Society
Thai names shortlisted for baby elephant born in Melbourne zoo
Members of the public are being invited to help name the baby elephant born last month at Melbourne Zoo.
Prince William in Australia: local media hails Prince Charming
Within hours of stepping off the plane, the Australian media declared that Prince William had charmed Sydney.
Australian flood-destroyed towns declared natural disaster zones
Two farming regions in Australia’s eastern state of New South Wales have been declared natural disaster zones after days of torrential rains caused major flooding and cut off hundreds of residents.
Australia PM seeks migrant help
Australia's prime minister has made a personal plea to the Indonesian president to prevent a boatload of Sri Lankan migrants reaching Australia.
Australian town bans bottled water
Sydney - Bundanoon on Saturday became the first town in Australia, and possibly the world, to ban the sale of bottled water. The 2,500 residents voted in July to stop shops from stocking single-use bottles and switch to retailing bottles that are ...
Sydney hit by dust storm again
SYDNEY — Sydney was again bathed in an eerie glow Saturday as dust from Australia's red desert centre settled over the city for the second time this week.
Freak dust storm cost Australia 'tens of millions'
SYDNEY — Australia cleared up on Thursday after the worst dust storm in decades which smothered Sydney and cost an estimated tens of millions of dollars in lost productivity.
Largest dust storms in 70 years cover Sydney
A vast dust storm that blew in from the dry deserts of Australia's red centre has blanketed the country's largest city and eastern coast in a crimson fog, causing widespread traffic chaos and severe flight delays.
Australia and Thailand in war games
The Australian and Thai navies are taking to the high seas for a war games exercise. They'll be fine tuning their skills in the joint maritime operation, Austhai`09.
More Aussies dying in foreign lands
THE number of Australians dying overseas rocketed as an increasing number of travellers took advantage of cheap international airfares.
Australia defends controversial Aborigines policy
Australia has defended a controversial policy that allows for official intervention in remote aboriginal communities, which a UN expert says is discriminatory.
UN Representative Criticizes Australia's Aboriginal Policies as Racist
A U.N. representative says Australia's intervention in dozens of troubled Aboriginal communities is discriminatory and breaches the country's international human-rights obligations.
Plugging Australian oil leak could take weeks
PERTH, Australia — Plugging a leak at an offshore drilling rig that has caused an oil slick off Australia will take weeks, the operator said Sunday, though officials said there was little threat of environmental damage.
Australia targets 20% renewable energy by 2020
SYDNEY — Australia on Thursday passed a clean energy law requiring the country to produce 20 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020 in move that could draw billions of dollars of green investment.
Australia's fire system 'flawed'
An official investigation into Australia's wildfires earlier this year has called for sweeping changes to the warning system and evacuation policy.
Australian quadriplegic granted right to starve to death
An Australian high court ruled Friday that a quadriplegic man has the right to refuse food and water and can be allowed to die, a rare legal finding that some see as a major victory for right-to-die campaigners.
Bush fire survivor Sam the Koala dies after surgery
The raging wildfires that killed hundreds of Australians earlier this year could not kill Sam the Koala. But an illness endemic in the country's koala population did.
Australia's first baby elephant named "Luk Chai"
The first elephant born in Australia was Monday named Luk Chai in honour of his Thai heritage. The moniker, which means male child in the Thai language, was the winner in a naming competition run by Sydney's Taronga Zoo that drew 30,000 entries.
An Australian town has banned bottled water, claiming to be the first in the country to revert to the tap for the sake of the environment and prompting the nation's largest state government to stop buying bottled water.
Australian scientists kill cancer cells with "trojan horse"
Australian scientists have developed a "trojan horse" therapy to combat cancer, using a bacterially-derived nano cell to penetrate and disarm the cancer cell before a second nano cell kills it with chemotherapy drugs.