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WELLINGTON, July 24, 2023 (AFP) – The gunman who slayed two victims during a mass shooting in Auckland on the opening day of the Women’s World Cup killed himself during a shoot-out, New Zealand police said Monday. The tournament’s kickoff in Auckland last Tuesday was overshadowed when a gunman opened fire at a building site on the city’s waterfront. A post-mortem of the 24-year-old gunman showed he was injured when shots were exchanged with armed […]
KOKOPO, Papua New Guinea, July 20, 2023 (AFP) – An “armed and dangerous” World War II bomb was dug up and defused Thursday on the small Pacific island of Nauru, the country’s police force said. Schools were closed and Nauru’s 12,000 residents were urged to stay at home as Australian military specialists worked on the 500-pound (227-kilogram) explosive, which was first discovered almost two weeks ago. Nauru’s government declared a state of emergency across the […]
By Diego Opatowski, Andy SCOTT AUCKLAND, July 20, 2023 (AFP) – A gunman killed two people and wounded six others at a building site in central Auckland Thursday, hours before New Zealand’s biggest city was to host the opening match of the 2023 FIFA football World Cup. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the gunman died at the scene and there was no national security threat, so the marquee tournament would go ahead as planned. The […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia has urged China to release the details of a new policing pact with Solomon Islands, saying Beijing’s latest push for influence threatens to inflame tensions in the South Pacific. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare inked a raft of deals during a trip to Beijing this week, including an agreement allowing China to maintain a police presence in the developing Pacific nation until 2025. China has lavished attention on Solomon […]
BEIJING, July 10, 2023 (AFP) – China and Solomon Islands signed a new deal on police cooperation Monday, deepening their bilateral partnership four years after the Pacific island nation cut ties with Taiwan and formally established relations with Beijing. The “implementation plan” on policing — effective through 2025 — was one of nine documents signed on Monday following talks between visiting Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and Chinese Premier Li Qiang at Beijing’s Great Hall of […]
SYDNEY, June 27, 2023 (AFP) — A man was killed in Sydney’s famed Bondi neighborhood Tuesday, in what police described as a hit on a “major player” in the city’s crime underworld. A police cordon was thrown up around one of Sydney’s busiest shopping precincts after residents and rush hour commuters were shocked to hear shots ring out from an underground parking lot not far from Bondi Beach. A 48-year-old man with an “extensive criminal […]
CANBERRA, June 26, 2023 (AFP) — Russia’s bid to build a new embassy near Australia’s parliament suffered a legal blow on Monday, with a top court backing the government’s effort to seize the land. Australia has blocked Russia from building a new embassy in Canberra, after intelligence agencies warned it could be used as a base to spy on lawmakers. Russia last week launched a last-minute injunction to hold on to the land, while dispatching […]
CANBERRA, June 23, 2023 (AFP) — A mystery Russian diplomat with a penchant for cigarettes on Friday sparked a national security standoff between Canberra and the Kremlin, which is defying Australia’s efforts to kick him off a messy building site near parliament. Australia last week blocked Russia from building its new embassy on a scruffy parcel of land a stone’s throw from Parliament House, after intelligence officials warned that Moscow would use the site as […]
SYDNEY, June 22, 2023 (AFP) – Australia’s internet safety watchdog on Thursday threatened to fine Twitter for failing to tackle online abuse, saying Elon Musk’s takeover had coincided with a spike in “toxicity and hate”. E-safety commissioner Julie Inman Grant — a former Twitter employee — said the platform was now responsible for one-in-three complaints about online hate speech reported in Australia. Inman Grant said Twitter had 28 days to show it was serious about […]
WELLINGTON, June 15, 2023 (AFP) – A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the Pacific island nation of Tonga on Friday, but no tsunami warning was issued, US monitoring agencies said. The earthquake struck shortly after 7:00 am (1800 GMT Thursday) at a depth of 167 kilometres (103 miles) some 290 kilometres southwest of the capital Nuku’alofa, the United States Geological Survey said. Gary Vite, chief meteorologist at the Tonga Meteorological Services told AFP there were […]
PORT MORESBY, June 15, 2023 (AFP) — The US military can develop and operate out of bases in Papua New Guinea, according to a landmark security pact that is part of Washington’s efforts to outflank China in the Pacific. The full text of the deal was tabled in Papua New Guinea’s parliament on Wednesday evening and obtained by AFP, shedding light on details that have been closely guarded since the pact was inked in May. […]
By Steven TRASK Agence France-Presse SYDNEY, June 15, 2023 (AFP) — Australia blocked Russia from building a new embassy in the shadow of Parliament House Thursday after intelligence officials warned it posed a spying risk and security threat. Russia holds the lease for a parcel of land some 400 meters (0.25 miles) from Australia’s parliamentary precinct in Canberra and has been laying the foundations for a new embassy building. But, after failing to block the […]
