WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sharks have more complex social lives than previously known, as shown by a study finding that gray reef sharks in the Pacific Ocean cultivate surprising social networks with one another and develop bonds that can endure for years. The re... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia will boost defence spending by nearly 40% over the next 10 years as Canberra shifts its military assets to focus on the Indo-Pacific region, Prime Minister Scott Morrison will say on Wednesday. In a speech that threatens to inflame... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – New Zealand and Australia could soon open their borders to each other, creating what they call a “Trans-Tasman bubble” as they look to restart their economies after getting their novel coronavirus outbreaks under control. New Zealand Prime M... More »
SYDNEY/CHICAGO (Reuters) – Airlines around the world said they would make more drastic cuts to their flying schedules, shed jobs and seek government aid after countries further tightened border restrictions because of the fast spreading coronavirus. The owner ... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – The South Pacific island nation of Samoa on Saturday extended a state of emergency due to a measles outbreak which has killed 72 people, mostly infants, as New Zealand announced NZ$1 million ($640,700) to help combat measles in the Pacifi... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Volunteers in the New Zealand city of Rotorua are preparing two dozen white-lined coffins to be transported to Samoa at the end of the week as the measles-ravaged Pacific island nation languishes under a growing death toll that has now hit 7... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Samoa said on Saturday nearly 90% of eligible people had been vaccinated against measles as it lifted a two-day curfew imposed amid an outbreak that has killed 65 in recent weeks. There were, however, 103 new cases of measles reported sin... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – A painting by French post-impressionist artist Paul Gauguin fetched 9.5 million euros ($10.5 million) in a Paris auction on Tuesday. “Te Bourao II”, which depicts a stream with birds and flowers in a rich palette of blues and greens, was pain... More »
WELLINGTON/SYDNEY (Reuters) – The small Pacific island nation of Samoa has closed schools and is restricting travel ahead of the Christmas holiday season as the death toll from a measles outbreak tops 50, in the latest flare-up of a global epidemic of the viru... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – The number of suspected cases of measles on the Pacific island of Samoa has more than doubled over the past week to 3,530 and deaths related to the outbreak rose to 48 from 20 a week ago, the country’s Ministry of Health said on Sunday. S... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Deaths related to measles, mostly among small children, have more than tripled to 20 in the past week on the Pacific island of Samoa, the government has said eight days after declaring a state of emergency over the outbreak. The island st... More »
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan said on Monday China was practicing “authoritarian expansionism” in the Pacific, pointing to reports of plans for Chinese military presence in two Pacific countries that have recently switched diplomatic allegiance to Beijing from Tai... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – The Solomon Islands, one of Taiwan’s few remaining diplomatic allies, has formed a team of ministers to talk to Beijing ahead of a possible switch in ties that could be unveiled as early as this week, the chief of a parliamentary panel said.... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia will spend A$500 million ($340 million) to improve the capability of its special forces troops, the first stage of a $3 billion, 20-year plan that the government said on Monday will enable a better response to security threats at h... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s aviation regulator on Monday grounded nearly 100 Boeing Co 737 MAX 8 aircraft operated by its airlines, more than a quarter of the global fleet of the jets, after a deadly crash of one of the planes in Ethiopia. An Ethiopia... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s civil aviation regulator said on Monday that it has asked domestic airlines to suspend the commercial operations of all Boeing 737-8 planes by 6:00 p.m. local time (5.00 a.m. ET), a day after a deadly crash of a 737 MAX 8 by Ethiopi... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Vanuatu’s Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu on Tuesday denied a media report that China wanted to establish a permanent military presence on the Pacific island nation, easing fears of several regional countries concerned about Beijing’s risin... More »
Locals surround a house that was covered by a landslide in the town of Mendi after an earthquake struck Papua New Guinea’s Southern Highlands, in this image taken February 27, 2018 obtained from social media. Francis Ambrose/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THI... More »
Millions of people across the Chinese capital were treated to a "super blood blue moon" eclipse on a cold but clear night on Wednesday, a phenomenon not seen since the late Qing dynasty more than 150 years ago. More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The moon will stage a rare triple show on Wednesday when a blue super moon combines with a total lunar eclipse that will be visible from western North America to eastern Asia, U.S. astronomers say. The overlap of a blue moon – the second... More »
FILE PHOTO: A monitoring screen at the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center shows China’s Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) 1 module as seen from the Shenzhou 8 spacecraft after docking on November 3, 2011. REUTERS/CCTV via Reuters TV BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s T... More »
Australia will not be allowed to walk away from legal, financial and moral responsibility for nearly 800 men when it closes its asylum seeker detention center in Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Tuesday, PNG's immigration minister said. More »
The rise of Tiki culture in 1950s America in the aftermath of World War Two is explored in a new exhibit that opened Friday in Los Angeles. More »
FILE PHOTO: A protester holds a placard in Sydney, Australia, February 4, 2017 during one of several rallies across Australia condemning U.S. President Donald Trump’s order temporarily barring refugees and nationals from seven countries and demanding an end to... More »
A woman who, according to a new History Channel documentary, is said to resemble pilot Amelia Earhart (C) sitting on the dock is seen in this undated photo taken in the Marshall Islands. Earhart vanished while attempting a round-the-world flight 80 years ago. ... More »
Australia and New Zealand reached agreement on a landmark Pacific trade pact on Thursday to cut down trade barriers, boost tourism and raise living standards in the region, the two governments said on Thursday. More »
An Okinawa coconut crab is seen in this undated handout photo. Shin-ichiro Oka/Handout via REUTERS It may not be wise to get into a scrap with a coconut crab. Its claw is a mighty weapon. More »
CAIRO An aircraft powered by solar energy left Egypt on Sunday on the last leg of the first ever fuel-free flight around the globe. Solar Impulse 2, a spindly single-seat plane, took off from Cairo in darkness en route to Abu Dhabi, its final destination, with... More »
SYDNEY The Fijian government and international aid agencies began delivering much needed aid on Wednesday to the Pacific nation’s remote islands and coastal villages devastated by a powerful cyclone that killed 42 people. The death toll has crept up in the day... More »
PERTH – Australia will intensify testing for the Zika virus in Queensland state where Aedes mosquitoes are found, authorities said on Saturday, adding that two new cases among local residents were the result of travel to affected countries. Queensland’s govern... More »
