its two most populous states as hospitalisations in New South Wales, home to Sydney, surpassed the record numbers hit during the Delta outbreak.NSW and Victoria, home to more than half of Australia’s 25 million people, saw another spike in infections, with 37,151 new cases reported between them, just shy of the national one-day high of 37,212 hit a day earlier.Tasmania reported 702 new cases. Other…]]> Tue, 04 Jan 2022 04:05:16 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/Vk1XXm9RJxF6dI6JiDV-wKCY3L745TL_