Australia/Antarctica News

SYDNEY - Conjoined Bangladeshi twins who were separated in a marathon surgery last week left intensive care on Monday and were adjusting well, hospital officials said.

CANBERRA, Australia - A man who blames the Church of Scientology for his brother's suicide added his voice Monday to calls for an Australia Senate inquiry into the religion.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia moved to tighten security at its main immigration centre on Monday after a riot by 150 asylum-seekers, reportedly wielding pool cues, broomsticks and tree branches, left 37 wounded.

SYDNEY (AFP) - More than 100, and possibly hundreds, of Antarctic icebergs are floating towards New Zealand in a rare event which has prompted a shipping warning, officials said on Monday.

SYDNEY - A U.S. Navy serviceman was found not guilty Monday of sexually assaulting a prostitute at a brothel while on shore leave in Australia's biggest city.

RYLSTONE, Australia (AFP) - Australian firefighters battled to contain scores of blazes in the country's southeast on Monday as a sharp drop in temperatures eased fears for dozens of threatened homes.

CANBERRA, Australia - Sri Lankan and Afghan asylum seekers were separated at an island immigration detention center after a riot left 37 injured, an official said Monday.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Two executives at a banknote-making firm part-owned by Australia's central bank have been suspended over a police probe into alleged bribery and kickbacks, officials said.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia said it was "deeply disappointed" after a fleet of Japanese whaling ships set out to kill hundreds of the giant ocean mammals on their annual hunt.

SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian pin-up pilot forced to bring an emergency medical flight down in shark-infested waters was Friday hailed a hero for the daring landing from which all aboard escaped unharmed.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd voiced "concerns" about the Church of Scientology Wednesday after a senator detailed explosive allegations including torture, imprisonment and coerced abortions.

CANBERRA, Australia - Australia must abolish policies that discriminate against Aborigines in its quest to lift its indigenous population out of Third World poverty, the head of an international human rights group said Wednesday.

MELBOURNE, Australia - A team of Australian surgeons were working Monday on a delicate and complicated surgery to separate twin sisters who are joined at the top of the head.

CANBERRA (AFP) - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Monday made an emotional apology to half-a-million "Forgotten Australians" who faced sexual abuse, violence and forced labour in childcare homes over a period of decades.

CANBERRA (AFP) - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made an emotional apology on Monday to half-a-million "Forgotten Australians" who faced sexual abuse, violence and forced labour in childcare homes over a period of decades.

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized Monday for years of abuse and pain suffered by thousands of orphans and children sent to Australia from Britain, often without the knowledge of their parents.

LONDON (AFP) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to apologise for Britain sending thousands of children to former colonies, officials said Sunday, shortly before Australia's premier is also due to say sorry.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will apologize for shipping thousands of poor children, often without the knowledge of their parents, to its former colonies during the 20th century, the government said on Sunday.

WELLINGTON (AFP) - New Zealand qualified for the World Cup finals on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Bahrain here in the Asia/Oceania final second leg.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Relatives of an 88-year-old alleged war criminal on Friday vowed to fight his extradition to Hungary after it was approved by Australian officials.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian officials said they would carry out tests to check whether a skull handed in by a farmer belonged to the country's most infamous outlaw, bushranger Ned Kelly.

ADELAIDE, Australia - The Australian government on Thursday approved the extradition of an alleged Nazi collaborator accused by Hungary of a World War II killing.

DILI, East Timor - Thousands of mourners lit candles, sang hymns and prayed in East Timor on Thursday, honoring the victims of a massacre of pro-independence demonstrators by Indonesian troops 18 years ago.

SYDNEY - A bomb-sniffing dog that disappeared during a fierce battle in Afghanistan between Australian troops and militant fighters has been found and returned to its unit after more than a year.

SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian sniffer dog has been found alive and well nearly 14 months after going missing in an intense firefight in war-torn southern Afghanistan, officials said on Thursday.

SYDNEY (AFP) - China has extended an investigation of detained Rio Tinto mining executive Stern Hu by two months, Australian officials said Thursday, calling for a quick resolution to the long-running case.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Britain's last surviving World War I veteran shunned Remembrance Day commemorations Wednesday because he was against the glorification of war, his family was reported as saying.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali pirates seized a Greek cargo ship and a Yemeni fishing boat in the latest attacks demonstrating their ability to evade international naval forces, gunmen and officials said on Wednesday.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia on Wednesday rejected plans to build a massive new dam, despite pleas it is needed to provide water to residents, because of its feared impact on endangered fish and turtles.