Articles by Renju Jose and Cordelia Hsu

Australia Faces Increased Risk From Bushfires Ahead of El Niño Summer

Australia faces an increased risk of bushfires during the approaching summer, authorities warned on Thursday, with the El Niño weather pattern expected to generate hotter and drier conditions across large swathes of the country. Three years of incessant rain has …

Australia Regulator Tells Medibank to Set Aside $167M After Major Cyber Attack

Australia’s banking regulator told insurer Medibank on Tuesday it would have to set aside A$250 million ($167 million) in extra capital, citing weaknesses identified in its information security after a major hacking breach. Shares of the country’s biggest health insurer …

Australia’s Iron Ore Export Hub Braces for Powerful Cyclone Ilsa

Australia’s northwest region, home to the world’s largest iron ore export hub, braced on Thursday for the area’s most powerful tropical cyclone in a decade, as a major port closed and residents rushed to stock up on essential supplies. Cyclone …

Flash Floods Again Lash Southeast Australia, Forcing Evacuations

Thousands of people across Australia’s southeast were asked to evacuate their homes on Friday, including some in a western suburb of Melbourne, after two days of incessant rains triggered flash flooding and fast-moving waters burst river banks. Large parts of …

Update: Heavy Rains Ease Over Sydney but Floods Continue to Force Evacuations

A wild storm system has moved away from Sydney after pounding Australia’s largest city with four days of torrential rain, satellite images showed on Wednesday, although river waters stayed above danger levels, forcing more evacuations. The year’s third major flooding …

Update: Heavy Rains Deluge Australian Towns for 2nd Time in a Month

Heavy rains deluged Australia’s east coast on Wednesday, submerging entire towns, while thousands of people fled their homes for the second time within weeks after fast-moving flood waters burst river banks and broke over levees. Several towns in northern New …

Sydney Faces ‘Tough 24 Hours’ as Floods Force Evacuations

Flood warnings stretched across Australia’s east coast on Tuesday and tens of thousands of Sydney residents fled their homes as torrential rains again pummeled the country’s largest city, flooding several big suburbs. Australia’s eastern rivers were already near capacity following …

Global COVID-19 Cases at Record High, as Omicron Variant Races Out of Control

SYDNEY/ROME – Global COVID-19 infections hit a record high over the past seven-day period, Reuters data showed on Wednesday, as the new Omicron variant raced out of control, keeping workers at home and overwhelming testing centers. Almost 900,000 cases were …

Australia Battered by Worst Flooding in 60 Years

PITT TOWN, Australia — Australia was set on Monday to evacuate thousands more people from suburbs in Sydney’s west, battered by the worst flooding in 60 years, with torrential rains expected to continue for another day or two. Reuters images …