Australia & Pacifics

SYDNEY, July 22 (Reuters) - The United States commissioned a warship in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday, the first time a U.S. Navy vessel joined active service at a foreign port, as the two close allies step up their military ties in response to China's expanding regional reach.

The Independence-class littoral combat ship - named after a Royal Australian Navy cruiser that was sunk while supporting the U.S. Marine landings on Guadalcanal in 1942 - was commissioned at a ceremony at an Australian naval base on Sydney Harbour, officially joining the U.S. Navy's active fleet.

WELLINGTON, July 21 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese citizen was injured in Thursday's deadly shooting in New Zealand's Auckland, a spokesman for the Chinese Consulate General in Auckland said on Friday.

The conditions of the Chinese are stable, the spokesman told Xinhua.

The Auckland police Friday afternoon informed the consulate on the injured person, following which, consulate officials went to the hospital to learn about the conditions, said the spokesman.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Sarah Leslie thought she was witnessing a stunt when she saw an American soldier start sprinting toward North Korea.

Leslie and her father, tourists from New Zealand, were part of a group that left Tuesday morning from Seoul to visit the Demilitarized Zone that divides South and North Korea.

Private 2nd Class Travis King was among the group of 43 tourists, Leslie told The Associated Press, although he was casually dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and she had no idea at the time that he was a soldier, or in legal trouble.

SYDNEY, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said on Tuesday that the agency is continuing its "alert" status for El Nino, with the chance of the weather event developing later this year still at 70 percent.

While central and eastern Pacific sea surface temperatures are exceeding El Nino thresholds, persistent changes in wind, cloud, and broad-scale pressure patterns towards El Nino-like patterns have not been observed by the weather bureau.

WELLINGTON, July 18 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand scientists have called for releasing a national food strategy to promote a healthy, environment-friendly diet following the release of new international dietary guidelines by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.

"We urgently need a National Food Strategy for New Zealand, which has the potential to ensure a secure, sustainable food supply with less detrimental effects on the environment and climate, and which would provide a much greater benefit to human health than is the case at present," they said.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Britain on Sunday officially joined an Asia-Pacific trade group that includes Japan and 10 other nations during a meeting in New Zealand.

The trade bloc covers more than 500 million people and 15% of the world’s economy. For Britain, it represents the largest trade deal it has struck since leaving the European Union more than three years ago.

12 July 2023; MEMO: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Nairobi today as the part of the first leg of his three-nation tour of Africa, which will cover Uganda and Zimbabwe as well as Kenya. The tour follows last month's three-nation Latin America trip by Raisi, and will be the first time that an Iranian president has visited Africa in 11 years.

SYDNEY, Jul 11 (NNN-AAP) – Australian mining company, Illawarra Coal Holdings Pty. Ltd., has been ordered to pay out almost 2.9 million Australian dollars (about 1.9 million U.S. dollars), as it drained surface water without a licence over five years.

In a statement released today, the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) of New South Wales said that, the underground coal mine is at Kembla Heights, west of Wollongong, and the mine’s operations caused the incidental take of surface water without a licence from 2018 to 2023.

SYDNEY, July 6 (Reuters) - Australian Home Minister Clare O'Neil on Thursday called Donald Trump Jr. a "big baby", after the son of the former U.S. president cancelled a planned speaking tour.

The younger Trump, who had been booked on a three-day tour of Australia that was scheduled to begin in Sydney on Sunday, cancelled the trip on Wednesday, with organisers suggesting the reason was visa issues.

CANBERRA, Jul 4 (NNN-AAP) – Australia will ease visa rules for Indonesian travellers, in a bid to boost economic ties between the two countries. Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, today met with Indonesian President, Joko Widodo in Sydney, for talks on visa requirements, trade and climate change.

During the Australia-Indonesia Annual Leaders’ Meeting, they discussed new initiatives to enable more Australian and Indonesian professionals to work in each other’s country.