Oceania

Intense heatwave grips Australia’s southern states

Australia’s south sweltered through a brutal heatwave that is delivering temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some cities, triggering health warnings, straining power grids and causing bushfires…

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The World Welcomes 2026: From Christmas Island to the Bering Strait

The first country to celebrate the New Year is Kiribati, an island nation in the central Pacific Ocean. Consisting of 33 islands in total, Kiribati has only 20 of them…

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Australian state passes tougher gun, protest law after Bondi Beach shooting

Australia's most populous state on Wednesday passed sweeping new gun and anti-terror rules following the mass shooting on Bondi Beach, tightening firearm ownership, banning public display of terror symbols and…

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Bondi attack suspects ‘inspired by Islamic State’, authorities say

Australian authorities believe the father and son accused of carrying out the deadly Bondi attack were inspired by Islamic State, as investigators piece together their movements and alleged extremist links.…

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Father and son suspected in Bondi Beach Hanukah attack

Police say the alleged gunmen behind the deadly Bondi Beach attack were a father and son who are suspected of using legally obtained firearms. Naveed Akram, 24, was arrested at…

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Eleven killed after gunmen target Jewish festival in deadliest Australia shooting in decades

Eleven people have been killed and 29 others taken to hospital, including a child, after a shooting targeting the Jewish community at Bondi Beach, New South Wales Police have confirmed.…

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Australia social media ban set to take effect, sparking a global crackdown

Australia is set to become the first country to implement a minimum age for social media use on Wednesday, with platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube forced to block more…

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Australia says the world will follow social media ban as Meta starts blocking teens

Australia's internet regulator said a teen social media ban would be the first domino to fall in a global push to rein in Big Tech, as Meta's Instagram, Facebook and…

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Meta to block Instagram and Facebook for users under 16 in Australia

Meta will stop Instagram, Facebook and Threads for users in Australia under the age of 16, the company has said. The block will come into effect by 10 December to…

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Thousands in Australia march against immigration, government condemns rally

Demonstrators marched in cities across Australia in “March for Australia” rallies, demanding cuts to what they called “mass immigration”. The protests drew strong counter-demonstrations, with opponents branding the movement racist…

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Australia expels Iranian ambassador over antisemitic attacks

Australia says it will expel the Iranian ambassador alleging that Iran had directed antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the attacks were "extraordinary and dangerous…

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Australia to recognise Palestinian state in September, New Zealand may follow

Australia will recognise a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly to add momentum for a two-state solution, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday. Albanese, who…

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Australian Analysis Casts Doubt on Accuracy of Electric Vehicle Range Estimates

A government-funded program to test the true performance of vehicles has found the driving range of five popular electric cars is between 5% and 23% lower than results from laboratory…

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Australia adds YouTube to social media ban for under 16s

Australia is banning YouTube for children under 16, widening the scope of a landmark social media law that aims to protect teenagers from harmful content online. "Young people under the…

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Australia’s divorce rate is lowest in 50 years and marriages are lasting longer

Divorce rates are their lowest in 50 years and marriages are lasting longer, according to new data that reflects an increasingly selective approach to marriage and the ongoing effects of…

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Record floods devastate eastern Australia

Record floods cut a destructive path through eastern Australia on Friday, caking houses in silt, washing out roads and separating 50,000 people from help.Four bodies have been pulled from vast…

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Australia’s Albanese Labor government sworn in for second term

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was sworn in for a second term on Tuesday, alongside his ministers, after a landslide win at a national election he said had returned the…

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Labor’s Historic Victory: Albanese Secures Majority in Australia

Labor's Anthony Albanese has been re-elected as Australia's prime minister in a landslide, overcoming the "incumbency curse." Though official vote counting is ongoing, his centre-left government will significantly increase its…

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Australia, New Zealand commemorate Anzac Day

Thousands of people in Australia and New Zealand on Friday celebrated Anzac Day to commemorate military service members who died in war. Anzac stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.…

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Australians begin to cast ballots in early voting ahead of 3 May general elections

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Peter Dutton cancelled campaign events out of respect for Pope Francis who died on Monday. Australians have started casting their ballots in early…

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Early voting in Australia election begins, PM Albanese’s party holds slender lead

Australians began voting on Tuesday in the lead-up to the May 3 general election, as the passing of Pope Francis cast a somber tone over the campaign. Early voting opened…

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Australia PM Albanese calls national election for May 3

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday called a national election for May 3, launching a five-week campaign that is set to be dominated by cost-of-living pressures. Albanese's Labor party…

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Magnitude 6.7 quake shakes New Zealand’s South Island

A strong 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck off New Zealand's South Island on Tuesday, authorities said, as the country's disaster agency assessed if there were any tsunami threats. Residents of the…

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Australia moves to arm troops with anti-ship missiles as China threat looms

Australia is scrambling to deploy new long-range missiles as the recent arrival of powerful Chinese warships off the Australian coast delivers a sharp reminder of Beijing’s growing naval muscle. In…

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Australians told ‘prepare for worst’ as tropical cyclone nears

Violent winds toppled power lines Friday as a tropical cyclone inched towards Australia's eastern coast, sparking evacuation orders and leaving 80,000 homes without electricity. Tropical Cyclone Alfred was 125 kilometres…

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Brisbane Airport suspends operations as forecasters’ worst fears realised

Australia is bracing for severe flooding as Cyclone Alfred nears, with the rare storm on the country's eastern coast expected to bring torrential rain, destructive winds, and storm surges. The…

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Chinese naval drills prompt 49 flights to change course unexpectedly

Some 49 commercial flights were forced to change course last Friday when Chinese warships unexpectedly announced naval drills off the eastern coast of Australia, officials said in a government hearing.…

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Australia spots ‘unusual’ Chinese ships near its east coast

Australia on Thursday said it was monitoring the "unusual" presence of Chinese warships near its eastern coast. "We are keeping a close watch on them, and we will make sure…

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Some light shed on mystery balls on Sydney beaches

The mysterious balls that forced the closure of several beaches in Sydney last week were found to contain saturated fatty acids, E. coli and faecal bacteria, authorities say. Sydney's Northern…

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Balls on Sydney’s northern beaches still a ‘bit of a mystery’

Sydney’s beaches have been plagued by mysterious balls for more than three months but the public is no closer to finding out where they came from or why they continue…

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New Zealand enters recession after worst contraction since 1991

New Zealand's economy officially entered a recession in the third quarter, with activity contracting much more sharply than anticipated. GDP fell by 1.0% in the September quarter, far exceeding forecasts…

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Buildings flattened as 7.3 magnitude earthquake hits Vanuatu

A 7.3 magnitude earthquake has struck near Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila, causing landslides, destroying cars, and flattening numerous buildings, including a complex housing several Western embassies. While unconfirmed reports suggest…

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Australia’s under-16 social media ban sparks anger and relief

Australians are reacting with a mixture of anger and relief to a social media ban on children under 16 that the government says is world-leading, but which tech giants like…

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Australia passes social media ban for children under 16

Australia on Thursday passed into law a social media ban for children aged under 16 after an emotive debate that gripped the nation, setting a benchmark for jurisdictions around the…

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Australia launches ‘landmark’ bill to ban social media for children under 16

Australia's centre-left government on Thursday introduced a bill in parliament that aims to ban social media for children under 16 and proposed fines of up to A$49.5 million ($32 million)…

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Australia to introduce this month legislation to ban social media for children under 16, PM says

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday his government would introduce this month the legislation to ban social media for children under 16 years. Australia is trialing an age-verification…

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Australia proposes ‘world-leading’ ban on social media for children under 16

The Australian government will legislate for a ban on social media for children under 16, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday, in what it calls a world-leading package of…

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Not my King, Australian senator shouts at Charles

King Charles faced shouts of "you are not my King" from an independent senator just after he finished an address at Australia's Parliament House on the second official day of…

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Australia, New Zealand brace for looming bird flu threat

Australia and New Zealand are bracing for the arrival of a destructive bird flu strain by tightening biosecurity at farms, testing shore birds for disease, vaccinating vulnerable species and war-gaming…

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King Charles to meet cancer researchers, Indigenous groups during Australia visit

Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla will meet cancer researchers, representatives of Indigenous groups and conduct a navy fleet review in Sydney harbour during their visit to Australia next month,…

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Australia plans social media minimum age limit

Australia plans to set a minimum age limit for children to use social media citing concerns about mental and physical health, sparking a backlash from digital rights advocates who warn…

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Pope Francis departs Indonesia for Papua New Guinea, stop two of 12-day trip

Pope Francis left Indonesia on Friday morning for Papua New Guinea, where the 87-year-old leader of the global Catholic Church will continue an ambitious 12-day tour across Southeast Asia and…

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New Zealand nearly triples levy on international tourists

New Zealand will nearly triple entry fees for tourists, the government said on Tuesday, spurring criticism from the key tourism sector the higher levy will deter visitors. The government said…

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Sea levels rising faster in Pacific than elsewhere, says WMO report

Sea level rises in the Pacific Ocean are outstripping the global average, a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report showed on Tuesday, imperiling low-lying island states. Globally, sea level advances are…

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Australia to limit foreign student enrolments in migration crackdown

Australia said on Tuesday it would limit the enrolment number of international students at 270,000 for 2025, as the government looks to rein in record migration that has contributed to…

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Australian employees now have the right to ignore work emails, calls after hours

Is your boss texting you on the weekend? Work email pinging long after you've left for home? Australian employees can now ignore those and other intrusions into home life thanks…

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US to increase military force in Australia

Australia will begin co-manufacturing guided weapons with the US next year to boost supply for allies in the Indo Pacific and increase a US military presence in the country, including…

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Australia raises terror threat level to ‘probable’ from ‘possible’

Australia on Monday raised its terror threat level to "probable" from "possible", citing an increase in extremist views in the country leading to a more than 50% chance of the…

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Australia doubles foreign student visa fee in migration crackdown

Australia said on Monday it had more than doubled the visa fee for international students, the latest move by the government to rein in record migration that has intensified pressure…

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange heads to Australia a free man

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange walked free on Wednesday from a court on the U.S. Pacific island territory of Saipan after pleading guilty to violating U.S. espionage law in a deal…

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WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange to be freed

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is due to plead guilty on Wednesday to violating U.S. espionage law, in a deal that will end his imprisonment in Britain and allow him to…

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UPDATED: Papua New Guinea landslide buried more than 2,000 people

Papua New Guinea's massive landslide three days ago buried more than 2,000 people, the government said on Monday, as treacherous terrain impeded aid and lowered hopes of finding survivors. The…

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Australia reports first human avian flu infection

Australia reported its first human case of avian influenza on Wednesday in a child who authorities said had been infected in India but made a full recovery, while a different…

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Australian PM says children under 16 should be banned from social media

Anthony Albanese has endorsed banning children from registering social media accounts until they are 16, saying too much online engagement at a young age is seriously damaging their mental health.…

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Australia raises minimum savings for student visa, warns on fake recruitment

Australia said on Wednesday it would raise the amount of savings international students will need to get a visa and warned several colleges of fraudulent student recruitment practices, as part…

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Powerful earthquake hits South Australia

A magnitude-4.1 earthquake has struck Jamestown in South Australia's Mid North, with the tremor felt as far south as Adelaide, about 200 kilometres away. The quake hit an area north-east…

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UPDATED: Australia says Assyrian church stabbing was terrorist act

Australian police said a knife attack on an Assyrian church bishop and some followers in Sydney was a terrorist act motivated by suspected religious extremism, as the country reeled from…

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