Australia & Pacific
Pictured: X-ray of Australian teenager with 12-inch kitchen knife lodged in head after he SURVIVES attack
This shocking X-ray shows how a teenager was stabbed, leaving a 12-inch blade in his head – and survived. Doctors said the victim – known only as Alex – was ‘unbelievably lucky’ not to have been killed or at least blinded after the kitchen knife w...
Five rogue New South Wales firefighters threatened to burn houses down instead of saving them, ran naked in the streets, drove fire trucks while intoxicated and trashed a whistleblower's car, Australian newspaper The Sunday Telegraph reported.
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.
Indian set on fire in latest Australia attack
SYDNEY — A man of Indian descent s recovering in hospital on Saturday after a group of men set him on fire in the Australian city of Melbourne, police said, the latest in a string of similar attacks.
Conservationists File Piracy Claim Against Whalers
SYDNEY (AP) -- A conservationist group that lost one of its ships in a clash with Japanese whalers off Antarctica has filed a piracy complaint in the Netherlands against the captain and crew of the whaling vessel, one of the group's leaders said S...
Anti-whaling boat sinks after Southern Ocean collision
The anti-whaling boat that was sliced in two after a collision with a Japanese whaling ship has sunk after overnight salvage attempts failed.
Indian student numbers to Australia plummet by 46%
The number of Indian students wanting to study in Australia has slumped by almost 50%, according to figures from the Australian government.
Space-age anti-whaling powerboat 'sliced in two' by Japan whalers
SYDNEY — A space-age powerboat sent to harass Japanese whalers was rammed and sliced in two in its very first clash on Wednesday, activists said, dramatically escalating hostilities in icy Antarctic seas.
Indian man's burnt remains found on rural Australian road
The partially burnt remains of an Indian national have been discovered on a rural road in Australia, escalating a row between Delhi and Canberra over the treatment of Indian students in the country.
No evidence Indian's death racially motivated: Australia
SYDNEY — Australia on Tuesday said there was no evidence the murder of an Indian man in Melbourne was racially motivated, as it downplayed the impact of the killing on ties between the nations.
1,000 homeless in Solomon Islands after quake
Landslides and a tsunami unleashed by a major earthquake destroyed about 200 houses on one of the Solomon Islands, leaving about one-third of the population homeless, a disaster management official said Tuesday.
Outrage as Indian student killed in Australia
The governments of India and Australia have condemned the murder of an Indian student in the city of Melbourne over the weekend.
At least 500 homes damaged in Solomons quake
HONIARA, Solomon Islands — About 500 homes were damaged or destroyed when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake rocked the Solomon Islands, officials said Monday following a reconnaissance flight over remote islands near the epicentre.
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.
Best Job in World winner Ben Southall stung by deadly jellyfish
Ben Southall, the British winner of the Best Job in the World competition, has discovered that life in paradise can sometimes turn ugly, and rather painful.
Australian town declared natural disaster after being ravaged by fires
Wildfires raging out of control in Western Australia have destroyed up to 40 homes in an outback town, weeks before the country's bushfire season begins.
Australian PM says sorry to Britons forcibly shipped to Australia as children
The Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, today apologised to the surviving British children who were forcibly shipped to Australia during the last century. More than 150,000 British children, most of them from deprived backgrounds, were sent to ...
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.
Samoa plans mass burial, at least 180 feared dead in tsunami
APIA, Samoa — Samoa is planning a mass burial for victims of the tsunami that devastated the Pacific island earlier this week, the government said, as the death toll from the disaster crept towards 200.
Fresh quake near Tonga, tsunami toll nears 200
Grieving Samoans buried their dead in unmarked beachside graves on Thursday as the gruesome task of recovering bodies from villages destroyed by four tsunamis continued and an aftershock shook the region.