Australia

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."

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.

Melbourne, Feb 12 (PTI) The current situation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has arisen due to the disregard of written agreements by China not to mass soldiers at the border, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday.

Speaking at a joint press conference along with his Australian counterpart Marise Payne, Jaishankar further said when a large country disregards written commitments, it's an issue of legitimate concern for the entire international community.

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.

New Delhi, Feb 11 (PTI) The foreign ministers of the Quad grouping of India, the US, Australia and Japan on Friday held extensive talks in Melbourne amid escalating tension between Russia and NATO countries over Ukraine, the Afghan crisis and increasing concerns over China's "coercion" in the Indo-Pacific region.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Australia's Marise Payn jointly called on Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison ahead of their talks.

Canberra, Feb 10 (AP) The United States remains focused long-term on the Indo-Pacific region despite concerns over Russian aggression toward the Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.

Blinken is in the Australian city of Melbourne for a meeting on Friday with his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan.

The four nations form the so-called Quad, a bloc of Indo-Pacific democracies that was created to counter China's regional influence.

SYDNEY, Feb 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Police in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), seized 220 kilograms of drug and 1.1 million Australian dollars (about 0.8 million U.S. dollars) in cash, in a drug investigation, unveiled today.

Officers were called to a property in Canterbury, in south-west Sydney, on July 9 last year, after a plumber, who was fixing a leaking toilet pipe found bags of cash and crystal substance in an open cupboard.

The unit was then declared a crime scene and a locked garage under the complex was searched.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The foreign ministers of Australia and Lithuania agreed Wednesday to step up cooperation on strategic challenges, in particular pressures from China.

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis and his Australian counterpart Marise Payne met Wednesday at Parliament House.

Australian exporters have lost tens of billions of dollars to official and unofficial Chinese trade barriers covering coal, wine, beef, crayfish and barley that have coincided with deteriorating relations with Beijing.