Australia

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia sweltered through its hottest month on record in January and the summer of extremes continued with wildfires razing the drought-parched south and flooding in expanses of the tropical north.

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology confirmed the January record on Friday as parts of the northern hemisphere had record cold.

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 township of Menindee in western New South Wales state. That’s the same area where hundreds of thousands of fish were found floating dead in early January and shortly before Christmas.

Boom times in many global real estate markets are turning to bust. Australia, several Asian countries and North America are starting to see large price corrections that are leaving speculators racing for cover.

Australia's housing market is witnessing its steepest annual fall in 15 years.

CANBERRA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Australia's hardline border policies are putting lives at risk, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has warned.

Thomas Vargas, head of the UNHCR's Indonesia agency, said on Monday that the organization would continue to fight against Australia's border policies regardless of which party wins the upcoming general election.

He said the turn-back policies used by Australia's Border Force to prevent asylum seekers from arriving in the country by boat "just don't work."

26 Jan 2019; DW: Events to mark the birth of modern Australia in 1788 are being countered by large rallies by indigenous communities. They're demanding that the Australia Day public holiday be changed so it doesn't celebrate colonialism.

Rallies have been held in several Australian cities calling for the country's national day to be abolished because it marks the anniversary of the British arrival at Sydney Cove in 1788.

21 yr old Naomi Osaka has beaten Petra Kvitova 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 in a thrilling final that will be remembered for years.

She's the first-ever Japanese player to be number one in the world rankings.

25 Jan 2019; AFP: Temperatures in southern Australia topped 49 degrees on Thursday, shattering previous records as sizzling citizens received free beer and heat-stressed bats fell from trees.

The Bureau of Meteorology reported temperatures of 49.5 Celsius (120 Fahrenheit) north of Adelaide, while inside the city temperatures reached 47.7 Celsius, breaking a record that had stood since 1939.

24 Jan 2019; AFP: China said Thursday that Chinese-Australian author and democracy advocate Yang Hengjun was detained on national security grounds, becoming the latest Western citizen to face such accusations from Beijing.

Yang's detention comes at a moment of heightened tension between Western countries and an increasingly muscular Beijing, prompting fears that he may be the victim of a dragnet by Chinese security services targeting foreigners.

23 Jan 2019; AA: Former world number one Serena Williams was knocked out in the Australian Open by seventh seed Czech Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old Czech beat the 37-year-old American 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to advance the semifinals. Williams missed four match points.

World number seven Pliskova will face world number four Naomi Osaka in the semifinals.

Naomi Osaka also defeated Ukrainian Elina Svitolina to advance to the semifinals in the Australian Open on Wednesday.

18 Jan 2019; DW: Temperatures are set to climb next week as heatwave conditions persist in parts of the country. The searing heat has had a particular impact on the Australian Open tennis tournament and a cycling event.

Australians have been offered a little reprieve this weekend before sweltering conditions to return to the southeast.

This week temperatures soared to as much as 15 degrees Celsius above the average, with 14 temperature records broken in the populous state of New South Wales (NSW) alone.