Pacific
Australia: earthquakes and violent protests
One of Australia’s biggest earthquakes on record (magnitude 6.0) struck near Melbourne, damaging buildings. It was felt 500 miles away in Adelaide and Sydney 600 miles to the north. Over half of Australia's…
USA and Britain help Australia to thwart China
The USA and Britain announced they would help Australia deploy nuclear-powered submarines (not nuclear-armed), taking a major step in challenging China’s broad territorial claims of its exclusive zone in the South China Sea.…
Australia: Catholic hospitals euthanasia rebellion
Catholic hospitals will defy Queensland’s euthanasia laws that force them to allow doctors to administer end-of-life drugs in their facilities. Health provider Mater said, ‘We will not tolerate non credentialed doctors coming on-site,…
Australia: Youth Uprising 29 June - 2 July
The Uprising prayer movement is worldwide, organised by youth but with the whole Body of Christ invited to participate. They are seeking to usher in a move of the Holy Spirit to unleash…
Australia: closing the gap for Aborigines
A documentary about a ten-year-old Aboriginal boy's experience in school has reignited the debate about Australia's failure to give indigenous children a good education and a fair start in life. Australia's ‘national shame’…
Cook Islands: ‘rising sea levels threaten my home’
17-year-old Hereiti lives on the largest of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. She says the ocean is the ‘lifeblood’ of her community, and that when it is ‘healthy’, the people…
Australia: flood devastation
Days of torrential downpours caused rivers and dams to overflow around Sydney and south-east Queensland. The military helped search and rescue in a ‘one-in-fifty-years event’. By 22 March 18,000 people had been evacuated…
Australia: assisted dying bill in Tasmania
A key member of the ‘independent and objective’ panel advising Tasmanian MPs on Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) has a long history of strong advocacy for the reform, prompting concerns about bias. University professor…
Australia: chemical stockpile much larger than Beirut
The explosion in Lebanon has reignited fears among Sydney residents where a huge chemical plant sits within three kilometres of the Sydney central business district (CBD). Residents have been demanding for years that…
Australia: national day of prayer
The National Council of Churches has called on all Christians across Australia to set aside Sunday 2 August as a day of prayer, worship and optional fasting, as the state of Victoria in…
