Page 2 - Australia

Ex-England cricketer recounts 'terrifying' Bondi Beach attack in Sydney

Former England captain Michael Vaughan described being locked down with his family near Bondi Beach during the terror attack that killed 15 people and shocked Australia

Rubio speaks to Australian FM as US condemns 'heinous' Bondi Beach attack

Rubio had a call with Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong to discuss the antisemitic terrorist attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach

Meet Ahmed al Ahmed, the Sydney shopkeeper who stopped Bondi Beach gunman

The 43-year-old Sydney shopkeeper suffered gunshot wounds after wrestling a rifle from one of the attackers during the Bondi Beach Hanukkah shooting that left 15 people dead

Sydney's Bondi Beach shooting: Who were the shooters behind deadly attack?

At least 16 people were killed and dozens injured in a mass shooting during a Hanukkah event at Sydney's Bondi Beach. Police identified the attackers as a father-son duo

12 killed in terror attack on Jewish community at Sydney's Bondi Beach

The shooting near a Jewish gathering at Sydney's Bondi Beach killed nine civilians and one attacker, with police warning of a suspected explosive device and urging people to avoid the area

Australia's under-16 gamble: Social media ban's impact may take 10-15 years

The country is running a real-time experiment on a whole generation-the true effects of its social media ban for children won't be clear for 10-15 years

Reddit challenges Australia's law banning under-16s from social media

Global online forum Reddit on Friday filed a court challenge to Australia's world-first law that bans Australian children younger than 16 from holding accounts on the world's most popular social media platforms. California-based Reddit Inc's suit filed in the High Court follows a case filed last month by Sydney-based rights group Digital Freedom Project. Both suits claim the law is unconstitutional because it infringes on Australia's implied freedom of political communication. "We believe there are more effective ways for the Australian government to accomplish our shared goal of protecting youth, and the SMMA (Social Media Minimum Age) law carries some serious privacy and political expression issues for everyone on the internet," Reddit said in a statement. "While we agree with the importance of protecting people under 16, this law has the unfortunate effect of forcing intrusive and potentially insecure verification processes on adults as well as minors, isolating teens from the .

Australia enforces world-first ban on social media access for teens

Meanwhile chat app Discord Inc., which isn't subject to the ban, said Tuesday it is enhancing safety features for users in Australia

By banning social media, we're giving children a childhood: Australian PM

Highlighting the challenges faced by both parents and children from the impact of social media, Albanese said it was a step towards peace of mind for parents, children

Australia rolls out world's 1st teen social media ban amid safety concerns

The law, passed last year, mandates services such as ByteDance Ltd.'s TikTok and Meta Platforms Inc.'s Instagram keep under-16s off their platforms or face fines

Rubio, Hegseth discuss Indo-Pacific security with Australian counterparts

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth met their Australian counterparts Monday in Washington for annual talks focused on Indo-Pacific security and countering China's increasing assertiveness in the region, including in the South China Sea and directed at Taiwan. Rubio, Hegseth, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles gathered at the State Department, with many eyes also on the Russia-Ukraine war, a fragile ceasefire in Gaza and US military strikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere that have raised questions about the use of force there. This is a very strong partnership, it's a strong alliance, and what we want to do is continue to build on it. We think we have a lot of momentum behind this alliance, Rubio said, hailing cooperation between Washington and Canberra on critical minerals, defense production and troop deployments. None of the four mentioned China by name in their brief comments to ...

Wildfires rage in Australia, destroy 40 homes, kill one firefighter

A firefighter has died battling blazes that have destroyed around 40 homes in two Australian states, officials said Monday. The 59-year-old man was struck by a falling tree Sunday night while fighting a wildfire near the New South Wales town of Bulahdelah that had razed 3,500 hectares of woodlands and destroyed four homes over the weekend, Rural Fire Service Commissioner Trent Curtin said. The man could not be resuscitated. Firefighters expected to be battling that blaze for days, Curtin said. There were 52 wildfires burning across New South Wales on Monday and nine remained out of control. A total of 20 homes had destroyed over the weekend in that state, Curtin said. In the island state of Tasmania, 19 homes had been destroyed by a weekend wildfire in the coastal community of Dolphin Sands, local government official Dick Shaw told Australian Broadcasting Corp. The fire had been contained by Monday, but the road to the community remained closed and it was not yet safe for resident

Can Ozempic trigger depression or suicidal thoughts? Australia weighs in

Australia has issued a safety alert on GLP-1 drugs after reviewing reports of depression and suicidal thoughts; while there is no proven causal link, regulators want users to stay alert

Strains in Australian met coal supply raise energy risks for India: Report

Strains in Australian metallurgical (met) coal supply has heightened energy security risks for India, which depends on imports for 90 pc of its needs, according to a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). The Indian government and steelmakers have begun reducing reliance on Australian met coal but India needs to go further to prevent India's steel sector from being weighed down by long-term energy security challenges, it noted. India aims to reach a crude steel production capacity of 300 million tonnes per annum by 2030. Much of this growth is driven by the blast furnace (BF) technology that uses met coal. As a result, the Indian steel sector depends heavily on imported met coal since domestic met coal does not meet quality requirements due to its high ash and sulphur content. India currently imports around 90 pc of its met coal, primarily from Australia. However, concerns are mounting over the reliability of the future supply from Austral

From Mamdani to Takaichi, 2025 emerged as defining year of political reset

Historic wins, surprise upsets, and rapid leadership changes marked 2025, as voters across major democracies demanded stability, fresh ideas and a new direction for their countries

Australia's visa backlog nears 50,000 as international students face delays

Australia's review tribunal is struggling with almost 50,000 student visa appeals, leaving thousands of international students, including many from India, facing long delays

Australia to enforce social media age limit with fines up to $33 mn

Social media platforms must report monthly how many children's accounts they close once Australia begins enforcing its 16-year age limit next week, a minister said Wednesday. Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X and YouTube would face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) from Dec. 10 if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove accounts of Australian children younger than 16. Livestreaming service Twitch was added to the list of age-restricted platforms less than two weeks ago. The Australian eSafety Commissioner will send the 10 platforms notices on Dec. 11 demanding information about the numbers of accounts removed. Monthly notices would follow for six months. The government recognizes that age assurance may require several days or weeks to complete fairly and accurately, Communications Minister Anika Wells told the National Press Club of Australia. However, if eSafety identifies systemic breaches of the law, the platforms will

YouTube finally agrees to comply with Australia's teen social media ban

The decision ends a stand-off between the internet giant and the Australian government which initially exempted YouTube from the age restriction, citing its use for educational purposes

Australia begins global drive to restrict social media access for children

While figures on the number of under-16s on social media globally are scarce, research firm EMarketer says about one in ten US users are under 18

Australian senator barred from Parliament after wearing burqa in protest

An Australian senator who is campaigning for a national burqa ban was barred Tuesday from Parliament for the rest of the year for wearing the Muslim garment in the chamber. Pauline Hanson, the 71-year-old leader of the anti-Muslim, anti-immigration One Nation minor party, was accused of performing a disrespectful stunt on Monday when she walked into the Senate shrouded in a head-to-ankle garment to protest fellow senators' refusal to consider her bill that would ban the burqa and other full-face coverings in public places. Senators suspended her for the rest of the day on Monday. In the absence of an apology, they passed a censure motion Tuesday that carried one of the harshest penalties against a senator in recent decades. She was barred from seven consecutive Senate sitting days. The Senate rises for the year on Thursday, and Hanson's suspension will continue when Parliament resumes in February next year. Hanson later told reporters she would be judged by voters at the next elect