Australia - Page 15

China’s Global Times, a newspaper published by the government, dismissed Thursday the widely accepted consensus that the Chinese coronavirus originated in Hubei province, China, as a “conspiracy theory” that did not deserve free speech safeguards.

Cardinal George Pell was unjustly tried for sex abuse as a “necessary big scalp for media delectation,” writes Jesuit Father Frank Brennan, a vocal critic of Pell’s.

(AFP) — Australia’s prime minister on Wednesday blamed restricted vaccine supply from Europe for his country’s halting coronavirus inoculation efforts, as he faced growing public frustration over the sluggish rollout.

Boys at an Australian school were made to “stand up and apologise to every girl for rape [and] sexual assault” at an assembly, according to pupils.

Australian government officials fired an Parliament staff member Monday after photographs and videos appearing to show legislators performing sex acts inside Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra were leaked to Australian media outlets.

With record flooding through southeastern Australia, all manner of creatures are invading neighborhoods as they flee the rising water.

The boss of Australian airline QANTAS warned Sunday “governments are going to insist” on coronavirus vaccines for all international fliers, with the global imposition coming sooner rather than later.

A British-Australian academic who spent two years imprisoned in Iran has claimed Tehran tried to recruit her as a spy in exchange for her freedom.

Hollywood star Melissa McCarthy has trashed America from the comfort of her temporary home in Australia, claiming the United States has become consumed by a hate culture of racism and homophobia. She also praised President Joe Biden, saying that his inauguration made her feel the proudest she’s been in a while.

Brexit Britain has helped Australia source vaccines after the European Union backed Italy’s seizure of doses bound for Down Under. 

The European Commission plans to ask the United States to allow the export of millions of U.S.-made doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University to the bloc — somewhat ironically, given its approval of Italy seizing EU-made AstraZeneca doses bound for Australia.

BRUSSELS (AP) – Europe’s vaccine solidarity got a shot in the arm Friday as France rallied to support Italy, saying it could follow suit in blocking exports of coronavirus vaccines outside the European Union if necessary to enforce its own contracts with drugs manufacturers.

Australian state broadcaster SBS will stop airing content from two Chinese state news outlets on Friday after a human rights group accused SBS of airing forced prisoner confessions filmed by the Chinese outlets.

Australia’s finance minister has suggested that a “desperate” European Union is “tear[ing] up the rule book” after the European Commission backed Italy’s request to block a shipment of coronavirus vaccines.

LONDON (AP) – Regulators in the UK and four other countries have announced new rules to fast-track the development of modified COVID-19 vaccines to ensure drugmakers can move swiftly to target emerging variants of the disease.

The European Commission has reportedly authorised the Italian government to block a shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines destined for Australia, using for the first time an export control system the EU created if it deemed a drugs company had failed to deliver its orders to the European Union.

The Australian government has reportedly passed a new law requiring Google and Facebook to pay news outlets for access to their content.

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has defended his strong stance against mass migration, saying the European Union’s relaxed attitude towards illegal border crossings “has turned the Mediterranean into a cemetery”.

DUBAI — Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is enjoying an extended honeymoon with oil-rich Gulf nations, despite being criticised in the United States and Europe as a potential security threat.

A proposed bill in the Australian parliament that would require Facebook and Google to pay news outlets for content has cleared its final hurdle, and Facebook has agreed to restore access to news pages in the country after the government agreed to small changes to the legislation.

Members of the Five Eyes intelligence network were denigrated as members of an “axis of white ­supremacy” by Beijing on Tuesday, as China’s state-sanctioned media went on the attack just 48-hours after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned “white supremacy” is an increasing threat to global security.

The UK may follow the lead of Australia and Canada in forcing Facebook to pay news publishers for their content, officials have suggested.

In an extraordinary backflip, Facebook announced Tuesday it will reverse its block on Australian users sharing news on its site and accept proposed government media bargaining laws that force it to pay for content.

Australia does not plan to alter legislation that would require Facebook and Google to pay news outlets for content, according to a senior lawmaker.

Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault said on Thursday that his country intends to make social media giant Facebook compensate Canadian news organizations for using their content, much as pending legislation in Australia would do.

Marvel Studios’ “Thor” star Chris Hemsworth, who is also a climate change and environmental activist, reportedly took a private jet from Sydney to Byron Bay in Australia on Friday, marking the second time that the actor has flown on a private plane in less than a week.

Australian officials are reportedly in talks with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg after the social media platform made the decision to ban all news content in Australia in response to new legislation that would force tech giants to pay news publishers.

Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Friday other countries are lining up behind Canberra’s drive to regulate Big Tech companies and force them to pay for local news.

Social media giant Facebook has reportedly censored the pages of several Australian government agencies, non-profits, businesses, and briefly Facebook’s own official page in the country as the site implemented a ban on all news content in Australia.

Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday hit back at Facebook’s move to block news in the country and called it ”arrogant,” warning against “Big Tech companies who think they are bigger than governments and that the rules should not apply to them.”

Google has struck a deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation to pay the international media giant for the use of its premium content in the U.S., UK, and Australia, a major win for NewsCorp that could have far-reaching consequences for the relationship between news companies and the Masters of the Universe.

Facebook announced on Wednesday that “with a heavy heart” it will be banning Australian media outlets and censoring users within the country from sharing or viewing news articles on its service. The move comes in response to a potential Australian law that would force Google and Facebook to pay news publishers for their content.

Australia’s plans to force Google and Facebook to compensate publishers for access to news content has received bipartisan support across the political aisle.

For the second time in less than a month New Zealand’s left-wing Labour government has attacked key ally Australia, with an angry Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern lashing Canberra on Tuesday for rejecting a dual national arrested in Turkey over links to the Islamic State terrorist group.

Tech giant Microsoft has reportedly suggested to the Biden administration that the U.S. should adopt a similar plan to Australia’s proposed law which would force Google and Facebook to pay publishers for access to their news content.

The demand by Australia’s conservative coalition government that Google and Facebook pay for news content is drawing results, with the tech giants revealing Monday they are close to deals with major news providers.