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SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australian police will be able to conduct random identity checks at airports under sweeping new security laws, the government said Tuesday, amid heightened terror fears following an alleged plot to bring down a plane. There has been growing concern over attacks by radicals inspired by Islamic State and other groups, with a failed effort last year in Sydney to target an Etihad flight with a crude bomb. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Three generations of a single family were identified Saturday as the victims of Australia’s worst mass shooting in 22 years, a murder-suicide which left seven people dead. They included Katrina Miles, 35, and her four children — three boys and a girl aged eight to 13 — who were found Friday in a shed on a rural property near the Margaret River wine region in Western Australia, police said. Miles’ mother Cynda […]
by Daniel De Carteret Agence France Presse MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — The Vatican’s finance chief Cardinal George Pell Tuesday became the highest-ranked Catholic to be sent for trial over historic sex offences, as the elderly priest vowed to fight the charges. The 76-year-old was impassive throughout the hearing in the Australian city of Melbourne that ordered him to face a jury on “multiple” charges, although half of the allegations against him — including some […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Hundreds of firefighters were Monday battling a large bushfire that was raging near Sydney suburbs, with authorities saying it was “miraculous” no houses had been damaged and no-one had been injured. New South Wales state police are investigating the cause of the bushfire in south-western Sydney, which started on Saturday afternoon amid unseasonably warm autumn weather and strong winds, with suspicions it was deliberately lit. The blaze has burnt through more than […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck the New Britain island of Papua New Guinea on Friday, US seismologists said, but a tsunami threat from the tremor was over. The quake struck at 5:25 pm local time (2125 GMT) about 162 kilometers from the New Britain town of Rabaul, the US Geological Survey said. It was initially recorded at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers (six miles) before it was revised by the […]
MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Vatican finance chief Cardinal George Pell faces a nervous wait after a hearing to determine if he will stand trial on historical sexual offence charges adjourned Thursday. After four weeks of witness statements, and cross-examinations by Pell’s lawyers, magistrate Belinda Wallington retired to decide if there is sufficient evidence for the case to go to trial. A decision is expected some time in April. The 76-year-old, who is a […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia joined the United States and other British allies in expelling two Russian diplomats Tuesday in response to a nerve agent attack on a double agent in England. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the pair were “undeclared intelligence officers” and had seven days to leave. “This decision reflects the shocking nature of the attack, the first offensive use of chemical weapons in Europe since World War II, involving a highly lethal […]
by Martin Parry Agence France Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia must avoid a “dance with dictators” when it hosts ASEAN leaders at a special summit this week, and should make human rights a prominent issue, campaigners say. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will welcome heads of government or state from nine of the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations heads to Sydney from Friday, including Cambodian strongman Hun Sen and Myanmar’s under-fire leader Aung San […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — The death toll from a major earthquake that struck Papua New Guinea last month has risen to 125, police said Wednesday, amid concern that an outbreak of disease will see it jump further. A 7.5-magnitude quake struck the Pacific nation’s mountainous interior on February 26, burying homes and causing landslides, making it hard to reach isolated villages. Police said the toll had now reached 125, up from 100 last week, as […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — The death toll from an earthquake that hit Papua New Guinea last month has topped 100 with thousands injured, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said Friday, warning it will take years for the region to recover. The Pacific nation’s mountainous interior was struck by a 7.5-magnitude tremor on February 26, triggering landslides that blocked roads, caused power outages and cut off villages. Communities have also been rattled by strong aftershocks, sparking fears […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit off the Papua New Guinea coast early Friday, officials said, but there was no tsunami warning or immediate reports of damage. The quake struck at 3:39am local time (1739 GMT) at a depth of 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) about 20 kilometers offshore of the New Ireland town of Taron, the US Geological Survey said. A spokesman for the Port Moresby-based National Disaster Management Office said there […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s central bank chief Wednesday slammed Donald Trump’s decision to levy steel tariffs as “bad policy” and warned of “a very big shock” to the global economy if it sparks retaliation. The US president plans to impose a 25 percent tax on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminium in a move that has raised fears of a trade war. It led to the White House’s top economic advisor, Gary Cohn, […]
