Australia and Oceania

Australian ports reopen after cyberattack

SYDNEY, Nov 13, 2023 (AFP) – Major ports handling 40 percent of Australia’s freight trade have reopened, operator DP World said Monday, three days after they were crippled by a cyberattack. DP World cut its systems from the internet when the attack was detected Friday, preventing trucks from unloading or picking up cargo at ports in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle. “DP World Australia is pleased to announce that operations resumed at the company’s ports […]

Malaysian killer freed from Australian immigration detention: lawyer

SYDNEY, Nov 13, 2023 (AFP) – A Malaysian former bodyguard convicted in the 2006 murder of a Mongolian translator has been released after eight years in Australian immigration detention, his lawyer said Monday. Sirul Azhar Umar fled Malaysia after being sentenced to hang for the gruesome slaying of Altantuya Shaariibuu, who worked as an interpreter on a $2 billion French submarine deal that was mired in allegations of corruption. Sirul has long insisted the killing […]

Australia offers refuge to Tuvaluans facing climate displacement

By Steven TRASK SYDNEY, Nov 10, 2023 (AFP) – Citizens of climate-threatened Tuvalu will have the right to live in Australia under a landmark pact unveiled Friday — an offer of refuge as their Pacific homeland is lost beneath the seas. Prime ministers Kausea Natano and Anthony Albanese inked a treaty to help Tuvalu’s 11,000 residents tackle climate change, and to take up sanctuary should the worst fears materialise. Tuvalu is among the world’s most […]

Major outage hits Australian telecoms giant

SYDNEY, Nov 8, 2023 (AFP) – Nationwide outages hit a major Australian communications company Wednesday, disrupting phone lines, crashing payment systems and impacting millions of customers. Optus said it was scrambling to restore its mobile and internet services to more than 10 million customers across Australia. Company chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin told national broadcaster ABC there was “no indication” the outage was the result of hacking or a cyber attack — but that engineers […]

China, Australia can become ‘trusting’ partners, Xi says

By Oliver HOTHAM with Jing Xuan TENG in Shanghai BEIJING, Nov 6, 2023 (AFP) – Chinese leader Xi Jinping told Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Monday that their countries could become “trusting partners”, pledging to work with Canberra on everything from regional security to climate change as the two leaders eased years of tensions that cut billions of dollars in trade. Beijing is Canberra’s biggest trading partner, but relations plummeted in 2020 after Australia’s then-conservative […]

Australian PM Albanese visits China as relations emerge from deep freeze

SYDNEY, Nov 3, 2023 (AFP) – Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flies to China on Saturday for a landmark visit, a sign that icy relations have thawed with the trading giant and strategic rival. His four-day trip to Beijing and Shanghai is the first by an Australian leader in seven years and is widely seen as recognition that relations are on a surer footing after a diplomatic breakdown that hit billions of dollars in trade. […]

Australian police arrest woman suspected of poisoning family with mushrooms

By Sharon MARRIS SYDNEY, Nov 2, 2023 (AFP) – Australian police on Thursday arrested the woman at the centre of a mushroom meal mystery that left three people dead and a local preacher fighting for his life. The arrest of Erin Patterson, 49, is the latest twist in a saga that has gripped the nation and thrust the spotlight on the small rural town of Leongatha, 110 kilometres (70 miles) southeast of Melbourne. Detective Inspector […]

Australian towns endure night of ‘shocking’ bushfires

SYDNEY, Nov 1, 2023 (AFP) – Helicopters buzzed over bushfire-scarred swathes of eastern Australia on Wednesday, assessing the damage left by “shocking” blazes that raged overnight. Water bombing aircraft swooped on fires smouldering in Queensland and New South Wales (NSW), while fire crews raced to dig containment lines as conditions eased on Wednesday morning. Firefighters toiled through the night to repel bushfires on the border between the two states, while more than 50 houses have […]

Australia abandons 2034 World Cup bid in boost for Saudi

Australia on Tuesday decided against bidding for the 2034 football World Cup, strengthening Saudi Arabia’s position as favourite to host the event. Football Australia pulled its bid on the October 31 deadline after the Asian Football Confederation threw its weight behind Saudi Arabia. “We have explored the opportunity to bid to host the FIFA World Cup and — having taken all factors into consideration — we reached the conclusion not to do so for the […]

Australians fete Sydney Opera House’s 50th anniversary

SYDNEY, Oct 20, 2023 (AFP) – Australians on Friday celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House, lighting up the sails of a harbourside “masterpiece” that has become an international icon. Fifty years to the day since Queen Elizabeth II opened the world’s most recognised concert hall — visited by about 11 million people a year — the Opera House will draw crowds with a nighttime laser show. Besides the party, the Opera House […]

Australian arrested in Singapore after bomb threat, returned flight: police

SINGAPORE, Oct 12, 2023 (AFP) – An Australian passenger on a Perth-bound flight was arrested in Singapore on Thursday for criminal intimidation, police said, after the plane was escorted back to the city-state by fighter jets due to a bomb threat. Flight TR16, operated by budget carrier Scoot, departed Singapore at 4:11 pm (0811 GMT). But about one hour into the flight, “a precautionary decision was made to turn the aircraft back to Singapore due […]

Double quake scare in PNG: 6.7M earthquake followed by equal-magnitude aftershock

PORT MORESBY, Oct 7, 2023 (AFP) – A magnitude 6.7 earthquake rattled northeastern Papua New Guinea on Saturday, the United States Geological Survey said, disrupting power grids and plunging coastal communities into darkness. The strong quake had a depth of 53 kilometres (33 miles) and hit at around 7:30 pm (0830 GMT) with the epicentre about 56 kilometres southeast of the coastal town of Madang, the USGS added. An aftershock of equal magnitude hit off […]