Australia & Pacifics

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian student was released Thursday after a week in detention in North Korea and flew to Beijing, where he described his condition to reporters as “very good.”

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced to Parliament that Alek Sigley,29, had been released hours earlier following intervention from Swedish diplomats on Wednesday.

Sigley looked relaxed when he arrived at Beijing airport. He did not respond to reporters’ questions about what had happened in Pyongyang.

“I’m OK, I’m OK, I’m good. I’m very good,” Sigley said.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Tuesday to a new record low of 1% in a bid to boost the economy.

The cut is the second in consecutive months. Previously the Reserve Bank of Australia had not shifted the rate in almost three years.

“This easing of monetary policy will support employment growth and provide greater confidence that inflation will be consistent with the medium-term target,” Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe said in a statement.

CANBERRA, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Australia's peak scientific body has revealed that it named 230 new species in the past 12 months.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is leading the charge to accelerate the rate at which Australia's species' are named.

According to the organisation, only 20 to 25 percent of the half a million species that live in Australia have a scientific name. Those that have not been named are invisible to science and conservation.

24 June 2019; DW: The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said it went to court on Monday to challenge a raid conducted earlier this month by Australian Federal Police.

The ABC demanded an injunction to prevent police from accessing seized files relating to a 2017 investigative report — based on hundreds of pages of leaked secret military documents — about possible war crimes committed by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Eight Australian offspring of two slain Islamic State group fighters had been removed from Syria in Australia’s first organized repatriation from the conflict zone, Australia’s prime minister said on Monday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the eight children being repatriated were in the care of Australian government officials. He would not identify the children or say when they would reach Australia.

20 June 2019; DW: The government hopes the gun buyback scheme will rid society of the rapid-fire type used in the white supremacist attack on two Christchurch mosques. A firearms spokeswoman says owners feel "ripped off."

A weapons buyback scheme officially went into effect in New Zealand Thursday. The gun reform law had passed in April in a 119-to-1 vote by parliament.

WELLINGTON, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Two people died following a crash between a car and a train in eastern Bay of Plenty in New Zealand on Wednesday morning.

The crash, on Pongakawa School Road near Te Puke, was reported to local police around 8:15 a.m. local time.

It is confirmed by local fire and emergence service that two people have died in the crash.

It is reported by local media that the victims weren't local residents.

Motorists are urged to avoid the area while emergency services are dealing with the scene.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A Christchurch businessman who shared a video of worshippers being slaughtered at a New Zealand mosque was sentenced on Tuesday to 21 months in prison.

Philip Arps had earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing the video, which was livestreamed on Facebook by a gunman on March 15 as he began killing 51 people at two mosques.

Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen O’Driscoll said that when questioned about the video, Arps had described it as “awesome” and had shown no empathy toward the victims.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck an arc of islands off New Zealand on Sunday, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said it may cause only minor sea level changes in some coastal areas.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake hit a spot about 873 kilometers (541 miles) northeast of Ngunguru, New Zealand, a town of about 1,400 people. It occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).

The area the quake struck is called the Kermadec Islands, about 800 kilometers (497 miles) northeast of New Zealand’s North Island.

14 June 2019; DW: Brenton Tarrant's lawyers on Friday entered not-guilty pleas to 51 charges of murder, 40 charges of attempted murder and one terrorism charge at the Christchurch High Court. 

In an attack broadcast live on Facebook, a lone gunman armed with semi-automatic weapons targeted Muslims attending Friday prayers in Christchurch on March 15. It was New Zealand's worst peacetime mass shooting and led to substantial changes in the country's gun laws.

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