Australia & Pacifics

SYDNEY, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manesseh Sogavare said he skipped a Pacific Islands leaders summit at the White House this week to avoid a "lecture" and because he had more pressing issues at home.

Sogavare, who has built close ties with China, held a press conference on Wednesday after arriving back in Solomon Islands from the United States, where he spoke at the United Nations but did not join other Pacific Island Forum leaders in Washington for a two-day summit.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A senior Qatar Airways executive told an Australian Senate inquiry on Wednesday there would be no repeat of an incident at Doha’s international airport in 2020 in which female passengers were subjected to invasive gynecological examinations.

Australian Transport Minister Catherine King said three weeks ago that the examinations of 13 Australian women who had boarded a Qatar Airways plane to Sydney were a factor in her decision in July to refuse the Qatar government-owned airline additional flights to Australia.

SYDNEY, Sept 26 (NNN-AAP) – Police in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), confirmed today that, a man has been arrested, after an overnight shooting in the city of Lake Macquarie, which injured two people, last week.

According to NSW Police Force, at about 12:45 p.m. local time yesterday, a 31-year-old man was arrested in Wallsend, a western suburb of Newcastle.

Police also located two firearms during the execution of a search warrant, which were seized for further forensic examination.

CANBERRA, Sept 18 (NNN-AAP) – Three people have been hospitalised with injuries, following an alleged stabbing at the Australian National University (ANU), in the country’s capital today, state media reported.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that, police and ambulance personnel were called to the ANU campus in Canberra at approximately 2:45 p.m. local time today, to respond to reports of a stabbing.

05 September 2023; MEMO: A cross-party delegation of Australian lawmakers will head to the US later this month to urge Washington to abandon its demand for the extradition of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, Anadolu Agency reports.

The delegation includes Barnaby Joyce, Tony Zappia and independent lawmaker, Monique Ryan.

Ryan told the broadcaster, ABC, they feel “really, really strongly about the importance of securing Mr. Assange’s freedom.”

SYDNEY, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Australia said a strip-search of women at Qatar's main airport in 2020 played a part in its decision this year to stop Qatar Airways from selling more flights to Australia, denying it was acting due to pressure from rival Qantas Airways.

The claim brings a new element to a controversy surrounding the Australian Labor government's relationship with Qantas (QAN.AX) which had lobbied against a Qatar Airways request to increase its flights.

SYDNEY, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Australia said a strip-search of women at Qatar's main airport in 2020 played a part in its decision this year to stop Qatar Airways from selling more flights to Australia, denying it was acting due to pressure from rival Qantas Airways.

The claim brings a new element to a controversy surrounding the Australian Labor government's relationship with Qantas (QAN.AX) which had lobbied against a Qatar Airways request to increase its flights.

SYDNEY, Sept 5 (NNN-AAP) – Sato Kilman was elected as Vanuatu’s new prime minister yesterday, after winning 27 votes to 23, in a parliamentary ballot, local media reported.

According to Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation, it will be the fifth time for Kilman, 65, also leader of the People’s Progressive Party, to serve as Vanuatu’s PM. Kilman most recently took office from Jun, 2015 to Feb, 2016.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Eight U.S. Marines remained in a hospital in the Australian north coast city of Darwin on Monday after they were injured in a fiery crash of a tiltrotor aircraft that killed three of their colleagues on an island.

All 20 survivors were flown from Melville Island 80 kilometers (50 miles) south to Darwin within hours of the Marine V-22 Osprey crashing at 9:30 a.m. Sunday during a multinational training exercise, Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A United States Marine Corps aircraft with 23 Marines aboard crashed on a north Australian island Sunday, killing at least three and critically injuring at least five during a multinational training exercise, officials said.

Three had been confirmed dead on Melville Island and five were flown in serious condition 80 kilometers (50 miles) to the mainland city of Darwin for hospital treatment after the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey aircraft crashed around 9:30 a.m., a statement from the Marines said.