Category: World » Australasia
No Evidence For Theory Humans Wiped Out Megafauna
7 May 2013 | World
Most species of gigantic animals that once roamed Australia had disappeared by the time people arrived, a major review of the available evidence has concluded.read more »
Increases In Extreme Rainfall Linked To Global Warming
1 Feb 2013 | World
A worldwide review of global rainfall data led by the University of Adelaide has found that the intensity of the most extreme rainfall events is increasing across the globe as temperatures rise.read more »
March Toward Global Economic Freedom Stalls With Only Two Regions Improving
10 Jan 2013 | World
The global advance toward economic freedom has ground to a halt, according to the editors of the 19th annual Index of Economic Freedom, released today by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal.read more »
U.S. Fails To Make Top 10 In Democracy Ranking
14 Dec 2012 | World
The United States has fallen to 15th in "The Democracy Ranking" which measures annually the quality of democracy worldwide compared to a broader conceptual understanding of democracy. read more »
Using Apple Maps "Potentially Life Threatening" Say Australian Police
10 Dec 2012 | SciTech
Australian Police are urging motorists not to use the mapping system on Apple i-phones after a number of motorists were directed off the beaten track into potential life threatening situations.read more »
United States and Australia Advance Space Partnership
14 Nov 2012 | World
U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta and Australian Minister for Defence Stephen Smith have agreed to advance the bi-lateral long-term international partnership on space situational awareness by placing two key U.S. space systems in Australia. read more »
World's Rarest Whale Seen For The First Time In New Zealand
6 Nov 2012 | World
A whale that is almost unknown to science has been seen for the first time after a mother and her male calf were stranded and died on a New Zealand beach. read more »
New Non-Permanent Seats On UN Security Council Announced
18 Oct 2012 | World
The United Nations General Assembly has elected Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg, the Republic of Korea and Rwanda to serve as non-permanent members on the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on 1 January 2013.read more »
New Zealand Intelligence Agency Illegally Spies On People Wanted By U.S.
24 Sep 2012 | U.S. News
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has ordered an inquiry after the nation's intelligence agency illegally spied on people tied to Megaupload.com, whom the United States is seeking to extradite to face charges related to the biggest copyright infringement alleged in U.S. history. read more »
Warming Ocean Could Start Big Shift Of Antarctic Ice: Study
19 Sep 2012 | World
Fast-flowing and narrow glaciers have the potential to trigger massive changes in the Antarctic ice sheet and contribute to rapid ice-sheet decay and sea-level rise, a new study has found.read more »
Christchurch Residents Increase Tobacco Consumption Post-Earthquake
4 Sep 2012 | World
The prevalence of smoking in Christchurch, New Zealand, increased following the 2010 earthquake, according to a new study.read more »
Adolescent Marijuana Use Leaves lasting Mental Deficits, Study Finds
28 Aug 2012 | World
The persistent, dependent use of marijuana before age 18 has been shown to cause lasting harm to a person's intelligence, attention and memory, according to an international research team.read more »
Diplomatic Standoff After Ecuador Grants Wikileaks Founder Assange Asylum
16 Aug 2012 | World
The United Kingdom says it is determined to extradite Julian Assange to Sweden despite Ecuador granting him asylum, with the Wikileaks founder still holed up in the Ecuador embassy in London.read more »
Volcano Erupts In New Zealand But No Major Disruption
6 Aug 2012 | World
An eruption occurred at Mr Tongariro in the central North Island of New Zealand at approximately 11:50 pm Monday local time, spewing ash and rocks into the air. read more »
New Evidence For Regular Magnitude 8 Earthquakes In NZ Alpine Fault
26 Jul 2012 | World
A new study has found that very large earthquakes have been occurring relatively regularly on the Alpine Fault along the southwest coastline of New Zealand for at least 8,000 years.read more »
United States And New Zealand Sign Defense Cooperation Arrangement
20 Jun 2012 | World
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and New Zealand Minister of Defence Jonathan Coleman have signed the “Washington Declaration” at the Pentagon to expand the defense relationship between the United States and New Zealand. read more »
BU Student Charged With Careless Driving Cause Death In NZ
18 May 2012 | U.S. News
A United States citizen has appeared in court in New Zealand charged with careless driving causing the deaths of Boston University students Nicholas Jauberty, Daniela Lekhno and Austin Brashears.read more »
Warming In The Tasman Sea A Global Warming Hot Spot
30 Jan 2012 | World
Oceanographers have identified a series of ocean hotspots around the world generated by strengthening wind systems that have driven oceanic currents, including the East Australian Current, polewards beyond their known boundaries.read more »
Pacific Rim Nations Prepare For Tsunami Preparedness Test
4 Nov 2011 | World
Some 30 Pacific Rim countries are to take part next week in a tsunami warning exercise to improve their ability to respond to an alert and enhance regional coordination in the event of a disaster. read more »
U.S. In Top 5 For Human Well-Being Among Countries
2 Nov 2011 | World
Norway, Australia and the Netherlands lead this year’s newly released Human Development Index (HDI) rankings, the annual United Nations measure of progress in human well-being, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Niger and Burundi are at the bottom.read more »
Obese people regain weight after dieting due to hormones
30 Oct 2011 | World
Obese people may regain weight after dieting due to hormonal changes, a University of Melbourne and Austin Health study has shown.read more »
7.3 Earthquake Off Coast Of New Zealand Generates Tsunami
21 Oct 2011 | World
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude 7.3 occurred in the remote Kermadec Islands region North of New Zealand on Saturday morning, with authorities saying a tsunami was generated. read more »
Fresh Water Crisis In Some Pacific Islands Due To Drought
10 Oct 2011 | World
Desalination plants are being sent to some Pacific Islands after drought has left a shortage of fresh drinking water.read more »
Hawaii Man Jailed for Webcam Exposure to a Minor In Australia
6 Oct 2011 | World
A Honolulu man convicted of transferring obscenity to a minor under 16 years old residing in Australia over the Internet has been sentenced to nine months in prison.read more »
New Zealand Stresses Disaster Preparedness After Deadly Earthquake
28 Sep 2011 | World
(Newsroom America) -- New Zealand has underlined the need for effective disaster preparedness and promised to share with the United Nations and other concerned organizations the lessons the country had learned from responding to the deadly earthquake that struck its second-largest city, Christchurch, in February.read more »
Marshall Islands Still Paying Cost of 1950's Nuclear Tests
27 Sep 2011 | World
The United Nations has failed to accept the consequences of the decisions it took on nuclear testing in the 1950s, and the people of the Marshall Islands are still paying the penalty physically and psychologically, the country’s Foreign Minister said today.read more »
World Must Pull Together In Face Of Unprecedented Challenges, Warns UN Head
6 Sep 2011 | World
Reaching into the sport of rugby for metaphor and the lore of the Maoris, New Zealand’s original inhabitants, for wisdom, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has made a fervent appeal for unprecedented global cooperation to meet an exceptional host of complex challenges.read more »
AIDS Epidemic At Critical Juncture In Asia-Pacific Says Report
26 Aug 2011 | World
A new report says the AIDS epidemic in Asia and the Pacific is at a crossroads, adding that while the region has seen impressive gains in the HIV response, greater and sustained efforts will be needed. read more »
First Signs Of Antarctic Ozone Depletion This Year
24 Aug 2011 | World
Signs of ozone depletion are again appearing over the Antarctic, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported, adding that prevailing temperatures and polar stratospheric clouds indicate that the degree of ozone loss this year will most likely be about average in comparison to the past decade.read more »
Scientists discover the most primitive living eel
17 Aug 2011 | World
Scientists at the Smithsonian and partnering organizations have discovered a remarkably primitive eel in a fringing reef off the coast of the Republic of Palau. read more »
Competition with humans responsible for decline of New Zealand's endangered sea lions
2 Aug 2011 | SciTech
Marine researchers in New Zealand have identified the direct impact of fishing as the largest known human factor in the decline of the endangered native sea lion population.read more »
Exports Led Asia-Pacific Out Of Global Economic Crisis: Report
25 Jul 2011 | Business
Exports have led Asia and the Pacific out of the global economic crisis, according to a new report, but it will be difficult to continue the growth without opening new markets within the region, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) reported. read more »
Australian volcano eruptions overdue, new study confirms
5 Jul 2011 | World
Latest research into the age of volcanos in Western Victoria and South Australia has confirmed that the regions are overdue for an eruption, potentially affecting thousands of local residents.read more »
Warming ocean layers will undermine polar ice sheets
4 Jul 2011 | World
Warming of the ocean's subsurface layers will melt underwater portions of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets faster than previously thought, according to new University of Arizona-led research.read more »
Fighting back from extinction, New Zealand right whale is returning home
27 Jun 2011 | SciTech
After being hunted to local extinction more than a century ago and unable to remember their ancestral calving grounds, the southern right whales of mainland New Zealand are coming home.read more »
Christchurch Earthquake: Swarm of large aftershocks rock southern New Zealand
12 Jun 2011 | World
A swarm of aftershocks in Christchurch, New Zealand have caused more building to collapse and people to be taken to hospital with significant liquefaction reported. read more »
Australia Urged To Have Proper Safeguards For Asylum Seeking Children
3 Jun 2011 | World
Australia’s plan to send unaccompanied minors seeking asylum to Malaysia lacks important operating safeguards for children, the United Nations refugee agency said today.read more »
Humanity can and must do more with less: UNEP
12 May 2011 | World
By 2050, humanity could consume an estimated 140 billion tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and biomass per year – three times its current appetite – unless the economic growth rate is "decoupled" from the rate of natural resource consumption, warns a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme.read more »
Global Population To Pass 10 Billion by 2100
3 May 2011 | World
The world’s population is projected to surge past 9 billion before 2050 and then reach 10.1 billion by the end of the century if current fertility rates continue at expected levels, according to United Nations figures unveiled today.read more »
West Antarctic warming triggered by warmer sea surface in tropical Pacific
10 Apr 2011 | World
The Antarctic Peninsula has warmed rapidly for the last half-century or more, and recent studies have shown that an adjacent area, continental West Antarctica, has steadily warmed for at least 30 years, but scientists haven't been sure why.read more »
9.0 Japan Earthquake Shortens Day, Shifts Earth's Axis: NASA
14 Mar 2011 | U.S. News
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the March 11, magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan may have shortened the length of each Earth day and shifted its axis, but it says you shouldn't notice the difference. read more »
United States Citizen Named Among New Zealand Earthquake Dead
8 Mar 2011 | World
A young American woman has been named among the 166 people confirmed to have died in the magnitude 6.3 earthquake which struck the New Zealand city of Christchurch on February 22.read more »
Police Release More Names Following Christchurch Earthquake
7 Mar 2011 | World
The death toll from the magnitude 6.3 earthquake which hit Christchurch on February 22nd has risen to 166 but is expected to rise further as police name more victims from the quake. read more »
New Zealand Earthquake Death Toll Rises To 160
2 Mar 2011 | World
The death toll following a shallow magnitude 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch has risen to 160 as rescuers struggled to work against strong winds.read more »
Climate Change Chief Urges Governments To Impliment Cancun Accords
2 Mar 2011 | World
The United Nations climate change has called on governments to quickly transform the agreements reached in the Mexican city of Cancún last year into tangible action on the ground, and provide clarity on the future of the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases emissions.read more »
New Zealand Earthquake Death Toll Rises To 154
28 Feb 2011 | World
The death toll in the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand has now risen to 154 and is expected to increase further.read more »
UPDATE: People from about 20 countries among New Zealand earthquake dead
25 Feb 2011 | World
The death toll from the Christchurch Earthquake in New Zealand is now 147 and local police say this figure is still expected to rise.read more »
First names of 92 New Zealand Earthquake victims released
24 Feb 2011 | World
New Zealand Police say 92 bodies have so far been recovered from the Christchurch earthquake zone but warn the death toll will climb and is expected to include foreign nationals. read more »
New Zealand earthquake damage illustrates risks from crustal faults
23 Feb 2011 | World
The terribly destructive earthquake that just hit Christchurch, New Zealand, was only a moderate 6.3 magnitude, but had certain characteristics that offer an important lesson to cities up and down the West Coast of North America that face similar risks, experts say.read more »
Curfew Imposed in Christchurch as Rescue Efforts Continue
23 Feb 2011 | World
New Zealand officials have imposed a curfew in parts of Christchurch following a deadly 6.3 earthquake Tuesday that has left at least 75 people dead and 80 percent of the city of 400,000 without water.read more »
