Tag Archives: oceania

headline

Kabul becoming more dangerous by the hour

The security situation at Kabul airport is deteriorating "by the hour", the Federal Government says, after Australia evacuated 750 people overnight.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews told 4BC radio that four Royal Australian Air Force flights have flown out of Kabul airport to a Middle Eastern airbase in recent hours, bringing the total number of evacuees to about 2700.

Ms Andrews said the number was more than government officials had hoped for.

"This is in excess of what we thought we'd be able to achieve in such a short space of time," Ms Andrews said.

READ MORE: Australian fugitive desperate to flee Afghanistan despite impending murder charge

But she said the security situation in Taliban-controlled Kabul was worsening.

"The situation in Afghanistan and particularly Kabul is deteriorating hour by hour."

As the August 31 deadline for US troops to pull out of Afghanistan nears, Ms Andrews said the Australian Government was treating every evacuation flight as its last.

She also said Taliban fighters posted at checkpoints around the airport were changing the list of documents people fleeing there had to show.

Earlier today a flight of Afghan evacuees began their hotel quarantine in Adelaide after landing this morning.

READ MORE: What life will be like under the Taliban in Afghanistan

A family on the tarmac at Kabul Airport prepares to board a flight taking them to Australia.

A hundred men, women and children will spend the next 14 days in a medi-hotel in Adelaide after being granted humanitarian visas.

It is the third repatriation flight to land in Australia in recent days.

The Australian government has announced plans to resettle about 3000 Afghan nationals, all part of the existing quota for refugees.

There were an estimated 130 Australian citizens in Kabul when the city fell to the Taliban last week.

It is believed many of those have already been evacuated.

https://twitter.com/G_Westgarth/status/1430287473192488962

Yesterday Prime Minister Scott Morrison praised the Australian military's work in Kabul.

"The people are doing this job on the ground, they are real heroes, compassionate heroes," Mr Morrison said.

"Dealing with people in the most distressing and dangerous of situations.

"Our ADF, our air force flying people in and out, those from three brigades there on the ground doing the job providing security and supporting people getting onto these planes, our Home Affairs officials, our Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials, they're going through what is an extraordinarily intense time – and they're getting people out."

READ MORE: ISIS-K threat hangs over Kabul airport evacuations

Australia has evacuated more than a thousand people, including young children, from Kabul in recent days.

Meanwhile, the US has evacuated more than 58,700 people since August 14.

President Joe Biden has set a deadline of August 31 to get all American troops out of Kabul.

At present the US have secured Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport.

But the Taliban have set up a perimeter outside the airport, making it difficult for those needing to leave the country to do so.

Overnight Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid declared they would not allow Afghans to leave the country.

"The Afghans leaving, we are not going to allow that, and we are not even happy about it," Mr Mujahid said.

"They should not go to other countries, to those Western countries."

READ MORE: Australian fugitive desperate to flee Afghanistan despite impending murder charge

headline

Sydney mother youngest woman to die with COVID-19 in Australia

A Sydney mother-of-three has become the youngest female to die with COVID-19 in the country, as her husband battles the virus in hospital.

Ianeta Isaako, 30, died in her home in Emerton, in western Sydney on Monday.

During today's coronavirus press conference, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian described the woman's death as "very sad".

READ MORE: NSW records 919 new COVID-19 cases

Mother-of-three Ianeta Isaako has died from COVID-19. Her husband Sako is also sick with the virus.

When asked about the circumstances surrounding the mother's death, Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said it had been referred to the coroner.

"The hospital is looking at all of the circumstances of it," Dr Chant said.

"I know she was offered accommodation at the Sydney health accommodation but I don't really want to go through any of those issues, it's best that we thoroughly investigate.

"It is important and I think I can't stress enough that if you got any symptoms, regardless if you've been in contact with our health teams in the morning or at any other time, it's critical that you call an ambulance if you have dizziness or any symptoms of breathlessness."

READ MORE: Key COVID-19 symptoms to watch out for

Her death was first confirmed yesterday afternoon by NSW Health.

Ms Isaako's husband Sako is in hospital with COVID-19.

NSW record 919 new local cases today.

headline

Rare, fluffy bees emerging from outback burrows

What's fluffy, has wings, and only lives in hard-baked clay of the Western Australian outback?

The Dawson's burrowing bee, or Amegilla dawsoni.

Thousands of the winged insects have begun to emerge from their burrows on Hamelin Station Reserve, as part of an annual spring breeding event.

READ MORE: Scientists create daddy 'short' legs spiders

The bees begin to emerge from their burrows over a few weeks every spring.

The remote 202,644-hectare property, located about 670km north of Perth, is run by conservation group Bush Heritage Australia.

Reserve managers, Michelle and Ken Judd, along with volunteers, have photographed the bees as they began to emerge.

The Dawson's burrowing bee is typically harmless but females may sting if handled.

Ms Judd told 9news.com.au the population is looking "healthy" after a year of above-average rainfall spurred the growth of the bees' two favourite flowers: the poverty bush and rough bluebell.

It's estimated 5000 burrows are on Hamelin Station Reserve.

"The bees normally come out of their holes at this time of the year but we're seeing a lot more than usual this year," Ms Judd said.

"That could be a reflection of the landscape recovering.

"They're not something that you see every day, and this population is particularly healthy.

"It's great that they're in a protected zone where they can continue to develop and not be impacted by disturbances."

The bees only emerge over a few weeks in Spring, they will mate, find food, and then re-burrow into the ground to lay eggs.

Dawson's burrowing bees are one of Australia's largest native bee species, measuring about 20mm long.

"They're certainly one of the more photogenic ones, too," Ms Judd said.

"They're very placid, very noisy and very social, but they act as individuals rather than creating a hive".

It's estimated 5000 burrows are on Hamelin Station Reserve.

For most of the year, the bees are dormant larvae underground and eat their way up to the surface to breed.

The Western Australia Museum said adults typically occur during the months of July to September.

Once the females have been fertilised, they burrow back into the soil to create new nests, which they line with food and come complete with turrets about 20mm high.

"When you locate a nesting colony, you'll see these tiny little mud towers all across the landscape," Ms Judd said.