There have been more than 27 suicide attempts in the last two weeks by refugees detained on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island, a refugee says. Abdul Aziz Muhamat has called for action to resolve the mental health crisis from the Australian parliament, which is considering a bill to ease the transfer of sick refugees from …
Read the full post →“More than 27 suicide attempts in two weeks”
Australian Cardinal George Pell has been convicted of sexual misconduct, becoming the highest-ranking Vatican official to be found guilty of such a crime. Pell’s trial and all details involving the accusations against the Vatican treasurer were covered by a court-issued gag order, which forbade all media in Australia from reporting on it. The conviction was …
Read the full post →“Australian Cardinal found guilty of sex abuse”
Cardinal George Pell has been found guilty of sexual offences in Australia, making him the highest-ranking Catholic figure to receive such a conviction. Pell abused two choir boys in the rooms of a Melbourne cathedral in 1996, a jury found. He had pleaded not guilty. The verdict was handed down in December, but it could …
Read the full post →“George Pell: Cardinal found guilty of sexual offences in Australia”
The Australian government said that it would reopen a mothballed island detention camp in anticipation of a new wave of asylum seekers arriving by boat after Parliament passed legislation that would give sick asylum seekers easier access to mainland hospitals. The Christmas Island immigration detention camp, south of Jakarta, Indonesia, was a favorite target of …
Read the full post →“Australia to reopen controversial Christmas Island detention camp”
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison is campaigning to block a bill that would let sick asylum seekers in offshore centres get treatment in Australia. Mr Morrison said the bill would “take control from the government”, and “unleash a world of woe”. Australia has sent asylum seekers who arrive by boat to detention centres on the …
Read the full post →“Australia PM seeks to block bill on sick asylum seekers”
Asylum seekers and refugees are waiting as long as five years for specialist medical treatment even when it has been formally recommended by the Australian government’s contracted doctors, new data has revealed. Support workers and medical groups have accused the government of maintaining a “dangerous and sometimes fatal” system of care on Manus Island and …
Australia will cut its cap on migration by 15 percent and issue new visas that require some skilled workers to live in regional areas, in a population plan Prime Minister Scott Morrison says is needed to alleviate pressure on big cities. The nation’s annual migration ceiling will be reduced from 190,000 places to 160,000 — …
Read the full post →“Australia to cut Number of migrants under new population plan”
George Pell, an Australian cardinal who was the Vatican’s chief financial officer and an adviser to Pope Francis, was sentenced to six years in prison on March 13, for molesting two boys after Sunday Mass in 1996. The cardinal was convicted on five counts in December, making him the most senior Catholic official — and the first …
Read the full post →“Cardinal George Pell of Australia Sentenced to Six Years in Prison”
The Australian government embarked on a project to cut down its massive feral cat population using poisonous sausage after the cats decimated an estimated 20-plus species. The sausages contain a mix of chicken fat, kangaroo meat, herbs and spices along with deadly poison, The New York Times reported Thursday. Dr. Dave Algar, also known as Dr. …
Read the full post →“Australia is deadly serious about killing millions of cats”
An Australian senator acted in self-defence when he physically retaliated against a boy who had smashed an egg on the lawmaker’s head, police have ruled. Video of last month’s clash involving Senator Fraser Anning went viral and sparked debate in Australia over who – if anyone – should face police action. Police cautioned the 17-year-old …
Read the full post →“Senator cleared as teenager handed caution”
