Australia and Oceania

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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Pacific power play: Australia plans largest navy since WWII

SYDNEY, Feb 20, 2024 (AFP) – Australia on Tuesday outlined a decade-long plan to double its fleet of major warships and boost defence spending by an additional US$7 billion, in the face of a quickening Asia-Pacific arms race. Under the plan, Australia will get a navy of 26 major surface combatant ships, up from 11 today. “It is the largest fleet that we will have since the end of the Second World War,” said Defence […]

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Papua New Guinea police authorized “any level of force” to stop tribal clashes

PORT MORESBY, Feb 19, 2024 (AFP) Papua New Guinea is deploying additional security personnel to a region where dozens were killed in a suspected ambush, police said Monday, adding the reinforcements would be authorised to use “to use any level of force required”. The suspected ambush of tribal fighters by a rival clan occurred in the highlands near the village of Wapenamanda, about 600 kilometres (370 miles) northwest of the capital Port Moresby. Police Commissioner […]

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