Breaking News and Current Events in Australia
- Melbourne rampage killer sentenced to life in prison
Bourke Street killer James Gargasoulas has been jailed for life for what a Victorian judge called "one of the worst examples of mass murder in Australian history", but will be eligible for parole in 46 years.A packed Victorian ...
New Zealand Herald. Fri, 22 Feb 2019 15:58:49 +1200. - Australia seeks clarification on China coal import 'block'
Canberra is seeking "urgent" clarification about reports that a key Chinese port has blocked imports.
BBC News. Fri, 22 Feb 2019 03:16:45 GMT. - Australia plays down reports of Chinese coal ban
SYDNEY (AFP) - Canberra played down on Friday (Feb 22) reports a major Chinese port had banned coal imports from Australia, amid fears worsening diplomatic tensions were damaging the nations' crucial trading relationship.
Straits Times. Fri, 22 Feb 2019 10:55:37 +0800. - Australian who drove into crowd, killed 6, sentenced to life
A man who drove a stolen car into lunchtime crowds in downtown Melbourne and killed six people was sentenced to life imprisonment in what the judge described as "one of the worst examples of mass murder in Australian history."
Fox News. Fri, 22 Feb 2019 02:14:41 GMT. - Melbourne car rampage: James Gargasoulas jailed for six murders
James Gargasoulas ploughed a car into pedestrians in Melbourne, killing six and injuring dozens.
BBC News. Fri, 22 Feb 2019 01:59:05 GMT. - Australia parents detail the scariest things they've heard their kids say
Taking to a parenting Facebook group, spooked Australian parents shared the 'scariest' things their children had said over the years - from mentioning ghosts to chatting to themselves at 3am.
Daily Mail. Fri, 22 Feb 2019 00:55:17 GMT. - NetComm Wireless backs selling itself to Casa Systems for AU$161 million
American company to offer a 53 percent premium to turn Australian company into a subsidiary.
ZDNet. Thu, 21 Feb 2019 23:29:22 +0000. - Critics' Choice: Informer, Australia in Colour, New Amsterdam and more
Critics' Choice: Informer, Australia in Colour, New Amsterdam, Selling Houses Australia
Bridget Mcmanus. Sydney Morning Herald. Fri, 22 Feb 2019 09:10:36 +1100. - Getting to the bottom of fairy circles
Fairy circles are round gaps in arid grassland that are distributed very uniformly over the landscape and only occur along the Namib Desert in southern Africa and in parts of Australia. ...
Science Daily. Thu, 21 Feb 2019 12:29:54 EST. - Saudi sisters stuck in Hong Kong months after fleeing kingdom
The two sisters using the aliases Reem and Rawan say Saudi officials kept them from traveling to Australia.
Al Jazeera. Thu, 21 Feb 2019 16:57:31 GMT. - Julie Bishop Quits Australian Politics, Adding to Exodus of Conservative Women
Ms. Bishop, the former foreign minister, said she would not run in the next election. Last year she lost a party leadership vote that would have made her prime minister.
Jamie Tarabay. New York Times. Thu, 21 Feb 2019 13:04:20 GMT. - Exclusive: China's Dalian port bans Australian coal imports, sets 2019 quota - source
Customs at China's northern port of Dalian has banned imports of Australian coal and will cap overall coal imports from all sources to the end of 2019 at 12 million tonnes, an official at Dalian Port Group told Reuters on Thursday. ...
Yahoo. Thu, 21 Feb 2019 06:50:17 -0500. - Adani Enterprises could wait up to two years for Carmichael mine approval
India's Adani Enterprises might have to wait up to two years to get two environmental approvals to start construction at its controversial Carmichael coal mine in Australia, a Queensland government official told Reuters.
Reuters. Thu, 21 Feb 2019 05:11:16 -0500. - Francesca Zambello On Directing Opera Australia's West Side Story
Famed opera and theater director Francesca Zambello talks about the challenges of putting on a new production of the beloved musical against the backdrop of one of the world's most famous harbors.
By Laura Parker, Contributor. Forbes. Wed, 20 Feb 2019 16:02:00 -0500. - Bramble Cay melomys: Rodent declared first mammal made extinct by human-made climate change
Australia's rates of animal extinction among highest in world
Harry Cockburn. The Independent. Wed, 20 Feb 2019 10:52:00 +0000. - IDEX 2019: UAE confirms EOS weapon station contract
The UAE Armed Forces confirmed during the IDEX 2019 show, held from 17 to 21 February in Abu Dhabi, UAE, that it has placed a large contract for remote weapon stations (RWS) with the Australian company EOS Defence Systems. ...
Jeremy Binnie, Abu Dhabi. Janes 360. Wed, 20 Feb 2019 08:35:22 GMT. - Search for missing Briton in Australia scaled back
Police in Australia are scaling back the search for a British tourist and his friend who went missing from a popular beach north of Sydney.
Sky News. Wed, 20 Feb 2019 06:36:00 +0000. - Australians can now add emojis to their number plates
Drivers will be able to add a smile to their Skoda or hearts to their Honda with personalised number plates featuring emojis being launched in Australia.
Irish Independent. Wed, 20 Feb 2019 03:53:46 +0000. - Ex-Aussie envoy: Failure to extradite accused pedophile hurts Israel ties
Dave Sharma, formerly Australian ambassador to Israel, told the 'Post' that a failure to extradite Malka Leifer "would alienate people who naturally defend and are supportive of Israel."
Jerusalem Post. Tue, 19 Feb 2019 09:44:46 GMT. - Australia blames 'sophisticated state actor' for massive government hack - CNET
Hack comes just months before a scheduled national election.
Steven Musil. CNET. Mon, 18 Feb 2019 23:43:26 +0000.
Facts About Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a Southern Hemisphere nation which
occupies the continent of Australia and a number of nearby islands.
Its capital city is Canberra, and its national currency is the Australian
Dollar. English is the primary language spoken by Australians, and
in 2007, Australia's estimated population was 20,434,000.
For more news and information about Australia, visit the official Australian government website. For detailed maps of Australia, visit this Australia map website.