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Biomedical engineers in Australia have developed a prototype of a small flexible robot that they say can be used to 3D print biomaterials directly inside the human body. The device called F3DB functions like an endoscopic tool, and may have applications as a way to repair ruptured tissue or blood vessels without the…
World Athletics, the sport’s governing body, announced new restrictions on transgender athletes on March 24, 2023. The council decided to exclude transgender women who have gone through male puberty from elite female competitions, starting from March 31. Several Australian athletes criticised the decision.
Residents of Menindee, Australia reported on March 18, 2023, that millions of dead fish were floating in the Darling River. Environmental authorities blamed the incident on receding floods and the ongoing heatwave, which have led to low oxygen levels in the water. The river had experienced similar mass fish deaths i…
Blake Johnston broke the record for the world’s longest surf session on March 17, 2023, after he spent more than 30 hours and 11 minutes riding the waves. After doing so, the Australian surfer headed back into the sea with hopes to take his record to 40 hours. The physical strain of surfing for extended periods of t…
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An Australian archaeologist and two Papua New Guinean researchers were released on February 26, 2023, after being held for a week by 20 armed men in a remote area of the Pacific island nation. Bryce Barker, a professor at Australia’s University of Southern Queensland, was taken hostage alongside fellow members of hi…
Facebook’s parent company Meta launched a week-long test run of their paid subscription service on February 24, 2023. For a monthly service fee of up to US$14.99, “Meta Verified” subscribers on Instagram and Facebook are offered verification badges on their accounts, as well as added safeguards to prevent impersonat…
Two brothers adrift at sea off the northeastern coast of Australia were airlifted to safety after clinging to a portable cooler for nearly four hours on February 18, 2023. The men, in their 20s, were out on a fishing trip when their boat overturned near Fraser Island in Queensland.
Guinness World Records has named Bobi as the “world’s oldest living dog” and “oldest dog ever”. The 30-year-old Rafeiro do Alentejo, who was certified on February 1, 2023, lives with his family in Conqueiros, a small village in central Portugal. The last canine to hold the record was a 29-year-old Australian dog nam…
The Australian government says it will examine surveillance technology used in offices of its defence department, amid reports the Chinese-made cameras installed there raised security risks. Australian media reported that the national war memorial in Canberra would remove several Chinese-made security cameras instal…
As residents of flood-ravaged Auckland attempt to pick through what was left of their homes, New Zealand officials warned them to brace for another onslaught of rain. Four people have lost their lives amid days of record downpours in the country’s biggest city. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has blamed the extreme wea…
An urgent search is under way for a radioactive capsule that went missing in Western Australia. Australian health officials said the silver capsule contains the radioactive substance caesium 137, which could cause radiation burns or illness if touched. The 8mm (0.31in) by 6mm (0.24in) unit is believed to have fallen…
A potentially record-breaking cane toad was found in Queensland's Conway National Park on January 12, 2023. The 2.7kg (6lbs) amphibian could break the world record for largest cane toad, currently at 2.65kg (5.8lbs). A senior ranger at the national park predicted that the cane toad would lay up to 35,000 eggs in a s…
The Australian state of Victoria will not hold a state funeral for Cardinal George Pell, who died at the age of 81. The decision was confirmed by the state’s premier, who said that an official memorial for the late cardinal, who was convicted of sexually assaulting two choirboys in the 1990s, would be distressing. D…
Four-time grand slam tennis champion Naomi Osaka announced on social media on January 11, 2023, that she is pregnant. The announcement came only days after her sudden withdrawal from the Australian Open tournament. In recent years, Osaka has faced a series of injuries and spoken openly about her mental health issues…
William Wang Liqiang has been denied political asylum in Australia after the country’s Administrative Appeals Tribunal found him guilty of committing fraud against an Australian citizen. The tribunal also expressed grave doubts over Wang’s espionage allegations, given his fraudulent activities. Wang claimed in a 201…
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida have signed a major defence pact that makes it easier for the two nations to engage in joint military exercises and deploy troops to each other’s countries. The agreement reached on January 11, 2023, was seen as part of an effort to confro…
The Japanese Self-Defence Force's 1st Airborne Brigade conducted its first parachute drop training of the year on January 8, 2023, joined by paratrooper units from the US, British and Australian armies. The joint military exercise was an apparent display of solidarity by the group, as China ramps up its maritime act…
The cruise liner Viking Orion was stuck at sea for days over “biofoul”. The marine fungal growth was cleaned after the ship was barred from New Zealand’s South Island and Adelaide in Australia.
Two helicopters collided mid-air over Australia’s Gold Coast on January 2, 2023, killing four passengers, including two UK nationals. Australian police said one chopper was taking off and the other was landing when the incident occurred near the tourist hotspot’s Sea World Resort Australia theme park. A further inve…
Thousands of people gathered along Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui harbourfront and Lan Kwai Fong entertainment district on December 31, 2022 to welcome the new year. The annual fireworks display has not returned for a 4th year in a row due to protests in 2019 and Covid restrictions in the following years. However, crowds…
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong, in Beijing on December 21, 2022, the 50th anniversary of the two countries establishing diplomatic ties.. Wong is the first Australian minister to visit China since 2019. Relations between the two have been frosty since 2020 when Canberra p…
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On December 1, 2022, an Australian zoo released CCTV footage of a rare incident of five lions escaping from their enclosure. The incident occurred in early November, sparking a lockdown and an emergency alert in Taronga Zoo. No one was injured and the lions were later secured. The zoo in Sydney said an investigation…
Myanmar’s military government announced on November 17, 2022, that it was releasing and deporting an Australian academic, a Japanese filmmaker, an ex-British diplomat and an American as part of a broad prisoner amnesty to mark the country’s National Victory Day. A total of 5,774 prisoners were released, Myanmar’s st…
At least 19 people were killed when a plane operated by Tanzania’s Precision Air crash-landed into Lake Victoria on November 6, 2022. Flight PW494, carrying 43 people, reportedly encountered problems and bad weather on approach to the lakeside city of Bukoba. Local officials said that rescue efforts were under way.
Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka was denied bail by a court in Australia on November 7, 2022, after being charged with sexual assault. Gunathilaka was in Sydney to play in the T20 World Cup. His defence lawyer Ananda Amaranath said the court refused his client’s bid for bail, and a further application to a …
The prime ministers of Australia and Japan signed a security pact on October 22, 2022, agreeing to share more sensitive intelligence and to deepen military cooperation. The “Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation” agreement was described as a revamp of a pact signed in 2007. Political analysts said the declaratio…
Hong Kong's annual cross-harbour swim race has returned for a second year since a two-year pause caused by social unrest and the Covid-19 pandemic. About 1,500 swimmers took part in 1,000-metre (3,280ft) race from Wan Chai to Tsim Sha Tsui on October 23, 2022.
A superyacht owned by the Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov has been moored in waters west of Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong waters since October 5, 2022. Shipping records show the Nord, reportedly worth half a billion US dollars, sailed for over a week from Russia to Hong Kong. Russian billionaire businessman Alexei…
With three months left in 2022, Australia’s largest city Sydney has already recorded its wettest year, with 2,213 millimetres (87 inches) of rain. More downpours are expected as the city is forecast to experience major flooding. Scientists link the unusual event to a warmer climate and the La Nina phenomenon, which …
Twenty people in Hyderabad were injured in a stampede on September 22, 2022. Police said thousands of fans rushed at counters to buy tickets for Sunday’s Twenty20 cricket match between India and Australia .
Around 230 pilot whales were stranded on the west coast of the Australian state of Tasmania on September 21, 2022. Officials said only half of the mammals seemed to be alive. This, almost two years after the country had its largest-ever mass stranding of about 500 whales in the same harbour. Just a day before, a sep…
Music by the late Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng can be heard playing from portable speakers in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park. The cover version of the legendary singer’s The Moon Represents My Heart is accompanied by the unique sound of the traditional Indonesian instrument, the angklung. It’s performed by a group of Ind…
Australian authorities have seized 1.6 tonnes of methamphetamine hidden in marble tiles shipped from the Middle East to Sydney. Police described it as the largest-ever seizure of the illicit drug in Australia. Police estimate the meth's street value at A$1.6 billion (US$1.1 billion), reflecting the higher prices tha…
A team of biomedical engineers in Australia has developed a smart textile that incorporates artificial “muscles”, in hopes that it will revolutionise the future of soft robotics and wearable exoskeletons. The team demonstrated the shape-morphing flexibility of the material with models of a butterfly and flower made …
Amid Sri Lanka’s worst-ever economic crisis, many of its people have been trying to escape the island nation. Many have sought to flee to Australia, where some have been detained and deported back to Sri Lanka, where they face prosecution. Among them is Neenu Mekala, whose husband has been jailed accused of smugglin…
Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s three-nation tour continued with a stop in Japan for a meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on July 27, 2022. The leaders pledged to bolster maritime security ties between their countries, further reinforcing Indonesian maritime security capability “to ensure peace and safety …
Sydney was blanketed in a heavy shroud of fog on the morning of July 25, 2022, obscuring iconic landmarks including the Harbour Bridge. Motorists were warned of reduced visibility caused by the heavy fog that also caused several flight delays. The fog started to lift late morning.
A sinkhole has swallowed up a house in the Australian state of New South Wales where major flooding since early July 2022 has disrupted the lives of an estimated 50,000 people. The heavy rainfall is believed to be linked to the La Niña climate pattern or increasingly warm sea surface temperatures which have dominate…
Australian journalist, author and documentary filmmaker John Pilger has dedicated his life to the pursuit of truth and shining a light on inconvenient facts that often contradict the mainstream media narrative. In this episode of Talking Post, Pilger sits down with SCMP chief news editor Yonden Lhatoo to discuss the…
British researchers at London’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew have discovered a new species of giant water lily growing under their noses after they realised the plants had been mistakenly identified for years. The Victoria boliviana growing at Kew’s Herbarium is now recognised as the largest water lily in the world, w…
A cargo ship which suffered a power failure remained stranded off the coast of Sydney, Australia on July 4, 2022, amid heavy rains. The boat with 21 crew members on board was seen drifting towards the coast of New South Wales. Australian authorities have deployed three tugboats to help steer the carrier back to deep…
Flooding inundated some parts of Sydney on July 4, 2022, as the Australian city continues to be drenched by continuous heavy rainfall. Warragamba Dam, the city’s largest dam, released torrents of water from its spillways earlier than expected. Overflowing rivers have inundated swathes of land, transforming at least …
When Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Indonesia for the first time in June 2022, the country's president Joko Widodo took the Australian leader for a special ride on bicycles made of bamboo. Built by a team of 15 in Indonesia’s Central Java, it took up to a week to finish one of the green two-wheel…
Nasa conducted its first commercial launch at a location outside the US on June 26, 2022, with a historic lift-off from Australian soil. After a series of weather-related delays, the suborbital-sounding rocket took off from the Arnhem Space Centre on a mission to study interstellar X-rays emanating from the Alpha Ce…
Scientists from Australia’s University of Queensland have discovered that a type of beetle larvae called Zophobas morio can consume and break down polystyrene. Research published in the scientific journal Microbial Genomics on June 9, 2022, says the superworms possess special gut enzymes that can break down plastic.…
Cambodia and China held a ceremony on June 8, 2022, marking the start of a new Beijing-funded project to upgrade the Ream Naval Base in the Southeast Asian country. Phnom Penh and Beijing have dismissed concerns that the upgrade project would lead to the presence of Chinese military at the base. The US has long expr…
Scientists have been tracking the health of coral reefs off Indonesia by using what is known as Passive Acoustic Monitoring, where underwater microphones called hydrophones record underwater sounds. The team of researchers from the United Kingdom use a computer algorithm to read the audio clips that helps them deter…
