Category: World News

Australia and Britain’s defence and foreign affairs ministers will meet in Sydney for AUKMIN talks aimed at finding better ways to cooperate. Friday’s session is the first 2+2 ministerial discussion in the country since the start of the pandemic. Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton both met

A British-Belgian teenager has become the youngest woman to fly solo around the globe and the first person to do it in a microlight plane after a five-month, five-continent odyssey in her Shark ultralight. Nineteen-year-old Zara Rutherford landed back at Kortrijk-Wevelgem Airport in Belgium after flying 51,000 kilometres over 52

A senior Conservative MP has accused the British government of intimidating and attempting to “blackmail” politicians they suspect of wanting to force Prime Minister Boris Johnson out of power. Mr Johnson faces growing calls to step down over a series of scandals, including admitting he had attended a party at

A report prompted by sexual abuse allegations in the German Catholic Church accuses Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI of misconduct on four counts during his time as archbishop of Munich and Freising between 1977 and 1982. Benedict — known then as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — has denied any wrongdoing. Munich law

Donald Trump’s daughter has been formally asked to co-operate with an investigation onto the deadly Capitol Hill riots and will be questioned in particular about a key phone call she overhead while in the inner circle. The US House of Representatives’ panel investigating the January 6, 2021 attack has formally

A Tongan man who says he was in the water for around 27 hours after being swept out to sea during Saturday’s devastating tsunami has been hailed a ‘real life Aquaman’. The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano on Saturday killed at least three people, sent tsunami waves rolling

Thursday was not a night for the romantics at Melbourne Park. Nick Kyrgios, ranked 115 and the great entertainer, is gone from this year’s Australian Open, his conqueror the tournament favourite Daniil Medvedev in a surprisingly tight encounter ending at 10.15pm on Rod Laver Arena. It was a truculent finale

When did teachers become like the round bullseye target on a dartboard? And why, at a time when we should be valuing more the role they play in our children’s development, are we are so quick to load them up with extraneous claptrap that can only further exacerbate staff shortages?

Sure, $17.6 million is peanuts in the general scheme of the Morrison government’s multibillion-dollar grants corruption, but given the historical significance of a bowling club stunt lighting the fuse for blowing up the Coalition’s industrial-scale rorting, let’s go bowling. (Of course there’s bias in lawn bowls, but having avoided most

It sounded a touch desperate – Prime Minister Scott Morrison imploring backpackers to “come on down” to Australia, as the Omicron crisis escalated. “Enjoy a holiday here”, said the one-time managing director of Tourism Australia, and “at the same time join our workforce and help us”. The backpacker flow is

West Australian Premier Mark McGowan has broken his promise to reopen the state’s borders next month, claiming it would be “reckless and irresponsible” to do so given the surge in Omicron COVID-19 cases across the country. Mr McGowan announced the extraordinary backflip during a late-night press conference on Thursday, saying

Tahlia McGrath produced one of the finest games in Australia’s T20 history to celebrate her coronation as the team’s chief all-rounder and start the Ashes with a nine-wicket win over England. Just hours after Australia made the biggest selection decision in memory by dropping Ellyse Perry, McGrath made a statement

Hardy Kruger, considered one of post-war Germany’s best actors, has died aged 93. His Hamburg-based literary agent, Peter Kaefferlein, said on Thursday that Kruger died “suddenly and unexpectedly” on Wednesday in California, where he lived with his third wife, American-born writer Anita Park. Kruger starred in the 1957 British movie

Australians have been warned their risk of catching new COVID-19 variants will be much higher unless wealthy nations do more to help protect the world’s poorest people from the coronavirus. Aid groups are urging the Morrison government to step up after a World Health Organisation-backed effort to distribute vaccines asked

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has left the challenge of reopening schools to the states and territories. Free rapid antigen tests for teachers and improved ventilation in classrooms are set to play a key role in keeping students and teachers safe. But there is no national plan for those protections –

There’s nothing like the return of your favourite TV show or the promise of a new hit to distract you from the doom and gloom of the C-word.  Whether you’re trying to kill hours in isolation, or eager to escape into another world for a few hours, 2022 is going big

According to Victorian government figures, there were 67,596 people on the waiting list for elective surgery as of Thursday. These reportedly include some cardiac and cancer patients. In light of what’s occurred in the past 24 hours, one could suggest that many of these people, many dealing with debilitating pain,

Cryptocurrency has been touted as the future of the economy, but it might be just as vulnerable to hackers as the cash in your wallet is to pickpockets. Although there’s no official figure available for how many Australians have invested in cryptocurrency, Canstar data shows it was one of the

US equity markets fell on inflation concerns ahead of next week’s highly anticipated Federal Reserve meeting, overshadowing a reasonably strong start to the Q4 2021 earnings season. Following the weaker lead from Wall Street, the ASX200 fell to 7300, providing another test of the market’s resolve to keep the local

Federal MP Craig Kelly is using a loophole in industry rules to spread COVID-19 misinformation on Facebook and YouTube, a parliamentary hearing has heard. In separate appearances before an inquiry into social media and online safety in Canberra on Thursday, Facebook and Google (YouTube) were grilled about their dealings with

Craig Tiley has no plans to resign as Tennis Australia boss and has made the extraordinary claim that all questions over the Novak Djokovic saga have been answered. Tiley was jeered by fans who vented their fury at the governing body on day four of the Australian Open as the

Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers have formally asked for a new trial after the British socialite’s lawyers raised concern about a juror’s possible failure to disclose before the trial that he was sexually abused as a child. Maxwell, 60, was convicted on December 29 on five counts of sex trafficking and other

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke needed to be satisfied of the potential risk to the “health, safety or good order” of the community in order to cancel Novak Djokovic’s visa, the Federal Court says. A three-judge panel of the court has published the full reasons why it ruled unanimously against the

The secrets of a wrecked Japanese submarine destroyed during a dramatic battle with the Royal Australian Navy off the Northern Territory coast 80 years ago can now be explored from the comfort of your living room. The virtual reality experience has been launched to mark the anniversary of the sinking

Australia’s isolation rules for people who test positive to COVID will remain unchanged, despite a push by the federal government. Prime Minister Scott Morrison emerged from Thursday’s national cabinet meeting to confirm the requirement for people who are confirmed with the virus would remain at seven days. However, it would

States and territories will go their own way on a safe return to schools despite weeks of leaders discussing a co-ordinated approach. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Commonwealth government will support states and territories that want to implement surveillance testing for schools on a 50-50 cost sharing basis. But

Local wildcard Chris O’Connell has sent No.13 seed Diego Schwartzman crashing out of the Australian Open to advance to the third round at a grand slam for the first time. After claiming a marathon opening set in a tiebreak, the late-blooming O’Connell continued to play the big points better against

A “code brown” COVID-19 emergency response is not being considered for NSW hospitals, despite calls for relief for health workers in the state. Premier Dominic Perrottet said healthcare teams are under stress but he is confident they are “pushing through this final wave” of cases. “In relation to hospitalisations and

The Novavax vaccine has been approved for use in Australia, becoming the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine in the country’s arsenal. Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters on Thursday the Therapeutic Goods Administration had given its approval for the vaccine. Australia has ordered 51 million doses, with the first shipment due in the

Eight butter products sold through major supermarkets across Australia have been urgently recalled amid fears of contamination. Food Standards Australia announced that Devondale and Woolworths butter and butter blend products had been pulled from shelves. Producer Saputo Dairy Australia said there were concerns about potential microbial contamination – contamination with

Third-seed Garbine Muguruza and sixth-seed Anett Kontaveit have been eliminated in the second round of the Australian Open. Muguruza suffered a shock loss to French player Alizé Cornet, and Kontaveit succumbed to Danish teenager Clara Tauson. Tauson surprised even herself with a 6-2 6-4 second-round win over Kontaveit before Cornet

Wide-eyed teenager Clara Tauson has delivered one of the shocks of the Australian Open with a stunning second-round defeat of in-form sixth seed Anett Kontaveit. The junior champion at Melbourne Park three years ago, Tauson could barely believe it after sending Kontaveit packing with a 6-2 6-4 upset win on

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Victorian premier Daniel Andrews says it is important to avoid another visa “soap opera” if vaccine-sceptic surfing legend Kelly Slater wishes to compete in Australia. Victoria’s Bells Beach and Western Australia’s Margaret River will host World Surf League events in April and May as part of a re-jigged calendar that

Australia’s unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 4.2 per cent in December from 4.6 per cent the previous month, its lowest level since August 2008. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said 64,800 people joined the workforce in December in a further recovery from last year’s COVID-19 lockdowns in NSW, Victoria and