Scott Morrison

Australia will begin to reopen its borders next month, the country's prime minister said on Oct. 1, 18 months after citizens were banned from traveling overseas without permission.

Scott Morrison said vaccinated Australians would be able to return home and travel overseas "within weeks" as 80 percent vaccination targets are met.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, under pressure to adopt a 2050 net-zero carbon emissions target, said in an interview published on Sept. 27 that he may not join this year's landmark U.N. climate summit in Glasgow.

 A magnitude 5.9 earthquake caused slight damage in suburban Melbourne on Wednesday in an unusually powerful temblor for Australia.

The quake hit about 80 miles northeast of Australia's second-most populous city near the town of Mansfield at a depth of 10 6 miles, Geoscience Australia said.

The security pact between Australia, Britain and the United States puts the deal under serious question

The United States and Britain sought on Sept. 19 to smooth tensions with Paris over a new security pact with Australia, with U.S. President Joe Biden requesting early talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sept. 19 rejected France's accusations Canberra lied about plans to cancel a contract to buy French submarines, saying he had raised concerns over the deal "some months ago".

Australians squirmed Thursday as US President Joe Biden thanked their prime minister for joining a major new defence alliance - but appeared to forget his name.

Instead of being feted by name for his role in the US-Britain-Australia agreement, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was initially relegated to being "that fellow Down Under".

The United States announced a new alliance on Sept. 16 with Australia and Britain to strengthen military capabilities in the face of a rising China, with Canberra to get a nuclear submarine fleet and American cruise missiles.

A senior security official from the airport told Reuters that the runways, from which frightening images of the panicked flight of people who died on that occasion came on Monday, are now ready for planes.

Sydney posted a new record of COVID-19 infections on Aug. 10 as the city struggles to control an outbreak that is sending other Australian regions into lockdown.

class='cf'>

New South Wales state announced 356 new cases, a fresh record for a Delta-variant outbreak that began in mid-June and continues to grow in a population with low vaccination rates.