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MELBOURNE, Australia — If the United States had the same COVID death rate as Australia, about 900,000 lives would have been saved. The Texas grandmother who made the perfect pumpkin pie might still be baking. The Red Sox-loving husband who ran marathons before COVID might still be cheering at Fenway Park. For many Americans, imagining what might have been will be painful. But especially now, at the milestone of 1 million deaths in the United States, the nations that did a better job of keeping people alive show what Americans could have done differently and what might still need to...

Following two years of suffering under some of the strictest lockdown measures in the Western world, New Zealand will finally lift its Chinese coronavirus border restrictions in July, leftist Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Wednesday. New Zealand’s borders will be fully reopened on July 31st, two months before the government had previously planned as the economy inches closer to a recession.

(CNN)Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the son of the former Philippine dictator, is on the cusp of winning the Philippine presidential election by a landslide, according to preliminary and unofficial results, taking the Marcos dynasty one step closer to the Malacañang Palace, 36 years after the family fled a mass uprising. Marcos Jr has about 30 million votes compared to his closest rival, the outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo, who has about 14 million votes, according to a partial and unofficial tally of the Commission on Elections

Australian mining company European Lithium is in the process of securing two promising lithium deposits in Ukraine, aiming to become the largest lithium supplier in Europe and an essential part of an integrated European battery supply chain. The two deposits, discovered and subsequently explored in the 1980s and 1990s, are located in Shevchenkivske in the Donetsk region and in Dobra in the Kirovograd region of western Ukraine. Both sites are said to be “under-explored” according to modern methods and “contain significant expected resources”, according to a statement by the Australian company, who have so far made a name for themselves...

A meeting between Australia’s foreign minister, Marise Payne, and her Solomons Islands counterpart for the first time since a security pact with China was signed overshadowed campaign announcements on Saturday. On day 27 of the campaign, and just two weeks out from the federal election, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, was campaigning in Perth, while the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, was in Tasmania. Morrison said the meeting between Payne and Jeremiah Manele in Brisbane reinforced Australia’s role in the region. How Clive Palmer’s deep pockets are building a yellow, slick road straight through One Nation’s heartland Read more “It also...

ijing told Tokyo not to go along with U.S. and U.K. plans to expand NATO's presence in the Asia-Pacific region. China loves lecturing the world about what is right and wrong in geopolitical affairs. One week it is preaching to the Philippines, the next day it advises Japan and on the third day it is lecturing all of the above. Last week, China's lecture was directed to Japan. Beijing was telling Tokyo that it "shouldn't be a promoter of NATO's Asia-Pacific expansion." It came as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Thursday with the...

Education Payroll Records show more than 400 school staff quit over the Government's vaccine mandate The Education Ministry said the mandate was included as a reason for resignation in the payroll system last year, however schools did not have to use the coding. As a result, it is unclear exactly how many staff members left because of the rule, the Ministry said. The Teaching Council said it received reports from employers that 225 teachers were dismissed for refusing to comply with the vaccine mandate...

The world might never know what exactly happened to a golf champion who announced he was kidnapped, beaten, robbed, thrown into the trunk of a car and dumped at a Hawaii park. SNIP What the world knows is in January 2015, Allenby missed the cut at the Sony Open and went drinking with then-caddie Mick Middlemo and pal Anthony Puntoreiro. Allenby said he believes his drink was spiked at the bar, and he awoke — discovered by a homeless woman — bloodied at a nearby park without his credit cards, wallet and phone. SNIP Allenby posted a selfie of his...

WASHINGTON – In moments of great peril and uncertainty, the question of who actually runs Washington – who they are, what they think, what they know, what they think they know – takes on even more importance than it might under normal circumstances. In this, the first in a three-part series, Asia Times will examine the current power dynamics that shape the Biden White House and his national security team. Needless to say, the most important players in Washington are, as one might expect, the ones closest to the President, even if, for the most part, they remain unknown by...

Former National MP Matt King has been banned from the Parliament precinct for the next two years after being identified as a protester at the anti-mandate occupation earlier this year Letters have been sent out to identified Parliament protesters warning of a $1000 fine or two months in jail if they enter the precinct. 1News was sent a copy of the letter and have confirmed that it has been distributed to who could be identified. This will mean any protesters that occupied Parliament grounds earlier this year can't come to Parliament grounds until after the next election. King told 1News...

Former President Donald Trump wanted to "shoot" demonstrators protesting the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd, according to a forthcoming book written by former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. In June 2020, Trump became increasingly frustrated with the fury ignited by the death of Floyd while in custody of the Minneapolis police, Esper wrote in the book, "A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times," which is slated for release on May 10.

The administration of left-wing New Zealand President Jacinda Ardern acted “unlawfully” last year when it closed the nation’s borders to its own citizens to curb transmission of the Chinese coronavirus, the High Court of Wellington ruled on Wednesday. New Zealand’s federal government enforced a border control protocol known as “MIQ” from September 1 to December 17, 2021. MIQ required all people entering New Zealand to secure spots at state-run quarantine facilities before they would be allowed to enter the country. MIQ operated based on a lottery system that infringed on New Zealanders’ constitutional right to re-enter New Zealand, Wellington...

Putin launched its ‘special military operation’ against Ukraine on February 24, with the Russian president claiming his goal was to "demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine”. Since then, Moscow has claimed it had "generally accomplished" the aims of the invasion's first phase. However, Russia has failed to take control of Kyiv, and has lost previously held towns to Ukrainian forces in the weeks since the ‘operation’ began. Now, experts have said the prolonged conflict between Russia and the West-backed Ukraine is a warning to China about a potential conflict. Zhou Chenming, a researcher from the Yuan Wang military science and technology think...

In China, companies, banks, and individuals cannot freely move money into or out of the country unless they comply with strict foreign exchange (forex) rules. The Chinese communist party (CCP) has been imposing “zero tolerance” controls to limit foreign exchange trading done in a private or surreptitious manner. But despite the CCP’s best efforts, the massive outflow of Chinese capital to other countries is continuing and the speed has recently accelerated. One example of the CCP’s crackdown efforts involves the Tianjin-based Quanjian Group. Quanjian was fined $14.6 million for its foreign trading by the Anhui Branch of China’s State Administration...

Australia issues Solomons threat Mr Sogavare became prime minister after riots in April Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has threatened to withdraw some visa privileges for Solomon Islands politicians, local media said. The threat came in retaliation for the Solomons' expulsion of Australia's top diplomat, in a growing row over a police investigation into April riots. High Commissioner Patrick Cole was officially told to leave on Tuesday. A senior Australian envoy is in the Solomons' capital, Honiara, to protest against the decision. Mr Downer told Sky News that the government was seeking a measured response. "We can't just have our...

The Solomon Islands in the South Pacific are a militarily crucial location for any Pacific power interested in threatening the continent of Australia.  That's why the fighting at Guadalcanal, one of the Solomons, was so fierce during World War II.  At that time, the expansionary Pacific power was Japan, while today it is China, but the strategic value of the Solomons remains the same.That's why alarm bells are going off in Canberra over this news, coming from Andrew Tillett of the Australian Financial Review (paywalled): Revelations a Chinese company linked to a state-owned enterprise is trying to lease an entire island in the Solomon...

S officials visiting the strategic Solomon Islands on Friday warned of serious repercussions if China were to establish a permanent military presence there after the Pacific nation signed a defence pact with Beijing. A White House delegation in the capital Honiara delivered the stern warning on the same day that China's ambassador attended an event with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare -- a sign of the importance both nations are according to the small island state. The United States and Australia -- the Pacific nation's traditional allies -- are deeply suspicious of the defence deal, fearing it may give China a...

A draft security deal raised alarm in Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare is trying to assuage those concerns. Seeking to counter international fears over its new security alliance with China, the Solomon Islands said Friday it won’t allow China to build a military base there. But that insistence will do little to ease concerns about the pact from the nation’s traditional partners, including New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. The leader of neighboring Micronesia added his voice to those expressing trepidation by invoking the bloody battles of World War II and warning...

China, after years of persistent commercial, diplomatic, and military efforts, is taking over the Pacific. Beijing is moving from island group to island group, and soon the People's Liberation Army will be in striking distance of Hawaii. The five-year deal, subject to automatic renewals, will allow Beijing to use the islands to base its military and to do pretty much what the Chinese military wants. If implemented to its full extent, the Framework Agreement will give China the ability to sever shipping lanes and air links connecting the U.S. with its treaty ally Australia and partner New Zealand. For decades,...

Rioting in Solomon Islands due to revelations of bribery inducing their exec to dump Taiwan for Beijing, whistle blower uncovers it all. Much else of great importance.