CANBERRA, Australia — Housing prices in Australia rose further across the nation in April, but at a slower pace than in the previous month as affordability constraints began to dampen demand. The CoreLogic national home value index rose 1.8 percent in April after bounding 2.8 percent in the previous month, which was a 32-month-high. Even so, the index is 10.2 percent higher than the Covid-19 low seen in September last year. “The slowdown in housing value appreciation is unsurprising given the rapid rate of growth seen over the past six months, especially in the context of subdued wages growth,” CoreLogic’s research…
Author: zenger.news
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand is poised to open its borders further, allowing quarantine-free travel to the Cook Islands this month. The New Zealand-aligned Pacific nation has been negotiating for a travel bubble arrangement with Jacinda Ardern’s government for months. Rumors over opening dates have been swirling since Ardern and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown confirmed they were working towards a May opening. Ardern said she would give a date for the much-awaited opening later on May 3, following a cabinet meeting in Wellington. “We will be having that discussion around our readiness on both sides and be looking…
CANBERRA, Australia — The Reserve Bank of Australia is extremely unlikely to change course on its interest rate outlook in the light of last week’s inflation figures, which showed price pressures remain extremely subdued. The Reserve Bank of Australia will hold its monthly board meeting on May 4, where it is expected to keep the cash rate, and other key measures, at a record low 0.1 percent. The central bank has repeatedly said it has no intention of lifting interest rates until inflation is sustainably within the two to three percent target band. The latest consumer price index for the March…
AUCKLAND, New Zealand — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern concedes managing her country’s relationship with China isn’t easy, with some issues becoming “harder to reconcile” as the government continues to chart an independent foreign policy. On the morning of May 3, Ardern waded back into the muddy waters of the Sino-New Zealand relationship with a speech to the China Business Summit in Auckland, a city in New Zealand. New Zealand finds itself in the middle of a diplomatic tug-of-war between China, its biggest trading partner, and western allies Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada — the other…
A 120-million-year-old tree fossil has been returned by a repentant person more than 35 years after it was stolen. The remains of the ancient conifer was originally found by Felix Saez Arnedoa, a shepherd, in the village of Igea, La Rioja, Spain, in 1985. Pilar Garcia, head guide at the Paleontological Interpretation Center of La Rioja in Igea, said local teachers Angel Gracia and Elena Torrijos, along with Luis Viera and Jose Angel Torres, members of Aranzadi Society of Sciences unearthed the remains of the tree with the help of schoolchildren from the village. They found a tree trunk about…
DELHI, India — “Everybody Says I’m Fine!” was the last movie Pooja Bhatt, now 49-year-old, shot for in 2000. But nothing was quite “fine” with Bhatt’s acting career after the film, despite it winning several awards. After over 20 years, the Indian actor is back on the screen with “Bombay Begums”, which hit Netflix on March 8, International Women’s Day. In between, she had two more “releases”. One was stuck for almost 15 years (“Sanam Teri Kasam”), which was shot in the early 1990s. And, another in which she is, at best, a picture on the wall (“Sadak 2”). “There has…
PUNE, India — The Tokyo Olympic Games are likely to be the most unpredictable — even if they finally happen. Organizers have said athletes might take daily Covid-19 tests, and spectators might not be allowed. “Uncertainty is not only due to the lack of events that have taken place, but also due to disturbances to preparation,” Simon Gleave, head of analysis at sports analytics firm Gracenote Sports, told Zenger News. Gracenote has estimated that the U.S. will retain the highest medal tally of 114 — for the seventh straight time. China might be second with 85 medals, and Russia third with 73. Japan, the…
CANBERRA, Australia — Billionaire businessman Clive Palmer has been ordered to pay AUD 1.5 million ($1.17 million) damages after a judge found he infringed the copyright of American rock band Twisted Sister’s song We’re Not Gonna Take It. Clive Frederick Palmer is an Australian businessman and politician. He has iron ore, nickel, and coal holdings. Lead singer Dee Snider contended Palmer used his band’s 1980s hit as inspiration for a song Aussies Not Gonna Cop It, broadcast in a television advertisement for his United Australia Party in the 2019 federal election campaign. Daniel “Dee” Snider is an American singer-songwriter, musician, radio personality,…
HOBART, Australia — Hobart winter festival Dark Mofo will work to include Aboriginal artists at future events after copping a backlash over a piece that proposed soaking a British flag in the blood of Indigenous people. The popular event scheduled in March was forced to pull the pin on the project by controversial Spanish artist Santiago Sierra. Sierra had asked for Indigenous people to donate their blood for an artwork he dubbed an anti-colonization statement. Dark Mofo creative director Leigh Carmichael said he will set up an AUD 60,000 ($46,592) seed fund will be set up for Tasmanian Aboriginal artists to…
MONA VALE, Australia — A rare baby rhino has made her first appearance in front of excited onlookers at a western New South Wales zoo in Australia. The seven-week-old black rhino calf named Sabi Star appeared on April 28 alongside mum Bakhita at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo. Already weighing in at more than 111 kilograms, Sabi Star has just begun trying to eat solid foods and has started mimicking her mum’s feeding on branches. Her public debut is another exciting step, said keeper Hayley Brooks. Minister for Climate Change and the Environment Frank Sartor yesterday announced the public debut…