Tag: Australia

Australia vows to hold Russia accountable for MH17 disaster

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia on Thursday pledged to hold Russia accountable for shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, after a team of international investigators halted its probe into the disaster. The team said there were “strong indications” Russian President Vladimir Putin personally approved supplying the missile system that eventually downed the flight — but halted the investigation because there was no “conclusive evidence”. The Boeing 777 was shot down over Ukraine in 2014, killing […]

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Police seize enough cocaine to supply N. Zealand for 30 years

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — Police said Wednesday they had seized enough cocaine to supply New Zealand for 30 years, after snaring a massive bundle of drugs floating in the Pacific Ocean. New Zealand police commissioner Andrew Coster told reporters the haul — containing 81 bales of cocaine — weighed 3.2 tons and had a street value of around $316 million. “This is the largest find of illicit drugs by New Zealand’s agencies by some […]

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Late Australian cardinal’s funeral sparks Sydney protests

by Steven TRASK Agence France-Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Protesters denounced late Australian cardinal George Pell for his “bigoted” views on Thursday, as the Catholic Church remembered his “remarkable legacy” with a grand funeral mass in Sydney. The Vatican power broker, who died in Rome last month aged 81, will be buried in the crypt of St Mary’s Cathedral after a Pontifical Funeral Mass steeped in the traditions of the Church. Pell continues to divide […]

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Australia’s lost radioactive capsule found on the side of the road

A tiny but dangerously radioactive capsule which fell off a truck along a remote stretch of outback highway in Australia last month was found on Wednesday, authorities said. The solid, silver-coloured cylinder is smaller than a human fingernail — just eight millimetres by six millimetres — but the authorities say it contains enough Caesium-137 to cause acute radiation sickness. It was discovered at the side of a desert highway just south of the town of […]

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Australian Church mourns cardinal Pell, despite protests

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s Catholic Church held a prayer vigil for late cardinal George Pell who lay in state Wednesday, as sexual abuse survivors tied ribbons to the cathedral gates in protest. Pell, a Vatican powerbroker who rose from humble beginnings in small town Australia, died in Rome in January, aged 81. Once considered Pope Francis’s “right-hand man”, Pell’s final years were marked by sexual abuse allegations and criticism of his hard-line positions on […]

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Rio Tinto ‘sorry’ for losing radioactive capsule in Western Australia

Mining giant Rio Tinto apologised Monday for losing a tiny but dangerously radioactive capsule that fell off a truck along a 1,400-kilometre-long stretch of road in Western Australia. The solid, silver-coloured cylinder is smaller than a human fingernail — just 8mm by 6mm — but the authorities say it contains enough Caesium-137 to cause acute radiation sickness. It disappeared this month from a truck that drove to the suburbs of Perth from a remote mine […]

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Qantas flight lands safely in Sydney after mid-air mayday

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Ambulance services scrambled at Sydney airport on Wednesday to meet an incoming Qantas plane that issued a mid-air mayday alert with engine trouble before landing safely. The flight — QF144 — was carrying 145 passengers from Auckland, New Zealand, a statement from Qantas said. The Boeing 737-800 plane landed without incident on the runway at Sydney airport, said an AFP reporter at the scene, and will now be inspected by engineers. […]

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China warns Australia: ‘Be careful’ of Japan

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — China on Tuesday said Australia should remember Japan’s war crimes during World War II before cozying up to the regional power. Australia’s center-left government has been trying to repair its relationship with China, which soured considerably under the former conservative government. But it has also recently signed a new security pact with China’s regional rival Japan, seen as an attempt to limit Beijing’s muscle in the Pacific region. China’s ambassador to […]

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Ex-US Marine questions ‘political nature’ of Australian arrest

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A former US marine accused of illegally training Chinese military pilots believes his arrest was politically motivated and will fight extradition from Australia, his lawyer said Tuesday. Daniel Edmund Duggan was arrested in Australia late last year and now faces extradition to the United States, where he is accused of violating an arms embargo. The 54-year-old was a highly-regarded jet pilot who spent 12 years in the US Marine Corps, reaching […]

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Djokovic back in Australia a year after being deported

Sydney, Australia (AFP) Former world number one Novak Djokovic arrived in Australia on Tuesday almost one year after he was deported for refusing to be vaccinated against Covid-19, tennis officials said. The nine-time Australian Open champion was initially banned from the country for three years after losing a high-stakes legal battle in January over his vaccine status. Australia has since lifted its requirement for visitors to show proof of vaccination against Covid. The government confirmed […]

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Australia urges release of citizens in China

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Tuesday urged the release of citizens held in China, as she prepared to embark on a landmark visit to Beijing. Wong is set to be the first top Australian diplomat to visit China in four years, a trip aimed at thawing troubled relations. She will depart Australia on Tuesday for a meeting with Chinese state councilor and minister of foreign affairs, Wang Yi, and indicated […]

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Two police officers among three killed in Australia shooting

Sydney, Australia (AFP) Two police officers were among three people killed in a shooting in the Australian state of Queensland, authorities said on Monday, and a hunt for the offenders was underway. Queensland Police ordered residents of the remote rural community of Wieambilla, about 270 kilometres (170 miles) west of the state capital Brisbane, to remain indoors until further notice while they hunted the killer or killers. Australia has some of the toughest gun laws […]

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