Australia/Antarctica News

  • A World Youth Day participant rests at Darling Harbour in Sydney July 16, 2008. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz
    Rapping priest, Catholic pilgrims party in Sydney Reuters - Wed Jul 16, 8:45 AM ET

    SYDNEY (Reuters) - A rapping priest from New York's Bronx entertained thousands of young pilgrims at Bondi Beach on Wednesday, while acid jazz and Gregorian Chant filled Sydney's Opera House on day two of the Catholic Church's "Woodstock."

  • New Zealand teen saved from hunting dogs AP - Wed Jul 16, 6:44 AM ET

    WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A motorist saved a teenager being savaged by snarling pack of pig hunting dogs in New Zealand by pulling him into the safety of her car, police said Wednesday.

  • Pope Benedict XVI's is visiting Sydney for World Youth Day. The scandal over sex abuse by Australian priests has intensified as parents of two victims plan to confront the pope(AFP/Graphic)
    Parents of priest's sex abuse victims plan to confront pope AFP - Wed Jul 16, 3:40 AM ET

    SYDNEY (AFP) - A scandal over sex abuse by priests which has partly overshadowed Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Australia intensified Wednesday after the parents of two victims said they planned to confront him.

  • In this photo released by L'Osservatore Romano, a Vatican newspaper, Pope Benedict XVI and his personal secretary Georg Gaenswein walk holding their rosary at the Kenthurst Study Centre, in Sydney, Monday, July 14, 2008. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, HO)
    Did the Aussies give the pope a cat for company? AP - Tue Jul 15, 8:46 PM ET

    SYDNEY, Australia - For Pope Benedict XVI, the cat is not quite out of the bag. Organizers of the Catholic youth festival in Sydney say they borrowed a gray cat named Bella to help the feline-loving pontiff pass the time at his retreat in Australia's bush country, according to front-page stories in Australian newspapers Tuesday.

  • The wife of a man killed by pro-Indonesia militia mourns over his body in 1999. Indonesia on Tuesday expressed regret for violence in East Timor in 1999 after accepting a report blaming it for crimes against humanity, but rejected calls for an international tribunal.(AFP/File/Weda)
    Indonesia expresses regret over ETimor atrocities AFP - Tue Jul 15, 1:43 PM ET

    NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AFP) - Indonesia on Tuesday expressed regret for violence in East Timor in 1999 after accepting a report blaming it for crimes against humanity, but rejected calls for an international tribunal.

  • A koala has emerged with barely a scratch after riding for miles with its head stuck in the grille of a car, Australian wildlife rescuers said. Named Ely "Lucky" Grills (pictured) after his narrow escape, the eight-year-old male of the famously cute and cuddly species is now recovering from his ordeal at a wildlife refuge.(AFP/AUSTRALIAN WILDLIFE HOSPITAL)
    Koala unscathed after ride in car grille AFP - Tue Jul 15, 8:10 AM ET

    SYDNEY (AFP) - A koala emerged with barely a scratch after riding for miles with its head stuck in the grille of a car, Australian wildlife rescuers said Tuesday.

  • East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta (L), Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (C) and East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao pose for a photograph during a meeting in Nusa Dua, on Indonesia's island of Bali July 15, 2008. Indonesia and East Timor expressed regret on Tuesday for violence surrounding Dili's 1999 independence vote after a joint probe blamed state institutions for "gross human rights violations". REUTERS/Murdani Usman
    Indonesia, East Timor leaders regret vote bloodshed Reuters - Tue Jul 15, 7:38 AM ET

    NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesia and East Timor expressed deep regret on Tuesday for violence surrounding Dili's 1999 independence vote after a joint probe blamed state institutions for "gross human rights violations."

  • Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, left, and East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, right, look on as East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta signs a document at the conclusion of the Commission of Truth and Friendship ceremony in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia on Tuesday, July, 15, 2008. Yudhoyono acknowledged his country carried out gross human rights abuses during East Timor's 1999 break for independence, but stopped short of offering a full apology Tuesday for murders, torture and other crimes. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
    Indonesia regrets 1999 violence in Timor AP - Tue Jul 15, 7:10 AM ET

    BALI, Indonesia - Indonesia's president acknowledged that his country carried out gross human rights abuses during East Timor's 1999 break for independence, but stopped short of offering a full apology Tuesday and said no one would be prosecuted.

  • Tasmanian devils at a conservation park in Taranna. Australia's iconic creatures have started having sex at a younger age since the advent of a deadly disease which threatens to wipe out the species(AFP/File/Anoek de Groot)
    Facing extinction, Tasmanian devils start sex younger: study AFP - Tue Jul 15, 6:24 AM ET

    SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia's iconic Tasmanian devils have started having sex at a younger age since the advent of a deadly disease which threatens to wipe out the species, researchers said Tuesday.

  • 'Lucky' koala bear survives head-on car collision AP - Tue Jul 15, 2:26 AM ET

    SYDNEY, Australia - They call this koala bear "lucky."

  • New Zealand teen fined in Penn computer hack AP - Tue Jul 15, 1:19 AM ET

    WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A New Zealand teenager who admitted to hacking into the University of Pennsylvania computer system was ordered Tuesday to pay more than $11,000 in fines but avoided a conviction so that he can help police solve computer crimes.

  • Australian court strikes ban on annoying pilgrims AP - Tue Jul 15, 12:13 AM ET

    SYDNEY, Australia - A court struck down a new law Tuesday that banned people from annoying participants of a Roman Catholic youth festival in Australia that the pope plans to attend, ruling that the law restricted free speech.

  • In this handout photo made available by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano Pope Benedict XVI, flanked by Cardinal George Pell, and an unidentified Bishop walks by a lake at the Kenthurst Study Center, in Sydney, Monday, July 14, 2008. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, HO)
    What does the pope do on his day off? AP - Mon Jul 14, 1:23 PM ET

    SYDNEY, Australia - One shot pigeons, another played bocce ball with the Swiss Guards, and John Paul II skied and hiked.

  • World's oldest blogger dies in Australia AP - Mon Jul 14, 8:55 AM ET

    SYDNEY, Australia - A 108-year-old Australian woman who was promoted as the world's oldest blogger has died two weeks after making her last post about "singing a happy song," her great-grand son and her online forum said.

  • A banner promoting World Youth Day which is being held in Sydney alongside a visit to the country by Pope Benedict XVI. New Zealand immigration officials have said they are looking for 32 Indian Catholic pilgrims who have gone missing during a stopover on their way to Australia for the event(AFP/File/Greg Wood)
    Indian World Youth Day pilgrims go missing in New Zealand AFP - Mon Jul 14, 2:36 AM ET

    WELLINGTON (AFP) - New Zealand immigration officials said on Monday they were looking for 32 Indian Catholic pilgrims who have gone missing during a stopover on their way to Australia for World Youth Day.

  • Glen Philliips hand feeds cattle on his farm near Poochera, on South Australia's Eyre Pinnisula, 640 km (400 miles) west of Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, June 12, 2008. This season's lack of rain would mean a third year of drought in South Australia's Eyre Peninsula, where Phillips has farmed for 34 years. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
    Food crisis: Drought hurts vital Australian wheat AP - Sun Jul 13, 1:37 PM ET

    POOCHERA, Australia - Glen Phillips kneels down, scoops up a handful of dirt and squashes it in his fist to test whether the soil in this dry patch of the Australian Outback is ready to take a crop of wheat.

  • File photo shows a coal-fired power station belching out steam near Sydney. Thirty-seven people have been arrested at a climate change protest in Australia after they blocked a railway line delivering coal, police have said(AFP/File/David Hancock)
    37 arrested at Australian climate protest: police AFP - Sun Jul 13, 3:50 AM ET

    SYDNEY (AFP) - Thirty-seven people were arrested at a climate change protest in Australia on Sunday when they blocked a railway line delivering coal, police said.

  • Pope Benedict XVI (right) gestures to journalists, flanked by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone (centre) at a news conference aboard the Pope's plane on July 12. The leader of the Catholic church has arrived in Sydney for one of the largest Christian gatherings on Earth, starting a visit set to be marked by his apology for sexual abuse by priests in Australia(AFP/Vincenzo Pinto)
    Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Sydney AFP - Sun Jul 13, 2:42 AM ET

    SYDNEY (AFP) - The leader of the Catholic Church Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Sydney on Sunday ahead of one of the biggest celebrations of his faith, World Youth Day.

  • Pope Benedict XVI waves before embarking on a flight to Australia for a 10-day pilgrimage, in Rome's Fiumicino airport, Saturday July 12, 2008. A special Alitalia flight with Benedict, Vatican officials and journalists aboard, has departed Saturday, for a 20-hour flight leading to public events during the pilgrimage in Sydney which will test the elderly pope's stamina. The trip is the longest of Benedict's three-year-old papacy. His journey centers around the Catholic Church's World Youth Day events, which include a vigil service with a crowd of young people and an outdoor Mass. Benedict returns to Italy on July 21. (AP Photo/Plinio Lepri)
    Pope Benedict leaves for pilgrimage to Australia AP - Sat Jul 12, 5:33 AM ET

    ROME - Pope Benedict XVI has left Rome on a flight to Australia for a 10-day pilgrimage.

  • Earthquake rocks southern New Zealand, no damage AP - Sat Jul 12, 12:53 AM ET

    WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A government-owned agency says a moderately strong earthquake has rocked New Zealand's southern region — but there are no immediate reports of injury or damage.

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