Australia snubs Huawei, finishes undersea cables for Pacific Islands - INSIDER

• Australia has completed the laying of undersea cables for its high-speed internet project in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, a snub to China's Huawei which had previously competed for the deal.
• Australia agreed to pay for the majority of the $92.5 million project in 2018 after China's Huawei expressed interest in the arrangement.
• According to WA Today, the project spans 4,700 kilometers (2,920 miles) and is linked to Sydney's Tamarama Beach using cables which feature optic fibers thinner than human hair.
• Concerns have been raised in the past that Huawei technology could be used by China to spy on the West, an allegation that the company has repeatedly denied.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Australia has completed the laying of undersea cables for its high-speed internet project in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, a snub to Chinese tech giant Huawei, which had previously competed for the deal.

Australia on Wednesday laid the final piece of cable as part of its $A137 million ($92.5 million) infrastructure effort, known as the Coral Sea Cable, which links Sydney to its island neighbors.

Australia agreed to front most of the cost of the construction project in 2018, shutting out a competing offer by Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. According to WA Today, the project spans 4,700 kilometers (2,920 miles) and is linked to Sydney's Tamarama Beach using cables which feature optic fibers thinner than human hair.

The paper added that less than 11% of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands residents have internet access, making the project important to their future social and economic development.

Walter Diamana, Acting High Commissioner for Solomon Islands, said the project would "secure hope and bring a predictable future for our people," WA Today reported.

Read more: This incredible map shows the undersea cables that keep the internet alive — and security services are worried Russia could cut them

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne told reporters Wednesday that the project was key to fortifying Australia's connection to the Pacific as China has begun expanding its efforts in the region. She said the goal was to have the cables in operation by December.

Several countries have voiced concern that Huawei technology could be used by China for spying

A man holding his phone walks past a Huawei shop in Beijing, China December 12, 2018.

REUTERS/Jason Lee

The US has long voiced concerns that Huawei's technology — along with that of its fellow Chinese telecom company ZTE — could pose a security risk, fearing that the company's technology could act as a backdoor for the Chinese government to spy on the West.

The US banned federal agencies and their contractors from using equipment or services provided by Huawei, which prompted harsh blowback from the Chinese tech giant.

In recent months, Australia has banned Huawei and ZTE from supplying tech for their networks, citing major security risks.

Read more: The EU is ignoring US calls to boycott Huawei in its 5G roll-out despite security concerns

New Zealand has also turned down a proposal for one of its major telecom carriers to use Huawei gear in its planned 5G mobile network, but the country has not ruled out using the tech giant in future internet network upgrades if security risks are addressed.

Huawei's CEO pushed back on concerns about its 5G network in March, saying: "Cyber security and user privacy protection are at the absolute top of our agenda. We are confident that the companies that choose to work with Huawei will be the most competitive in the 5G era."

"The easiest way to bring down a fortress is to attack it from within. And the easiest way to reinforce it is from outside."

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2019-08-28 09:07:40Z
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Raft of Pumice Drifts Across The Pacific As Seen From Space - Space Ref

Captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission on 21 August 2019, this image features a huge raft of pumice rock drifting in the Pacific Ocean. The pumice is believed to have come from an underwater volcano near Tonga, which erupted on 7 August.

The volcanic debris is full of holes and gas that make the rock light enough to float up to the sea surface. Covering a total area of around 150 sq km, this massive gathering of floating rocks has turned the ocean surface from its usual twinkling blue to a dull grey that almost looks like land.

The raft is drifting towards Australia, and while it may be causing some problems for sailors, it could bring benefits to the Great Barrier Reef. There are millions of pieces of rock and each is a potential vehicle that offers a ride to small marine organisms such as algae, snails, barnacles and corals. If the raft eventually reaches Australia, the hope is that these hitch-hiking organisms could help replenish the Great Barrier Reef, which has been damaged by rising seawater temperatures.

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2019-08-27 18:38:00Z
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Walker, Turner lead US over Australia 102-86 - The Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — With his team playing on a raised basketball court in a stadium normally used for soccer and cricket, U.S. coach Gregg Popovich said he felt like he was on a movie set.

“I kept looking behind me because I knew I was going to fall off the stage,” he said.

But once the game started, Popovich thought it all seemed normal. And if it had been a movie, Popovich surely would have liked the ending.

Kemba Walker scored 23 points, Myles Turner added 15 points and 14 rebounds, and the U.S. topped Australia 102-86 on Thursday before a crowd of 51,218 — billed as the largest crowd ever to watch a basketball game in Australia.

“We have guys that are just starting to play with each other,” said U.S. guard Donovan Mitchell, who had 13 points. “We got off to a little bit of a rough start in the first half, but the third quarter, we really picked it up defensively.”

Patty Mills and Chris Goulding scored 19 points each for Australia, which stayed with the Americans for about 2½ quarters before seeing chances slip away at Marvel Stadium — transformed into a make-shift basketball arena for two games against the Americans, tune-ups for both sides before the World Cup starts next week in China.

“It was an awesome opportunity,” Mills said. “I think basketball in this country has been waiting for something like this.”

After Australia briefly took the lead at 45-44 early in the second half, the Americans scored 13 unanswered points, including three straight 3-pointers by Turner, Harrison Barnes and Mitchell, to go up 57-45.

Walker was one the keys for the second-half resurgence for the Americans, scoring 21 of his 23 points after halftime.

“I’m one of the leaders of this team, so it’s important for me to set that tone,” the Celtics guard said.

The roof of Marvel Stadium was closed and the court was placed in the middle of the field surrounded by hundreds of white chairs, more than 20 rows deep, for fans who paid for floor seating.

Despite the huge crowd, Australian media reported that some fans were issued refunds because they bought tickets based on promotional materials depicting Stephen Curry and LeBron James — who were part of the U.S. player pool when the deal was struck last year to play these games. Neither Curry nor James is on the U.S. roster for the World Cup.

Australia was also without its biggest star, Ben Simmons, who has opted not to play in the World Cup. Still, the Boomers starting lineup included four NBA players: Mills, Aron Baynes, Joe Ingles and Matthew Dellavedova.

And the Aussies gave their crowd some thrills — like a run just before halftime that cut the U.S. lead to 44-43 after back-to-back 3-pointers by Goulding and six straight points by Mills.

The win was the 78th in a row in major international exhibitions and competition for the U.S. national team, a streak that started with the bronze medal game of the 2006 world championships. It encompasses gold-medal runs at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, the Olympics in 2008, 2012 and 2016, and the FIBA Americas tournament in 2007.

TIP-INS

USA: Mitchell wrote “End Gun Violence” on his shoes before the game to remember the victims of the El Paso and Dayton mass shootings ... Boston’s Marcus Smart, who is still working his way back from a calf injury that popped up about two weeks ago during training camp in Las Vegas, did not play. ... It was the first meeting between the national teams since the Americans won 98-88 at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics on their way to a gold medal.

Australia: Actor Russell Crowe, who spends most of his time living in Australia, was part of the massive crowd. ... In a sight that NBA fans are used to, Dellavedova dived on the floor for loose balls three times in the game’s first three minutes — including on the opening tap. ... Mills gave Popovich, his longtime coach in San Antonio, a massive hug courtside just before the game started.

INJURY SCARE

Jayson Tatum got knocked over by a defender in the third quarter and tumbled backward somewhat awkwardly — the back of his head falling into Walker’s knee. Tatum was shaken up briefly but remained in the game.

UP NEXT

The teams meet again in Melbourne on Saturday.

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This story has been corrected to show that Team USA scored 13 unanswered points, not 12.

___

More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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2019-08-22 12:16:56Z
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Australian tourist randomly shot dead in New Zealand - New York Post

An Australian tourist was randomly gunned down inside a camper van where he and his fiancée were staying in a New Zealand surfing town early Friday, according to new reports.

Sean McKinnon, 33, and his Canadian sweetheart, Bianca Buckley, 32, were parked on a beach in the town of Raglan around 3:20 a.m. when a man thumped on the window, The Australian reported.

He demanded the keys to the van before firing his gun at McKinnon, according to the report.

Buckley got away and called the cops — but the suspect drove away with the gravely wounded McKinnon still in the van, The Independent reported.

The van was discovered around 8 a.m., about 46 miles away in the village of Gordonton — with McKinnon’s lifeless body inside, according to the report.

It wasn’t clear whether the tourist died of the initial shooting, or was attacked again after the gunman took off with the van, according to the report.

“This is a tragic incident,” Detective Inspector Graham Pitkethley said, according to The Independent. “I want to reassure the public that we are working hard to identify and locate the offender. It is our absolute priority.”

One lone male is being sought in connection with the “random attack,” Pitkethley said, according to The Australian.

“We are supporting the female victim, who is understandably very shocked and distressed, providing her with the support and welfare she needs,” he said.

McKinnon was raised in the small town of Nirranda, near Warrnambool in southwest Victoria, according to the report.

His distraught family called him a “gentle sort of soul with a good sense of humor.”

“He was devastatingly handsome and a caring, sensitive young man, even as a boy,” McKinnon’s older sister Emmeline told the Herald Sun. “He would ­always tell you he loved you and would give you a hug.”

Buckley had been living in Auckland, New Zealand, working as a midwife and volunteering as a yoga teacher, according to The Australian.

She had been planning a surfing trip that took place last weekend at Whangamata, on the opposite side of New Zealand’s North Island from the crime scene.

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2019-08-16 16:59:00Z
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In pictures: Australian Geographic's photo prize winners - BBC News

Stunning images of nature and wildlife across Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and some Pacific islands are recognised each year in the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition. Here are some of this year's winners.

All photographs subject to copyright as marked.

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2019-08-16 06:53:49Z
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'Jurassic world' discovered under Australia - Fox News

A so-called "Jurassic world" has been discovered, consisting of approximately 100 ancient volcanoes, buried deep inside central Australia.

The research, published in Gondwana Research, details the findings of ancient volcanoes that were active between 180 million and 160 million years ago under the Cooper-Eromanga Basin. Now one of the country's largest oil and gas regions, it was once home to an area filled with hot ash and lava flying high into the air, surrounded by rivers that eventually evolved into lakes and coal-swamps.

"While the majority of Earth's volcanic activity occurs at the boundaries of tectonic plates, or under the Earth's oceans, this ancient Jurassic world developed deep within the interior of the Australian continent," said the study's co-author, Simon Holford, in a statement.

STUNNING VOLCANIC 'LOST WORLD' DISCOVERED DEEP IN THE OCEAN

"Its discovery raises the prospect that more undiscovered volcanic worlds reside beneath the poorly explored surface of Australia," Holford added.

The ancient volcanoes, which are well preserved, were discovered under hundreds of feet of rock using advanced subsurface imaging techniques, which are similar to CT scans.

In an interview with IFLScience, Holford said that the discovery of the volcanoes was not anticipated due to the heavy presence of oil exploration and production in the area. The team has termed the province the Warnie Volcanic Province (WVP), "after the Warnie East 1 exploration well, drilled in 1985," according to the study's abstract.

LIFE FOUND THRIVING DEEP UNDER OCEAN FLOOR

It's unlikely there will be much paleontological benefit to discovering the ancient volcanoes, as the drilling rigs used to dig through volcanic rock only make small holes, so the chances of hitting a fossil are minuscule.

However, the discovery of WVP does raise "the possibility of other, yet unidentified, volcanic provinces worldwide," the study notes.

In October, scientists discovered another volcanic "lost world" off the coast of Tasmania, while mapping the seafloor 249 miles east of the country.

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2019-08-14 12:29:08Z
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Sydney stabbing LIVE: Michaela Dunn identified as woman found dead in Clarence Street unit - The Sydney Morning Herald

What we know so far

• Mert Ney, 20, was seen wielding a knife near the corner of Clarence and King streets about 2pm. Bystanders restrained him with chairs and a milk crate
• Michaela Dunn, 24, was killed in a Clarence Street unit. Linda Bo, 41, was stabbed but is in a stable condition
• Police say Mr Ney was a "lone actor" with a history of mental health issues  and no apparent links to terrorist organisations
• Mr Ney was on conditional release after pleading guilty to possessing a prohibited weapon in June
• In the days before the stabbing, he was listed as missing after a "domestic violence situation"

Offender stopped to take selfie after alleged murder

Mert Ney stopped to take a selfie after walking out of the Clarence Street building where he allegedly murdered Michaela Dunn, according to CCTV footage obtained by Seven News. 

Mert Ney is captured via CCTV in the laneway near Clarence Street.Credit:Seven News

The video of the laneway near the building shows Ney taking out his phone and pausing for a photo, moments before he went on to stab Linda Bo and jump on the bonnet of a car while wielding a butcher's knife.

'I saw the guy stab someone ... I froze'

A man who was confronted by Mert Ney on Clarence Street yesterday was emotional when he returned to the scene of the stabbing on Wednesday.

"Looking back on it now, this was a guy who had just killed somebody," emotional witness Vee Morgana told Nine News. "Obviously I didn't know that then."

"I saw the guy stab someone... There was a moment just here on Clarence when it was me and him 10 metres apart. I only had my phone with me and there was a moment where I froze."

Police are still investigating the crime scene at 118 Clarence Street where Michaela Dunn was killed.

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Community devastated, Michaela Dunn a 'whole individual who will be missed and mourned'

The sex worker community has been "devastated by the series of random and senseless acts of violence" in Sydney's CBD, said a joint statement from the Scarlet Alliance, Australian Sex Workers Association and Sex Workers Outreach Project of New South Wales.

"A young woman was murdered by a violent man in Sydney’s CBD yesterday," the statement reads.

"All victims involved in this incident were valued members of their families and communities ... Michaela Dunn was a woman, a community member, and a whole individual who will be missed and mourned.

"Sex workers regularly face barriers to accessing justice and reporting crimes against us, because so often the violence is attributed to our work ... They are equally deserving of empathy and  consideration when befallen by tragedy.

"We are mourning the loss of a valued and loved human being. We offer the victim’s family our deepest and most sincere condolences at this time. Our collective hearts are heavy. "

Mert Ney's sister speaks, says 'sorry a million times' and she wants nothing to do with her brother

Yazel Ney agreed to speak to reporters outside her home in Marayong on Wednesday and said sorry to the family of Michaela Dunn, 24, who was killed in yesterday's attack, writes Tim Barlass.

Ms Ney also said it was "obvious that there has been a steep descent into insanity" regarding her brother's behaviour, but she did not want to comment on whether mental health services had let him down.

"I don't want to like say anything about that because then that's like it's like blaming the services, when they could have been doing all they can. Do, you know, I feel like that's unfair," she said.

"[I am] shocked, angry, disgusted. I hate my last name. If someone in your family did this, like, how would you feel? I'm, like, I'm no threat to myself, sorry, I want to be clear about that.

"I wish there was a way that I could make it all better for [my mother], but I can't. I can't make it better for anyone else and I wish I could."

Michaela Dunn remembered as a 'true delight'

A friend of Ms Dunn, Joan Westenberg, wrote on social media that the 24-year-old Notre Dame graduate was a "true delight to know".

"I’ve known this girl since she was just a kid in high school at 14. Mikki was like my baby sister. I cannot describe how sad and how broken I am at this moment. I loved this kid. She was incredible," Ms Westenberg wrote on Twitter.

"Mikki was a true delight to know ... She deserved to be safe while she worked. Her job does not make her a lurid story. She was a person and she is now gone. And she is gone because male violence has taken her from us."

Domestic Violence Line 1800 65 64 63, 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732

Second stabbing victim, Linda Bo, still stable in hospital

The Australian Associated Press reported it understands the second woman stabbed in Sydney yesterday is Linda Bo, 41.

Ms Bo is believed to be an employee at shipping company Cosco, which has an office nearby Hotel CBD where she was attacked about 2pm.

She is in a stable condition at St Vincent's Hospital after she was stabbed in the shoulder.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said "the fact she's alive is a miracle", considering Mert Ney likely "went on the street to kill more people".

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Murder victim spoke against sexual violence

Michaela Dunn's mother said her daughter was well-travelled, loving, and from a beautiful family in Sydney's suburbs.

Ms Dunn had travelled to the United States and Sri Lanka in the last year, according to her social media accounts. She also rallied against sexual violence in a Facebook post several years ago.

"Sexual violence and harassment is never acceptable. Take two minutes to read and sign this petition, it's such an important issue that needs to be addressed sooner than later," she wrote on a post from 2016. 

Michaela Dunn, 24, identified as victim

The victim of yesterday's attack was Michaela Dunn, 24, from Sydney.

She was a former student at Rosebank College in Sydney's inner west and attended the University of Notre Dame.

Her mother told Nine News she wanted everyone to know her daughter was from an ordinary family in suburban Sydney, and she "was very much loved".

She was described as a "beautiful girl from a beautiful family".

Michaela Dunn's mother described her as a "beautiful girl from a beautiful family".Credit:Facebook

Sister's emotional words for stabbing victim

The sister of accused stabber Mert Ney has spoken with reporters outside the family's Marayong home, telling them she is sorry that a young woman has lost her life.

"She was like, younger than me. She could have been going out like within a few hours, to do shopping with her mum, eat dinner with her boyfriend, go speak to her girlfriends ... and now she can't do that can she?

"All the words that I can say isn't ever gonna bring her back, is it? I want to say, I'm really, really sorry. No one should have... she was like, defenceless."

Homeless teens say 'agitated' Ney stayed with them in safe house before attack

Nine News has spoken to two young people who said they stayed in a safe house with Mert Ney the night before the attack, sleeping in an adjacent room. They described him as agitated and said he told them he had been kicked out of home and had recently been in hospital. 

He also rambled about a USB and left very early in the morning on Tuesday, they said. You can watch their account in the video below:

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2019-08-14 07:01:00Z
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