Australia & Pacifics

SYDNEY, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Australia's prime minister said on Monday a Chinese naval vessel that pointed a laser at an Australian military aircraft was so close to Australia's coast that it could have been seen from the shore, and urged a full Chinese investigation.

Scott Morrison told media his government had not received an explanation from China over the incident last Thursday, which Australia considered "dangerous and reckless".

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s largest electricity generator, AGL Energy, has rejected an 8 billion Australian dollar ($5.8 billion) takeover bid from tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canadian investment firm Brookfield, who want to accelerate the company’s transition away from coal-fired power.

The Australian founder of software company Atlassian and Brookfield made the preliminary and non-binding offer of AU$7.50 ($5.39) per share on Saturday, AGL said Monday.

SYDNEY, Feb 16 (Reuters) - A shark killed a swimmer off a Sydney beach on Wednesday in the city's first fatal attack in nearly 60 years, causing "catastrophic injuries", police and ambulance services said.

Witnesses told local television they had seen the attack on a swimmer wearing a wetsuit.

"Some guy was swimming and a shark came and attacked him vertically," witness Kris Linto, told Nine.

"We heard a yell and turned around it looked like a car had landed in the water, a big splash then the shark was chomping at the body and there was blood everywhere."

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s prime minister on Monday said protesters who oppose coronavirus mandates were using “intimidation and harassment,” as authorities appeared to take a harsher stance toward the convoy of demonstrators that has disrupted the capital of Wellington for nearly a week.

Australia: Feb 13 (Reuters) - Australia said on Sunday it was evacuating its embassy in Kyiv as the situation on the Russia-Ukraine border deteriorated quickly, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison calling on China to not remain "chillingly silent" on the crisis.

The United States and Europe stepped up their warnings of an imminent attack by Russia on Ukraine, while the Kremlin, jostling for more influence in post-Cold War Europe, rejected a joint EU-NATO diplomatic response to its demands to reduce tensions as disrespectful.

CANBERRA, Feb 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australia’s Health Minister, Greg Hunt, flagged a resumption of the cruise ship industry within months.

The federal government, yesterday extended the human biosecurity period, under which international cruise ships, capable of carrying more than 100 passengers, have been banned from Australian waters since Mar, 2020, until Apr 17.

However, Hunt said, the restrictions on cruise ships could be lifted earlier, if state and territory governments “ensure they are ready” with suitable safety protocols.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Some countries might send in a riot squad to disperse trespassing protesters. In New Zealand, authorities turned on the sprinklers and Barry Manilow.

Initial moves to try and flush out several hundred protesters who have been camped on Parliament’s grassy grounds since Tuesday had little effect.

The protesters, who have been voicing their opposition to coronavirus vaccine mandates, responded to the soaking from the sprinklers by digging trenches and installing makeshift drainpipes to divert the water.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The U.S. says it will open an embassy in the Solomon Islands, laying out in unusually blunt terms a plan to increase its influence in the South Pacific nation before China becomes “strongly embedded.”

The reasoning was explained in a State Department notification to Congress that was obtained by The Associated Press.

The plan was confirmed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken after he landed in Fiji Saturday on a Pacific tour that began in Australia and will finish in Hawaii.

SYDNEY, Feb 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Multiple bushfires have been raging through vast swathes of Western Australia (WA) throughout this week, while the east of the country has been hit by heavy rains and floods, affected by the La Niña weather pattern.

The fires, which have torn through thousands of hectares of WA bushland and across the state’s wheatbelt, have pushed hundreds of firefighters to the brink of exhaustion.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Russia could invade Ukraine during the current Beijing Winter Olympics so Americans should leave the Eastern European country immediately, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday.

Blinken did not detail the reasons behind the State Department’s latest security alert that calls on all American citizens to leave Ukraine.

“Simply put, we continue to see very troubling signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving at the Ukrainian border,” Blinken said in Melbourne, Australia.