Australia/Antarctica News

NEW DELHI (AFP) - India's cricket chiefs on Saturday endorsed New Zealand's Alan Isaac as the next vice-president of the world governing body after former Australian Prime Minister John Howard was snubbed for the job. Full Story »

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is heading for a shock defeat at elections on August 21, a new opinion poll showed Saturday, as government infighting and damaging cabinet leaks threatened to derail her campaign. Full Story »

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia's conservative opposition has taken an election-winning lead over Prime Minister Julia Gillard's embattled party just weeks ahead of an election, a poll showed Saturday. Full Story »

SYDNEY (AFP) - Cowering in their homes or fleeing in sheer terror, 173 Australians died in a firestorm of unparalleled ferocity, a report found Saturday, detailing a disaster plagued by "systemic failings" and chaos. Full Story »

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is heading for a shock defeat at elections on August 21, a new opinion poll showed Saturday, as government infighting and damaging cabinet leaks threatened to derail her campaign. Full Story »

SYDNEY (AFP) - Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd was Friday admitted to hospital for surgery to treat severe stomach pain -- one month after he was dramatically removed from office by his own party. Full Story »

PERTH, Australia - Australia's government expanded its ambitious plan to bring broadband to much of the vast country, adding 300,000 homes and businesses to the coverage area Friday in hopes of winning votes in next month's federal election. Full Story »

SYDNEY (AFP) - The Australian government Friday committed to expanding its fibre broadband Internet network to a further 300,000 homes across the vast island continent if re-elected at next month's polls. Full Story »

Sydney - For environmentalists, it doesn’t get much better than Australia’s Cape York Peninsula, a vast expanse of wetlands, tropical rainforest, savannah grasslands, and bone-white sand dunes, sheltering one-half of the country’s birds and one-third of its mammals. Full Story »

PERTH, Australia - The family of an Aboriginal elder who died of heat stroke in a prison van with no air conditioning on a brutally hot day in Australia's Outback will be given 3.2 million Australian dollars ($2.9 million) in compensation, a state attorney general said Thursday. Full Story »

ADELAIDE, Australia - Australia will impose new sanctions against Iran, including restrictions for the first time on business dealings with that country's oil and gas sector, the country's foreign minister said Thursday. Full Story »

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's government said Wednesday it had no plan to delay transferring some 8,000 US marines based on the southern island of Okinawa to the US Pacific territory of Guam by 2014. Full Story »

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian archaeologists have documented the remains of ancient giant rats the size of small dogs which were discovered in a remote East Timorese cave. Full Story »

DILI (AFP) - East Timor said Tuesday it is still waiting for details from Australia about a proposal to build a regional detention centre in the tiny country to host Australia-bound asylum seekers. Full Story »

SYDNEY - A sailboat largely constructed from 12,500 recycled plastic bottles has completed a 4-month journey across the Pacific Ocean meant to raise awareness about the perils of plastic waste. Full Story »

SYDNEY (AFP) - A boat crafted from thousands of plastic bottles sailed into Sydney Harbour on Monday, completing an epic trans-Pacific voyage to highlight the benefits of recycling. Full Story »

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A 15-year-old New Zealand boy has survived a 16-story plunge from the balcony of his family's apartment onto a concrete floor. Full Story »

WARRNAMBOOL, Australia (AFP) - Legendary cricketer Kapil Dev Sunday helped grant the final wish of an Indian migrant who died in Australia 63 years ago -- to bring his ashes back home. Full Story »