Australia

SYDNEY, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Australia's government on Friday welcomed signs that a U.S. defense spending bill which would authorise the sale of nuclear submarines to Australia is set to pass Congress after a compromise between Republicans and Democrats.

The sale is part of AUKUS - a pact with the United States and Britain to develop nuclear-powered submarines and other high technology weapons and Australia's most expensive defence project with a $244 billion price tag over three decades.

SYDNEY, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Australia's government said on Saturday it had expressed serious concerns to China after an "unsafe and unprofessional" interaction between an Australian navy vessel and Chinese warship left Australian military divers injured.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said the HMAS Toowoomba - a long-range frigate - was conducting a diving operation in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone on Nov. 14 to clear fishing nets from its propellers when the incident occurred.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Three murderers are among 81 foreigners recently released in Australia after the High Court ruled their indefinite detention in migrant centers was unconstitutional, the immigration minister said on Tuesday.

The court hasn’t released the reasons behind its ruling last week that overturned a 2004 precedent that stateless people could be detained indefinitely.

The Melbourne-based Human Rights Law Center reported last month that 127 people had been detained more than five years. The average was 709 days.

SYDNEY, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- A light plane crashed in the Australian state of Queensland on Saturday, resulting in the deaths of three people.

According to Queensland Police, at about 2:30 p.m. local time, emergency services were contacted by a member of the public about a crash having occurred near a mine site about 40 kilometers northwest of McKinlay, an outback town in the state's northwest.

A rescue helicopter located the wreckage from the air while the ground crew made their way to the site.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The host of a weekend family lunch at her Australian country home was charged with murdering three guests with poisonous mushrooms and attempting to murder a fourth who was left fighting for life, police said on Thursday.

Police arrested Erin Patterson, 49, earlier Thursday at her home in Leongatha in Victoria state where her former husband’s parents Gail and Don Patterson, both aged 70, Gail Patterson’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, and her husband Ian Wilkinson, 68, were invited for lunch on July 29.

SYDNEY, Nov 1 (NNN-AAP) – Police in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) confirmed the death of a 10-year-old boy today, after he was trapped under an elevator at a school in Sydney.

At about 2:00 p.m. local time, emergency services were called to the school on Cleveland Street in Wahroonga, a suburb in Sydney’s north shore.

Upon arrival, officers found a 10-year-old boy trapped under a lift. Despite attempts to remove the boy, he died at the scene.

NSW Police Force said that a crime scene has been established and a recovery operation is continuing.

31 October 2023; MEMO: Australia has expressed concerns over increasing attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank by Jewish settlers, amid the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong stated that “Australia is deeply concerned by reports of ongoing settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, Such violence threatens to only inflame tensions and those responsible must be held accountable”.

SYDNEY, Nov 1 (Reuters) - The sons of Australian writer Yang Hengjun, jailed in Beijing for four years on espionage charges, have written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese asking for a "second miracle" ahead of his China visit, after the release of journalist Cheng Lei.

Albanese travels to China on Saturday, the first visit by an Australian leader since 2016 as the trading partners stabilise ties after a diplomatic dispute. He meets Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday.

CANBERRA, Oct 23 (NNN-AAP) – The peak body representing Australian farmers, has called for the federal government to walk away from a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU).

In a statement issued from its Canberra headquarters today, the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF), said that, farmers feared being sold out by a bad deal with the EU.

CANBERRA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Indigenous Australian leaders have identified "deep-seated racism" as a factor in the defeat of the Indigenous Voice referendum.

In a joint statement issued on Saturday, three of the four powerful land councils in the Northern Territory (NT) described the victory of the "no" vote in the referendum on Oct. 14 as an attempt to "silence" Indigenous Australians.