Australia & Pacifics

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Wildfires razing Australia’s drought-stricken east coast have left two people dead and several missing, more than 30 injured and over 150 homes destroyed, officials said Saturday.

Around 1,500 firefighters were battling more than 70 fires across Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, with the most intense in the northeast where flames were fanned by strong winds, Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said.

Firefighters found a body on Saturday in a burned car near Glen Innes, he said.

WELLINGTON, Oct 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — New Zealand’s Chief Censor said he had banned a video game that appeared to glorify the mass shooting in Christchurch earlier this year that killed 51 Muslim worshippers.

In an attack broadcast live on Facebook, a lone gunman armed with semi-automatic weapons targeted Muslims attending prayers in two Christchurch mosques on March 15, killing 51 people and wounding dozens.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Ivan Milat, one of Australia’s worst convicted serial killers, has died in prison after spending 23 years behind bars for the murders of seven backpackers in the late 1980s and early 1990s, authorities said on Sunday.

Milat, 74, was serving seven consecutive life sentences after being convicted in 1996 of killing two Britons, three Germans and two Australians in a case that made grim headlines around the world.

BERLIN, Oct 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A prominent Cameroonian journalist invited to speak at press freedom conference in Australia has had her visa application rejected.

Mimi Mefo Takambo, who is based in Germany, said on Twitter that she believed she was denied entry because Australian authorities thought she might attempt to stay in the country.

SYDNEY (AP) — Australia’s Qantas on Sunday completed the first non-stop commercial flight from New York to Sydney, which was used to run a series of tests to assess the effects of ultra long-haul flights on crew fatigue and passenger jetlag.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner touched down in Sydney early Sunday morning after a flight of 19 hours and 16 minutes — the world’s longest.

WELLINGTON, Oct 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — New Zealand police on Friday announced the introduction of armed patrols in response to the Christchurch mosques massacre in which 51 Muslim worshippers were killed.

The force prides itself on operating largely as an unarmed service, but Commissioner Mike Bush said changes needed to be implemented after the worst mass shooting in modern New Zealand history in March.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia wants bilateral free trade deals with Hong Kong, Indonesia and Peru to take effect early next year, the trade minister said Wednesday, adding that the Hong Kong treaty supports its unique status within China.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham introduced legislation into Parliament that would lead to Australia ratifying the three trade treaties.

CANBERRA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Australia and Fiji will send troops to the Middle East on a peacekeeping mission within weeks.

According to The Australian on Saturday, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed that the troops will be deployed to the Golan Heights.

Morrison made the announcement while watching the PM's XIII rugby league match in Fiji, where he arrived for a two-day official visit on Friday.

CANBERRA, Oct 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australia and Fiji will send troops to the Middle East on a peacekeeping mission within weeks.

According to The Australian on Saturday, Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, revealed that the troops will be deployed to the Golan Heights.

Morrison made the announcement while watching the PM’s XIII rugby league match in Fiji, where he arrived for a two-day official visit on Friday.

6 Oct 2019; MEMO: Two Australian-British travel bloggers are released from an Iranian prison on Saturday after three months of arrest over flying drone without permit in the capital Tehran, reports Anadolu Agency.

All charges against the social media phenomenons, Mark Firkin and Jolie King, have been dropped, according to Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne on Saturday.