Australia - Page 15

(AP) — Regardless of who made an error on the visa or the vaccination waiver or whatever, the reality Friday for tennis No. 1 Novak Djokovic was spending one of his important religious holidays in an Australian detention hotel working on his challenge against deportation.

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic sparked a major controversy in Australia when he tried to enter the country to play in the upcoming Australian Open using a medical exemption for coronavirus vaccination. His request was initially granted, but his visa was revoked when he arrived at Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne on Wednesday.

The family of tennis champion Novak Djokovic read a statement from the player at a press conference on Thursday in his native Belgrade, Serbia, delivered from captivity in a migrant facility in Australia.

Rafael Nadal, one of two men tied with Novak Djokovic for most Grand Slam titles in history, told reporters on Thursday that Djokovic’s detention in a migrant center in Australia was the result of his decision to not receive a Chinese coronavirus vaccine and that “the world has suffered enough to not follow the rules.”

Novak Djokovic now finds himself at the center of a diplomatic firestorm as the Australian government keeps him detained.

Australian Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews threatened to use Border Patrol to deport tennis champion Novak Djokovic on Wednesday following outrage from Chinese coronavirus vaccine enthusiasts condemning the presumably unvaccinated Djokovic for receiving an exemption to the country’s mandate.

Novak Djokovic, the top-ranked men’s tennis player in the world, will compete in the Australian Open under an exemption to the coronavirus vaccine mandate in place there, the champion confirmed Tuesday.

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.

The Chinese government on Wednesday approved a merger of rare earth companies to form what the state propaganda newspaper Global Times described as a “behemoth” corporation, powerful enough to control the global supply chain for the vital minerals.

Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott warned Thursday that governments around the world have become accustomed to the increased powers delivered to them by what were initially temporary coronavirus restrictions, adding permanent state controls may well be next.

Britain has finalised its first post-Brexit trade agreement, righting a “historic wrong” by signing a deal with Australia.

Five children were killed and others injured when they fell from an inflatable bouncy castle that was pulled 33 feet into the air by a wind gust outside a school in Australia.

China’s government newspaper the Global Times applauded the fact that no nation in the world has committed to boycotting the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on Monday, ignoring calls from international human rights leaders to pay respect to the victims of Chinese communism by not honoring Beijing with hosting duties.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison affirmed in remarks on Thursday that tennis star Novak Djokovic, the top-ranked player in the world, will have to prove that he has received a Chinese coronavirus vaccine to play in the upcoming Australian Open.

Australia is ditching its entire fleet of European-made Taipan battlefield helicopters for 40 Sikorsky Black Hawks and 12 Seahawks from the United States. Canberra confirmed Friday the $U.S.10 billion switch will be made as quickly as possible.

China warned the world Thursday any nations that sought to boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics would “pay the price” for such intransigence.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday dismissed reports that Australia plans to stage a “diplomatic boycott” of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in February as “political posturing” by revealing “China hasn’t invited any Australian government official” to attend the Games and adding “no one would care whether they come or not.”

The U.K. Guardian newspaper reported on Tuesday that Australia may decide to keep politicians from attending the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics but brand it an effort to contain the Chinese coronavirus, not a statement against the Chinese Communist Party’s human rights abuses.

China is determined to match its aggressive military talk in South-East Asia with spending. A report by the Lowy Institute in Australia shows in 2021 it achieved just that as other reports indicate Beijing is looking to establish its first permanent military presence on the Atlantic Ocean in the tiny Central African country of Equatorial Guinea.

A young Australian woman has claimed in a video interview that she was forcibly detained for two weeks in a Covid internment camp, despite not having the virus.

President Joe Biden boasted he was a better leader than former President Donald Trump on Tuesday because he did not “shock” allies around the world.

Police in Queensland, Australia, charged a woman with arson on Sunday after she allegedly set fire to a hotel room in which she was quarantined according to state coronavirus protocol, Australia’s Seven News reported Monday.

Australian pop star Cody Simpson warned against tyranny in a recent social media post, urging his 4.1 million followers to “stand up to oppression and authoritarianism,” adding that “a fearful public is a controllable public.”

Australia reportedly plans to introduce new legislation that would force social media giants to provide the personal details of users who post defamatory comments.

Srdjan Djokovic, father of world tennis number one Novak Djokovic, said on television Sunday that his son “probably won’t” play in the Australian Open in January due to the implementation of a coronavirus vaccine mandate, which he called “blackmail.”

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on Friday that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) desires closer relations with the U.S. military – and then blamed the U.S. for taking “provocative” actions that make such a close relationship difficult.

Australia on Wednesday listed Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in its entirety – banning the armed wing alongside the political affiliate.

Quarantine camps for the unvaxed. What had been dismissed as idle conspiracy is now coming horribly true in Australia’s Northern Territory.

A few Australians are earning $65 per hour washing dishes in downtown Sydney, so the country needs to dramatically increase immigration of cheap labor, says the New York Times’ bureau chief in Sydney.

China’s state-run Global Times published an op-ed by its editor-in-chief, Hu Xijin, on Thursday in which Hu argues that China “should be prepared with an iron fist” to use against Australia if the nation follows through with a recent promise to support the U.S. in a theoretical war with China over Taiwan.

Red crabs are causing traffic issues on Christmas Island in Australia as an estimated 50 million of the crustaceans are making their customary fall migration from the island’s inland to the coast.

Communist China has delivered on its warning against imported Australian rock lobsters after declaring the tasty marine crustaceans a “national security threat.”

A group of women subjected to invasive gynaecological searches at Doha airport will sue Qatari authorities, seeking redress for an ordeal that sparked global condemnation, their lawyer told AFP Monday.

European Union member-state Latvia has banned unvaccinated MPs from voting in its parliament, as well as docking their pay.

The Australian Border Force (ABF) is cracking down on illegal fishing vessels entering the country’s territorial waters and in some cases is destroying boats by burning them to the waterline after apprehending foreign crew members.

Australia has no intention of ending the sale of coal and intends to continue doing so for “decades into the future,” the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow learned Monday.