Australia and Oceania

Philippines foreign minister urges China: ‘stop harassing us’

MELBOURNE, March 4, 2024 (AFP) – Philippine foreign minister Enrique Manalo told AFP on Monday that his country wants to solve maritime disputes with China peacefully — but delivered a simple message to Beijing: “stop harassing us”. Speaking on the sidelines of an ASEAN-Australia summit in Melbourne, Manalo defended his government’s policy of publicising Chinese manoeuvres in contested maritime territory — including the recent passage of warships near Scarborough Shoal. “It’s merely trying to inform […]

Continue Reading →

New Tuvalu PM says focused on development, not Taiwan ties

FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu, Feb 29, 2024 (AFP) – Tuvalu’s new Prime Minister Feleti Teo says his government is focused on the “many key development priorities” facing his Pacific Island nation, not debates about Taiwan relations that have consumed outsiders. The government will “concentrate working on the key priorities of Tuvalu” he told a small group of media outlets, including AFP, on Wednesday. “Unless there are any major issues in that relationship”, he said it would not […]

Continue Reading →

Shock as Warner Bros Discovery shutters major N.Zealand news outlet

WELLINGTON, Feb 28, 2024 (AFP) – US entertainment giant Warner Bros Discovery announced plans to shutter major New Zealand news outlet Newshub Wednesday, in what the deputy prime minister called a “disaster for this country’s democracy”. Citing cratering advertising revenues, the US firm said it was closing “all Newshub’s multi-platform news operations” in June, with a reported loss of about 300 jobs. The announcement effectively spreads the impact of massive recent US media cost-cutting beyond […]

Continue Reading →

Leap year outage shutters New Zealand petrol pumps

WELLINGTON, Feb 29, 2024 (AFP) – Self-service petrol pumps across New Zealand were shuttered Thursday as several companies reported a leap year “software glitch” that left motorists stranded. In the capital Wellington, some stations closed completely, leaving forecourts empty and customers confronted with signs reading “Nationwide Payment Outage – Site Unavailable”. “It is a nationwide issue affecting all fuel brands and it does appear to be a software glitch with the payment provider because it […]

Continue Reading →

New Tuvalu government reaffirms relations with Taiwan

FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu, Feb 28, 2024 (AFP) – Tuvalu’s new government on Wednesday vowed to keep up its “special” relationship with Taiwan, ending speculation that the Pacific island nation was poised to switch diplomatic recognition to Beijing. “The new government wishes to reaffirm its commitment to the long-term and lasting special relationship between Tuvalu and the Republic of China, Taiwan,” Prime Minister Feleti Teo’s government said in a statement of priorities. Tuvalu, with a population of […]

Continue Reading →

Bodies of missing Aussie TV presenter & partner found, police officer charged with murder

By Lili TISCH-BOSTOCK SYDNEY, Feb 27, 2024 (AFP) – Australian police found the bodies of a TV presenter and his flight attendant boyfriend in a rural area outside Sydney on Tuesday, acting on information from a police officer charged with their murder. The discovery ends an almost week-long high-profile search for the remains of entertainment journalist Jesse Baird, 26, and Qantas flight attendant Luke Davies, 29. A 28-year-old serving police constable who had previously been […]

Continue Reading →

Pop star’s dad in assault claim: Photographer alleges attack after Swift concert

Australian police are investigating claims Taylor Swift’s dad assaulted a photographer when the star and her entourage were disembarking a superyacht in the early hours of Tuesday morning. “Police have been told a 71-year-old man allegedly assaulted a 51-year-old man at Neutral Bay Wharf about 2:30 am, before leaving the location,” police spokeswoman Alicia McCumstie told AFP. “The younger man reported the incident and inquiries are now under way by officers attached to North Shore […]

Continue Reading →

Australia battles ‘volatile’ bushfire

  Australian firefighters were working to contain a “volatile” bushfire in the southern state of Victoria on Friday, urging thousands of people to evacuate rural areas threatened by the blaze. The out-of-control blaze, about two hours’ drive northwest of state capital Melbourne, has already burned through about 10,000 hectares (24,000 acres) of forest and farmland. Almost 1,000 firefighters have been deployed to battle the blaze. “They will be supported by water-bombing aircraft, including the large […]

Continue Reading →

Policeman charged with murder of Australian TV presenter, boyfriend

  SYDNEY, Feb 23, 2024 (AFP) – Australian police on Friday charged one of their own officers with the double murder of a TV presenter and his flight attendant boyfriend, whose bodies have yet to be found. Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said a 28-year-old serving police constable was charged with two counts of murder, after a high-profile three-day search across Sydney. Earlier this week, the chance discovery of bloodied clothes in a suburban rubbish bin […]

Continue Reading →

Bloodstained clothes in bin trigger search for missing Australian TV host

The chance discovery of bloodied clothes in a suburban rubbish bin has sparked a high-profile police search in Australia, after the suspicious disappearance of a TV presenter and his boyfriend. Police launched an investigation earlier this week after a member of the public stumbled across possessions belonging to the couple in a large bin on Sydney’s southern outskirts. The grisly find, which included a pile of blood-stained clothes, led detectives to the home of former […]

Continue Reading →

Australian bishop charged with rape and indecent assault after Vatican probe

  SYDNEY, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – An Australian bishop is facing accusations of rape and indecent assault, becoming one of the most senior Catholics in the country to be charged with sex crimes. Emeritus Bishop Christopher Alan Saunders was arrested in Western Australia on Wednesday evening after a high-powered internal Vatican investigation spurred child abuse detectives into action. Police said he has been charged with 14 counts of unlawful and indecent assault and two […]

Continue Reading →
1 … 3 4 5 6 7 … 92