CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — In a day without precedent, people across New Zealand observed the Muslim call to prayer Friday as the nation reflected on the moment one week ago when 50 people were slaughtered at two mosques. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and thousands of others congregated in leafy Hagley Park opposite the Al […]

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — A Christchurch gun shop on Monday acknowledged selling guns online to the 28-year-old white supremacist accused of killing 50 people in mosque shootings that have upturned New Zealand’s reputation as among the world’s most tolerant and safe nations. At a news conference, Gun City owner David Tipple said the store […]

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The most senior Catholic cleric ever charged with child sex abuse has been convicted of molesting two choirboys moments after celebrating Mass, dealing a new blow to the Catholic hierarchy’s credibility after a year of global revelations of abuse and cover-up. Cardinal George Pell, Pope Francis’ top financial adviser and the […]

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of fish died on Monday in the third mass death in recent weeks on a stretch of a major Australian river that local officials blamed on drought but critics said at least partly stemmed from water mismanagement. The latest deaths began overnight in the Darling River near the […]

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — All of the 145 pilot whales that stranded themselves on a remote New Zealand beach have died. However, conservation workers are hoping to save some of the eight pygmy killer whales that remained stranded Monday at the other end of the country in an unrelated event. A hiker discovered the […]