Latest Melbourne News
Report: Australian Open arrivals hit by positive COVID tests
Less than 48 hours after the first planeload of players arrived for the delayed Australian Open on charter jets from around the world, the first tennis major of the year and often dubbed the “Happy Slam” by Roger Federer and others appeared to be anything but. Two-time Australian Open champion...
Fake US leg band gets pigeon a reprieve in Australia
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A pigeon that Australia declared a biosecurity risk has received a reprieve after a U.S. bird organization declared its identifying leg band was fake. The band suggested the bird found in a Melbourne backyard on Dec. 26 was a racing pigeon that had left the U.S. state of Oregon,...
Players arrive for Australian Open; straight into quarantine
Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka was among the earliest arrivals into Melbourne on one of the 15 charter flights bringing players and officials into the city for the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year. And she wanted everyone to know she was pleased to be in Australia despite all...
Murray status for Australia in doubt after contracting virus
Andy Murray's status for the Australian Open was put in doubt Thursday after he tested positive for the coronavirus only days before his planned charter flight to Melbourne. The three-time Grand Slam champion is isolating at home near London, the tournament said in a statement. “Unfortunately this means he...
Sandgren gets OK to fly to Australia despite COVID-19 result
Tennys Sandgren forced an early clarification of the COVID-19 rules as the first of 15 charter flights began flying Down Under to deliver players for the Australian Open. The two-time Australian Open quarterfinalist was given a special clearance to board one of the flights from Los Angeles to Melbourne despite...
F1 season to start in Bahrain after Australian GP postponed
LONDON (AP) — The start of the Formula One season was delayed by one week on Tuesday after the Australian Grand Prix was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the race in Melbourne moved from March to November, the season will now start in Bahrain on March 28. The Australian race, initially set...
The Latest: China makes parts of province high danger zones
BEIJING — China has designated parts of Hebei province near Beijing as a coronavirus high danger zone after 14 new cases of COVID-19 were found. Eleven of those cases were in Shijiazhuang city, where some events for the 2022 Winter Olympics will be held. An additional 30 people tested positive for the...
Asia Today: Thailand confirms 745 new coronavirus cases
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand has registered 745 new coronavirus cases, with a new death reported in Bangkok, where a semi-lockdown went into effect. The Center of COVID-19 Situation Administration said Monday that the new infections bring the total number since last January to 8,439, while the death toll has...
The Latest: Japan's prime minister weighs state of emergency
TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Monday vaccine approval was being speeded up and border controls beefed up to curb the spread of the coronavirus, and he promised to consider declaring a state of emergency. Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike and the governors of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa had...
Asia Today: Australian state under fire for slow response
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia’s leading medical group says the New South Wales state government has put the rest of the country at risk by its decision not to go “hard and early” in its response to the COVID-19 outbreak on Sydney’s northern beaches, which is suspected to have also...
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