WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The Crusaders have grappled for the past week with the causes of a form slump which has damaged their title chances in Super Rugby Pacific.
The 12-time champions began their slide down the standings three weeks ago with a loss to the Auckland-based Blues in a match between the top-ranked teams in New Zealand.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian man was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison Tuesday for the 1988 murder of an American who fell off a Sydney cliff that was known as a gay meeting place.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A man told police he killed American mathematician Scott Johnson in 1988 by pushing the 27-year-old off a Sydney cliff in what prosecutors describe as a gay hate crime, a court heard on Monday.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The first match of the season between New Zealand and Australian teams in the Super Rugby Pacific tournament was a convincing win for the Kiwis.
The Chiefs beat the New South Wales Waratahs 51-27 on Friday at Melbourne in the first match of the so-called Super Round when all five matches will be played in the Victorian state capital.
SYDNEY (AP) — A British family of five was caught in a landslide while walking in Australia's Blue Mountains, and the father and 9-year-old son died. The mother and a teenage son were critically injured.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An appeals court on Tuesday overturned a groundbreaking ruling that Australia’s environment minister had a duty to protect younger people against climate change.
Three Federal Court judges ruled for a variety of reasons that the court should not impose on Environment Minister Sussan Ley a duty of care.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s prime minister on Wednesday said he would declare a national emergency following floods across large swathes of the east coast that have claimed 22 lives.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison made the announcement during a visit to flood-devastated Lismore in northern New South Wales state, where four people died last week.
SYDNEY (AP) — Around 500,000 people in Sydney and its surrounding areas had by Thursday been told to evacuate or prepare to flee floodwaters as torrential rain lashed an extraordinarily long stretch of the Australian east coast.
SYDNEY (AP) — Sydney was preparing on Wednesday for dangerous flash flooding as population centers farther north began a massive cleanup operation after record floods that have claimed at least 14 lives along Australia’s east coast in recent days.
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate their homes by Tuesday and hundreds of thousands more were told to prepare to flee as parts of Australia’s southeast coast were inundated by the worst flooding in more than a decade.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — After having their first taste of Super Rugby last weekend, the Fijian Drua are aiming to show they’re quick learners when they meet the formidable ACT Brumbies on Saturday in the second round of Super Rugby Pacific.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Koalas were declared officially endangered Friday in eastern Australia as they fall prey to disease, lost habitat and other threats.
Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley downgraded their conservation status across the country’s east coast, in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, on a recommendation by the government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia on Friday reported its deadliest day of the pandemic with 80 coronavirus fatalities, as an outbreak of the omicron variant continued to take a toll.
But Dominic Perrottet, premier of the most populous state, New South Wales, said a slight decrease in hospitalizations gave him some hope about the strain the outbreak is putting on the health system.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia reported a record high of COVID-19 deaths Tuesday, and its second-largest state declared an emergency in hospitals to cope with surging patient admissions and a staffing shortage due to the coronavirus.
SYDNEY (AP) — An Australian man has pleaded guilty to murdering an American mathematician who fell from a Sydney cliff in 1988 in a gay hate crime that was dismissed by police at the time as suicide.
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, made the reporting of rapid antigen test results mandatory Wednesday as it experienced its deadliest day of the pandemic with 21 deaths.
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia’s New South Wales state reported 16 deaths on Sunday in its deadliest day of the pandemic, even as it relaxed rules to allow some essential workers in isolation to return to work if they are asymptomatic.
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia’s most populous state reinstated some restrictions and suspended elective surgeries on Friday as COVID-19 cases surged to another record.
New South Wales reported 38,625 new cases, prompting Premier Dominic Perrottet to announce regulations banning dancing and singing in pubs and nightclubs, and delaying non-urgent surgeries until mid-February.
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia saw another day of rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations on Thursday amid fears that changes to testing requirements could mask the full scale of the outbreak.
The country reported 72,000 cases, up from 64,000 a day earlier, while hospitalizations jumped to 3,267 from 2,990 and patients in intensive care rose to 208 from 196.
SYDNEY (AP) — New virus cases in Australia surged to record levels on Tuesday, increasing the strain on hospitals and testing centers across the country.
In New South Wales, Australia’s most-populous state, 23,131 new cases were reported, an increase on the record of 22,577 cases on New Year’s Day.
SYDNEY (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday said his country's health system can cope with the new wave of coronavirus infections as Victoria state reported a record number of new cases and hospitalizations surged in New South Wales.
SYDNEY (AP) — New coronavirus infections soared again in Australia on Friday to a record of more than 32,000, just days after surpassing 10,000 for the first time.
Experts say the explosion is being driven by the highly contagious omicron variant and a recent relaxation of restrictions in Sydney and other areas.
SYDNEY (AP) — Coronavirus cases surged across Australia on Wednesday as an outbreak of the omicron variant exploded, prompting Prime Minister Scott Morrison to schedule an emergency national cabinet meeting.
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia’s New South Wales state reported more than 6,000 new COVID-19 cases on Monday and confirmed its first death from the omicron variant.
The fatal case was identified as a man in his 80s who was infected at an aged care facility in western Sydney.
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia’s most populous state reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases on Sunday and a sharp jump in hospitalizations while thousands of people were isolating at home after contracting the virus or coming into contact with someone who has.
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia's most populous state recorded more than 6,000 new COVID-19 cases for the first time Saturday, adding a somber note to Christmas celebrations.
New South Wales reported 6,288 new infections over the past 24 hours, an increase of 676 cases from the previous day and by far the highest number of cases in any Australian state since the pandemic began.
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia on Thursday reported a major spike in coronavirus infections, prompting the worst-hit state of New South Wales to reimpose mask wearing indoors, a day after Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejected lockdowns or mask mandates for the entire country to slow the spread of the omicron variant.
SYDNEY (AP) — New COVID-19 cases in Australia’s most populous state surged to a pandemic record Wednesday, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with state leaders to discuss preventative measures.
Morrison emerged from the national cabinet meeting again rejecting lockdowns and mask mandates imposed by the federal government.
SYDNEY (AP) — New COVID-19 cases in Australia's most populous state surged past 3,000 on Tuesday for the first time, adding pressure on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to speed the rollout of booster shots.
SYDNEY (AP) — The premier of Australia’s most populous state said he is not considering lockdowns or other restrictions as a record 2,213 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Friday, the highest number since the pandemic began.
Australia’s New South Wales state recorded 1,742 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, its highest daily total since the pandemic began.
Hospitalizations were also up across the state. There were 192 coronavirus patients in New South Wales hospitals on Thursday, up from 166 the day before.
SYDNEY (AP) — Novak Djokovic has been named in the Serbian team for January’s ATP Cup, an indication that Djokovic could play in the Australian Open a week later despite controversy over his vaccination status.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian authorities announced on Monday that they would delay plans to relax border restrictions by at least two weeks, as the country reported its fifth case of the omicron COVID-19 variant.