Australia and New Zealand yesterday said they would unite to push for more democracy in the troubled South Pacific as they condemned a crackdown on critics by Fiji's military-installed government.
The two neighbors, both major donors to their smaller island neighbors, said they would also present a united front internationally on climate change after Australia agreed in December to sign the Kyoto climate change pact.
"You'll see that reflected in the combined positions we take across the many meetings which will occur across the international community in the two difficult years which lie ahead," Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said after meeting his New Zealand counterpart Helen Clark in Canberra.
Both leaders condemned the Fijian government's decision this week to expel the Australian publisher of the Fiji Sun newspaper over a series of articles accusing Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry of tax evasion.
"It's inconceivable that you can hold open, free and fair elections if you have media intimidation," Clark said.
Fiji's military commander Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, who seized power in a coup in December 2006, has promised to hold elections next year.
Fiji Sun publisher Russell Hunter, 59, said he would continue to run the paper from Sydney.
"I want to be back in Fiji as soon as possible, but for the time being I am working from Sydney," Hunter said. "If I have a computer, telephone and a modem I can do it from just about anywhere in the world."
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
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