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☆ Australia unveils joint cyber police taskforce to 'hunt down' hackers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Australia on Saturday formalised a new cyber-policing model in a stepped-up effort to "hunt down" cyber criminal syndicates, following recent hacks impacting millions of Australians. Australia's biggest health insurer, Medibank Private Ltd (MPL.AX), last month was hit by a massive cyber attack, as Australia grapples with a rise in damaging hacks. O'Neil said around 100 officers would be part of the new partnership between the two federal agencies, which would act as "a joint standing operation against cyber criminal syndicates". The taskforce would "day in, day out, hunt down the scumbags who are responsible for these malicious crimes", she said. Attorney General Mark Dreyfus, speaking alongside O'Neil in Melbourne, refused to be drawn on whether the ransomware group REvil was responsible for recent cyber attacks on Australians.

☆ Australia to consider banning paying of ransoms to cyber criminals
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Australia's Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil on Sunday said the government would consider making illegal the paying of ransoms to cyber hackers, following recent cyber attacks affecting millions of Australians. Australia's biggest health insurer, Medibank Private Ltd (MPL.AX), last month suffered a massive cyber attack, as Australia grapples with a rise in hacks. Asked on ABC television on Sunday whether the government planned to look at outlawing ransom payments to cyber criminals, O'Neil said "that's correct". Around 100 officers would be part of the new partnership between the two federal agencies, which would act as a joint standing operation against cyber criminals. The AFP earlier this week said Russia-based hackers were behind the attack on Medibank, which compromised data from around 10 million current and former customers.

☆ Cruise ship docks in Sydney after 800 people on board infected by COVID outbreak
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A cruise ship where 800 people on board have tested positive for COVID has docked in Sydney. The BBC reports that approximately 4,600 passengers and crew were aboard the luxury Majestic Princess, and 800 people were affected by the outbreak of the viral bug. COVID cases are spiking across Australia, with 54,661 cases reported across the country in the last week, said The Guardian. According to Reuters, Australian authorities have been working to assure the public that this ship outbreak is under control. O'Neil told Reuters that the authorities are determining how to get passengers off the Majestic Princess "on a case-by-case basis."

☆ UK interior minister denounced for asylum seeker 'invasion' comments
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Her comments came a day after a man used fire bombs to attack an immigration processing centre in the port town of Dover. Robert Jenrick, an immigration minister in Braverman's interior ministry, said his boss's language reflected the scale of the challenge, after a record number of nearly 40,000 asylum seekers arrived in Britain via small boats so far this year. She has also been accused of failing to listen to legal advice on the prolonged detention of migrants at another processing centre, and failing to secure adequate accommodation, both claims she has denied. "Let's stop pretending they are all refugees in distress, the whole country knows that is not true," Braverman told parliament. "No Home Secretary who was serious about public safety or national security would use highly inflammatory language on the day after a dangerous petrol bomb attack on a Dover initial processing centre," she said.

☆ Australian government repatriates women and children held in Syrian refugee camp
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The Australian government has repatriated four Australian women and their 13 children from a Syrian refugee camp, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said on Saturday in a resumption of a controversial program. The repatriation to New South Wales state, criticized by the Liberal-National opposition, is part of bringing back from Syria dozens of Australian women and children who are relatives of dead or jailed fighters from the so-called Islamic State group. The repatriation followed similar moves by the United States, Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Britain and Canada, O’Neil said. Local media previously reported some women may be charged with terrorism offences or for entering Syria illegally. “The Australian government will always work to ensure that people are kept safe here in Australia, that is our priority,” he said, according to an official transcript of his remarks in Griffith, in regional New South Wales.

☆ Traveller fined, refused entry to Australia for 'significant' biosecurity breach
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Oct 30 (Reuters) - An international traveller has been fined and refused entry to Australia after trying to bring meat into the country in what the government said on Sunday was a "significant breach" of biosecurity laws to protect Australia from foot and mouth disease. Australia earlier this year stepped up protection against foot and mouth disease at its international airports following an outbreak in Indonesia. "Australian biosecurity officers uncovered the undeclared meat during a baggage inspection at Perth Airport (on) October 18," the ministers said. “This is why legislation is in place to cancel the visa of any traveller who commits a significant biosecurity breach or repeatedly contravenes biosecurity laws,” she said. The government has estimated a large outbreak in Australia could see revenue losses of up to $A51.8 billion ($33.2 billion) over ten years.

☆ Australia repatriates Australian women and children from Syrian refugee camp
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY Oct 29 (Reuters) - The Australian government has repatriated four Australian women and their 13 children from a Syrian refugee camp to New South Wales state, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said on Saturday. The controversial repatriation, which has sparked criticism from the Liberal-National opposition, is part of bringing back from Syria dozens of Australian women and children who are relatives of dead or jailed Islamic State fighters. Australia first rescued eight children and grandchildren of two dead Islamic State fighters from a Syrian refugee camp in 2019, but has held off repatriating any others until now. read more"The decision to repatriate these women and their children was informed by individual assessments following detailed work by national security agencies," O'Neil said in a statement. The women and children left the al-Roj refugee camp in northern Syria on Thursday afternoon and crossed the border into Iraq to board a flight home, the Sydney Morning Herald and state broadcaster ABC reported on Friday.

Sydney, Australia CNN —Australia has repatriated a group of women and children who were left stranded in refugee camps in northeastern Syria after the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group lost control of the area in 2019. The four women had allegedly traveled from Australia to the Middle East to marry ISIS fighters. O’Neil added that Australian law enforcement agencies would “continue to engage with” and investigate other members of the group. He added that there were still more than 30 Australian children who were stuck in camps in Syria. “Australia can play a leadership role on counter terrorism through these orderly repatriations of its nationals – mostly children who never chose to live under ISIS,” McNeill said.

☆ Weapons in Ukraine aren't flooding Europe's black markets, but that could change
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The volume of weapons sent to and in Ukraine has raised concern that some could end up on the black market. The United Kingdom has sent Ukraine more than 4,200 such weapons since Russia invaded. Similarly, the UK has sent more than 5,000 point-and-shoot NLAW anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, weapons that can readily target and destroy most moving vehicles. However, "At the moment," he said, "there is no evidence of increased arms trafficking from Ukraine to other countries." In September, the Moldovan Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the creation of a new unit dedicated to combating illicit arms trafficking.

☆ 'Political fix' needed for Wikileaks' Assange - lawyer
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SYDNEY, Oct 21 (Reuters) - A lawyer for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said an "urgent political fix" is needed in his case because legal appeals against his extradition to the United States could continue for another decade and his health is declining. In June, Britain's Home Secretary approved Assange's extradition to the United States. "This case is political and needs an urgent political fix," she added. The saga began at the end of 2010 when Sweden sought Assange's extradition from Britain over allegations of sex crimes. Britain's Home Affairs office has said the courts had concluded Assange's extradition would not be incompatible with his human rights, and that he would be treated appropriately.

☆ Novak Djokovic is welcome at Australian Open, says tournament director; Russian and Belarusian players can compete
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Novak Djokovic would be welcomed to play at the Australian Open if he can obtain a visa, according to tournament director Craig Tiley. Djokovic holds the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup as he celebrates victory at the 2021 Australian Open. Cameron Spencer/Getty ImagesNeutral flagTiley also said that Russian and Belarusian players will be allowed to participate under a neutral flag in the upcoming Australian Open. “At this point, Russian and Belarusian players will be eligible to play in the Australian Open,” Tiley said. But they will be welcome to the Australian Open in January.”The 2023 Australian Open begins on Monday, January 16 in Melbourne.

☆ EU launches online job-seekers tool for Ukraine refugees
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The European Commission unveiled a new online tool on Monday to help Ukrainians find a job as the bloc looks to extend its protection for those displaced by Russia's invasion for another year. Some 4.2 million people who have arrived in the EU from Ukraine are covered by a system giving all those fleeing the conflict accommodation support, health care, education access and the right to enter the EU job market. EU employment commissioner Nicola Schmidt told a new conference that five EU countries had joined the pilot, including Poland, which is housing the most Ukrainian refugees, and called more to join. Some 600,000 Ukrainians have entered the EU job market since the conflict began. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Philip Blenkinsop Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ India bans Islamic group PFI, accuses it of terrorism
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Krishna N. Das | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A man walks past the old office of Popular Front of India (PFI) Islamic group, in New Delhi, India, September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Anushree FadnavisSummary Bans imposed on PFI, eight affiliates for five yearsGovernment says PFI involved in 'terrorism'PFI dissolves itself - statementPFI student wing CFI decries 'vendetta'NEW DELHI, Sept 28 (Reuters) - India declared the Popular Front of India (PFI) Islamic group and its affiliates unlawful on Wednesday, accusing them of involvement in terrorism and banning them for five years, after authorities detained more than 100 PFI members this month. The PFI's now-banned student wing, the Campus Front of India (CFI), called the government action a political vendetta and propaganda. The government said in a notification it had banned the PFI and affiliates CFI, Rehab India Foundation, All India Imams Council, National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation, National Women's Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala. The PFI came together in late 2006 and was launched formally the next year with the merger of three organisations based in south India.

☆ These are 20 countries that offer 'golden visas' to wealthy immigrants — with costs ranging from $19,000 in Thailand to $2.5 million in Australia
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-17 | by ( Hannah Towey | Business News Reporter | Read More | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Australia: $2.5 million minimum investment requiredSydney, Australia with Harbor Bridge and Sydney skyline during sunset. Prasit photoThere are four different ways to receive a residency visa through Australia's "Business Innovation and Investment Program," which allows recipients to live and run a business in Australia. After five years, visa recipients can apply for citizenship status, according to Henley & Partners, an investment migration consultancy based in London. Investor: Applicants must invest at least AUD 2.5 million in Australian investments that meet certain requirements. Significant Investor: Applicants must invest at least AUD 5 million in Australian investments that meet certain requirements.

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