Australia and Oceania

New Zealand bans sale of assault, semi-automatic rifles: PM Ardern

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Thursday an immediate ban on the sale of assault rifles and semi-automatics in response to the Christchurch terror attack that killed 50 people. “I am announcing that New Zealand will ban all military-style semi-automatic weapons. We will also ban all assault rifles,” Ardern said, while announcing interim measures that will stop a rush of purchases before legislation on the measures takes effect. She added that […]

Syrian refugee father and son laid to rest as New Zealand burials start

  by Glenda KWEK / Daniel DE CARTERET Agence France Presse CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) — A Syrian refugee and his son who fled the chaos of their homeland only to meet tragedy in New Zealand were buried on Wednesday in the first funerals of those killed in the mosque massacres. Hundreds of mostly Muslim mourners gathered at a cemetery in the southern city of Christchurch to lay to rest Khalid Mustafa and his 15-year-old […]

Australian priest charged with sex abuse of boy: police

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australian police said on Wednesday they had charged a Catholic priest with indecent assault of a 15-year-old boy more than two decades ago, the latest member of the clergy caught in the church’s global sex-abuse scandal. The announcement comes a week after disgraced Australian Cardinal George Pell was sentenced in Melbourne to six years in prison for the sexual abuse of two choirboys. Police said the 61-year-old man, whose identity was […]

New Zealand PM urges global action on social media perils

  CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday called for a global response to the dangers of social media as the Muslim community began burying their dead five days after the twin-mosques massacre. A white supremacist gunman streamed his 17 minutes of carnage in which he is accused of killing 50 Muslim worshippers during their Friday prayers. Facebook said the livestream from Christchurch was viewed fewer than 200 times […]

New Zealand PM Ardern vows mosque killer will face ‘full force of law’

  by Chris Foley Agence France Presse CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern vowed Tuesday never to utter the name of the twin-mosque gunman as she opened a sombre session of parliament with an evocative “as-salaam alaikum” message of peace to Muslims. “He will face the full force of the law in New Zealand,” Ardern pledged to grieving Kiwis, while promising that she would deprive the man, an avowed white […]

New Zealand’s Ardern vows never to speak killer’s name

by Chris Foley CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern vowed Tuesday never to utter the name of the twin-mosque gunman as she opened a sombre session of parliament with an evocative “as salaam alaikum” message of peace to Muslims. “He will face the full force of the law in New Zealand,” Ardern promised grieving Kiwis, while promising that she would deprive the man who slaughtered 50 people in Christchurch of […]

Australian PM pushes G20 to tackle internet extremism

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called on world leaders to press technology firms to tackle the “ungoverned” space of extremist internet content in the wake of the Christchurch terror attack. In a letter published Tuesday, the Australian leader asked the G20 summit host, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, that the issue be raised when leaders gather in Osaka this June. Morrison is in the middle of a tough re-election campaign, […]

New Zealand attack plays into jihadist hands: experts

by Michel MOUTOT PARIS, France (AFP) — White supremacist Brenton Tarrant, who is accused of killing 50 people in the New Zealand mosque massacre in what he claimed was a blow against Muslim “invaders”, played into jihadist hands by following their strategy, experts say. From the Islamic State (IS) group to Al-Qaeda, jihadist groups aim to deepen divisions between Muslims and the rest of the world in an apparent aim to trigger an all-out war […]

Dealer who sold arms to mosque killer rejects responsibility

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) — The New Zealand arms dealer who sold weapons to the suspected mosque attacker said Monday he felt no responsibility for the deaths of 50 worshippers who were gunned down. David Tipple, the managing director of Gun City, confirmed he sold alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant four firearms and ammunition. “We detected nothing extraordinary about this licence holder,” Tipple told a press conference in Christchurch. Tipple refused to answer direct questions about […]

Alleged NZ mosque gunman drops lawyer, will represent himself

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) — The Australian gunman charged with murder for allegedly killing 50 people in mass shootings at two New Zealand mosques plans to represent himself, his court-appointed duty lawyer said Monday. Brenton Tarrant was charged with one count of murder and appeared at Christchurch District Court on Saturday after the rampage during Friday prayers. Duty lawyer Richard Peters, who represented him during the preliminary court hearing, told AFP the 28-year-old “indicated he […]

Christchurch teenager charged with distributing mosque rampage livestream

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) — An 18-year-old has appeared in a New Zealand court charged with distributing the livestream video of a deadly mass shooting at Christchurch’s Al Noor mosque. The teenager, whose name was suppressed by the judge, was also charged with publishing a photograph of the mosque with the message “target acquired”. He faces a maximum of 14 years in prison for each charge, prosecutors said. © Agence France-Presse

Death toll rises to 50 as New Zealand mourns victims

  by Jerome Taylor Agence France Presse New Zealanders flocked to memorial sites to lay flowers and mourn the victims of the twin mosque massacres Sunday, as testimony emerged of epic heroism and harrowing suffering in the gun attack that has claimed 50 lives. Police Commissioner Mike Bush said officers had finally been able to share a list of victims with families, something delayed by the need for careful police work and the sheer scale […]