Jamu Barokahs

Jumat, 30 Agustus 2019

Tamil family's deportation from Australia halted mid-air - BBC News

Australian activists have managed to halt the midnight deportation of a Tamil asylum-seeker family as they were being flown out of the country.

An injunction, granted mid-air, paused the removal of Nadesalingam, Priya, and their two daughters to Sri Lanka.

The family's case has provoked national outcry since March last year, when authorities forcibly removed them from their home in Queensland.

Australia defended their expulsion on Friday, saying they were not refugees.

"They're not owed protection by our country," Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton told local media outlets.

He said the family's asylum claim had been comprehensively assessed and rejected by immigration authorities. Successive legal appeals in recent times for the parents and eldest child have also failed.

The parents of the family, Nadesalingam and Priya, met and married in Australia after fleeing Sri Lanka's civil war. Two-year-old Tharunicaa and her four-year-old sister, Kopika, were both born in Australia.

Supporters say they risk persecution if they are returned to Sri Lanka due to their past political links.

The family worked and lived in the small country town of Biloela for three years, before they were forcibly removed to detention centres last March. The dawn raid, carried out by a dozen officers, prompted a huge response from the community. A petition for their return has attracted more than 120,000 signatures.

Tamil family 'given 10 minutes to pack'

In a dramatic development on Friday, a federal court extended an injunction that stops the government from deporting the youngest child before next Wednesday.

It is unclear whether the government will allow that reprieve to include the rest of the family, who have only been publicly identified by their first names.

"Given the circumstances, it would be a pretty inhumane thing to do to separate the family at this point," lawyer Carina Ford told reporters.

How was their deportation stopped mid-air?

Protesters rushed to Melbourne Airport on Thursday night, upon learning the family would be deported within hours.

Their plane took off at about 23:00 local time (12:00 GMT), but lawyers succeeded, during the flight, in securing a last-minute order preventing Dharuniga's deportation.

That injunction, ordered over the phone by a judge, forced the plane to land over 3,000 km (1,850 miles) away in Darwin, Australia's northernmost major city, at about 03:00 local time on Friday. Footage posted online shows the family being escorted from the plane by guards.

Their friend Angela Fredericks told the BBC the family had "suffered a huge emotional toll and are very distressed".

She said the girls had cried during the flight, and Priya had not been allowed to sit with her children.

On Friday many Australians, including lawmakers, expressed anger online over the family's treatment and called for the government to show compassion.

Opposition lawmakers urged Immigration Minister David Coleman to exercise discretion and allow the family to stay.

Critics have compared the situation to a controversy last year, where a minister personally intervened to stop the deportation of a French au pair.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-49519805

2019-08-30 05:59:23Z
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Australia lowers Great Barrier Reef outlook to 'very poor' - Fox News

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The government agency that manages Australia's Great Barrier Reef has downgraded its outlook for the corals' condition from "poor" to "very poor" due to warming oceans.

AUSTRALIA GETS RID OF GARBAGE CANS, TELLS KIDS TO TAKE HOME TRASH

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's condition report, which is updated every five years, is the latest bad news for the 133,360 square miles of colorful coral network off the northeast Australian coast as climate change and coral bleaching take their toll.

The report issued Friday finds the greatest threat to the reef remains climate change. The other threats are associated with coastal development, land-based water runoff and human activity such as illegal fishing.

"Significant global action to address climate change is critical to slowing the deterioration of the reef's ecosystem and heritage values and supporting recovery," the report said. "Such actions will complement and greatly increase the effectiveness of local management actions in the Reef and its catchment."

MASSIVE PUMICE 'RAFT' COULD BRING MARINE LIFE TO HELP SAVE GREAT BARRIER REEF

The report is the agency's third and tracks continuing deterioration since the first in 2009. The deterioration in the reef's outlook mostly reflects the expanding area of coral killed or damaged by coral bleaching.

The report said the threats — which include the star-of-thorns starfish that prey on coral polyps — are "multiple, cumulative and increasing."

"The accumulation of impacts, through time and over an increasing area, is reducing its ability to recover from disturbances, with implications for reef-dependent communities and industries," the authority's chairman Ian Poiner said.

"The overall outlook for the Great Barrier Reef is very poor," he added.

A study of coral bleaching on the reef, published in the journal Nature in 2017, found 91% of the coral reef had been bleached at least once during three bleaching events of the past two decades, the most serious event occurring in 2016.

A fourth major bleaching struck later in 2017 after the Nature study was published.

The United Nations' World Heritage Committee expressed concern about bleaching in 2017 and the report Thursday could lead to the World Heritage-listed natural wonder being reclassified by UNESCO next year as "in danger."

Environment Minister Sussan Ley said she was not surprised by the downgrade in the reef's condition given the damage done by recent cyclones and latest bleaching events in successive years.

She said her government was "building resilience in this important global reef" and was keeping its Paris commitment to reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2030.

"I want to make the point that it's the best-managed reef in the world," she said.

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While the Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, reefs around the world are under stress from warming ocean temperatures.

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2019-08-30 07:30:37Z
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Tamil family's deportation from Australia halted mid-air - BBC News

Australian activists have managed to halt the midnight deportation of a Tamil asylum-seeker family as they were being flown out of the country.

An injunction, granted mid-air, paused the removal of Nadesalingam, Priya, and their two daughters to Sri Lanka.

The family's case has provoked national outcry since March last year, when authorities forcibly removed them from their home in Queensland.

Australia defended their expulsion on Friday, saying they were not refugees.

"They're not owed protection by our country," Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton told local media outlets.

Supporters say they risk persecution if they are returned to Sri Lanka due to their past political links.

Tamil family 'given 10 minutes to pack'

In a dramatic development on Friday, a federal court extended an injunction that stops the government from deporting the youngest child before next Wednesday.

It is unclear whether the government will allow that reprieve to include the rest of the family, who have only been publicly identified by their first names.

"Given the circumstances, it would be a pretty inhumane thing to do to separate the family at this point," lawyer Carina Ford told reporters.

How was their deportation stopped mid-air?

Protesters rushed to Melbourne Airport on Thursday night, upon learning the family would be deported within hours.

Their plane took off at about 23:00 local time (12:00 GMT), but lawyers succeeded, during the flight, in securing a last-minute order preventing Dharuniga's deportation.

Their friend Angela Fredericks told the BBC the family had "suffered a huge emotional toll and are very distressed".

She said the girls had cried during the flight, and Priya had not been allowed to sit with her children.

On Friday many Australians, including lawmakers, expressed anger online over the family's treatment and called for the government to show compassion.

Opposition lawmakers urged Immigration Minister David Coleman to exercise discretion and allow the family to stay.

Critics have compared the situation to a controversy last year, where a minister personally intervened to stop the deportation of a French au pair.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-49519805

2019-08-30 05:38:58Z
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Rabu, 28 Agustus 2019

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.

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.

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
CAIiEFIr4K9_Vj2Y9kZuSIArjZQqGQgEKhAIACoHCAow9qOFCzDSvIIDMLD-hQY

Selasa, 27 Agustus 2019

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.

Larger image

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2019-08-27 18:38:00Z
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Kamis, 22 Agustus 2019

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.

___

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
52780360716628

Jumat, 16 Agustus 2019

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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https://nypost.com/2019/08/16/australian-tourist-randomly-shot-dead-in-new-zealand/

2019-08-16 16:59:00Z
52780354371706

Jumat, 30 Agustus 2019

How was their deportation stopped mid-air?

How was their deportation stopped mid-air?

Rabu, 28 Agustus 2019

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

Selasa, 27 Agustus 2019

Kamis, 22 Agustus 2019

Jumat, 16 Agustus 2019

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