- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
'Fortress Australia' re-opens to tourists after two-year Covid closure
Australia reopened its borders to vaccinated tourists Monday, nearly two years after the continent nation imposed some of the world's strictest Covid-19 travel restrictions.
The country closed its borders to almost everyone except citizens and residents in March 2020 in an attempt to slow surging Covid-19 case numbers.
The travel ban -- which also barred citizens from going overseas without an exemption and imposed a strict cap on international arrivals -- earned the country the nickname "Fortress Australia".
There were jubilant scenes at the country's two major international airports in Sydney and Melbourne Monday as family and friends finally embraced at arrivals after years apart.
Bernie Edmonds was emotional as he hugged his eight-year-old granddaughter, Charlotte, who had just landed in Sydney.
"It's great to have her back," he said. "She's got to go again but we'll get her back again."
Fellow Sydneysider Jody Tuchin was excited to pick up her best friend, who she had not seen since 2018.
"He made it back just in time for my wedding in four days," she told AFP.
Meanwhile, Qantas pilot Paul Grant said it was "nice to have passengers back on again".
A Qantas flight from Los Angeles was the first to touch down in Sydney at6:20 am (1920 GMT) followed by arrivals from Tokyo, Vancouver and Singapore.
"It's fair to say we've all been waiting a long time to welcome visitors back to Australia," Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said.
The national carrier expects to bring more than 14,000 passengers into Australia this week -- the start of what many believe will be a long, slow recovery for a tourism sector devastated by the pandemic.
"I think we're going to see a very, very strong rebound," Tourism Minister Dan Tehan said at Sydney airport, wearing a t-shirt with the words: "Welcome Back".
Attracting tourists from China, previously Australia's biggest market, would be difficult while Beijing enforces a zero-Covid policy, Tehan admitted.
"But as soon as that changes, Tourism Australia have been doing a lot of work to make sure that we will be ready to encourage those Chinese visitors to come."
The Australian government has launched a AUS$40 million ($28.7 million) advertising campaign to lure tourists back, but only 56 international flights are scheduled to land in Australia in the 24 hours after the re-opening -- far below pre-pandemic levels.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he had "no doubt" traveller numbers will scale up in time.
- 'Fortress Australia' -
Every month under "Fortress Australia" has cost businesses an estimated AUS$3.6 billion, according to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with tourism particularly hard hit.
Tony Walker, managing director of Quicksilver Group, which operates cruises, diving excursions and resorts across the Great Barrier Reef, told AFP he was "very excited about being able to re-open".
International tourists "make up around 70 percent" of business for tourism operators on the reef, Walker said, making the two-year border closure "incredibly difficult".
During the pandemic, his company had to reduce its employees from 650 to the 300 it has today.
Key to Australia's reopening is a government requirement that all overseas visitors must be fully vaccinated.
At Sydney Airport, American tourist Robert Landis said this had not dissuaded him from travelling Down Under.
"I've just been looking for any opportunity to get down here," he said.
However, the Australian Tourism Export Council warned this week that "there are worrying signs consumers are wary of travelling" to Australia, with "confusion over our various state travel restrictions and concern about snap border closures" a key issue.
- No west just yet -
Western Australia will not re-open to international travellers on Monday, holding off until March 3.
Until recently, the state had pursued a strict Covid-zero policy, cutting itself off from the rest of the country.
The decision sparked lawsuits -- and the observation that it was easier for Australians to travel to Paris than Perth -- but proved popular with West Australians.
Ch.Kahalev--AMWN