Latest Australia News

Germany hands over Australian ancestral remains held by museums for over 100 years

Dec. 05, 2024 08:55 AM EST

BERLIN (AP) — Five sets of ancestral remains from Australia that had been in German museum collections since the 19th century were handed back at a ceremony Thursday that a community representative described as a sad but “very joyful” moment. The restitution is part of ongoing...

Australia is banning social media for people under 16. Could this work elsewhere — or even there?

Dec. 04, 2024 16:26 PM EST

It is an ambitious social experiment of our moment in history — one that experts say could accomplish something that parents, schools and other governments have attempted with varying degrees of success: keeping kids off social media until they turn 16. Australia's new law,...

5 Australians serving life sentences for drugs in Indonesia could soon return home

Dec. 03, 2024 05:01 AM EST

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The remaining five Australians from the Bali Nine group who are serving life sentences for drug smuggling in Indonesia could be repatriated home this month as Indonesia and Australia put finishing touches on a draft proposal for their transfer, Indonesia's senior law...

Australian actor Ian Smith, who played Harold Bishop in 'Neighbours,' retires due to cancer

Dec. 03, 2024 01:31 AM EST

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Actor Ian Smith, who has played the character Harold Bishop in the iconic Australian soap opera “Neighbours” since 1987, has announced his retirement after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. The 86-year-old actor revealed the diagnosis in an...

Australian police arrest 13 people and seize a record 2.3 tons of cocaine from a fishing boat

Dec. 02, 2024 00:11 AM EST

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Australian police seized a record 2.3 tons of cocaine and arrested 13 people in raids after the suspects' boat broke down off the coast of Queensland, authorities said Monday. The drugs had a sale value of 760 million Australian dollars ($494 million)...

Shopping on Shein and Temu for holiday gifts? You're not the only one.

Dec. 01, 2024 07:32 AM EST

Shopping on Temu can feel like playing an arcade game. Instead of using a joystick-controlled claw to grab a toy, visitors to the online marketplace maneuver their computer mouses or cellphone screens to browse colorful gadgets, accessories and trinkets with prices that look too good to refuse. ...

Australian Parliament bans social media for under-16s with world-first law

Nov. 28, 2024 19:04 PM EST

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A social media ban for children under 16 passed the Australian Parliament on Friday in a world-first law. The law will make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars...

Conservative US influencer Candace Owens is barred from New Zealand weeks after a ban from Australia

Nov. 28, 2024 11:27 AM EST

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The U.S. conservative political commentor Candace Owens was refused a visa to enter New Zealand for a speaking engagement because she had been banned from another country, immigration officials said Thursday. News of the ruling came weeks after...

An Australia police officer who shocked a 95-year-old woman with a Taser is guilty of manslaughter

Nov. 27, 2024 21:40 PM EST

SYDNEY (AP) — A police officer who shocked a 95-year-old nursing home resident with a Taser was found guilty of manslaughter in an Australian court Wednesday. A jury found Kristian James Samuel White guilty in the trial in Sydney after 20 hours of deliberation. White, who is on...

Australia's social media ban for kids is closer to becoming law

Nov. 27, 2024 06:02 AM EST

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban children younger than 16 years old from social media, leaving it to the Senate to finalize the world-first law. The major parties backed the bill that would make platforms...