Australia

CANBERRA, Jun 4 (NNN-AAP) – Foreigners who have lived in Australia for at least 12 months will be eligible to join the nation’s armed forces from 2025, the federal government announced.

Richard Marles, the minister for defence and deputy prime minister, and Defence Personnel Minister, Matt Keogh, announced the initiative today in Canberra, saying, it would help grow the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

27 March 2024; MEMO: Internal communications at Australia’s national broadcaster reveal staff warnings about the Gaza war coverage, indicating an overreliance on Israeli sources and language “favouring the Israeli narrative over objective reporting.”

MELBOURNE, March 4 (Bernama) — The 2024 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit is commencing today, bringing together Southeast Asian (SEA) and Australian leaders, business and community leaders, experts and academics to discuss key focus areas such as business; emerging leaders; climate and clean energy; and maritime cooperation. 

The three-day summit, held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), also marks the 50th anniversary of Australia’s dialogue partnership with ASEAN.

Tehran, IRNA – Over a hundred Australian lawyers have endorsed a move to refer prime minister Anthony Albanese to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for being an “accessory to genocide” in the Gaza Strip.

According to reports, the lawyers argued that Albanese has provided the Israeli regime with “rhetorical support in their public statements, their press conferences, their speeches” as well as material assistance.

Albanese was referred to the ICC in a communiqué presented to ICC prosecutor Karim Khan KC on Monday.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Police on Tuesday found the bodies of a couple allegedly shot dead by a jilted police officer lover.

Police on Tuesday discovered the bodies of former television reporter Jesse Baird, 26, and his flight attendant partner Luke Davies, 29, who were allegedly shot dead in Baird’s Sydney home on Monday last week.

SYDNEY, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Australia on Thursday rejected comments by China's ambassador seeking to deflect blame from China's navy for the injury of Australian military divers in an incident near Japan in November.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was "not swayed" by Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian's comment a day earlier that a Chinese navy ship didn't use its sonar while Australian divers were in the water, and a Japanese boat could have been the source.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — X Corp., the owner of the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has slashed its global trust and safety staff by 30% including an 80% reduction in the number of safety engineers since billionaire Elon Musk took over in 2022, Australia’s online safety watchdog said on Thursday.

Australia’s eSafety Commission, which describes itself as the world’s first government agency dedicated to keeping people safer online, released summaries of answers provided by X to questions about how its policies about hateful conduct were enforced.

SYDNEY, Jan 5 (Reuters) - A fisherman who survived treading water for 23 hours off the coast of New Zealand after falling off his boat said he was lucky to be alive after being spotted due to the reflection from his wristwatch.

Will Fransen was pulled overboard without a life jacket on Jan. 2 while attempting to reel in a marlin in waters off the country's North Island.

He survived by treading water, while being briefly circled by a shark, before using his watch to attract the attention of a passing boat.

SYDNEY, Dec 26 (NNN-AAP) – More than 100,000 properties were left without power last night, in Australia’s eastern state of Queensland, after more severe storms hit the area, local media reported.

South East Queensland was pounded by more severe storms, with the Gold Coast, Scenic Rim and Logan areas copping the brunt of the storms, according to local newspaper, The Courier-Mail.

Emergency services were kept busy with fallen trees and powerlines, with more than 100,000 properties left without electricity, the report said.

CANBERRA, Dec 22 (NNN-AAP) – The Australian government has announced that, it will not send a warship to the Red Sea, but will deploy additional troops to the region.

Richard Marles, the minister for defence, yesterday said, the Australian government had denied a request from the United States for military hardware to help protect shipping lanes in the Red Sea, following attacks from Yemen’s Houthi militia on commercial vessels in the area.