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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…
People have gathered in cities around the world, including in Taipei, New York, London and Melbourne, to mark 33 years since China's Tiananmen Square crackdown. Among those attending June 4, 2022, events were immigrants from Hong Kong, where an annual candlelight vigil was banned for the third year in a row. The Hon…
Hong Kong was once the only place on Chinese soil where large-scale commemorations were held to mourn those killed in the June 4, 1989, crackdown on protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Since 1990, football pitches in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park were used as a venue for tens of thousands of people to gather for a…
At least 100 police officers patrolled Victoria Park on June 3, 2022, ahead of the June 4 anniversary that commemorates the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989. They also cordoned off parts of the park, restricting public access until June 5. Earlier, a woman was taken away by police after carrying out a perfo…
Foreign ministers of 10 Pacific island nations have failed to endorse a proposed security cooperation deal with China after a meeting with Beijing’s top diplomat in Fiji. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi used a video link on May 30, 2022, for the meeting with his counterparts from Fiji as well as from Samoa, Tonga, …
Famous landmarks around the world were recreated at the Haeundae Sand Festival 2022 in Busan, South Korea. Including Paris’ Eiffel Tower, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, the Sydney Opera House and many more, the festival has drawn thousands of visitors. The Haeundae Sand Festival is an environmentally friendly event as each …
Chinese and Russian jet bombers carried out joint flights near Japan on May 24, 2022, during meetings in Tokyo involving US President Joe Biden and the leaders of three major Asia-Pacific countries including Australia, India and Japan. Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi said his government expressed “grave concer…
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US President Joe Biden met with Japan’s Emperor Naruhito on May 23, 2022, to outline an economic plan to counter China’s regional influence. The meeting launches Biden’s two-day visit to Japan, which includes discussions with the other Quad alliance nations, India and Australia. A roll-out of the Indo-Pacific Econom…
Anthony Albanese led his centre-left Labor Party to victory in Australia’s federal election on May 21, 2022. Their victory ends almost four years of government under incumbent Liberal-National coalition leader Scott Morrison, who oversaw a period during which the nation’s relations with China fell to what has been d…
The global spread of monkeypox outside Africa is causing alarm, but experts say it is not likely to infect people like the coronavirus epidemic has. First identified in monkeys, monkeypox typically spreads through close contact and largely occurs in west and central Africa. Monkeypox is usually a mild viral illness,…
Australian Liberal parliamentarian Fiona Martin has been accused of confusing two female Asian-Australian candidates after she suggested her opponent, Labor’s Sally Sitou, had lost preselection for candidacy in a Sydney suburb to Labor frontbencher Kristina Keneally. During a heated clash on radio, Martin suggested …
Thanks to a mild summer, 2022 was a good vintage for Australian wine. But the ongoing trade dispute between Australia and China has led to millions of grapes being left to rot at vineyards across the country. The mainland Chinese market used to total more than AUS$1 billion (US$700 million) before China more than do…
Passengers on an early morning hot air balloon flight in Melbourne on April 20, 2022 had a lucky escape after a crash landing. All 13 people onboard, including the pilot, were uninjured.
China has confirmed that it signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands on April 19, 2022. China’s plans for such a pact with the Pacific Island nation have been closely watched by the United States and its allies Australia and New Zealand since they were announced in March. Washington has warned that the d…
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Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has revealed a raft of changes to the city’s Covid-19 pandemic control measures which will start from April, including a reduction in the length of quarantine for people arriving in the city, as well as lifting flight bans on travel from Australia, Canada, France, India, P…
A roadside kitchen near a Kyiv front line feeds more than 5,000 people a day. Victoria Yermakova started the kitchen with her husband after deciding to stay in their homeland and help as volunteers.
On March 9, 2022, the Australian government declared a national emergency in response to floods in the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland. Tens of thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate. The flooding has killed 20 people and inundated thousands of homes and facilities since it began in late…
Thousands of people in Australia’s New South Wales and Queensland have been ordered to evacuate after serious flooding that has hit the eastern states since February 26, 2022. As of March 2, the death toll from the floods had risen to at least 12. Hundreds of people had to be rescued from flooded homes and thousands…
After a nearly two-year closure, Australia reopened its international borders to fully vaccinated visa holders on February 21, 2022. But unvaccinated travellers still need to apply for a travel exemption and must pay for their own hotel quarantine. Travellers were greeted with items representing Australia, such as k…
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Scuba diver Simon Nellist died in a shark attack in Little Bay, Sydney, on February 16, 2022, after suffering "catastrophic injuries”, according to police and ambulance services. It’s the first fatal shark attack in the city since 1963. Police said Little Bay has since been closed off. A day after the attack, severa…
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Hong Kong’s Fenwick Pier, which has welcomed foreign navy ships and sailors for decades, will be shut down on February 11, 2022. Owned by the non-profit Servicemen’s Guides Association (SGA), the city’s only American navy pier was built in 1970 on what was once the harbourfront in the Wan Chai district. After Britai…
Images are emerging depicting the aftermath of the massive volcanic eruption off the coast of Tonga on January 15, 2022, and the tsunami waves triggered by the event. The Tongan government’s first report since the eruption has confirmed three deaths as of January 18. The Pacific island nation had been largely cut of…
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Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic flew out of Australia bound for Dubai on January 16, 2022, following a unanimous court ruling rejecting his appeal against the cancellation of his visa, shattering the Serbian’s hopes of defending his title and a record 21st grand slam win at the Australian Open.
Novak Djokovic has lost his bid to remain in Australia on January 16, 2022, after the Federal Court upheld the government’s decision to cancel the tennis star’s visa.
Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic had his visa revoked for a second time on January 14, 2022, just three days before he is due to compete in the Australian Open. Everyone at the tournament, including players and spectators, is required to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
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