SYDNEY — A decades-old Pacific organization for environmental protection said the United States must go through a formal process to withdraw its support, after President Donald Trump listed it among 66 entities the US would leave because they “operate contrary to US national interests”.

On Thursday, Washington said it would withdraw from dozens of international and UN entities, including the world’s key climate treaty and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP).

Headquartered in Samoa, SPREP has supported dozens of low-lying island states to raise awareness at UN climate conferences about the threat to their survival from rising sea levels caused by climate change.

The organization employs more than 150 staff across Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and runs program to reduce pollution, improve warning systems for severe weather and plan for disaster response to oil spills.

Sefanaia Nawadra, SPREP’s director-general, said the US contributed funding and technical expertise, but other partners were expected to help it continue its work.

“There is a formal process that the US will need to follow to withdraw its membership of SPREP. They are a valued member of SPREP until that formal withdrawal process is completed,” he said in a statement to Reuters.

“The impact of that will be determined as part of the details of the withdrawal process,” he added.

According to SPREP’s annual report, its annual budget comes primarily from five donor countries, Australia, Britain, New Zealand, France, and the US

China has also contributed $200,000 annually for several years.

A Pacific Islands government minister, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the US move to withdraw from the organization would negatively impact US influence in the region, where China is expanding ties.

Several Pacific Island nations face new hurdles to enter the United States.

Fiji, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, and Tonga were listed on Wednesday among countries whose nationals must pay a costly visa bond to enter the US from January 21.

Tonga was listed in December as facing entry restrictions from January 1.

US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau discussed migration in a call on Wednesday with Tonga Prime Minister Lord Fakafanua, he wrote on social media platform X.

The United States Embassy in Suva referred requests for comment to the State Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. — Reuters

SYDNEY — Australia will hold a Royal Commission inquiry into the Bondi Beach mass shooting in which 15 were killed, the country’s most powerful public inquiry, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday.

The mass shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach on December 14 shocked a country with strict gun laws and fueled calls for tougher controls and stronger action against antisemitism.

Police say the alleged father and son perpetrators were inspired by the Islamic State militant group.

Mr. Albanese said the Royal Commission, a government inquiry which can compel people to give evidence, will be led by retired judge Virginia Bell.

It will consider the events of the shooting as well as antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia, and is expected to report its findings by December this year.

“This Royal Commission is the right format, the right duration and the right terms of reference to deliver the right outcome for our national unity and our national security,” Mr. Albanese told a news conference on Thursday.

Mr. Albanese had initially resisted calls to set up a Royal Commission, saying the process would take years, which attracted criticism from Jewish groups and victims’ families who urged him to reconsider.

“I’ve taken the time to reflect, to meet with leaders in the Jewish community, and most importantly, I’ve met with many of the families of victims and survivors of that horrific attack,” Mr. Albanese said.

The government last month announced an independent review into law enforcement agencies that will assess whether authorities could have taken additional steps to prevent the attack.

That review, which will examine whether existing laws or information gaps stopped police and security agencies from acting against the alleged attackers, will now be folded into the Royal Commission, Mr. Albanese said. It is expected to report its findings in April. — Reuters

MINNEAPOLIS — A US immigration agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman in her car in Minneapolis on Wednesday during an immigration enforcement surge, according to local and federal officials, the latest violence in President Donald Trump’s nationwide crackdown on migrants.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey adamantly rejected the Mr. Trump administration’s assertion that the agent fired in self-defense, saying video of the shooting directly contradicted what he called the government’s “garbage narrative.”

“They’re already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense,” a visibly angry Mr. Frey said at a press conference. “Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly – that is bullshit.”

Mr. Frey blamed federal immigration agents for sowing chaos in the city, telling ICE: “Get the fuck out of Minneapolis.” But he also urged residents to remain calm, as Democratic leaders in Minnesota, Washington and elsewhere called the ICE operation an unnecessary provocation that resulted in tragedy.

The Minnesota City Council identified the dead woman as Renee Nicole Good and said she was “out caring for her neighbors this morning and her life was taken today at the hands of the federal government.” The council statement also demanded that ICE leave the city immediately.

As night fell, a crowd that appeared thousands strong gathered at the site of the shooting in a residential area of the city’s Central neighborhood, aerial TV images showed. Candles placed at the site lighted up the winter night. Earlier, some protesters were met by heavily armed federal agents wearing gas masks who fired chemical irritants.

Opponents of Mr. Trump called for protests in several American cities, raising the risk that the killing could become a national flashpoint over his deployment of federal officers to Democratic-led cities and states.

Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told a press conference that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were responding to a vehicle stuck in the snow when they were harassed by a “mob of agitators.”

One of the protesters, later identified as Ms. Good, followed agents all day, Ms. Noem said. Ms. Good blocked their vehicle and refused orders to move out of the way, she said.

“She then proceeded to weaponize her vehicle, and she attempted to run a law enforcement officer over,” Ms. Noem told a news conference, saying the car struck the officer.

She characterized that as domestic terrorism and said the act was under investigation by the FBI. State officials said they would launch their own investigation.

Videos of the shooting posted on social media and verified by Reuters raised doubts about the government’s account. One widely shared video showed a maroon Honda SUV partially blocking the road. As the clip begins, the driver inches forward before stopping to let another car pass.

The driver, with the window down, then appears to gesture to an approaching pickup truck to go ahead as well. Instead, the truck stops, and two officers exit and approach the car on foot.

As one of the officers orders the driver out of the SUV and grabs at the door handle, the vehicle reverses briefly, and a third agent moves to the front of the car from the passenger side.

The driver then advances, steering to the right in what appears to be an effort to drive away from the officers. The agent in front of the car pulls his weapon, steps back and fires as the moving car’s left front bumper comes close to his legs.

He fires three shots, with at least one shot after the car’s front bumper had passed him. It was not clear from the video whether the car made contact with the officer, who stayed on his feet throughout the encounter.

After the shots, the car accelerates and crashes into parked cars and a utility pole.

Ms. Noem said the officer was experienced and “followed his training.” He was treated by a doctor at a hospital and released.

VICTIM WAS ‘EXTREMELY COMPASSIONATE’
Ms. Good’s mother told the Minnesota Star Tribune that her daughter was “extremely compassionate,” and she said Ms. Good was not the type of person to confront ICE agents.

“She’s taken care of people all her life,” her mother, Donna Ganger, told the newspaper. “She was loving, forgiving and affectionate.”

The police chief said Ms. Good, who was married, was not a target of immigration operations. A witness whose home is nearby told CNN that Ms. Good lived in the neighborhood.

The Department of Homeland Security has said it is conducting the “largest DHS operation ever” in Minnesota with 2,000 officers deployed to arrest “fraudsters, murderers, rapists, and gang members.” The surge follows allegations of wide-scale welfare fraud involving Somali immigrants, whom Mr. Trump has called “garbage.” Ms. Noem said authorities had arrested 1,500 people in recent weeks.

WALZ, TRUMP AT ODDS
Democratic Governor Tim Walz, who ran for US vice president in the 2024 election won by Mr. Trump, also rejected the federal government’s account and placed the blame for the shooting on the Trump administration. He told a press conference that he had put the National Guard on alert for possible deployment.

“What we are seeing is the consequences of governance designed to generate fear, headlines and conflict,” Mr. Walz said. “…Today that recklessness cost someone their life.”

In a social media post, Mr. Trump said the video showed the woman “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense.”

The competing narratives highlighted US political polarization, in which Mr. Trump’s supporters enthusiastically endorse his version of events while opponents contend his assertions are often provably false.

WITNESSES DESCRIBE SHOOTING
Venus de Mars, a 65-year-old who lives near the site of the shooting, described seeing paramedics perform CPR on a woman collapsed next to a snowbank near the crashed car.

“There’s been lots of ICE activity but nothing like this,” Ms. de Mars said. “I’m so angry. I’m so angry, and I feel helpless.”

The fraud allegations date to 2020 against some nonprofit groups in the Somali community that administer childcare and other social services programs.

At least 56 people have pleaded guilty since federal prosecutors started to bring charges in 2022 under Mr. Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden. Mr. Walz announced this week he would not seek a third term as governor, saying he did not have time both to address the fraud scandal and to campaign.— Reuters

SYDNEY — Uncontrolled fires burned through bushland in Australia’s Victorian state on Thursday, forcing communities to evacuate and authorities to warn of a “catastrophic” fire danger rating for Friday.

Amid temperatures forecast to exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in parts of the state, two bushfires of more than 3,000 hectares in size were raging near the towns of Longwood and Walwa. They have destroyed at least two structures and are expected to continue to spread on Friday as heat and wind pick up.

Friday’s fire danger rating will be set at “catastrophic”, the highest level, and both fires pose a real risk of loss of life and property, authorities said.

“Tomorrow is a very, very dire bushfire day in the state of Victoria,” Country Fire Authority Chief Officer Jason Heffernan told a press conference.

Meteorologists have said conditions are on par with 2019, when bushfires destroyed wide swathes of southeastern Australia, killing 33 people, in what became known as the Black Summer.

Some 450 schools in Victoria are set to close on Friday.

For Thursday, total fire bans have been issued in several districts.

In New Zealand, the country’s weather provider, MetService, also warned of record warm temperatures over the weekend as the heatwave moves across the Tasman Sea.

It has issued heat alerts for parts of the eastern coast of New Zealand and the north of the South Island.— Reuters

China has hacked emails used by staff members of powerful committees in the US House of Representatives, as part of a cyber espionage campaign known as Salt Typhoon, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

China accessed email systems used by some staffers on the House China committee as well as aides on panels covering foreign affairs, intelligence and the armed services, the report said.

One person familiar with the attack told the FT it was unclear whether the attackers had accessed lawmakers’ emails in the intrusions, which were detected in December.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House had no immediate comment. The Chinese Embassy in Washington, the Chinese foreign ministry and the offices of the four committees did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In November, the Senate Sergeant at Arms notified multiple congressional offices of a “cyber incident,” where hackers may have accessed communications between the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which provides key financial research data to lawmakers, and some Senate offices.

The Salt Typhoon hacks have long rattled the US intelligence community. Hackers have also been alleged to have intercepted conversations, including those between prominent US politicians and government officials.

US officials have previously alleged that the hacking group is prepositioning itself to paralyze critical American infrastructure in case of a conflict with China.

Beijing has repeatedly denied being behind the intrusions.

Early last year, the US imposed sanctions on alleged hacker Yin Kecheng and cybersecurity company Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology, accusing both of being involved in Salt Typhoon.— Reuters