Australia & Pacifics

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police arrested on Wednesday an 18-year man who had allegedly expressed interest in committing a mass causality attack, motivated by right-wing ideology.

Police said they expect to lay charges on Wednesday against the unidentified man from Albury, a small town 553 km (344 miles) southwest of Sydney.

“The male we’ve arrested has an extremely right-wing ideology and is focused on neo-Nazi, white supremacist and anti-Semitic material,” Australian Federal Police Assistant Commission Scott Lee told reporters in Sydney.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A woman whose son was killed in a volcanic eruption in New Zealand a year ago said that as she stood crying, wailing and calling out his name on a beach soon afterward, a stranger came up to her and held her.

“To this day, I do not know who that lady was,” said Avey Woods during a televised service held Wednesday in the town of Whakatane to mark the first anniversary of the tragedy. “I hope she’s listening, because that just shows you what a community we are, and how powerful that felt that day.”

CANBERRA, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Australian Governor-General David Hurley has told new members of the defense force that it is their duty to rebuild public trust following the Afghan war crimes inquiry.

Hurley, who served as Chief of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) between 2011 and 2014 and as governor-general since 2019, told graduates of the ADF Academy on Sunday evening that they will need to "reassure and reaffirm" the relationship with the Australian public.

Melbourne, Dec 8 (PTI) Brenton Tarrant, the Australian-born attacker who killed 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, travelled extensively around the world, including India where he spent nearly three months, before moving to New Zealand to carry out the country's worst massacre in 2019, according to a detailed report into the shootings released on Tuesday.

Canberra, Dec 8 (AP-PTI) Australia's government will reveal legislation in Parliament on Wednesday that would make Facebook and Google pay for journalism.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Tuesday that the legislation to create the News Media Bargaining Code will be scrutinized by a parliamentary committee following its introduction and before lawmakers vote on it next year.

This is a huge reform, Frydenberg told reporters. This is a world first. And the world is watching what happens here in Australia.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A comprehensive report into last year’s Christchurch mosque shootings in which 51 Muslim worshippers were slaughtered sheds new light on how the gunman was able to elude detection by authorities as he planned out his attack.

The nearly 800-page Royal Commission of Inquiry report released Tuesday shows that the attacker, Brenton Tarrant, kept a low profile and told nobody of his plans.

Sydney, Dec 7 (PTI) The series pocketed and their confidence restored, India would eye nothing less than a clean sweep when they take on an Australian side significantly weakened by injury blows, in the third and final T20 International here on Tuesday.

Skipper Virat Kohli and his main protagonist of the white-ball leg, Hardik Pandya, will feel a sense of deja vu given that the script has panned out exactly like 2016 when the team got walloped in the ODIs but came back strongly to rout the Aussies 3-0 in the T20 International series.

Sydney, Dec 4 (PTI) Players taking part in the upcoming Big Bash League will not have the mini bar at their disposal in hotel rooms with Cricket Australia aiming to minimise interaction between staff and cricketers to reduce the risk of any COVID-19 infections.

A "BBL Hub" will be created at the hotels for all stakeholders of the league to minimise exposure to the outside world during the league starting December 10.

Wellington, Dec 2 (AP-PTI) Joining more than 30 countries, New Zealand on Wednesday took the symbolic step of declaring a climate emergency.

Lawmakers voted 76-43 in favour of the motion, in a split that followed party lines.

SYDNEY, Dec 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Residents and visitors on Australia’s Fraser Island, have been told to prepare for the worst, as an out of control bushfire swept towards a major tourist resort today.

The fire burnt over 72,000 hectares or 42 percent of the island, off Queensland State’s east coast, since spreading from an illegal campfire, six weeks ago.

Today, the first day of summer in Australia brought hot and windy conditions, which fanned flames and made firefighters’ work, to contain the blaze, more difficult.