Tag: Australia

• Saturday, December 21st 2019 - 11:03 UTC

  Australia: “catastrophic” conditions in Greater Sydney surrounded by a ring of fire

  

  Firefighters in the Australian state of New South Wales were bracing for “catastrophic” fire conditions on Saturday as temperatures well above 40 degrees Celsius and strong winds were set to fuel more than 100 fires burning across the state.

• Thursday, December 19th 2019 - 09:19 UTC

  Australia's inferno as heat wave worsens with temperatures of 46C

  

  While Prime Minister Scott Morrison is overseas on vacation, Australia this week experienced its hottest day on record and the heat-wave is expected to worsen, exacerbating an already unprecedented bushfire season, authorities said on Wednesday.

• Thursday, December 19th 2019 - 08:41 UTC

  Seven-day state of emergency in Australia's New South Wales state ravaged by bushfires

  

  Australian authorities declared a seven-day state of emergency in New South Wales state on Thursday as a record heatwave fanned unprecedented bushfires raging across the region.

• Monday, December 16th 2019 - 09:05 UTC

  Smoke choked Sydney facing a “public health emergency”

  

  Australia's biggest city is facing a “public health emergency” over the bushfire smoke that has choked Sydney for weeks, leading doctors warned on Monday after hospitals reported a dramatic spike in casualty department visits.

• Monday, December 9th 2019 - 09:11 UTC

  Australia on fire, waiting for heavy rains; Sydney blanketed in smoke and ashes

  

  Thousands of firefighters were fortifying containment lines on Monday as temperatures were forecast to soar, increasing the danger of a fresh wave of bushfires across Australia's east coast. More than 100 fires remain ablaze in the region, and authorities warned conditions would worsen on Tuesday, when temperatures were predicted to top 40 degrees Celsius.

• Thursday, November 21st 2019 - 07:28 UTC

  Australia's main cities choked by smoke from bushfires, some out of control

  

  The fire danger was elevated across wider swathes of southern Australia on Thursday, with residents warned to avoid at-risk areas as smoke from bushfires choked Sydney and other major cities. Devastating fires along the country's east coast have claimed six lives and destroyed more than 500 homes since mid-October, with climate change and unseasonably hot, dry conditions fuelling the unprecedented blazes.

• Wednesday, November 20th 2019 - 08:57 UTC

  Australia lifts fire danger to “catastrophic” and closes schools in the southeast

  

  More than 100 schools in Australia's southeast were closed on Wednesday and officials warned people in high-risk zones to be ready to evacuate as forecast high temperatures risked opening up a new front in raging bushfires.

• Tuesday, November 19th 2019 - 05:29 UTC

  Hazardous levels of pollution in Sydney as bushfires advance on Australia's largest city

  

  Sydney was shrouded in dangerous haze on Tuesday as smoke from bushfire blazing along Australia's eastern board sent contamination levels soaring in the country's biggest city.

• Monday, November 18th 2019 - 09:12 UTC

  Fifteen countries including Brazil, asking for trade compensations from UK/EU Brexit disruption

  

  Countries including Australia have asked for trade compensation from the UK and the EU over Brexit disruption. Fifteen countries, including the US, India and New Zealand, have been setting out Brexit concerns at a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Geneva.

• Wednesday, November 13th 2019 - 09:15 UTC

  Fires in Australia reach outskirts of Sydney: 50 homes destroyed

  

  A cool change on Wednesday brought relief for firefighters battling massive bushfires in eastern Australia which destroyed 50 homes and saw flames come within meters of homes on the outskirts of Sydney.