Oceania News

“Our sole focus at the moment is looking after our people.”

The scream of the chopper falling will haunt me for a while The aftermath of the midair collision. via The Age

Police have called a news conference over "a development" in the theft of military medals stolen from the Waiouru Army Museum. via XtraMSN Real Estate

“The legal landscape is no different to what it was yesterday or will be tomorrow”

Representatives for Australian Aborigines confirmed plans Friday to launch the first compensation lawsuits since a landmark government apology earlier this week for past abuses.

The cases, details of which were not released because they had not yet been filed, would be the first since Parliament formally apologized Wednesday to tens of thousands of Aborigines who were taken from their families as children under now discredited assimilation policies.

An activist and a lawyer representing some members of the so-called 'Stolen Generations' of Aborigines said Friday as many as 40 compensation claims were being prepared in Victoria state. Read more

“The creation of this amazing marine protected area by a small island nation in the Pacific represents a commitment of historic proportions; and all of this by a country that is under serious threat from sea-level rise attributed to global warming.”

The small Pacific Island nation of Kiribati has become a global conservation leader by establishing the world's largest marine protected area - a California-sized ocean wilderness of pristine coral reefs and ... via Physics Org

“She felt very happy from the minute she got on that plane because she knew her baby was coming to Hawaii”

The family of an infant who died last week after arriving on a flight from American Samoa said it plans to sue the federal government. via TheHawaiiChannel

Rescuers are rushing to Western Australia's Gascoyne region, where two people are feared dead after a reported mid-air collision involving a helicopter and a light plane. via The Age

“I accept his death with a heavy heart”

Armored U.N. vehicles guarded East Timor's leaders Tuesday under a state of emergency declared after rebel soldiers critically wounded the Nobel Peace Prize-winning president and fired at the prime minister's convoy.

The army chief blamed the United Nations _ which oversees a 1,400-member international police force _ for failing to protect the country's two top leaders and demanded an outside investigation.

But the U.N. deputy head for East Timor said President Jose Ramos-Horta had wanted his security to be provided by national authorities. Read more

“Sharks, like all predators, tend to go after solitary individuals, the weak and the infirm, and are less likely to attack people or fish in groups.”

A swimmer vacationing in the South Pacific was the only victim of a fatal shark attack in 2007, while the number of shack attacks for the year was up, the University of Florida said Tuesday. via Bradenton Herald

The New Zealand comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, a cult favorite in the United States thanks to their HBO television show, won New Zealand's first Grammy in 24 years. via Tvnz.co.nz

“This allows safe passage to all visitors.”

Aborigines in white body paint danced and sang traditional songs in Australia's national Parliament on Tuesday in a historic ceremony many hoped would mark a new era of race relations in the country. via Boston.com

“We are extremely fortunate that the pilots were able to bring that plane down ... while under serious physical attack”

New Zealand will introduce wider passenger security screening at its regional airports after a woman attempted to hijack a short-haul domestic flight last week, Prime Minister Helen Clark said Monday.

Somali immigrant Asha Ali Abdille, 33, faces several charges including attempted hijacking and the wounding of two pilots and a passenger after she allegedly stabbed them last Friday on a domestic commuter flight. Abdille demanded to be flown to Australia. The plane landed safely in the southern city of Christchurch. Read more

“Two cars attacked President Horta's home at 4.30am. The attack was carried out by Alfredo's group”

The New Zealand Government has expressed its horror after East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta was shot in the stomach during an attack at his home. via The New Zealand Herald

“But the fact is this apology is going to happen, I think there is some potential for this apology to be a significant milestone towards more complete reconciliation”

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd says next week's parliamentary apology to the Stolen Generations will remove a "blight on the nation's soul" and has the overwhelming support of Australians. via News.com.au

“Teens are getting the medications out of their parents' medicine cabinets and taking them to parties and mixing them up”

Heath Ledger's Australian doctors will be investigated if any of the prescription drugs that led to his death were prescribed in his homeland, the US Drug Enforcement Administration says. via The Sydney Morning Herald

“Only around 800 people can be accommodated inside Parliament House, including the Great Hall and theatrette, so people wanting to be there on the day should consider watching from the lawn.”

Former prime minister John Howard will not travel to Canberra for the parliamentary apology to the Aboriginal stolen generations. via Stawell Times News

“We have got evidence of whaling being carried out in circumstances that we believe it should not be done”

Australia has released graphic pictures of Japanese hunters harpooning whales near Antarctica, calling it evidence of indiscriminate slaughter. via Slam Sports

“We're delighted that Nauru finally will have no more refugees on it from now on”

By Rob Taylor

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia ended on Friday its controversial policy of sending asylum seekers into often-lengthy detention on small Pacific island nations, with the last refugees leaving Nauru to live in Australia.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who won victory for centre-left Labor in November, had fought the election pledged to end the heavily-criticized "Pacific Solution", introduced by the former conservative government in 2001 to turn back boatpeople after almost 5,000 arrived the year before. Read more

A knife-wielding woman stabbed the pilot of a small commuter plane in New Zealand and threatened to blow it up in an apparent hijack attempt Friday, police said. via Press of Atlantic City

Villagers felled a tree across Papua New Guinea's historic Kokoda Trail, where Australian soldiers fought Japanese troops in 1942, declaring trekking tourists unwelcome. via The West Australian