Australia & Pacifics

28-year-old Australian man, Brenton Tarrant, has appeared in court in Christchurch charged with murder following the attack on two mosques yesterday in which 49 people have died. New Zealand police say more charges are likely to be laid. No application for bail was made and he is due to appear in court again on 5 April.

The city has united in grief, with floral tributes being laid at mosques across the country, including at the botanic gardens close to the sites of both attacks.

The Indian envoy in New Zealand has said that nine persons from India have gone missing after an Australian based terrorist opened indiscriminate gunfire at two mosques in Christchurch on Friday, killing 49 people and injuring several others.

Senator Fraser Anning from Queensland, Australia, has caused widespread outrage after releasing a statement on the New Zealand Mosques killings that resulted 49 deaths so far.

Anning’s statement has been slammed as “disgusting”, “reprehensible”, and an attempt at “blaming the victims”. Another Australian politician, Martin Pakula, slammed Fraser Anning as “human garbage”.

15 Mar 2019; AFP: Attacks on two mosques in New Zealand which left at least 49 people dead on Friday have sparked horror, revulsion and dismay around the world.

One of the gunmen – believed to be an Australian extremist -- apparently livestreamed the deadly assault.

"It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack," said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, describing it as "one of New Zealand's darkest days."

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The terrorist attack in Christchurch has left 40 dead and over 20 seriously injured on Friday, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

Four suspects were arrested, including an Australian-born man. At this stage the government had no reason to believe there are any other suspects, she added.

"It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack," Ardern told a press conference in Wellington, adding that the attack appeared to have been "well-planned."

Christchurch, Mar 15; PTI: The Bangladesh cricket team's tour of New Zealand was Friday called off after the players had a narrow escape from a shooting attack on a mosque here, described as an "unprecedented act of violence" by the country's Prime Minister Jacinda Arden.

The attack on the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Hagley Park killed several people, the local media reported.

Two mosques have been attacked by terrorists in Christchurch during Friday prayers, at around 1.40 p.m. local time, causing multiple fatalities.

Witnesses said one gunman was "white, aged in his 30s or 40s and wearing a uniform.

"I saw people jumping over the back fence of the mosque into Oakward Close. I heard at least 20 (gunshots)." Said another witness.

Welington, Mar 14 (AFP) A senior New Zealand government minister was assaulted in an early-morning street attack Thursday that left him with a black eye and shook up Wellington's normally laid-back political atmosphere.

Green Party co-leader James Shaw was walking to the parliament building known as the Beehive when a man punched him in the face in what his office described as an unprovoked attack.

13 Mar 2019; DW: Disgraced Cardinal George Pell on Wednesday was sentenced to six years in an Australian prison for child sex crimes.

Pell, who once helped elect popes and ran the Vatican's finances, was convicted in December of molesting two choirboys at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne in the 1990s. A court order suppressing media coverage wasn't lifted until last month. 

SYDNEY, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Virgin Australia have assured the public that they will not introduce any new aircraft to their fleet unless completely satisfied with its safety, the airline said on Wednesday.

The statement came after Sunday's Ethiopian Airlines crash which killed all 157 people on board.

Just five months prior, another Boeing 737 MAX 8 operated by Lion Air also went down in Indonesia, killing 189 people.