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Australian ex-hostage feared he would die in Somalia
AFP - Wednesday, December 9SYDNEY (AFP) - - Freed hostage Nigel Brennan on Wednesday admitted that he regretted ever visiting Somalia and feared he would never survive his brutal, 15-month ordeal.
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Ex-Aussie hostage says he aimed to help Somalis
AP - Wednesday, December 9SYDNEY - An Australian photojournalist recently released after being held hostage for 15 months in Somalia said Wednesday he was trying to highlight the plight of those less fortunate when he was kidnapped.
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Australia accused of censorship over NKorean art
AP - Wednesday, December 9SYDNEY - Australia was accused of censorship Tuesday for denying visas to North Korean artists whose works are on display in a regional exhibition, but the government says the art comes from Pyongyang's propaganda machine and its creators are not welcome.
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Coroner: Self-help course led to woman's suicide
AP - Wednesday, December 9SYDNEY - An Australian coroner said Tuesday that participation in an intense self-help course led a woman to suffer a psychotic breakdown before she stripped naked and leaped to her death from an office window in front of horrified co-workers.
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Gambler loses case against Australian casino
AFP - Tuesday, December 8MELBOURNE (AFP) - - A compulsive gambler who wagered close to 1.4 billion US dollars during a 16-month betting spree lost his lawsuit against Australia's largest casino Tuesday when a judge ruled he was not exploited.
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Anti-Japan whaling protests: govts urge restraint
AFP - Monday, December 7SYDNEY (AFP) - - Militant protesters opposed to Japanese whaling left for the Southern Ocean Monday as New Zealand, Australia and The Netherlands urged them to avoid violent confrontations.
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Australia opposition leader enjoys poll boost
AFP - Monday, December 7SYDNEY (AFP) - - Australia's conservative opposition relished a small bounce in opinion polls on Monday after dumping its leader for a maverick right-winger during fierce debate over climate change.
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Australia steps up wildfire preparedness
AP - Monday, December 7ADELAIDE, Australia - Australians thought they were prepared for wildfires.
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Australia in $82 bln gas deal with Japan
AFP - Monday, December 7SYDNEY (AFP) - - Australia has welcomed a 90 billion dollar (82 billion US) deal to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to a Japanese power company in what is believed to be the country's biggest export sales contract.
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Australian PM warns on climate change
AFP - Thursday, December 3SYDNEY (AFP) - - Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned there was no "magic pudding" solution to climate change on Thursday as he lashed out over the defeat of his flagship carbon-trading scheme.
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Australian man charged with assaulting US Marine
AP - Thursday, December 3SYDNEY - An Australian man has been charged in an attack on a U.S. Marine on shore leave that left him in a coma for 10 days, police said Thursday.
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Kangaroos may hold skin cancer cure: study
AFP - Tuesday, December 1SYDNEY (AFP) - - Kangaroos may provide the key to a potential treatment to prevent skin cancer, Australian scientists said on Monday.
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Australia in Afghanistan for long haul: Rudd
AFP - Tuesday, December 1WASHINGTON (AFP) - - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd pledged here Monday that Australia would stay in Afghanistan "for the long haul" but did not offer more troops to complement an expected US increase.
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Captain Cook: explorer standing the test of time
AFP - Sunday, November 29BONN (AFP) - - On January 11, 1780, the London Gazette reported the death of Captain James Cook, "on the island of O'Why'he ... in an affray with a numerous and tumultuous Body of Natives."
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Obama set to meet with Australian prime minister
AP - Saturday, November 28WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will meet with the Australian prime minister at the White House on Monday.
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Australian opposition splits over climate bill
AP - Friday, November 27ADELAIDE, Australia - Australia's opposition party has splintered over a contentious bill aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions, with top officials resigning over the party leader's support for the legislation.
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Journalists leave Somalia after hostage ordeal
AFP - Friday, November 27MOGADISHU (AFP) - - Two journalists from Canada and Australia flew out of Somalia on Thursday at the end of a 15-month hostage ordeal during which they were tortured and shackled in windowless rooms by their captors.
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Pig farts spark Australia gas scare
AFP - Friday, November 27SYDNEY (AFP) - - A flatulent pig sparked a gas emergency in southern Australia when a farmer mistook its odours for a leaking pipe, according to officials.
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Invading camels to be shot in Australian town
AP - Friday, November 27ALICE SPRINGS, Australia - Australian authorities plan to corral about 6,000 wild camels with helicopters and gun them down after they overran a small Outback town in search of water, trampling fences, smashing tanks and contaminating supplies.
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Invading camels to be shot in Australian town
AP - Friday, November 27ALICE SPRINGS, Australia - Australian authorities plan to corral about 6,000 wild camels with helicopters and gun them down after they overran a small Outback town in search of water, trampling fences, smashing tanks and contaminating supplies.
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Canadian journalist says she was tortured in Somalia
AFP - Thursday, November 26OTTAWA (AFP) - - Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout, who was freed Wednesday after 15 months in captivity in Somalia, says she was beaten and tortured by her captors, who she called criminals pretending to be freedom fighters.
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Thousands of wild camels besiege Australian town
AFP - Thursday, November 26SYDNEY (AFP) - - Some 6,000 feral camels are running wild in a remote Australian outback community in search of water, smashing infrastructure and invading the airstrip, officials said on Wednesday.
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Venomous Aussie redback spiders invading Japan
AFP - Wednesday, November 25TOKYO (AFP) - - Australia's venomous redback spiders are on the march in Japan, where they are believed to have arrived years ago as stowaways on cargo ships, a wildlife expert warned Wednesday.
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Australian PM urges parliament to approve carbon cuts
AFP - Wednesday, November 25CANBERRA (AFP) - - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd urged parliament Tuesday to approve legislation aiming to slash carbon pollution by up to 25 percent by 2020 ahead of next month's global talks on climate change.
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'Amazing' Bangladeshi twins out of intensive care
AFP - Wednesday, November 25MELBOURNE (AFP) - - Bangladeshi twins Trishna and Krishna are out of intensive care and seeing each other for the first time as they make an "amazing" recovery from surgery to separate their conjoined heads, doctors said Tuesday.
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Opposition debate Australian carbon reduction laws
AP - Tuesday, November 24CANBERRA, Australia - Australia's government took a key step toward passing legislation to curb greenhouse gas emissions by negotiating a compromise deal with the opposition Liberal Party, and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd urged lawmakers Tuesday to support the bill.
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Cuba, Australia boost ties during FM visit
AFP - Tuesday, November 24HAVANA (AFP) - - Cuba and Australia have decided to strengthen their 20-year relationship, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith said Monday at the start of a two-day visit to Havana.
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Formerly conjoined twins leave intensive care
AP - Tuesday, November 24SYDNEY - Conjoined Bangladeshi twins who were separated in a marathon surgery last week left intensive care on Monday and were adjusting well, hospital officials said.
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Asylum-seekers riot at Australia detention centre
AFP - Monday, November 23SYDNEY (AFP) - - Australia moved to tighten security at its main immigration centre on Monday after a riot by 150 asylum-seekers, reportedly wielding pool cues, broomsticks and tree branches, left 37 wounded.
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Man slashed by kangaroo while trying to rescue dog
AP - Monday, November 23MELBOURNE, Australia - An Australian man was in stable condition Monday after being slashed across the abdomen and face by a kangaroo that was holding his dog underwater.
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Over 100 icebergs drifting to N.Zealand: official
AFP - Monday, November 23SYDNEY (AFP) - - More than 100, and possibly hundreds, of Antarctic icebergs are floating towards New Zealand in a rare event which has prompted a shipping warning, officials said on Monday.
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Australian blames Scientology for brother's death
AP - Monday, November 23CANBERRA, Australia - A man who blames the Church of Scientology for his brother's suicide added his voice Monday to calls for an Australia Senate inquiry into the religion.
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US sailor cleared of assaulting Sydney prostitute
AP - Monday, November 23SYDNEY - A U.S. Navy serviceman was found not guilty Monday of sexually assaulting a prostitute at a brothel while on shore leave in Australia's biggest city.
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Australia battles wildfires as threat eases: officials
AFP - Monday, November 23RYLSTONE, Australia (AFP) - - Australian firefighters battled to contain scores of blazes in the country's southeast on Monday as a sharp drop in temperatures eased fears for dozens of threatened homes.
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Dozens of asylum seekers injured in detention riot
AP - Monday, November 23CANBERRA, Australia - Sri Lankan and Afghan asylum seekers were separated at an island immigration detention center after a riot left 37 injured, an official said Monday.
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Aussie pilot who landed in shark waters hailed a hero
AFP - Friday, November 20SYDNEY (AFP) - - An Australian pin-up pilot forced to bring an emergency medical flight down in shark-infested waters was Friday hailed a hero for the daring landing from which all aboard escaped unharmed.
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Australia 'disappointed' at Japan whaling mission
AFP - Friday, November 20SYDNEY (AFP) - - Australia said it was "deeply disappointed" after a fleet of Japanese whaling ships set out to kill hundreds of the giant ocean mammals on their annual hunt.
