Page 6 - Australia

Australia lifts 2026 foreign student cap by 8%: Will Indians benefit?

Australia will raise its 2026 international student cap to 295,000, but tighter visa rules and housing shortages still trouble Indian applicants

Australia to admit 295,000 new international students in 2026; cap up by 9%

Australia will allow 295,000 new international students in 2026, with a strong push to recruit more from Southeast Asia

Australian court rejects X appeal in child safety case, orders legal costs

An Australian appeals court on Thursday ruled against X Corp., rejecting a challenge to a safety watchdog's demands for details on how the Elon Musk-owned company was combating widespread child exploitation material on its platform. Three federal court judges unanimously rejected X's appeal against a federal court decision in October last year that the company was obliged to respond to a notice from eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant on child abuse material being shared on X, which is incorporated in Texas. The judges also ordered X to pay the commissioner's legal costs. Inman Grant's office describes itself as the world's first government agency dedicated to keeping people safe online. Inman Grant has driven world-first legislation that will ban Australian children younger than 16 from social media platforms, including X, from December. The federal court case goes back to early 2023, when Inman Grant asked some of the world's largest technology companies to report on what they

First Australian-made rocket crashes 14 seconds after lift-off attempt

The first Australian-made rocket to attempt to reach orbit from the country's soil crashed after 14 seconds of flight on Wednesday. The rocket Eris, launched by Gilmour Space Technologies, was the first Australian-designed and manufactured orbital launch vehicle to lift off from the country and was designed to carry small satellites to orbit. It launched Wednesday morning local time in a test flight from a spaceport near the small town of Bowen in the north of Queensland state. In videos published by Australian news outlets, the 23-meter (75-foot) rocket appeared to clear the launch tower and hovered in the air before falling out of sight. Plumes of smoke were seen rising above the site. No injuries were reported. The company hailed the launch as a success in a statement posted to Facebook. A spokesperson said all four hybrid-propelled engines ignited and the maiden flight included 23 seconds of engine burn time and 14 seconds of flight. Gilmour Space Technologies had planned prev

Australia adds YouTube to under-16 social media ban ahead of Dec rollout

The new rules, set to take effect on December 10, will now apply to YouTube alongside Meta Platforms' Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and X

Swaminarayan Temple in Australia's Melbourne vandalised with 'racial slurs'

President of the Hindu Council of Australia, Victoria chapter, Makrand Bhagwat, expressed deep shock at the vandalism of the holy place

Macquarie replaces CFO Alex Harvey as regulatory probes intensify

Harvey, 54, will also leave Macquarie's executive committee at the end of December and retire the following year after handing over to deputy CFO Frank Kwok

Aurum PropTech acquires home brokerage platform PropTiger for ₹86.45 cr

Aurum PropTech Ltd on Wednesday announced acquisition of housing brokerage platform PropTiger from Australia's REA Group for Rs 86.45 crore as part of its expansion plan. The company will issue preferential shares to REA India as consideration for the acquisition of PropTiger. In a regulatory filing, Aurum PropTech informed that the Board has approved "acquisition of 100 per cent equity shares of PropTiger Marketing Services India Pvt Ltd, India." The acquisition has been done from REA India Pte, Singapore, through an all-stock, strategic equity swap and execution of the Share Acquisition Agreement with REA and PropTiger. The board approved issuance of 42,42,537 equity shares (face value Rs 5) of the company on a preferential basis to REA, as a consideration for acquisition of PropTiger. The cost of acquisition is Rs 86.45 crore, it added. Post-issue of preferential shares, REA India will have 5,54 stake in Aurum PropTech Ltd. Gurugram-based PropTiger, which is part of REA India

Indian student, 23, hospitalised after racist assault in Australia

A 23-year-old Indian student in Adelaide brutally attacked in racist assault; suffers brain trauma, facial fractures

610 antiquities retrieved from six countries in five years, says govt

A total of 610 antiquities were retrieved from the US, the UK and four other countries over the last five years, the government informed Parliament on Monday. Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat shared this information in a written reply to a question on whether the government has conducted any survey or study regarding theft of Indian artefacts in the last five years; and details of the total number of artefacts recovered, still missing and unaccounted for over the same period. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) maintains up-to-date data of theft cases in respect of protected monuments, sites and museums under its jurisdiction, he said. On retrieval of antiquities from abroad, according to the data shared by him, in 2020, three artefacts were brought back from Australia and five from the UK. In 2021, 157 antiquities were brought back from the US and one each from Canada and the UK. In 2023 and 2024, the figures stood at 105 (the US) and 297 (the US) ...

Australia hosts largest-ever military exercise with 19 nations taking part

The largest-ever war fighting drills in Australia, Exercise Talisman Sabre, is underway and expected to attract the attention of Chinese spy ships. Talisman Sabre began in 2005 as a biennial joint exercise between the United States and Australia. This year, more than 35,000 military personnel from 19 nations, including Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom, will take part over three weeks, Australia's defense department said on Sunday. Malaysia and Vietnam are also attending as observers. The exercise will also take part in Papua New Guinea, Australia's nearest neighbour. It is the first time Talisman Sabre activities have been held outside Australia. Chinese surveillance ships have monitored naval exercises off the Australian coast during the last four Talisman Sabre exercises and were expected to surveil the current exercise, .

India in talks with Australia to source rare earth minerals, says official

India is in talks with Australia to source rare earth minerals, an Australian official said on Tuesday. The development assumes significance in the wake of rare earth magnet shortage caused by Chinese export restrictions. "They (India and Australia) are talking about rare earth and there are blocks available. So there is an opportunity for India to take an early-stage block and have tie-ups with a few companies," Malini Dutt, Trade and Investment Commissioner, New South Wales Government, Australia, said. Besides rare earth, both private and public sectors in India have shown interest in copper blocks in Australia, she said on the sidelines of India Energy Storage Week (IESW) 2025, organised by India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA). "There is a lot of interest around copper as well, given some of the conversations I have had. The interest is both from private sector and a PSU which is quite on the hunt for copper (blocks), Malini said. You are aware there are smelters and companies

Australia sees 450,000 Indian tourists: How easy visa, flights fuel boom

Tourism Australia's Nishant Kashikar explains how digital visas, direct flights, and new experiences are driving over 450,000 Indian tourists to Australia annually

Australia's student visa now world's costliest, but Indians undeterred

Australia has once again hiked student visa fees to ₹1.12 lakh, making it the world's costliest. But Indian students are unlikely to look elsewhere

Australia hikes student visa fee to ₹1 lakh, costliest in English world

Australia hikes student visa fee to AUD 2,000 from July 1, 2025, making it the costliest among major English-speaking study destinations

Operation Sindoor's message conveyed with great clarity, says Jaishankar

Operation Sindoor conveyed to the world with great clarity that India will act against terrorism, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in a statement in line with the UN Security Council calling for those responsible for the Pahalgam attacks to be brought to justice. "What is important for us in the Quad statement, as also the statement that the Security Council had issued on April 25, is that the perpetrators of terrorism must be held accountable. They must be brought to justice, Jaishankar said during a press conference in Washington on Wednesday. And that's important because we then have to communicate to the world what we did. On May 7, the objective of Operation Sindoor is that if there are terrorist attacks, we will act against the perpetrators, the supporters, the financiers, and the enablers. So that message, I think, was conveyed with great clarity, he said. A joint statement issued by Quad Foreign Ministers -- Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Foreign .

QUAD foreign ministers concerned about East and South China sea situation

The leaders expressed their support for ASEAN and its centrality, the Pacific Islands Forum and Pacific-led regional groupings, as well as the Indian Ocean Rim Association

US, Indo-Pacific partners agree to strengthen maritime cooperation

The United States. Australia, India and Japan have agreed to expand their cooperation on maritime security in the Indo-Pacific and further collaborate on supplies of critical minerals and rare earths that are key components of high-tech production. The foreign ministers of the four countries, known as the "Quad", met in Washington on Tuesday as the Trump administration seeks to expand US influence in the Indo-Pacific to compete with a rising China amid tensions with partners over trade and defense issues. In a joint meeting with his three colleagues, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Quad must be a vehicle for action that goes beyond statements of intent and stressed that commerce and trade will be critical to ensuring the group's relevance in the future. To that end, the four announced in a statement the creation of a Quad Critical Minerals Initiative that aims to strengthen economic security and collective resilience by collaborating on securing and diversifying critical ...

QUAD to reiterate commitment to free Indo-Pacific: US State Dept official

S Jaishankar is visiting the US at the invitation of US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio to participate in the QUAD Foreign Minister's Meeting, the MEA, said in an official statement

Jaishankar to begin 4-day visit to US for QUAD foreign ministers' meeting

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will embark on a four-day visit to the US on Monday to participate in a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Quad grouping that will focus on new proposals to advance a common vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. Jaishankar will visit the United States from June 30 to July 2 at the invitation of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Sunday. The Quad foreign ministers' meeting on July 1 will build on the discussions held at an earlier meeting in Washington on January 21, it said. "They will exchange views on regional and global developments, particularly those concerning the Indo-Pacific, and review the progress made on various Quad initiatives in the run-up to the Quad leaders' summit, which will be hosted by India," the MEA said in a statement. It said the ministers are also expected to deliberate on new proposals aimed at advancing a shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. The Quad,