Australia/Antarctica News

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. Full Story »

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali pirates hijacked a Yemeni fishing boat and a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship carrying chemicals in the latest attacks of a growing maritime crime wave, the gunmen and officials said on Wednesday. Full Story »

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. Full Story »

SYDNEY (AFP) - Aborigines can still expect to die up to 11.5 years earlier than other Australians and are twice as likely to die as infants, figures showed, despite government pledges to tackle their health problems. Full Story »

SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian territory became the first to legalise civil partnership ceremonies for same-sex couples, in a move supporters hoped would spark national momentum. Full Story »

SYDNEY (AFP) - Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto said Tuesday it was interested in collaborating with Chinalco, months after rejecting a massive cash injection from the state-owned Chinese firm. Full Story »

SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian student sparked fears of a new era of computer viruses on Tuesday after creating a worm which infects Apple's iconic iPhone with pictures of 1980s pop star Rick Astley. Full Story »

BRISBANE, Australia - It was just a routine car wash. Except there was no car — and no clothing. Full Story »

SYDNEY (AFP) - Members of an elite Australian college linked to Sydney University provoked outrage Tuesday after it was revealed they had set up a "pro-rape" group on social networking site Facebook. Full Story »

CANBERRA (Reuters) - New opinion polls added pressure on Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Monday to take a tougher stand against asylum-seekers and end a standoff involving 78 boat-people picked up by an Australian ship off Indonesia. Full Story »

SYDNEY (AFP) - A man spearfishing in South Australia was mauled in a shark attack Sunday, officials said as a report warned of several sightings of the deadly predators in the area. Full Story »

SYDNEY (AFP) - Withdrawing Australia's government stimulus now would interrupt the recovery underway, Treasurer Wayne Swan said Sunday as he warned the country was not immune to the risks to the global economy. Full Story »

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian authorities declared a natural disaster along parts of the country's east coast as heavy floods cut the main road linking major cities, stranding thousands of people. Full Story »

JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesia extended by a week on Friday a deadline for an Australian customs ship loaded with 78 protesting Sri Lankan asylum seekers to leave its territory. Full Story »

LONDON (AFP) - An angry man threw a boot at former Australian prime minister John Howard during a debate at Cambridge University, the quick-thinking student who caught the shoe said on Thursday. Full Story »

MELBOURNE (AFP) - Australian police laid murder charges against a 49-year-old male patient on Thursday over a stabbing rampage at a secure psychiatric hospital that left two people dead. Full Story »

MELBOURNE, Australia - A psychiatric patient was charged Thursday with two counts of murder in the overnight stabbing deaths of two men who were also patients at an Australian hospital. Full Story »

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia launched an inquiry on Thursday into a major oil spill off its coast which has been described as one of the country's worst environmental disasters. Full Story »