Australia & Pacifics

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — The white supremacist who slaughtered 51 worshippers at two New Zealand mosques had intended to burn down the mosques afterward, a prosecutor said in court Monday, while describing two of those praying as making heroic efforts to stop the mass shooting.

New details about the March 2019 attacks were outlined during the first day of a four-day sentencing hearing at the Christchurch High Court. The hearing gave some families and survivors their first chance to confront the gunman.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The suspected white supremacist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers last year, a massacre that prompted a global campaign to stamp out online hate, arrived in Christchurch on Sunday ahead of sentencing hearings.

Brenton Tarrant disembarked a New Zealand air force plane at Christchurch Airport on Sunday afternoon, wearing a protective vest and helmet and escorted by armed officers, before being directed into the back of a white van, television footage showed.

WELLINGTON, Aug 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslim worshippers in last year’s New Zealand mosque shootings will face survivors of his rampage during a sentencing hearing next week that is likely to see him jailed for life.

Far-right extremist Brenton Tarrant was convicted in March of 51 murder charges, 40 of attempted murder and one of terrorism, after dropping his previous not guilty plea.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A Chinese mining company in Papua New Guinea claims to have immunized employees against COVID-19 in an apparent vaccination trial, a newspaper reported on Friday.

The South Pacific island nation’s Health Minister Papua Jelta Wong said his department was investigating the claim by Ramu NiCo Management (MCC) Ltd., The Australian reported.

National Pandemic Response Controller David Manning banned COVID-19 vaccine testing or trials in Papua New Guinea on Thursday and later noted the National Department of Health had not approved any trials.

SYDNEY, Aug 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australia’s national airline, Qantas, reported a 2.8-billion-U.S. dollar revenue hit, for the second half of the 2020 financial year, today, due to the crippling effects of COVID-19.

In a statement to shareholders, the company posted an 89-million-U.S. dollar before tax profit, for the 12 months ending June 30, 2020, down 91 percent on the year before.

During the first half of the financial year, before the pandemic grounded global travel to a halt, Qantas recorded a 553.8-million-U.S. dollar profit before tax.

Wellington, Aug 17 (AP/PTI) Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday chose to delay New Zealand's national elections by four weeks as the country deals with a new coronavirus outbreak in its largest city, Auckland.

The election had been scheduled for Sept. 19 but will now be held on Oct. 17. Under New Zealand law, Ardern had the option of delaying the election for up to about two months.

WELLINGTON, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed on Monday that the general election will be held on Oct. 17, four weeks after Sept. 19 when the poll was originally scheduled for.

"The Electoral Commission, via the Ministry of Justice, has advised me that a safe and accessible election is achievable on this date," Ardern told a press conference.

This short delay gives the commission more time to prepare including freeing up facilities for early voting during school holidays, she said.

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters called on Sunday for a delay to the planned September general election, given an abrupt reappearance of COVID-19 in the country, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to postpone the vote.

Last week’s resurgence of the infections in Auckland - after the country had been free of infections of the new coronavirus for 102 days - was compromising the ability to hold a “free and fair election” on Sept. 19, Peters, the leader of the New Zealand First party, wrote in a letter to Ardern.

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is set to decide by Monday whether a general election will go ahead on Sept. 19, with most analysts expecting her to resist opposition calls for a delay due to a flare up in coronavirus infections.

A country of five million people, a long way from anywhere, New Zealand has fared far better than most countries during the pandemic, but a spate of new infections forced Ardern earlier this week to lockdown Auckland, the largest city.

Seven new cases were reported on Saturday.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s government on Friday extended a lockdown of its largest city Auckland for another 12 days as it tries to stamp out its first domestic coronavirus outbreak in more than three months.

The outbreak has grown to 30 people and extended beyond Auckland for the first time. Until the cluster was discovered Tuesday, New Zealand had gone 102 days without infections spreading in the community. The only known cases were travelers quarantined after arriving from abroad.