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Australia blames refugee advocates after asylum seeker sets herself alight

By Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia blamed refugee advocates on Tuesday for “encouraging” asylum seekers held in remote camps towards acts of self-harm after a woman set herself on fire, while the United Nations renewed its criticism of Australia's harsh immigration policy. Australian officials said an unidentified 21-year-old Somali woman was in a critical condition after she set herself alight at an Australian detention camp on the tiny South Pacific island of Nauru on Monday, the second such incident in a week. A 23-year-old Iranian man also set himself on fire last week in protest against his treatment on Nauru and later died.

Tsunami alert wound back after large quake hits off Vanuatu

Officials wound back an initial tsunami threat issued after a large earthquake struck off the coast of the South Pacific islands of Vanuatu on Sunday. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the danger had largely passed and canceled an earlier warning of a possible tsunami as a result of the quake, which was initially measured at a magnitude of 7.2 but later revised down to 6.9. The quake was also deemed to be deeper that first thought – 33 kilometers (21 miles) as opposed to 10 kms, Kanoa Koyanagi, a geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii told Reuters.